The world’s number one-ranked golfer and gusty winds blew away the 2024 Masters field.

Ferocious winds, firm fast greens and a fickle forecast that delayed the first round were just a few of the foes that the 89 golfers at the 88th Masters Tournament fought last year.

The rest of the field also had to contend with another force of nature in the world’s top-ranked golfer, Scottie Scheffler. He came to the tournament with two victories and a T-2 finish in his three previous PGA Tour starts leading into the Masters. He also had not shot a single round over par in the eight tournaments he had entered all season.

With a final score of 11-under that was four shots clear of runner-up Ludvig Åberg, a Swede who was competing in his first major, Scheffler left Augusta National Golf Club with his second green jacket in three years. Shooting 66-72-71-68 for the tournament, his string of par or better rounds remained intact as well.

“It’s hard to put into words how special this is. It’s been a long week, a grind of a week,” Scheffler said. “The golf course was so challenging, and to be sitting here wearing this jacket again and getting to take it home is extremely special.”

He began the fourth round with a one-stroke lead over playing partner Collin Morikawa, but after two bogies and a birdie through the first seven holes, Scheffler was tied for the lead with Morikawa and Åberg at 6-under. Morikawa was even par and Åberg, one of 20 first-timers in the field, had two birdies in the same stretch. Scheffler and Morikawa then birdied No. 8 for a tie atop the leaderboard at 7-under.

Scheffler seized the lead for good on the ninth hole when he birdied and Morikawa double bogeyed. With another birdie on No. 10 to reach 9-under, Scheffler extended his lead to two shots over Åberg and Max Homa. However, he felt like the eighth hole was key.

“The best momentum turner that I had today was the birdie putt on 8. … That gave me some good momentum, and I used that to birdie 9 and 10 and keep pushing because I knew there were birdies out there on back nine,” Scheffler said. “I had a lot of really talented players trying to chase me down, and I knew pars weren’t going to get it done.”

With a bogey on No. 11 and a birdie on No. 13, Scheffler played Amen Corner in even par while his closest competitors were over par on the three holes. Morikawa and Åberg were 1-over as both double bogeyed No. 11 and birdied the 13th hole. Homa, a stroke behind Scheffler, doubled No. 12 when his tee shot sailed long into the bushes behind the green, putting him at 2-over for the famous holes.

The final five holes were a formality as Scheffler breezed to victory. He continued to play aggressively on the back nine, battling until the end, and never let himself “get attached to the lead.” After Amen Corner, however, his main adversary was the golf course.

“Around this golf course you have to stay aggressive. You have to hit the right shots. There’s no way around it out here. You can’t play too defensive, and you can’t play too aggressive,” he said.

Length and Levity

Before the winds kicked up and Scheffler started crafting Scheffler magic later in the week, another natural phenomenon appeared mid-afternoon during the Monday practice round. The area experienced a partial solar eclipse, and Augusta National distributed eclipse glasses – green with a Masters logo on each temple – to everyone on the grounds to view it.

“We took a look a few times as it was passing by. Pretty cool. You could tell the light – you could really notice a difference,” said Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin.

While the eclipse lasted about two-and-a-half hours, the length of the golf course was a topic of conversation during the Tuesday practice round. Prior to last year’s tournament, the Masters tees on the par-5 second hole had been moved back 10 yards and to the golfers’ left.

No. 2 looked “awesome,” Masters champion Fred Couples said. However, he added, “I don’t know if there’s any holes they need to lengthen.”

Two-time Masters winner Jose Maria Olazabal agreed.

“I think the golf course is long enough, but if they want to, I’m pretty sure that they can find the space to do so,” he said.

Another Masters champion, Vijay Singh, said he thought the 12th hole should be lengthened. However, Olazabal thought the signature par-3 No. 12, the only hole at Augusta National that has never been lengthened, should be left alone.

“I think it’s a fantastic hole, great hole. It’s a short hole, but it’s a devilish hole. It’s very hard to hit the green. The green is at an angle. It’s not very deep. … When the wind blows, it’s a nightmare of a hole, and I think that hole is fantastic,” he said.

At his annual Wednesday morning press conference, Fred Ridley, the Masters Tournament and Augusta National chairman, said that adding distance to the golf course has become “standard operation” for the past 20 years.

“Each year we look for ways to improve the golf course to ensure it continues to challenge the best players in the world,” he said.

