In a flash, the first major golf championship of the season is upon us. The 2023 Masters will welcome 88 players to the hallowed grounds of Augusta National Golf Club, all of whom have eyes on donning the green jacket by week's end. While some (Scottie Scheffler) may have a more realistic chance than others (Sandy Lyle), our aim here is to provide reason for you, the fan, to root for a number of golfers in the field.
Plenty has happened in the world of golf since the last playing of the Masters. Scheffler has relinquished and regained the world No. 1 ranking multiple times. Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm have experienced hot streaks both domestically and abroad. Cameron Smith arrives as the most recent major champion after his dramatic victory at the 150th Open at St. Andrews.
Max Homa, Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay headline the best players in the world without a major belt to their names. Jordan Spieth aims to break a major hiatus at the site of a major heartbreak in a similar manner to his good pal, Justin Thomas, who reigned victorious at the 2022 PGA Championship five years after his first.
All of this can be mentioned before we even address 15-time major champion Tiger Woods and six-time major champion Phil Mickelson. Woods has not been seen since making the cut at the 2022 Genesis Invitational in February, while Mickelson makes his return to Augusta National after forgoing last year's proceedings.
Below is an all-inclusive rooting guide for the 2023 Masters. Here's a look at the nine golf who stand out the most along their odds to win provided by Caesars Sportsbook.
Watch all four rounds of the 2023 Masters starting Thursday with Masters Live as we follow the best golfers in the world throughout Augusta National with Featured Groups, check in at the famed Amen Corner and see leaders round the turn on holes 15 & 16. Watch live on CBSSports.com, the CBS Sports App and Paramount+.
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| Five. That is the number of players who have successfully claimed the career grand slam in men's golf. Is it finally time for McIlroy to join Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen? This will be his ninth attempt at completing the task, and he enters Augusta in arguably the best form of his career. McIlroy is without a major championship since 2014 -- when Nicklaus projected upwards of 20 for him -- and he has often said his next will feel similar to his first. He has switched putters and implemented a new drift shaft -- both of which were in preparation for this tournament -- but it may ultimately come down to his play Thursday. Too many times McIlroy has played himself out of the tournament in Round 1. Should his name remain on the first page of the leaderboard after 18 holes, the chase will be on and as real as it has ever been. Odds: 17/2 | |
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| Three. That is the number of golfers who have become back-to-back Masters winners. With a victory, Scheffler would join Nicklaus, Woods and Nick Faldo as successful defenders of the green jacket. Having successfully defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open and nearly doing the same at both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and WGC-Dell Match Play, it is hard to imagine the world No. 1 doesn't at least give it a scare. He will host the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night and surely choke up on the emotions of returning to the scene of his major breakthrough. Scheffler has willingly embraced these emotions, and they could propel him to making even more history. Odds: 8-1 | |
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| Three. That is the number of Spanish Masters champions -- Sergio Garcia, José María Olazábal and Seve Ballesteros -- whom Rahm seeks to join with a victory. We are now two years removed from Rahm's lone major championship at the 2021 U.S. Open when he was at the peak of his powers and at a golf course where he has consistently dominated. He has sandwiched four top-10 finishes with a pair of T27 results in his six prior trips to Augusta National. Winning that second major championship has proved troublesome for many before him, but he is just too good to be stuck on one for much longer. Odds: 15/2 | |
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| Nine. That is the number of first-time major champions Augusta National has championed since 2011. That group of players include Spieth, Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama. Homa enters the Masters as the world No. 5 -- the highest mark of his career -- with all the tools to breakdown the major championship door. He has become a fan favorite for both his play and banter; even better, he has improved what was a rather poor major championship résumé in 2022. Odds: 22-1 | |
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| Zero. That is the number of previous Masters champions older than Woods' current age of 47. Nicklaus' final major championship of his career came here in 1986 at the ripe age of 46, and there is no doubt Woods will attempt to draw inspiration from that performance. The 15-time major champion is only four years removed from shocking the world on this golf course, and he aims to do it again. Woods entered the weekend within arm's reach of Scheffler in 2022 before a chilly, windy weekend got the better of him. He will be more prepared this time around and seriously believes he can slip on his sixth green jacket, which would pull him alongside Nicklaus for most ever. Odds: 55-1 | |
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| Eight. That is the number of years since Spieth's first and only green jacket. Despite a number of close calls -- namely his collapse in 2016 and near-miraculous comeback in 2019 (that damn tree branch on 18) -- Spieth arrives having missed the cut in the most recent Masters. This was on the heels of the 2021 Masters where he finished T3, three strokes behind Matsuyama despite ranking first in strokes gained tee to green (because he ranked 53rd out of 54 golfers in strokes gained putting). He percolated during the Florida Swing with near wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Valspar Championship, and Spieth's top-level play may come to a boil at Augusta should the putter cooperate. Odds: 13-1 | |
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| Two. That is the number of current PGA Tour players, McIlroy and Spieth, who have three of four career grand slam legs clinched. Morikawa would join them with a victory at the Masters and head home later this summer to The Los Angeles Country Club where a win at the 2023 U.S. Open would put him over the edge. Morikawa is without a victory on U.S. soil in two years (yes, really), but he arrives striking the ball as well as ever. Through 11 starts this season, the two-time major champion is averaging career-best strokes gained metrics off the tee, on approach and around the green. If he putts, Morikawa will be in green on Sunday (just not olive green). Odds: 22-1 | |
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| Four. That is the number of players (not named Tiger Woods) to win back-to-back majors since 2000. Woods accomplished the feat five such times, and should Smith do the same, he would join Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, McIlroy and Spieth having won The Open last summer. Augusta National has been the Australian's playground in recent years as it allows him to put his imagination at work. He fell short with an ill-advised tee shot on the par-3 12th in 2022 and finished runner-up to Dustin Johnson in 2020. Odds: 12-1 | |
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| One. That is the number of swings Schauffele wishes he could have back in his Masters career. The American smelled blood in the water during the 2021 Masters after Matsuyama found the drink on the 15th as Schauffele followed by rattling off four straight birdies. Sitting on the winning score of 10 under on the 16th tee, Scahuffele sunk his major championship chances with a triple-bogey six. His last missed cut came at this tournament in 2022, and he is flying disrespectfully under the radar as he continues to play consistently good golf. Odds: 18-1 | |
Who will win the Masters 2023, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected Masters leaderboard, all from the model that's nailed eight golf majors, including last year's Masters.
