The opening round of the Masters is today, which makes this day one of the best of the year. It’s the first major of the year and we’ll see who will fold under pressure and who will lift themselves up!

Speaking of pressure, it’s almost playoff time in the NHL and NBA, so we’re going to spend another day monitoring who’s in and who's out. We’ll report back on Friday as crunch time continues for teams.

Before we will let you go today, we will look at some big transactions and some other news.

Let’s go!

Teeing Off At The Masters

Some fun was had yesterday during the par 3 contest, which saw many of the golfers' adorable children dressed up in caddy onesies and having a blast doing what kids do… some even sank some putts! Check out some cool pictures here.

Oh, Rickie Fowler won the Par 3 contest and still to do this day, no golfers has put on the green jacket on Sunday after winning the Par 3 contest on Wednesday. Rickie is +17000, can he get it done?

First Round

There are lots of headlines that could go around today. Last year, we wondered if it was Tiger’s final time playing the Masters. We wondered if Rory could finally win the green jacket? Will it be a LIV Golfer to win the Masters this weekend?

Even with all those questions we still have to ask….. when will the golfers tee off? There’s crappy weather in Georgia right now and the start time for the first round has been delayed a few hours. Golfers will now tee off after 10:30 am. This means that many golfers won’t be finishing round 1 until Friday morning.

Who’s the favorite?

Scottie Scheffler is the favorite to win the Masters at +400, but there’s a caveat this week. Scheffler’s wife is home in Dallas, with the birth of their first child imminent. Scheffler said if his wife goes into labor, he’ll take off from the Masters and head home. Lucky for anyone who already placed a bet, his wife Meredith is stilln’t due for a few weeks. I wonder how Scottie would feel about all this if he didn’t win in 2022.

Tiger Woods

Tiger is making his 26th appearance at The Masters, and he still thinks he can win. Isn’t that what we love about Tiger? Woods said in the pressers early in the week that if everything comes together and he plays perfectly this week, he can still win. The only alarming thing is he also mentioned that unless the ball he’s hitting is teed up, he’s in pain anytime he swings. We’d all love to see Tiger get another major. He has won The Masters 5 times, and all eyes will be on Tiger this weekend to see if he can win his 6th.

*One thing we need to mention is the rain delay. Tiger will tee off later in the day on his first round and likely won’t finish before sunset. That means Tiger will likely play 20+ holes on day 2. Can he recover in such a short amount of time?

Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy hasn’t been able to complete the career grand slam and capture that elusive green jacket. After missing the cut last year Rory is looking for redemption. He changed up his routine this year and played the Valero last week. The irons are hot for McIlroy and his odds are +1000. Is it possible that Rory took the PGA vs LIV pressure off his back and can focus on golf now?

Joh Rahm

Last year's winner, Aaka Jon Rahm, aka Rahmbo, is +1100 to repeat as champion. He made the move to LIV about six months ago and is playing less competitive golf than normal. Some think it’s a disadvantage, but Rahm says it’s actually better because his body has never felt better. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I miss watching Jon Rahm on Sundays! Let’s see if he can repeat.

Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka hasn’t been playing his best golf on LIV and he comes in at +1800. If there’s one thing we know about him, it’s that his past performances aren’t indicative of his future results! Brooksy loves getting up for the Majors and he seems a little more calm on the course now that he’s a dad. Does that calmness give Koepka and edge or does he need to have the intimidating fire inside of him?

Wyndham Clark

One of my favorite longshots this week is Wyndham Clark. Clark is one of the hottest golfers on the PGA Tour right now, he’s already won a major by winning the US Open last year and even with all those credentials, this will be his first Masters. Clark is +4000 with the bookmakers, but I believe he’ll adapt to the course quickly and make a run for the top 10.

Updated Tee Times for Thursday

How Can You Follow Along?

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

📺️ You can also stream most of the day on ESPN+ and watch Masters coverage on ESPN starting at 3 pm ET

Big News

🏀 Giannis will be sitting out for the rest of the regular season with the calf injury he suffered on Tuesday night. We’ve got 10 days for him to rest up before playoffs start.

🏀 Jrue Holiday and the Celtics have agreed on a 4-year contract extension that is worth $135 million.

💰️ We have an update on the Ohtani gambling scandal! Ohtani’s ex-interpreter is going to be facing federal charges for theft and other crimes after he allegedly stole more than $4.5 million from the star player. The story seemed fishy, like some fresh Japanese sushi, but Ohtani might not have been gambling after all!

🏒 Salt Lake City could be getting an NHL team! That’s right after the Arizona Coyotes found a location in Scottsdale and proposed they build a new arena there, the local government came out and said they didn’t like the idea and it wouldn’t be able to work. Well, the Coyotes are now willing to move states if they can’t get their arenas issues worked out! Is this a huge blow to the city of Phoenix or not? I’m not sure.

What Else Should You Be Watching Today?

NBA

🏀 The Knicks are continuing to fight to hold onto the 3 seed in the East. They face the Celtics in Boston tonight. Gametime is 7:30 pm on TNT

🏀 The Sacramento Kings are 2 games back from the New Orleans Pelicans with just 3 games left to play. Tonight, there is a fight for 6 seed between the two teams. Gametime is 10 pm on TNT

NHL

🏒 We’ve got multiple games streaming on ESPN+. Some games have huge implications.

👉️ Detroit and Pittsburgh face each other and each team desperately needs a win.

👉️ The Flyers need a win against the Rangers and you know New York would love to ruin a Philly season.

👉️ The Capitals need a win to remain in the wild card, and although the Sabres are eliminated, they’ll happily ruin a season.

🔥 Any game you turn on tonight is bound to have 1000% effort from the guys on the ice.

Get those double screens set up at work and have the Masters browser ready to minimize at all times 😉.

While you’re at it, drop your referral link into Slack, and we’ll buy you lunch!

Enjoy all the action today and we’ll back tomorrow to talk more playoffs.

-The DB