The chairman felt the adjusted tee location on No. 2 would give players something to consider on their second shots at the sloped dogleg left. He also said he likes No. 12 just as it is.

“I would say with a hundred percent certainty that it would not be lengthened during my tenure. That’s almost like asking, ‘Can we touch up the Mona Lisa a little bit?’ It is such an iconic hole that’s had so many important moments in the Masters that I’m not sure that another 10 yards would really make a difference,” said Ridley.

The afternoon gave way to light-heartedness and levity with the annual Par 3 Contest on Augusta National’s nine-hole, par-27 course. Only 16 of the 80 competitors posted complete scores, and Rickie Fowler won by shooting 5-under.

Wives, girlfriends, children and grandchildren serve as caddies in the beloved Masters tradition, and many players let their white jumpsuit-clad loopers hit a chip shot or knock in a putt.

Five players took care of business with their tee shots by scoring holes-in-one, however. Sepp Straka of Austria aced No. 5; Augusta resident Luke List, Gary Woodland and Norway’s Viktor Hovland aced No. 6; and Lucas Glover had a hole-in-one on No. 7.

Difficult Scoring Conditions

The first round arrived on Thursday, but with the morning forecast calling for a 90% chance of rain and wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph, it was delayed 2 1/2 hours.

LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox and Byeong Hun An of Korea began the major with birdies on each of their first three holes. It marked the first time that three or more players made birdie or better on each of their first three holes in the first round at one Masters Tournament.

Round one was called at 7:51 p.m. due to darkness with 27 players still on the course, and it resumed at 7:50 a.m. Friday.

Carding eight birdies and one bogey for a 65, DeChambeau, who finished on Thursday, found himself atop the leaderboard with a score of 7-under.

Shooting 66 in the first bogey-free round of his Masters career, Scheffler was one shot back. He birdied three of the four par 5s, including the 13th hole when his second shot stayed up on the pin side of the creek bank. He also birdied No. 12 by holing out of the back bunker.

“I executed some really nice up-and-downs to keep the round going,” he said.

The winds had picked up during the day, and Scheffler, who dealt with gusty conditions on the back nine, said his caddie, Ted Scott, did “a really good job of kind of guessing the wind correctly.”

The second round began at 10:30 a.m. Friday, and the players grappled with extremely windy, challenging conditions. With gusts of up to 40 mph, sand from the bunkers whipped across the firm, fast greens and players’ golf bags toppled to the ground. At one point, the field was 200 strokes higher than it was the day before.

Two-time major champion Justin Thomas finished his round with double bogeys on Nos. 15, 16 and 18 and a bogey on No. 17 to miss the cut by a stroke. Other notables to go home early included Hovland and Masters champions Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson.

Initially projected at 4-over-par, the cut ultimately climbed to 6-over and sent some players who had cleaned out their lockers scrambling back to the course. The 60 players who made the cut included five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods. He played 23 holes on Friday and set yet another tournament record by making the cut for the 24th consecutive year. Hitting 25 of 28 fairways, he finished the first two rounds at 1-over.

After two days of difficult scoring conditions, only 14 players landed in red numbers. Scheffler, DeChambeau and Homa shared the 36-hole lead at 6-under-par.

“The winds were up very high, and it blows from everywhere out here. I think even par this afternoon was a really good score,” Scheffler said. “It’s just so difficult when you can’t tell where the wind is coming from. You can only make really an educated guess and try to go from there.”

Super Power

The winds finally began to die down for the third round, but scoring didn’t get any easier. Scheffler’s hard-fought 71 – one of 12 scores under par on the day – included four birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 15 and 18, three bogeys on Nos. 4, 11, and 17, a double bogey on the 10th hole and an eagle on No. 13.

He fell two shots behind after the 10th and 11th holes but began to climb back up the leaderboard with a 7-foot putt to save par on the 12th hole.

After the eagle on No. 13 returned him to a three-way tie for the lead, the usually low-key, undemonstrative Scheffler allowed himself an emotional fist pump or four.

“That putt on 13 was nice because it was trickling up towards the cup. I didn’t know whether or not it was going to get there, and it kind of just nudged right over the edge and went in,” he said. “So it was exciting, and it was nice to be able to steal a couple shots there and get back in the tournament.”

Morikawa, with birdies on the first three holes and a score of 69, was one of only two players to shoot under 70 on Saturday.

