It's Masters week, the unofficial start of golf season — at least for those of us in the northern parts of the country.
The Masters is the first major of the golf season and arguably the best. Augusta National is a special place — a visually stunning course that tests the mettle of the best players in the world. Augusta requires precision approach shots and a deft touch on pitches and chips. Its lightning-fast greens can make even the best putters in the world look like amateurs.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, won his first major at Augusta last year and is among the betting favorites this week, along with Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm.
As if the world's greatest golfers taking on arguably the world's greatest course wasn't enough, we get some extra spice with some of the prodigal sons of the LIV Tour joining their former colleagues in this week's field. Players in the Saudi-backed LIV Tour have been banned from playing in PGA Tour events, but they are welcome at Augusta, which means we'll see former Masters champs Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Phil Mickelson.