The 86th Masters Tournament begins Thursday at Augusta National. The GolfChannel.com writers weigh in with their predictions.
How will Tiger fare?
Rex Hoggard: 72 holes. Let’s be honest, just having the five-time Masters champion on property this week is a victory and based on his practice this week, he didn’t show up to go through the ceremonial motions. But it’s been nearly a year and a half since he played an official event and despite his record at Augusta National, it’s hard to imagine anything better than a top-30 finish.
Ryan Lavner: It’d be a surprise if he didn’t contend. That’s Tiger’s expectation, at least. He doesn’t do anything ceremonial. Clearly, in practice at home in South Florida and here at Augusta National, he has seen enough in his game that tells him he still has the goods. The only question is how he will hold up over 72 holes; will he still be able to drive off that rebuilt right leg over the weekend? The belief here is that he’ll finish inside the top 15.
Brentley Romine: What else was Woods going to say when asked if he could win this week? Swing-wise, he looks like a man who can compete, and so far, he’s managing to handle the walk. But how will the swing and game hold up once he starts playing 18-hole competitive rounds on Thursday? That’s the question, and if Woods makes the cut, I have a hard time believing he’ll be anywhere close to the lead come Sunday afternoon. A top-30 finish seems like a win this year.
Rex Hoggard: Scottie Scheffler. Based on the list of winners on the PGA Tour this year, the 86th Masters has the look and feel of a free-for-all with no shortage of possible contenders. But Scheffler’s play in 2022 is impossible to ignore. In the last two months, he’s won a spirited playoff at the WM Phoenix Open, a wild and windy final day at Bay Hill and a marathon at the WGC-Match Play. The hottest player in the game is impossible to overlook.
Ryan Lavner: Brooks Koepka. Prior to last year’s injury-riddled missed cut here, Koepka had posted 10 consecutive sub-par rounds at Augusta, including a tie for second in 2019 that he’d dearly love to avenge. When the wind kicks up during the second and third rounds, he has the scrambling chops, course-management smarts and unflappable demeanor to thrive. It’s time for major No. 5.
Brentley Romine: Dustin Johnson. Coming off a so-so year, which included an early exit from Augusta National last April, Johnson enters the Masters with little fanfare. Truth is, though, he has an excellent record here in recent years, and I just have a gut feeling that he proves he has what it takes to win here in the spring and not just the fall.
Can Rahm find his putting stroke at Masters?
Who contends, but no jacket?
Rex Hoggard: Jon Rahm. He recently lost the top spot in the world ranking despite a solid-if-not-spectacular year, and it will be a familiar story this week at Augusta National, where he has finished inside the top 10 the last four years. The Spaniard will have another solid week, but it won’t be good enough to break through.
Ryan Lavner: Jon Rahm. He might not be the world No. 1 anymore, but he’s arguably the most complete player in the game and he’s striking it the best of his career. Some of his well-documented short-game woes are a bit overblown given the smallish sample size – it’s not like he suddenly developed the yips. He has the variety of shots and imagination required to notch his fifth consecutive top-10 here.
Brentley Romine: Russell Henley. He currently leads the PGA Tour in strokes gained: approach, and while this is his first appearance at Augusta National since 2018, he also tied for 15th that year, a year after he shared 11th. He’s also sneaky elite around the greens, which makes for a potent combo here.
Who will most disappoint?
Rex Hoggard: Brooks Koepka. It’s major championship season, which means Koepka is back, but after a slow start to 2022 it’s difficult to imagine such a dramatic turnaround. Although he’s played well at Augusta National in the past, his ball-striking is still lagging (he’s 107th on the PGA Tour this season in strokes gained: approach to the green) and he hasn’t been particularly sharp around the greens. It’s a bad combination, even for a player with a history of peaking at the majors.
Ryan Lavner: Rory McIlroy. Slow starts in particular have been his issue at Augusta, with just a single opening round in the 60s since 2011. But of late his scuffling iron play has been a larger problem; statistically, this is the worst approach-play performance of his career. Distance control and proximity are of paramount importance at the Masters, where five of the last seven winners have been top 5 that week in strokes-gained approach. Right now, he’s just not sharp enough in that department.
Brentley Romine: Jordan Spieth. He’s a horse for this course, but the putting stats are concerning. I’m predicting something more along the lines of his T-21 in 2019, and considering his Masters record, which includes a win in 2015 and four other top-3 finishes, that would be a poor week by his standards.
EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
