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This is the Daily Breakroom and today isn’t just a good morning it’s a Great Morning! And no, you don’t get a choice on this one.

Here’s what we got today.

⛳️ Masters Talk

🏀 Quick Update

Let’s get the NBA update out of the way first.

LA Showdown

Last night, the 6 seeded LA Clippers took on the 7 seeded LA Lakers in a game that could decide each team’s playoff fate. A win for the Lakers would put them in the playoffs ahead of the Clippers who would get relegated to the play-in if nothing else were to happen by Sunday. A win for the Clippers could almost secure a playoff spot and put the Lakers in the play-in tournament.

The Lakers were playing back to back games and it was showing as they started slow. LeBron James scored 33 points, 30 of those which came in the 2nd half. Anthony Davis put up 17 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough coming off of little rest.

The Clippers were fresh, coming off a 3 day rest. It was an all around team effort which the Clippers needed as Paul George is still out. Norman Powell scored 27 off the bench and Kahwi Leonard added 25. The Clippers had 4 other double digit scorers in a big 125-118 win over the Lakers.

The Clippers are tied with Golden State for 5th in the east with 2 games to go.

Teeing Off At The Masters

Some fun was had yesterday during the par 3 contest which Tom Hoge won. Hoge’s win included an ace on hole 8. There were many aces on the short course, some coming from Bubba Watson, Scottie Scheffler, and back-to-back aces coming from Seamus Power.

Congrats to Tom Hoge on the win but now it’s on to the serious stuff. We’ll see if Hoge can become the first golfer to win the par 3 contest and the green jacket. Hoge’s odds are currently +12000 to win.

First Round

There are lots of headlines that could go around today. Is this Tiger’s final time playing the Masters? Can Rory McIlroy finally win the green jacket? Can the LIV golfers even finish 72 holes in a weekend anymore? Will LIV Golf and PGA Tour players get matched up with each other? Well, let’s dig into these and finish the day with some odds.

Tiger Woods

Tiger is making his 25th appearance at The Masters and it could be his final one. Tiger has mentioned he doesn’t know how many more he has left and that he’ll be cherishing every moment. Tiger has only missed 1 cut at The Masters and it was his 2nd time playing in the Major. Tiger has won The Masters 5 times and we’ll be all eyes on Tiger 🐯 👀 this weekend to see if he can win his 6th.

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy hasn’t been able to complete the career grand slam and capture that elusive green jacket. After a slow start last year and being 1 over after three rounds, McIlroy closed out Sunday with an 8 under day. He had a chance going into the clubhouse at -7 but Scottie Scheffler held on to get the win. Rory feels great about playing this course with his confidence being built up after a successful Sunday round last year.

Could this be Rory’s year? We think so. He’s got seven top-10 finishes in the last nine years at Augusta and he’s currently the #2 ranked golfer in the world as his 2023 is off to a great start.

Rory, who’s been vocally against the LIV Golf league and believes the PGA Tour is still the best product is our #1 pick this week.

Speaking of LIV Golf

There’s been some controversary this week as this is the first time in 2023 that LIV golfers will be facing off with PGA Tour golfers. 18 of the 88 golfers teeing off will be from the LIV Golf league. We’re hearing stories of Phil Mickelson remaining quiet during The Masters Champions dinner and Bryson DeChambeau apologizing that his former downplaying of Augusta’s difficult was a miscommunication.

Some LIV golfers that you’ll probably recognize playing this week are are, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Cameron Smith.

You might be wondering if the players from the competing leagues are being paired up together. The committee setting tee times wanted to keep the golfers apart but that’s difficult to do. You won’t be seeing any big names paired up with each other unless it makes sense if the tv markets and time zones align(e.g. Cameron Smith and Hideki Matsuyama).

We’ll see how the LIV golfers fare after playing considerably less golf in the past few months and only playing 54 competitive holes in their tournaments.

Tee Times for Thursday

Players start teeing off at 8:00am. There are some notable tee times in the morning but the top players in the world will be teeing off in the last 4 groups.

How Can You Follow Along?

Easy. Full coverage is provided at Masters.com and here some other ways to catch the action.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN); Saturday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS)

Radio: Thursday-Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (CBS Radio; Sirius 208, XM 92)

Looking To Make Some Bets?

Here are the odds for who will wear the green jacket at the end of Sunday.

• Scottie Scheffler +700

• Rory McIlroy +700

• Jon Rahm +900

• Jordan Spieth +1600

• Patrick Cantlay +1800

• Justin Thomas +2000

• Cameron Smith +2200

• Xander Schauffele +2200

• Tony Finau +2200

• Collin Morikawa +2500

• Jason Day +2500

• Dustin Johnson +2500

• Cameron Young +2800

• Max Homa +3000

• Sung-Jae Im +3300

• Viktor Hovland +3500

• Sam Burns +3500

• Brooks Koepka +4000

• Will Zalatoris +4000

• Hideki Matsuyama +4000

• Matthew Fitzpatrick +4500

That’s all for today. Have a great Thursday and enjoy all the action!

-The Daily Breakroom Team