The 2024 Masters: Rishi Persad's Five to Follow

Rishi Persad is a golf fanatic and we've asked him to give us five golfers to keep an eye on this week at Augusta. 

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Ok. I can hear the groans of frustration from the many fans who have waited a long time for Rory Mcllroy, arguably the most talented golfer since Tiger Woods, to complete the career Grand Slam with victory at The Masters.

This April will be Mcllroy’s tenth attempt to become only the sixth player to win all four men’s majors. Ironically when the now 34-year-old first arrived in the big time, most experts concluded that the Northern Irishman had a game tailor-made for Augusta National.

Six top ten finishes, including when runner-up in 2022 thanks to a closing 64, is evidence that McIlroy is not fazed by the challenge of the course. However there has seemingly been a mental block that is hard to explain for someone so talented.

McIlroy has enlisted the help of Tiger’s old coach, Butch Harmon, to cast his eye over a swing which has yielded moderate returns on the PGA Tour, in the lead up to the first major of the season and that can only help.

One day he will get it right at The Masters and I would rather have him as one of my quintet, just in case this is the year.

The first LIV player in my short list for this year’s Masters is five-time Major Champion Brooks Koepka.

He nearly made it six after making most of the running at Augusta last year before running out of steam on a difficult final day.

His form this season on the LIV tour has been below his absolute best, but three finishes in the top 15 should have eased him into the swing of things ahead of the year’s first Major.

In addition Koepka has ended three of the last five Masters in the top ten, including twice tying for the runners-up slot and is very comfortable at the notoriously tricky venue.

Koepka spent 47 weeks as world number one and when he won the 2023 PGA Championship it was his fifth major in six years. He is a man for the big occasion.

The third player in my team for this year’s US Masters is one of the most in-form players in the world in 2024, Joaquin Niemann.

Statistics over the past ten years show that winning in the weeks and months leading up to Augusta is a huge positive. 

Seven of the last ten Champions won earlier that year and the 25-year-old from Chile has won at Mayakoba and Jeddah and is currently top of the individual standings on the LIV Tour.

He first appeared at The Masters as an Amateur in 2018 when he missed the cut but since then Niemann has teed it up three more times and produced finishes of T40, T35 and T16.

So add his recent record of improvement in the last three Masters and Niemann looks to have a great chance of getting involved in the final day drama that we are so accustomed to at Augusta.

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I remember interviewing Shane Lowry after shooting 73 in the third round of the 2022 Masters and being struck by his acute disappointment at what he felt was an opportunity missed.

The Irishman felt he was in the form of his life but made one or two costly mistakes, but regained his composure, before he eventually finished tied for third.

The former Open Champion has looked in fairly good form this season with two top five places including in a deep field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

If he carries that form to Augusta and can keep those silly mistakes he has made in the past to a minimum then Lowry, who possesses one of the finest short-games in the world, has all the tools to contend in the Masters.

Don’t laugh. He might be huge odds but Phil Mickelson can give you a good run for your money at this year’s Masters.

Mickelson became the oldest Major Champion at 50 years, 11 months and 7 days when he won the 2021 PGA Championship. But the left-handed LIV maverick nearly caused an even bigger shock when finishing tied 2nd at Augusta last year.

He’s played a handful of times on the LIV Tour this season and has one top ten finish to his name but that is almost irrelevant when considering the chances of a man who has won the Green Jacket three times.

Mickelson can also boast twelve top ten places at Augusta, knows every inch of the magnificently manicured course and could probably play every shot with his eyes closed behind his sunglasses.

It may be crazy but it could happen.