Rory vs. Scottie, Masters threats, ANWA preview

The sixth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur kicks off Wednesday at Champions Retreat, just down the road from Augusta National. Three former champions — Lottie Woad (2024), Anna Davis (2022) and Tsubasa Kajitani (2021) — are in the field and looking to become the first two-time winners, and the stacked Stanford University women’s golf team will have six players in the field, led by five-time ANWA participant Megha Ganne. What pre-tourney storyline most has your attention?

Alan Bastable, executive editor (@alan_bastable): As a proud New Jerseyite, hard for me not to pull for Ganne, who hails from Holmdel, 30 minutes south of me. But I’m most intrigued by Rianne Malixi, who won both the U.S. Girls’ Junior Amateur and U.S. Women’s Am last summer (a feat accomplished only once before). If she can add the ANWA to her mantle, we’ll have to add a new term to the golf lexicon: the Malixi Slam.  

Sean Zak, senior writer (@sean_zak): Lottie Woad. Could we see the first title defense in this tournament? She’s by far the best women’s amateur right now — don’t forget her 10th-place finish at the Women’s Open last summer at St. Andrews — and I think we see her get it done again at Augusta. 

James Colgan, news and features editor (@jamescolgan26): Rachel Heck! We’ll be hearing from her for basically the first time since she gave up a life on the LPGA Tour in favor of life as a private equity analyst and Air Force trainee. She was once women’s golf’s biggest can’t-miss prospect. Where’s she at now? I can’t wait to find out.

TGL, the indoor simulator league backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, wrapped its debut season this week with Atlanta Drive GC knocking off New York GC in the two-night final. Ratings and reviews for the inaugural season largely were positive, but what’s one tweak you’d like to see for 2026?

Bastable: Gotta dial the tech. Too many shots this season left the pros looking bewildered. Also would like to see some fans filling those virtual grandstands. Oh, and why no mascots?! A Boston Common bullfrog hopping about the arena would make an immediate impact.   

Zak: Move mountains to get a Sofi satellite dome in Dallas so Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth can get involved. Do whatever you can do get them into Season 2. 

Colgan: Agreed, Zak! More stars! I want to commend the TGL for settling into itself really well as the season progressed. That was not guaranteed, and I thought the league found the right pitch of self-seriousness. Now comes the hard part: juicing the billing every single night.

LIV Golf heads to Miami this week for its first U.S. event of the season and fifth overall. With the Masters on deck the following week, which LIV player has the most potential to win the green jacket?

Bastable: It’s Bryson — and will be until further notice. But also hard to look past a guy who already has won twice this year: Joaquin Niemann. Also, Niemann’s Masters record has been trending: T40 (2021), T35 (2022), T16 (2023) and T22 (2024). Feels primed for his first Masters top-10 and maybe a green coat.

Zak: It’s Jon Rahm first, Brooks Koepka second and probably Cam Smith third. Bryson has piqued our interest at Augusta in recent memory, but something always seems to be just a little off with his approach there. Rahm is actually my pick to win, reminding the world of just how damn good he is.  

Colgan: You guys both gave the right answer. It’s Bryson, then it’s Rahm, then it’s Brooks.

It’s never too early to debate the Masters chances of Rory McIlroy, who already has won twice this year (Pebble and Players) and posted 65-65 on the weekend at the Texas Children’s Texas Open to finish T5. Prop bet time: World No. 2 McIlroy vs. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler…who ya got at ANGC?   

Bastable: Heart says Rory, soul says Rory, 99.946% of my being says Rory. But wallet says Scottie.    

Zak: I think the volatility of Rory’s game at times does not play well at Augusta. If they played this year’s Masters 10 times, I’d say they tie twice, Rory beats Scottie twice, and Scottie wins six times. No one has figured out that course (and golf, plainly) better than him. 

Colgan: Sometimes a helpful exercise in these instances is as follows: If I told you in two weeks we’d be talking about Scottie’s third Masters win or Rory’s first, which would be more surprising to you? The answer is clearly Scottie, but I think that has more to do with the golf course than the player. Give me a neutral site battle and it might be a dead-heat.

Bubba Watson raised some eyebrows this week when, in an interview with GOLF’s Sean Zak, he offered this ringing endorsement of Scheffler’s dominant 2024 season: “I know Tiger did some stuff in 2000, but Scottie’s year was the best we’ve ever seen. With all the talent around the world now playing, that was it.” What say you? Tiger 2000 vs. Scottie 2024: Which season was superior?

Bastable: Vijay Singh’s 2004 (nine wins, 18 top-10s) would like a word! But to the question at hand, I give the nod to Tiger’s 2000, because of how he won: more times than not by decimating fields. Of his nine wins, two were in playoffs. In his other seven winning weeks, he prevailed by an average of 6.57 shots. His overall strokes gained tally that year also was staggering: 3.83 compared to Scheffler’s 3.1 in 2024.  

Zak: LOL. I would normally blame myself for not interjecting when Bubba said this, but he volunteered it! I never asked him to compare the two. Unfortunately for him, he’s very wrong, and the Internet screamed about it all weekend in my mentions. We can also use the same measurement we often do with Player of the Year awards: Which season would Scottie Scheffler rather have — his 2024 or Tiger’s 3-major 2000? You know the answer to that one. 

Colgan: But Tiger in 2000 was playing against plumbers!!! He couldn’t hang with the athleticism of the modern NBA!

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Dave Pelz, one of the game’s preeminent instructors and inventors, died last weekend at 85. When you think of Pelz’s legacy, what comes to mind first?   

Bastable: I always appreciated Pelz’s highly scientific approach to the game. He didn’t leave much to chance and always pushed the envelope, be that with 60-degree wedges, 2-ball putters or determining whether golfers should putt/chip with the pin in. On that last matter Pelz proved way back in 1990 — in a GOLF Magazine cover story — that there was no doubt about the wisest strategy: leave the flag in. Our colleague David DeNunzio’s touching reminiscence of Pelz is well worth your time.

Zak: Just how Phil Mickelson, one of the greatest golfers ever, spent the majority of his career invoking Pelz’ name while working through shot selection. You would regularly hear Phil ask his caddies “Is this a full 9 or a Pelz eight?” If it wasn’t a full shot, Mickelson would take 10 yards off the stock shot and call it a “Pelz”. Not sure there’s anything cooler than that. 

Colgan: Twenty-one and twenty-two. The former, for the number of major championships his disciples won; the latter, for the number of times Pelz himself lost to Jack Nicklaus. You have to be pretty good at what you’re doing on a few fronts to earn either of those numbers.

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