This is by a long shot my favourite week of the year….. Masters week!
When you combine the opportunity to watch the best players in the world go head to head for one of the games most prestigious of prizes, alongside the fact that this year we’ve a got a guilt free excuse to devour a few Easter eggs whilst watching the final round, that all sounds to me like we’ve got a brilliant few days ahead of us!
Needless to say, there are ample talking points approaching this exciting weeks action
It’s such a testament to the phenomenal level of golf that we’ve been privileged to watch in 2023 from the big three at the moment in Rory, Scottie and Rahm, that the golfing media (in comparison at least to the usual hype) has been relatively quiet about the fact that a certain Tiger Woods will be teeing it up trying to claim his 6th green jacket. History shows that experience tends to go an awfully long way towards achieving success around Augusta, thus Tiger always has to be in the conversation. However, in his press conference this week by his own admission despite claiming that his game is in better shape than this time last year when he made the cut, he has expressed that his leg is aching more this time around. A worrying statement to hear for all TW fans across the globe. From an optimistic perspective though, Tiger has received the best possible tee time draw he could have hoped for in the opening rounds which will see him tee off early Thursday and late Friday. Thus, giving Tiger maximum recovery time in between rounds. The alternative quick turnaround in the form of a late Thursday, early Friday combination on one of the toughest walks in all of golf, would be less than ideal for someone with as much discomfort in their lower half as Tiger.
I truly believe this is Rory’s best chance in quite some time to carve his name into the history books and complete the so far elusive career grand slam. From the outside looking in, Rory certainly seems to be acknowledging this too as he’s brought in the help of world renowned sports psychologist Dr. Bob Rotella this week at Augusta to try and stack the cards in his favour and give himself every chance. I have studied all of Rotella’s books and was fortunate to meet him in person a number of years ago at one of his seminars (pic attached below, back at a time long ago when I knew what a gillette razor looked like). The message I would imagine from Rotella to Rory this week will be a simplistic but absolutely vital one, in emphasising the need of staying in the present, focusing on one shot at a time. Although easier said than done, if Rory can implement this mental strategy, he will allow himself to freewheel by getting out of his own way and produce performances similar to that of his final round in 2022.
Rory has been working with Rotella for a few years now, but he’ll be hoping that having flown the mental game guru in for the week, that it may just give him the competitive edge he’ll need to get over the line. Rory is playing some obviously fantastic golf at the moment. He’s resolved his driver issues with the alteration of cutting down the length of the shaft prior to the WGC Dell Matchplay event, which seen him drive the ball like a god. Or at least like Happy Gilmore, as we seen Rory smoke drives over 400 yards and almost have a hole in one on a par 4!
As has been well covered by the golfing media, Rory has changed putters and introduced a Scotty Cameron into his bag. This will need to be hot for Rory to fulfil what we all know he is capable of achieving this week. However, the real thing Rors needs to go his way is to avoid putting himself too far off the pace after round 1 which has been the unfortunate trend in recent years in Georgia for the Northern Irishman.
There have only been three player’s in history (Nicklaus, Faldo & Woods) that have managed to secure back to back victories around Augusta. But with the form world no.1 Scheffler is in right now you wouldn’t put it past him to become the fourth player to do so and put himself in quite the exclusive group. As we all know experience around Augusta counts for so much. Combine the form he’s in with the fact that he’s got a caddy in Ted Scott who can brag that he’s looped for 3 wins around there previously (Bubba Watson on two occasions before joining team Scottie) this makes the sound of becoming only the 4th player ever to achieve such a feat, slightly less daunting of a task.
Jon Rahm started the year in near invincible style ascending to the number 1 position atop the world rankings in no time in the process of collecting 3 victories on the PGA Tour. In addition to his blistering success at the start of 2023, it’s well known that the Spanish are pretty comfortable with the colour green in their wardrobe. Rahm will of course be more than keen to replicate the triumphs at Augusta of his legendary countrymen in Olazabel, Seve and Garcia. Given the Spanish tradition of securing a green jacket and his current form, things all seem to bode well for Rahmbo’s chances this week. However, what concerns me a little is the TV reports that he is attempting to change from his customary, reliable fade, to that of a draw for this week. There are certainly holes at Augusta that favour a right to left shape, but trying to engrain a technique change during a tournament week can be quite the gamble. But in saying that, for as tough of a competitor as Jon is, you would be naïve to doubt him finding a way to figure it out in time and get the job done.
My pick to watch out for outside of the obvious big three, would be Jason Day. The guy just loves Augusta, he’s contended multiple times with his best finish to date being a tie for second place.
Jason has undergone a significant swing overhaul under the watchful eye of his coach Chris Como which now has him swinging with a much less restricted hip turn during his backswing. The goal of their partnership when they first teamed up in 2020 was to develop a new movement pattern that would allow Day to swing injury free and protect his lower back which had caused him so much grief. Jason now looks to be swinging it as good as he ever has in my opinion. And the results as of late are trending towards backing that up. The Aussie looks to be closing in on returning to the form that previously enabled him in hoisting the PGA Wannamaker trophy in 2015, The Players Championship trophy at TPC Sawgrass in 2016 and sitting at world no.1 for a total of 51 weeks. Oh, and by the way he also just so happens to be coming off the back of 6 top 10 finishes in his last 7 events on the PGA Tour.
Jason’s story is a remarkable journey of beating the odds and overcoming incredible adversities throughout his entire life. (If you’d like to learn more about his inspiring journey, this video in the link attached although a few years old, provides some very moving insights. One of the best short videos I’ve seen detailing any athletes route to achieving success:
I would not put it past him in the slightest to be making the winners speech come Sunday evening.
With all that said, I can’t wait for the golf to kickstart in only a few hours time from now.
If the golf bug has re-bitten you this week with all the hype surrounding the first major championship of the year, then you may fancy some help getting your game in shape ahead of the fast approaching season.
Are you thinking seriously about improving your game? Do you wish to receive as close to instant feedback on your practice sessions as possible to accelerate your development process? Contact Seán.
In-Person coaching is provided at The SMG Studio (Kilcock), The Halpenny Golf Driving Range (beside Dublin airport) and Online Coaching via Skillest as per links below:
Seán Marks PGA Professional
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