STUART BROAD: My pick to Master Augusta

THE MASTERS

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER 6/1
JON RAHM 9/1
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU 10/1
RORY MCILROY 11/1
XANDER SCHAUFFELE 12/1
LUDVIG ABERG 14/1
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How has it already been 12 months since that incredible Sunday evening, when two of the UK and Ireland’s favourite golfers went head-to-head across the pond in one of sport’s most famous settings? I’ve still not been able to admit to my mother, Justin Rose’s biggest fan, that I was in a position where I didn’t want him to win. I honestly couldn’t say that’s ever happened before, nor will it happen again. It was sport at its very best.

I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about The Masters and Augusta National Golf Club that resonates so strongly with the sporting public.

Is it the fact it’s played at the same course, filled with all of its amazing nuances and traditions, year after year? Or is it because we grew up watching it on terrestrial television, a rare glimpse of professional golf outside of The Open?

The coverage has only grown in recent years, and I can’t think of another golf tournament that grabs the attention quite like The Masters. It kick-starts the playing season for many of us hackers too – pro shops and clubhouses must begin their budgeting from Masters weekend in April.

I feel like I know every twist and turn of the Augusta greens better than I do my own course.

The broadcast quality is so good that the viewer feels like they know every hole better than their home club. I feel like I know every twist and turn of the Augusta greens better than I do my own course. The analysts and pundits guide us mere mortals through the challenges Augusta National presents, so you gain a real sense of just how difficult it is.

I look at golf – at any level, to some extent – as a combination of three elements:

• The course difficulty – the course itself, but also the pace of the greens.
• The conditions – wind direction and strength, rain, heat, humidity.
• The playing circumstances – whether it be gross / nett, matchplay, strokeplay, stableford, and whether you’re chasing a leader or defending a lead.

The Masters – whilst played on the same course – offers variety across each of these, day by day during the tournament. People often talk about having a ‘good draw’ – something you can clearly see at The Open Championship, where storms can roll in off the coast at any given moment. But similar subtle changes occur at Augusta, where shifts in the wind can force players to rip up their game plans in a matter of minutes.

The ghosts of Masters challenges scatter the back nine, perhaps more than at any other major championship. Four come to mind straight away.

• Greg Norman’s collapse in 1996, when he had a six-shot lead on the first tee over Sir Nick Faldo, only to surrender it in dramatic fashion and end up finishing five shots back.
• Famously Rory McIlroy in 2011, when the 21-year-old lost a four-shot final day lead by shooting 80 and finishing T15th.
• Jordan Spieth led by five in 2016 when he arrived on the par-3 12th hole, before hitting two in the water and taking a 7, letting Danny Willett in to take in the end a three-shot victory.
• Francesco Molinari in 2019, when he put two in Rae’s Creek, only for Tiger Woods to take advantage and stage a comeback of the ages to win.

The closest comparison in terms of aura, history, tradition and exclusivity, from a hallowed turf perspective, would be Lord’s.

It is perhaps the example of Rory McIlroy that makes his exploits last year even more impressive. The mental challenge and visual memories of what happened on his back nine in 2011 could easily have haunted him in 2025. Instead, 14 years on, it was the back nine where he seized back the momentum and ultimately proved victorious.

Those memories of 2011, I think, also pulled on the golfing public’s heartstrings, with many wanting to see him avenge what could have been a career-defining day as a young man. To banish those thoughts and come out on top says so much about his character.

I try to put Augusta National into context within the cricketing world, and it’s almost impossible to do. The closest comparison in terms of aura, history, tradition and exclusivity, from a hallowed turf perspective, would be Lord’s.

And if you then think of The Masters at Augusta National, it’s almost like an The Ashes Test at Lord’s. What is already an undeniably incredible venue becomes the focal point of British sport when an Ashes Test takes place there.

Those Test matches affect players in different ways. Take my idol Glenn McGrath, for example. He was an incredible performer all year round, don’t get me wrong. But at an Ashes Test at Lord’s, he would very rarely fail to be at the top of his game, using the conditions to suit him perfectly and disrupt England. And like The Masters, there are golfers – names like Chris DiMarco and Fred Couples spring to mind – whose records at Augusta consistently exceed their usual level.

An interesting comparison to McIlroy, and someone who conquered Lord’s after initially struggling, could be Andrew Flintoff. Flintoff – by his own admission – was overawed by the occasion in 2005, both with bat and ball. Lord’s can do that to anyone. But four years later, during the next Ashes series, he took a five-for on the final day to win England the Test match (on one leg) and help set up an iconic series victory.

These landmark venues create stories for the ages, and their histories continue to grow with every passing year. I can’t wait to see what 2026 brings to The Masters, and how it attempts to match the scenes of last year.

The guys at Fitzdares have given me a £500 charity free bet pot to use on a selection of the major sporting events of my choice.

After backing Rory last year, I fancy the runner-up 12 months ago to go one better this time around…

£250 Justin Rose @ 25/1
The Masters, 9th – 12th April

Stuart Broad is Fitzdares’ Ambassador.