The third round marked just the second time since World War II that Nos. 17 and 18 ranked in either order as the two most difficult holes during a Masters round. The 18th hole was the most difficult, but DeChambeau and Scheffler did their best to thwart that statistic.

After driving his ball into the trees on the right of the 18th fairway and punching out his second shot, DeChambeau holed a 77-yard wedge shot from the fairway for an unlikely birdie. Scheffler sank an 8-foot downhill birdie putt on the last hole to shoot 7-under and take sole possession of the lead going into the final round.

“It was a good fight out there. The golf course was extremely challenging. The greens were very firm, very fast, and it was extremely difficult again today. So probably looking for more of the same tomorrow,” Scheffler said.

Sunday was a sunny, “Greetings from Augusta” postcard kind of day, but the wind once again was a factor in the fourth round. Scheffler said he and his caddie “got the wind completely wrong” on the first three holes.

“I think you have to recognize in 72 holes, especially around here, you’re going to get wind shifts. … In the first four holes, I couldn’t get him on the green,” Scott said. “You just kind of know it’s going to happen, and he’s mature enough to recognize, when it does happen, it’s golf. It’s nothing you can control. … Maybe that’s his super power to be able to do that after carnage.”

Scheffler, who leaned on his short game, carded birdies on the 14th and 16th holes as well.

His victory marked the seventh time that the world’s top-ranked golfer entering the week won the tournament. He also became the second player, along with Woods, to win the Masters twice as the world’s No. 1 golfer.

“I try to compete to the best of my abilities. I really want to win. I feel like that’s how I was designed,” the two-time Masters champion said. “That’s always been a part of me, and I don’t think that should be going away anytime soon.”

By Betsy Gilliland

The 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion stuck to her battle plan to claim victory.

A cheer erupted from the gallery around the 18th green at the final round of the 2024 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The scorekeeper had just posted a red 7 on the manually operated leaderboard at Augusta National Golf Club after Englishwoman Lottie Woad birdied the 17th hole.

This birdie, coupled with another at No. 15, tied her for the lead with American Bailey Shoemaker, the leader in the clubhouse at 7-under, with one hole to play.

Sensing a chance to witness something special, no one moved – except to jockey for better position to see the green. If Woad parred the final hole, then she would send the tournament to a sudden death playoff. Another birdie would award her the 54-hole championship trophy in regulation.

Nothing like giving the gallery what it wants. Woad, No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, stiffed her second shot on No. 18 within several feet of the pin and calmly sank her birdie putt for the victory.

“I was honestly just thinking about making birdie rather than par,” she said after her triumph.

Although the Florida State University sophomore had bogeyed the 13th hole earlier in the round to fall two shots behind, she never panicked.

A self-described scoreboard watcher, Woad saw that Shoemaker, a University of Southern California freshman who started the last round four shots behind her at 1-under and tied for fifth place, had seized the lead. However, Woad just reminded herself that she still had birdie opportunities ahead.

“I knew teeing off, only having a two-shot lead, at some point during the round someone was probably going to overtake me with it probably being scorable. I looked at the pins before and they were in some pretty nice locations, so I was prepared for someone to go low,” she said. “When I ended up being two back, I was like, ‘OK, so I’ve got these birdie chances that they have.’ Just gave myself the chances at the end and luckily holed some putts.”

Her strategy payed off as she withstood the furious charge from Shoemaker, who carded 66 for the first bogey-free final round in the tournament’s five-year history.

The runner-up also had nothing but praise for Woad’s performance.

“Good for her. Especially under pressure, knowing she had to do it, that’s amazing. That’s awesome. I think super clutch,” Shoemaker said. “I’m obviously disappointed. But at the end of the day, I played about as good as I could have.”

Birdie Barrage

The tournament, featuring 72 of the world’s top amateur golfers, began with a one-hour rain delay that also included a tornado watch in Evans, where the first two rounds were held at Champions Retreat.

Scotland’s Hannah Darling took a one-stroke lead in the first round after shooting 6-under. The University of South Carolina junior set a new championship record for most birdies in a round with eight, including six birdies on her opening nine holes. Starting with three consecutive birdies, Darling also tied the record for low first-round score by equaling Rose Zhang’s opening 66 in 2023.

“I just made some great putts that normally wouldn’t drop, but they did today,” Darling said.

