19th Hole

Brandel Chamblee on the equipment adjustment that has Rory McIlroy primed for a huge week at the Masters

Published

1 year ago

Apr 9, 2025

With just one day to go until the Masters gets underway, the hype surrounding Rory McIlroy potentially completing the grand slam has reached fever pitch.

McIlroy will begin the event as the second favorite behind Scottie Scheffler, having won twice on the PGA Tour prior to the year’s opening major for the first time in his career.

Ahead of the event, I talked to golf’s leading analyst Brandel Chamblee, who spoke about why Augusta National isn’t a great fit for McIlroy, what his main struggles have been on the course, and how a change to a softer golf ball (McIlroy had been using TaylorMade’s TP5x golf ball, but changed to the brand’s TP5 ball) could make a huge difference for the Irishman this week.

Below is an excerpt from the full Q&A, which you can read in its entirety here.

Gianni: Most of the hype at the Masters this year is surrounding Rory McIlroy, and it feels justified this time. The consensus is that Augusta National is a course that suits his game given that he can bomb it out there with his draw off the tee and he can land his towering irons softly into the greens. But he’s only shot 70 or better here once since 2020. Does Augusta National even suit him?

Brandel: I couldn’t disagree more with the consensus. Augusta National is not a great fit for Rory, and his results bear this out. It was his worst major in 2024, 2023, and 2021, namely because he struggles to hit his irons well enough on the hilly terrain to play his best golf there. Over the course of his career at Augusta, he averages hitting 42.6 greens in regulation, which is under his average on the PGA Tour and almost 10 greens in regulation less per week than the winner’s average.

Gianni: This is the first time Rory has ever headed into the Masters with two wins on the PGA Tour under his belt for the season. It took Sergio Garcia 19 attempts to win his first and only Masters, this year will be McIlroy’s 17th attempt. If not now for Rory, then when?

Brandel: Well, Rory still has plenty of time. Fully one-third of Masters winners have been 35 years of age or older, and Rory is the rarest of “red wine” athletes in that he keeps getting better with age, much in the Roger Federer and Tom Brady vein.

There are quite a few positives working in Rory’s favor heading into this Masters. First, he has never come into a Masters in better form, thanks in large part I believe, because he is using a softer ball which allows him to work the ball easier and necessitates him hitting more partial shots to keep it down and take some speed off, which has the effect of keeping him on top of the ball and helps to mitigate the pulls with short irons. Second, of those obvious players who could challenge prominently, all of them are either off their games to some degree or the course doesn’t fit their games perfectly — with the caveat that we don’t really know the state of LIV player’s games — and finally, he has become a very good wind and poor weather player, so he is ready for whatever mother nature throws at him.

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19th Hole

How much each player won at the 2026 Masters

Published

2 months ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.

With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.

For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.

1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
T9: Max Homa, $630,00
11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
T12: Jason Day, $427,500
T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
T30: Harris English, $146,250
T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300

19th Hole

CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans

Published

2 months ago

Apr 13, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.

There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.

Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:

This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V

— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026

It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.

19th Hole

The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances

Published

2 months ago

Apr 7, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.

Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.

Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:

“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”

The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:

“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”

That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:

“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”