2026 Masters

Could Rory go back to back?

Well, he sure dominated the shit out of the first two days at Augusta, holding the largest lead ever after the 2nd round. He was nothing special on day three, still in the lead but with the peloton coming in his rearview. On Sunday, Rory (like last year) fumbled early and the lead was gone almost instantly; but (like last year) he settled in and played a competent, if rather vanilla front 9.  He was back to the top of the totem pole fairly quickly and even though there were nips at his heels, he clamped down on the back 9 (unlike last year, when he stumbled badly across the midway point, only to rally into a playoff). There was action all day Sunday, plenty to keep an eye on, but looking back on it, Rory was pretty comfortable for the last 2 hours of this match. 

Rory did indeed dominate Thursday and Friday, I think it's notable that none of the dudes that spent on time on the leaderboard with Rory, managed to catch on Saturday or Sunday. Burns and Reed hung around and finished well, but don't remember either of them on Sunday. 

Sunday was Scheffler, Rose, Young, Hatton, Henley, Morakawa, Schauffle and Spieth.  

Scottie Scheffler was pretty good on Thursday, not so good on Friday and then killed it Saturday and Sunday to end up in 2nd (though I don't recall him ever in first at any point). Felt like Scheffler wasn't up for it this year, but that's just how damn good he is that this looked like he was sucking. This dude is one of the all time great ballers I've ever seen, he's as cool and ready to win and play to the end m'f'ers I've ever seen. Feels weird to anoint him this quickly and I'm by no means some huge golf guy, but I've been watching it since I was a kid, I've seen all the golfers. Tiger was the flat out most winningest dude I ever saw and though Scheffler isn't quite the unstoppable robot that prime Tiger was, but he also doesn't malfunction the way Tiger would from time to time. He's going to end up with a ton of top 5 finishes at Majors, I'm guessing.

Justin Rose was steady good all the way through, killed in on the front 9 on Sunday, then bogeyed 11 and 12 and it zapped him, he just wasn't the same down the stretch. Had a hell of a tournament, he was good all four days, just needed to be a little better at the end, he might've stolen himself a jacket. 

I don't even know who Cam Young is, but he was pretty fascinating on Sunday, some crazy ups and downs for that guy.  

Tyrell Hatton was up and down: great on Friday and Sunday, mediocre on Thursday and Saturday. He hit some great shots, all good on Sunday, just couldn't catch Rory's lead. 

Russell Henley went nuts on Saturday and Sunday, never got high enough up the leaderboard to catch my eye, he was a late riser. Good finish. 

Morakawa, Schauffle and Spieth were sneaky fun to watch on Sunday, nice highlights.  

I like Rory, I'm not enough of a golf nerd to really get into the weeds of the fanboy subcultures around these players (punk rock had rabbit holes, I'm sure the PGA Tour does, too), but Rory seems like an okay joe to me. Hell of a shooter in his youth, wandered in the wilderness for a bit and is now firmly back at the top of the mountain. Joins Nicklaus, Faldo, and Tiger as the only back to back winners at the Masters. Good for him, he deserves to be remembered with the all-timers.