As is typical, Golf Channel commentators Brandel Chamblee, Rich Lerner, and Paul McGinley waxed poetic when they talked about The Masters in a conference call with media members this week.
“There’s an anticipation of just the panoramic beauty of the place,” Chamblee said. “It’s also a terrific homage to somebody who I don’t think it’s possible to overstate their importance in the game, which is Bobby Jones.”
As the call progressed, the trio eventually moved on to what most of us wanted to know: Who will win the green jacket this year?
“If Rory [McIlroy] does win, I think this Masters would be in the same historical neighborhood as 1986, 1997, and 2019,” Lerner noted. “Rory would be, in my estimation, the first true legend of the post-Tiger Woods era, becoming the sixth to have won a career Grand Slam.”
Well, that's a bold statement, isn't it?
Lerner mentioned those years for historical reasons. In 1986, Jack Nicklaus won his 18th and final major at age 46. In 1997, Tiger Woods won his first major. And in 2019, Woods won his 15th and likely final major.
Lerner added that should Scottie Scheffler win, he would be just the second player to win three Masters titles in a four-year span, the other being Nicklaus (1963, 1965, 1966).
But Chamblee wasn’t about to hand McIlroy the green jacket, far from it. He pointed out that typically, it’s the one place where Rory usually underperforms.
“It is his nemesis. It brings out the worst golf in Rory, annually, that we see almost every year,” he noted. “He hits on average about 42 greens, and on average, the winner hits about 52 greens.”
But he does think the switch to a softer ball gives McIlroy a better chance. However, Chamblee says two stats will determine the winner: strokes gained approach and strokes gained around the green.
“Combine those numbers, and you can pretty much get a great handle on who’s got the best chance to win,” he added. “Combining those numbers, Shane Lowry leads the field.”
So much for the rest of the favorites, such as Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, and Justin Thomas. And not a single one of them mentioned Jordan Spieth.
McGinley wanted to look at the big picture of golf on the world stage. Instead of focusing on social media stars and LIV Golf players and so forth, he thinks that Augusta National and The Masters bring everyone back in time to real tradition.
“Everything is impeccable,” he said, “whether it’s the condition of the golf course, whether it’s the history of the tournament played on the same course every year, whether it’s the dress codes, the code of behavior.”
He called it a great contrast under the golf umbrella between some of the craziness in golf today and Masters history.
McGinley, who is astute when it comes to the analysis of players as well as the game, pointed out that perhaps this year, all the stars may be aligned for McIlroy, at last, whether his game is 100% perfect or not.
“The guys you would expect to be really challenging here, are slightly off their game,” he began.
While he noted that Scheffler was still the player to beat, he asked whether Scottie's first victory after coming back from his hand injury (the great kitchen debacle) is likely to be at Augusta. Because of that, McGinley said he’s not quite the threat he was last year at this time.
Morikawa, McGinley felt, not winning at the Arnold Palmer Invitational after holding a late lead, showed he isn’t in top form. Of course, that was more than a month ago. Schauffele, McGinley called “trending,” but not quite there due to injury.
As far as some of the LIV Golf guys go, Jon Rahm hasn’t yet won on the Saudi-backed series, and Bryson DeChambeau, he pointed out, isn't playing his best golf right now.
In other words, according to McGinley, the door has been opened wide for Rory McIlroy in 2025. But can the world No. 2 tiptoe through next week without any slip-ups?
Just as with any golfer who is successful at Augusta National, McIlroy is going to have to boil the week down to the golf shots he needs to hit, realize he can hit them and somehow reduce the internal and external pressure that is on him next week.
“We can tip our caps to what Rory is trying to do,” Chamblee added. “He’s one of 12 players that has won three of the four legs of the modern career Grand Slam.”
Whoever emerges victorious will have faced a tough challenge from first tee shot to last putt.
“This is a golf course of constant adjustment. There’s almost no stock shot that you’ll get at Augusta National,” Chamblee insisted.
Whether McIlroy reaches golf immortality with the career Grand Slam or Scheffler joins Jack with three titles in four years, it will, as always, be an exciting four days at Augusta National.