Despite the windy conditions, 28 players carded subpar rounds to break by one the tournament record set in 2023. Thailand’s Eila Galitsky finished birdie-eagle to move into a three-way tie for second place with Italy’s Francesca Fiorellini and world No. 1 Ingrid Lindblad of Sweden at 5-under 67.

Woad, who was making her second appearance in the championship, sat two shots back at T5 with a bogey-free first-round score of 4-under. She had birdies on the first and 14th holes and an eagle on No. 3.

“I put myself in a good position, so just going to try and keep contending and play well tomorrow and see what happens,” she said.

The winds continued on Day 2 of the tournament, and Woad started her second round with a double bogey at the first hole. She also added two birdies and two bogeys to her card on her first nine.

Growing up in England, she said, “I usually like it when it’s windy. I feel like it suits me.”

With a bogey-free second nine, the 20-year-old tallied three birdies, including at the last hole, to become one of five players to break par in the second round. Woad also became the first player representing England to lead after any round in tournament history.

Shooting 71 in the second round, she and 16-year-old Gianna Clemente were the only players to break par in both rounds at Champions Retreat.

At the end of the first 36 holes, Woad, who finished 13th in the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, sat atop the leaderboard at 5-under 139. She was one of 35 players to make the cut, which fell at three-over 147, and advance to Saturday’s final round at Augusta National.

“I’m going to be excited to get going, excited to play the final round leading at Augusta National. It’s something not many people can say they’ve done, so I’m going to be excited,” she said. “I’m sure there will be some nerves. But I always say, when you’re nervous, it just means you care.”

Calm and Composed

Woad began the last round with a two-shot advantage over two Floridians – the 16-year-old Clemente and University of Florida senior Maisie Filler. With a final round 69, the eventual champion started the front nine with birdies on Nos. 2 and 7 and a bogey on the sixth hole.

Despite her heroics down the stretch on the back nine, Woad thought none of those efforts matched her par save on the 14th hole after her tee shot hit a tree.

“I felt like the three birdies I got were probably not as important as my par save on 14 because I think if I’d gone three back at that point, it would have been pretty difficult to get that back,” she said.

While she doesn’t consider herself a calm, composed person in general, she said she doesn’t get “too hyped up on the golf course.”

“If I’d been told before this week that I’d be two back with four to play, I would have been like, ‘Yeah, perfect. That sounds great,’” Woad said. “To be in the mix on the back nine at Augusta is something that everyone dreams about, so I was trying to really embrace it.”

Shoemaker, one of four former Drive, Chip and Putt national finalists to advance to Saturday play at Augusta National, felt like the final round was a good test to see how she would react under pressure. “It’s always good to put yourself in that position and see how you perform,” she said.

Woad joined four Masters champions – Art Wall Jr., Arnold Palmer, Mark O’Meara and Charl Schwartzel – to birdie Nos. 17 and 18 in the final round on their march to victory.

“I was hoping it was going to be like a nice stress-free day, but it was far from that,” she said. “In the end, it’s a cooler way to finish.”

By Betsy Gilliland

Dreams come true for junior golfers at the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals

When the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, the junior golf development competition featured hometown heroics and a double Texas twist.

Evans’ own Kipp Madison won the Boys 12-13 division, capturing the overall title in his age group by half a point over the second-place finisher.

“When I saw that I actually won here, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this can’t be real. I’m in a dream.’ I was just so excited,” Kipp said. “To win at Augusta is just a dream come true.”

The Texas two-step featured a victory in the Boys 10-11 division by a finalist named Texas Terry from Austin. Later in the day, the Drive, Chip and Putt finalists also got a glimpse from San Antonio of the good things that could await them in the future.

At the Valero Texas Open, 1,100 miles from Augusta National Golf Club, Akshay Bhatia became the first Drive, Chip and Putt alum to qualify for the Masters Tournament. He earned his inaugural spot in the Masters field by winning the PGA Tour event with a birdie on the first hole of a sudden death playoff.

Fifteen hours after arriving in Augusta from Texas, he acknowledged his feat at a Monday afternoon press conference.

“Being the first Drive, Chip and Putt participant in the Masters is really cool, so I’m hoping this can inspire a lot of kids that are having the opportunity to play,” said Bhatia, who also won the 2018 Junior Invitational at nearby Sage Valley Country Club in Graniteville, South Carolina.

Solid Shots

No doubt, Bhatia inspired the 40 finalists in the Boys’ divisions to earn their way back to Augusta for more.

