AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) -Five storylines to follow as the best players in the world descend upon Augusta National Golf Club this week for the April 10-13 Masters.
SCHEFFLER SEEKS RARE REPEAT
World number one Scottie Scheffler, whose season debut was delayed by about a month after needing hand surgery following a cooking accident, returns to Augusta National looking to become the fourth player to retain a Masters title.
Scheffler entered the final round last year leading by one shot and fired a four-under-par 68 that gave him a four-shot victory over Swede Ludvig Aberg.
No player has won the Masters in consecutive years since Tiger Woods in 2001-02 and before that only Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) have pulled off the Augusta double.
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MCILROY’S GRAND SLAM BID
Rory McIlroy has a chance this week to complete the career Grand Slam of winning golf’s four major championships but will need to overcome an Augusta National layout that has been the site of several frustrating moments for the Northern Irishman.
McIlroy has been in contention several times at the Masters but seems to be hampered by one poor round each week, most memorably in 2011 when he began the final round with a four-shot lead but endured a harrowing back-nine collapse.
For McIlroy, who counts The Players Championship among his two wins this year, winning the Masters would put him in elite company with Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods as the only men to achieve a career Grand Slam.
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LIV CONTINGENT
The Masters is one of four times each year the game’s top players get to compete against one another amid the ongoing divide in the sport, and 12 players from the Saudi-backed LIV circuit will be at Augusta to battle the PGA Tour’s best.
Among the LIV players competing this week are fan favourite Bryson DeChambeau, five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, and past Masters champions Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson.
England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who finished in a share of ninth last year, 2022 British Open winner Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, who accepted a special invitation from Augusta National, round out the LIV contingent.
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RETURN OF CABRERA
Argentine Angel Cabrera, who as a former Masters champion has a lifetime exemption into the major, is set to compete at Augusta National for the first time since serving a 30-month prison sentence for domestic abuse.
The 55-year-old Cabrera, a two-time major winner, missed the cut in his last Masters appearance in 2019, skipped the next two during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and was unable to play last year due to visa issues.
Cabrera won the 2009 Masters in a playoff over Kenny Perry and Chad Campbell to become the first South American to win the tournament.
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SEEING DOUBLE?
Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard and Rasmus Hojgaard are set to become the first twins to compete in the same Masters tournament when they tee off in Thursday’s opening round.
Rasmus, who qualified via the top 50 on the 2024 year-end world ranking, will be making his Masters debut while Nicolai makes his second start after receiving a special invitation into the year’s first major.
In 2024, Nicolai was inside the top six after each of the first three rounds and briefly led on Saturday before going on to finish in a share of 16th place.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Augusta, GeorgiaEditing by Toby Davis)
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