Top five storylines heading into the 2023 Masters

The 2023 Masters begins on Thursday from Augusta, Georgia. Let’s take a look at the top five storylines heading into the first major of the year.

5) O Canada

For only the third time ever, there are four Canadians competing at Augusta. They are Corey Conners of Listowel, Ontario, Mike Weir of Sarnia, Ontario, Adam Svensson of Surrey, British Columbia, and Mackenzie Hughes of Hamilton, Ontario. There will be a significant amount of focus and attention on Conners, as he won the 2023 Valero Texas Open, the last PGA tournament before the first major of the season. Conners will also be playing with former major champions, Dustin Johnson of the United States and Justin Rose of England.

4) Can Jon Rahm bounce back?

Earlier on in the season, there was no hotter golfer in the world than Spain’s Jon Rahm. He won three times–the Tournament of Champions, The American Express and the Genesis Open. However, over his last two events, Rahm missed the cut at the Players Championship, and then failed to get out of his group at the World Matchplay Championship in Austin, Texas.

3) Intrigue in the Final Group

The final group of the 2023 Masters (2pm ET) should draw significant interest. It contains England’s Tommy Fleetwood, along with Americans Jordan Spieth and Tony Finau. Spieth has won the 2015 Masters, and finished in the top three on four other occasions.

2) What about Tiger?

We have to discuss the great Tiger Woods here. The 15-time major champion has won five Masters titles, and when healthy is very dangerous on the Augusta greens. The key phrase in the last sentence was “when healthy.” Who knows how long Tiger’s knee will hold up or if he will even be able to finish four rounds?

1) Rivalry between LIV and PGA Tour

There will be a magnificent rivalry between the LIV and PGA Tour this week. The best the PGA Tour has to offer are Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick, Sam Burns, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas. They will be up against Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann, and Abraham Ancer.