The 84th Masters Tournament is finally here after a 7 month delay and it couldn’t come at a better time for golf enthusiasts.

With college football hammered this week by positive COVID tests postponing Alabama-LSU, maybe cancelled, Auburn-Mississippi State, Texas A&M -Tennessee and Georgia Missouri in the SEC and from what I’ve read, Vanderbilt-Kentucky could be on the brink as well, along with Ohio State @ Maryland being cancelled, thank you Augusta National and this historically phenomenal tournament for emerging at just the right time. There will still be some solid college football this weekend and it is hoped that Alabama-LSU will be rescheduled, but it does set the stage for a terrific “Tradition Unlike Any Other.”

And while we’ll miss out on DeVonta Smith, Mac Jones, Najee Harris, Bo Nix, Tank Bigsby and Seth Williams, among others, Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas are pretty outstanding replacements.

So let’s delve into this special edition of the Masters, some would say the greatest event in sports. I can’t definitively say that because The Iron Bowl, the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, the World Series and March Madness are highly comparable. But, this is Masters time this November, so the drama and brilliant intrigue of Augusta National with Moving Day on Saturday, and the epic back 9 on Sunday is beyond spectacular and compares very favorably to any of those other sensational events.

I was not buying at first that Bryson DeChambeau was changing the game, and I don’t see that story is far from complete. But his goal, with his 380 yard drives, he hit it 402 2 weeks ago on the practice range, is to overpower Augusta National, and has you thinking twice about that theory. I’m not totally bought in on that yet because the level of competition in golf at present is the best it’s EVER been. When you throw those names out that I did above, ALL of those guys are tough outs any day, especially at majors. But Bryson’s work at the 120th U.S. Open at Winged Foot in September, was surreal. He drove it a ton, was pinpoint accurate with his driver to boot, chipped well and putted superbly. If he does that here, he may be unstoppable. He’s the 8-1 favorite to win it. Dustin Johnson comes in at 17-2, and feels very good about his chances. His record over the last 6 weeks of the season was remarkable, so he looks like an unstoppable force as well as the 2019-20 Fed Ex Cup Champion. He finished tied for 2nd last week with Hideki at the Vivint Houston Open, 2 shots back of Carlos Ortiz, who shot -13. So there’s another one who will be there come Sunday. Jon Rahm is a 10-1, and has posted 2 holes in one this week, on the 4th on Monday and yesterday, in spectacular fashion, on 16. During practice rounds, the players try to skip their ball across the lake and onto the green on No. 16, which has seen its share of dramatic moments, Tiger Woods’ chip in in 2005 standing out the most in one of his 5 victories at Augusta. Rahm did that successfully, then the ball rolled a good 100 feet more, looked like it was going to stop at the top of the crest, but amazingly turned left and rolled into the cup. It was extraordinary. Rahm is a major factor. Justin Thomas comes in at 12-1, and he’s right there in major contention come Sunday. Rory, trying to win the career grand slam once again, he hasn’t won a major since the PGA Championship in 2014 at Valhalla in Louisville, is getting to the point, at 31 years old where he needs to step it up if he wants to be the 6th player to ever capture the career grand slam, which would be a phenomenal accomplishment. Xander Schauffele, who finished tied for 2nd last year, comes in at 14-1. Brooks Koepka who shot 65-65 at the Vivint Houston last weekend to finish tied for 5th, is at 16-1. Like Brooks’s chances at the 84th as well. Hideki Matsuyama and Patrick Cantlay are 25-1. Cantlay won the Zozo Championship in Vegas 3 weeks ago. Tony Finau, Bubba and Patrick Reed, Bubba and Reed both past champions, are 28-1. And PGA Champion Colin Morikawa is 30-1. Tiger comes in at 40-1, but I won’t count the 5 time winner out on this course ever. He just turns it up a level at the Masters. Phil is 200-1 though he is a 3 time champion. Another guy I expect to see right there on Sunday is 21-year old Matthew Wolff. The Wolfman had possession of the 54 hole lead at the Open in September only to falter a bit on Sunday, but more credit goes to Bryson for his spectacular play that day. I like Matthew’s chances as well.

It’s pretty soggy at Augusta right now as they’re getting a lot of rain. A soft course is in the offing for Thursday and Friday. There is 100% chance of rain on Thursday with light winds at 4. Friday-Sunday is a lot better. 78 Friday, mostly sunny, wind 8-10, Saturday 20% chance of rain, 71, wind 7. Sunday 78, 20% rain, wind 6. The wind will still be a factor on No.12, that thrilling par 3, where history has been made numerous times and winning aspirations extinguished, just ask Brooks, Francesco Molinari and Tony Finau, who all hit it in the water last April of 2019, while Tiger hit the green in his remarkable victory.

The TV schedule is Thursday-Friday 12-4:30 PM CT on ESPN. Saturday, 12-4 PM CT on CBS, and Sunday, 9 AM-2 PM CT on CBS. Little earlier finish on those days with daylight being a factor.

Looking for another Epic at Augusta National. With this unprecedented year, and the superstar field competing, this should be a Masters for the Ages.

Winner

I’m going to take the player who turned 26 years old yesterday and will aim to follow suit of fellow countrymen Seve Ballesteros, who won the 1980 and ‘83 Masters, Jose Maria Olazabal, who won in 1994 and ‘99, and Sergio Garcia, who is not playing due to COVID, and won in 2017. This guy is not only a stellar player, who won the Memorial this season, but he’s quite a golf historian, knows about all the great ones going back to Hogan and Nelson, even Bobby Jones and of course, Jack and Tiger. I’ll take the stud from Barrika, Basque Country, Spain. Give me the Rahminator.

Jon Rahm