“It’s already a win getting to this place,” said Texas, who won the driving phase of the event and finished third in chipping and putting. “Just to win it means even more, and I’m so excited to bring it back home to Texas.”

Kipp had to overcome a poor drive that went out of bounds on his first attempt. Fortunately, the better of the competitors’ two drives is used for their score, and his second drive of 252.2 yards was good enough for second place in that discipline.

“I hit one drive out, but I hit five solid, good shots,” said Kipp, who came in first in chipping. “You just need to be positive even when you hit a bad shot because you can hit one bad shot and think, ‘There’s no way I can make it now.’ You can always make it. You might just have to a do little bit better on other shots and just let the ball get to the hole.”

In the Boys 14-15 division, Connor Holden of Canby, Oregon, kicked off the day with a 276-yard drive, followed by a chip that landed within a foot of the hole, to win the overall trophy.

“For driving, I was really working on just hitting it straight, and not necessarily distance-wise. Just finding the fairway is the important part of this,” he said.

Parker Tang of Buckeye, Arizona, won the Boys 7-9 age group with consistency. He finished second in driving and fourth in chipping and sank his 15-foot putt to come in second in putting.

“I knew what I had to do and picked a line on the ball, and I made it,” he said of the 15 footer.

Hard Word and Perseverance

Nine players in last year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur field were past Drive, Chip and Putt national finalists, including two age division champions – Yana Wilson and Kelly Xu. Many of the 2024 Girls finalists had aspirations to follow in their footsteps one day as well.

Girls 7-9 division winner Madison Pyatt of Eureka, Missouri, said she hopes to play in the Women’s Amateur in the future. Placing first in driving and tying for third in chipping, she said her younger sister kept her calm by making funny faces at her.

“I’ve been practicing so hard for two years, and now the hard work has finally paid off,” said Madison.

Noting that some of the ANWA competitors were not much older than her, Girls 15-16 division winner McKenna Nelson of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin hoped to qualify for the amateur tournament sooner rather than later. Competing in the national finals for the second time, she said her previous experience helped her last year.

“I was really nervous the first time, and now I feel like I can just have fun and try to enjoy it as much as I can. I knew better how my chips and putts rolled out, which is probably helpful,” said McKenna, who finished second in driving and putting.

Also making her second DCP Finals appearance, Lily Wachter of St. Augustine, Florida took the Girls 10-11 overall championship with first place finishes in driving and chipping.

“This year I fixed my mistakes and just kept calm,” said Lily, who got 2024 ANWA champion Lottie Woad’s autograph on her hat. “I took four deep breaths and just thought about myself and not the other competitors.”

Karis Reid of Carmel, Indiana won the Girls 12-13 division by eight points, finishing first in driving and chipping. She tried to qualify for the finals for six years.

“It was just such a great experience,” she said. “It just feels great to be able to say I won at Augusta National.”

This year the National Finals will be held on Sunday, April 6, and the field will include Appling resident Colton Johnson in the Boys 12-13 Division.

In addition, six of the 80 competitors are repeat finalists including 2018 national champion Ella June Hannant and Alexandra Phung, who is a 2023 national champion and 2019 and 2022 national finalist. The junior golfers represent 28 states, two Canadian provinces and India.

Local qualifying for the 2026 Drive Chip and Putt will begin in May at 357 sites nationwide and will continue throughout the summer. For more information, visit DriveChipandPutt.com or DCP social media.

By Betsy Gilliland

Local golf pros share their picks for Masters glory – or heartache.
Whether they used their heads or their hearts to predict the winner of this year’s Masters Tournament, our favorite local golf pros brought their A game to the task.

Those who picked with their heads believe that Scottie Scheffler will add a third green jacket to his collection. Those who picked with their hearts think this is the year that Rory McIlroy will break through with a Masters victory to complete the career grand slam. While either player is a fine choice, plenty of other worthy golfers in the field hope to have something to say about the outcome.

We’ll see if the tournament favorites prove our experts right or if another golfer writes himself into the major championship history books.

Ted Lehmann
Teaching Instructor and PGA Professional, West Lake Country Club
(This is Ted’s first year participating in our poll.)
2025 Masters Champion: Scottie Scheffler. He is by far the best iron player on the PGA Tour.

Dark Horse: Hideki Matsuyama. He’s also a phenomenal iron player.

Low Newcomer: Joe Highsmith. He’s got a hot hand right now, and he showed a lot of moxie when he won his first tournament.

