sport news Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are favorites to win the Masters... but who ... trends now

Scottie Scheffler is the overwhelming favorite to win the Masters this week. 

That comes as no surprise considering how dominant he's been on the PGA Tour this season. Having struggled with his putting last season, things seem to have clicked for the world No 1, who has returned and is firing hot. 

In the last two months, Scheffler has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and picked up his second successive victory at the Players Championship - no mean feat considering the caliber of opposition he has been up against. 

Admittedly, it is hard to look past the American as he aims to repeat his feats of 2022 and add another Green Jacket to his wardrobe. But he comes up against a field that is jam-packed with huge talent, including three other big favorites, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka.

The Northern Irishman is out to end his long wait to claim a coveted Green Jacket in what will be his 16th appearance at the Masters as a professional and his 10th attempt to win the career grand slam. He came agonizingly close to completing that feat in 2022, finishing second in the field only to be bested by Scheffler. 

Defending champion Rahm returns to Augusta for the first time since winning in 2023 and joining LIV Golf. Rahm, who has three top-10 finishes in four appearances on the breakaway circuit this season, was taken the distance by fellow LIV player, Koepka, last April. 

The American, meanwhile, is on the hunt to also win the career grand slam and only needs to win at Augusta and at the Open Championship to join an illustrious group of names to complete the feat.  

One of the most fascinating things about the Masters is that over the years, we can never truly predict who will win, with the tournament throwing up a few surprise winners in the past.

Some of those names have included Mike Weir, whose sensational display in 2003 saw him become the first left-handed player to win the Green Jacket.

Danny Willett's triumph in 2016 is another of the most notable victories, with the Englishman rising through the field to claim victory - despite never winning a regular season event on the PGA Tour. 

Everyone loves an underdog, right? So as we prepare to watch the world's greatest players battle it out on Augusta National's hallowed turf, Mail Sport has taken a deep dive into ten outsiders who could be in with a chance of winning the coveted Green Jacket.

Xander Schauffele 

The Olympic champion will have one eye on retaining his gold medal at Paris 2024 later this year. But first comes the Masters, and if Schauffele can continue playing how he has been this season he stands a very, very good chance of picking up his first major title. 

Outside of Scheffler, Koepka, McIlroy and Rahm, the 30-year-old is perhaps the next big favorite to win this week and there's a reason why. 

He has five top-10 finishes on the tour this season, and while he hasn't claimed victory yet, he's come very close - most notably finishing second, one shot back from Scheffler at the Players Championship. He comes into the week off the back of a T5 finish at the Valspar Championship and a T4 at the Genesis Invitational in February. 

But for the stats experts among us, it's his numbers so far this season that are the most intriguing. He's second on the PGA Tour for strokes gained in total and 12th for greens in regulation (GIR). 

Why is this pertinent? Well, previous Masters champions of years gone by have generally had a high GIR percentage - typically of just under 70 per cent. Schauffele is one of the best ball strikers on the tour and he can utilise his approach play to help him navigate Augusta's winding fairways. 

Perhaps the only thing that has let him down recently is his putting, but if he can get his flat stick firing this week he is definitely one player who can challenge for the Green Jacket. 

Ludvig Aberg 

It was just over 10 months ago that Ludvig Aberg was wrapping up his collegiate career at Texas Tech University. Since then, the 24-year-old Swede has taken the golfing world by storm and is primed to make his first professional start at the Masters. 

His rise to the top has been nothing short of monumental. Aberg's performances in the Ryder Cup showed that he has a cool head on young shoulders. And with the club in hand, he is accurate, astute and is also one of the best wedge players on tour. 

This season he has quietly been going about his craft, finishing as a runner-up to Wyndham Clark at the weather-affected AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am - one shot off the lead. Had the tournament not been cut short early due to rain delays, he could have been in the mix to claim victory in California. He has since followed that up with a T8 finish at the Players. 

While he will be one of the less experienced players in the field this week, he has already shown he's a man for the big occasion, recently admitting that he welcomes the pressures that come with professional golf. 

'I'm always going to have very high expectations of myself, that's not going to change,' he said to the "Golf Channel after the Players. 

'But I think being OK with having a lot coming at you at the same time and being OK with being a little bit overwhelmed at times has been key for me.'

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Wyndham Clark 

Since claiming his first major at the US Open last year, Clark has only gone from strength to strength and is one player who should be on everyone's radar at the Masters. 

Like Aberg, this will also be his first appearance at the Masters, but he comes into the week after a brilliant start

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