Low Senior: Angel Cabrera. He hits it far for his age.

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Shockingly, Rory McIlroy. Even though he’s the best driver of the ball, he has issues with his iron game.

Toughest Hole: No. 11. Or any hole on Sunday when you have the lead.

Pivotal Hole: No. 11

Highest 18-Hole Score: 85

Highest Score on One Hole: 9, without a doubt.

Chip Deason
Director of Golf/Head Golf Professional, Bartram Trail Golf Club
(This is Chip’s first year participating in our poll.)
2025 Masters Champion: I’m not going to go against Scottie Scheffler. He’s too good. I think he’s going to break Jack’s record one day.

Dark Horse: I don’t know if he’s a dark horse, but I’m going to pick Rory. He needs it to complete the grand slam, and he’s running out of time.

Low Newcomer: There are a lot of good names that have never played the Masters. I’m going to say Thomas Detry. He’s a pretty seasoned player.

Low Senior: Bernhard Langer. This is his last Masters. I hope he can give it one last good shot.

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Tyrrell Hatton

Toughest Hole: Nobody really knows what the course will be like after the hurricane. I’m going to go with No. 6.

Pivotal Hole: No. 15. I think it’s going to be a tight Masters. There are eagle/double bogey opportunities on that hole.

Highest 18-Hole Score: 80

Highest Score on One Hole: 9

Spike Kelley
General Manager and Golf Professional, Goshen Plantation Golf Club
(Spike’s correct 2024 predictions: Low Newcomer, Toughest Hole)
2025 Masters Champion: Rory McIlroy. He’ll win it one day.

Dark Horse: Ludvig Åberg

Low Newcomer: Rasmus Hojgaard. Is that the obvious name?

Low Senior: I’ll go with Vijay Singh.

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Wyndham Clark

Toughest Hole: I’ll go with No. 11.

Pivotal Hole: I would say No. 15.

Highest 18-Hole Score: 84

Highest Score on One Hole: 8

Tommy Brannen
Head Golf Professional, Augusta Country Club
(Tommy’s correct 2024 predictions: Toughest Hole)
2025 Masters Champion: Ludvig Åberg

Dark Horse: Davis Thompson

Low Newcomer: Thomas Detry

Low Senior: Fred Couples

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Tommy Fleetwood

Toughest Hole: No. 11

Pivotal Hole: No. 13

Highest 18-Hole Score: 84

Highest Score on One Hole: 8

Tyler Powers
Golf Shop Manager, Hickory Knob State Park Golf Course
(Tyler’s correct 2024 predictions: Tyler needs a mulligan on last year’s picks.)
2025 Masters Champion: Who is going to win the Masters? I want to see Rory McIlroy win it, so I’ll pick him.

Dark Horse: Justin Thomas. He should play well.

Low Newcomer: Thomas Detry

Low Senior: Freddie Couples

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Tyrrell Hatton

Toughest Hole: No. 12

Pivotal Hole: No. 15

Highest 18-Hole Score: 79

Highest Score on One Hole: 8

Chris Verdery
Director of Golf, The River Golf Club
(Chris’ correct 2024 predictions: Low Senior, Highest Score on One Hole)
2025 Masters Champion: I don’t want to pick Scheffler, even though that’s who I would pick if I wanted to win $1 million. (pause) Give me Scottie, I guess.

Dark Horse: I’ll go with Ludvig Åberg.

Low Newcomer: Maverick McNealy. I like him.

Low Senior: I’ll take Angel Cabrera. Why not?

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Wyndham Clark

Toughest Hole: No. 5

Pivotal Hole: No. 12. There’s a lot of danger lurking.

Highest 18-Hole Score: 79

Highest Score on One Hole: 9

Al Holloway
General Manager, Rocky Branch Golf Course
(This is Al’s first year participating in our poll.)
2025 Masters Champion: I think they’re going to have to beat Scottie Scheffler to win it.

Dark Horse: There are so many young players right now, but I’m going to go with Rory McIlroy. He’s my sleeper.

Low Newcomer: Gotta have a good putter. I’ll say the left-hander, Joe Highsmith.

Low Senior: Bernhard Langer

Highest-Ranked Player to Miss the Cut: Russell Henley

Toughest Hole: No. 11

Pivotal Hole: No. 12

Highest 18-Hole Score: 79

Highest Score on One Hole: 13