00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid, the beautiful words that can only be said once a year.
00:05It is Masters Week, indeed, here on SportsGrid as well. Let's bring in Brad Thomas for the very
00:11latest, get his picks, some previews as well. And Brad, first of all, congratulations. I know
00:17a new gig underway for you at CBS Sports. And congratulations on that. And really awesome to
00:24see you continuing your great work there. They should be very fortunate to have you and all of
00:29your selections and opinions, by the way, on the show. Thanks for coming on.
00:32I really appreciate it. And yeah, like you said, this is one of the best weeks in all of sports,
00:39especially for us avid golfers and golf fans, Masters Week. It is a tradition like any other
00:45without being too cheesy. Yeah, I am looking forward this weekend to sitting. I mean, it's a rare weekend
00:51for me where I like look on literacy. Can I sit back and watch this thing on Saturday and Sunday?
00:56I think I can Sunday. I think I'm looking good for that. Okay. So before we go forward, let's look
01:03back, Brad, catch people up with what happened last year. Everyone who is a golf fan will remember
01:09the fantastic finish with Rory McIlroy capturing the 2025 Masters, just edging Justin Rose, really
01:17right down to the wire, a little late charge from Scotty Scheffler as well. We'll get to him in just
01:21a
01:21minute. And so Rory is the hero, so to speak, going into this tournament, Brad. But as you know,
01:27it's like almost impossible to repeat at the Masters. Yeah, it's almost impossible to repeat
01:32at the Masters. And I just feel like what happened with Rory last year, completing the career Grand
01:37Slam was just so much weight lifted off his shoulders, where I know that all he wants to do is
01:46defend his title the best of his abilities. But it's going to be really hard for him to come with
01:51that same intensity. Let's not also forget that Rory and that Rory is dealing with some back issues,
01:57right? Like he's not coming into this 100%. There's also so much that you have to like so much ownership
02:03and so much responsibilities you have as the defending champion. So it's a lot of distractions as well.
02:09He is the pro's pro and he knows how to handle this kind of distraction. But I do feel that
02:15Rory is
02:16coming in with a lot of weight on his shoulders in terms of defending with the injury and the
02:21responsibilities of a champion. Yeah, there's no doubt. It's a really good point by you, including
02:26creating the menu for this year's Masters. Brad, I don't know where he came up with all of this stuff
02:32here. But I couldn't, I think of all of the things on the menu, I think I found one thing
02:37that I think
02:38that I've tried, even in my life. And again, we all like to try new things and find new things.
02:44But
02:44these are very unusual for the Masters. Yeah, these are eclectic, right? And but that's what I kind of
02:51love about the Masters champions dinner is these guys get a chance to show the rest of the world
02:57part of their culture and part of the things that they eat on a day to day basis, right? Like,
03:02I would think about me personally, right? Like, I'm not going to be a person who's eating yellow fin
03:07tuna carpaccio. But also, if it were my Masters dinner, I'd probably have like, I know, duck
03:14confet, right? And I don't think a lot of people are eating duck every day. But it gives like a
03:18peeking behind the curtain to what these Masters champions eat, or at least what they enjoy eating.
03:23Yeah, it would be pizza for me on my menu. But I'll never get there. My handicap not good
03:28enough. So let's take a look here at the last few Masters winners. And so, you know, the picture we
03:35see right there of Tiger Woods, we know he will not be participating. I guess we'll save that story
03:39for another day or just go on social media. You can find out more about that. But Matt Rory,
03:44the last one, Scotty Scheffler, who will be the favorite in this one. John Rahm back for another
03:49run in 2023. He was a champion in Scotty Scheffler before that in 2022. So look, you know, you never
03:56know
03:56how things are going to go. There's always, as you know, Brad, a long shot, usually in like the
04:02final grouping going to the end here. And before we get to your actual picks, and we take a look
04:07at
04:07the odds, do you have a sense of like expect the unexpected this time around? Or is it you think
04:13Scotty Scheffler is to lose, which it certainly seems like every tournament is? I feel like this
04:18year, and I hate to use this term is pretty wide open. And I use that loosely because there's still
04:25going to be a really good golfer that's going to win this golf tournament. That's just what happens,
04:29right? The best golfers win majors in the best of the best win the masters. But there's question
04:34marks literally around all of the top golfers. Scotty Scheffler just welcomed a new baby boy
04:40nine days ago, while playing some of the worst golf he's played in the past two seasons.
04:45Rory Malkor, we talked about his back injury. John Rahm, we just don't know what we're going to get
04:51out of John Rahm on a week-to-week basis when it comes to masters because of him playing on
04:56live.
04:56Bryson has not been able to win this tournament yet while contending for two of the last, what,
05:02three seasons. So I think that there's a chance for us to get some new blood, a new name. But
05:08when it
05:09comes down to it, and whoever's going to put on that green jacket on Sunday, regardless if they're
05:15one of the big names, they're going to be a really good golfer. I'm really sure of that.
05:19Yeah, definitely so. So let's take a look at the odds here and see if Brad has landed on anyone
05:24yet. I know he'll be preparing all week long for this. You know, the favorites are really the same,
05:29you know, more or less as last year. I guess the names that stick out to me is Matty Fitzpatrick,
05:33who's now up to 20 to one. He's been playing very well. Have you landed on anyone or any strong
05:39opinions going into this, Brad? I know we still have more than 72 hours to go here. So of course,
05:44you can follow Brad on social media for all of his final picks.
05:47Yeah, you talked about Fitzpatrick, and I'll just reference him really quick. I bet Fitzpatrick
05:51at 80 to one. Now he's down to 20. I do think he can win the Masters, but I actually
05:55think his fair
05:56price is closer to 30 to one. So I wouldn't bet him at 20s. But Cameron Young is a golfer
06:01who I
06:01actually bet on. Cameron Young, he could take the Rory McIlroy path of winning the players and then
06:08winning the Masters. He's a really great ball striker. He actually, this is a stat that was pretty cool.
06:13He turns the ball over from right to left about 48% of the time. 45, I think, is the
06:19more accurate
06:20number, which is going to be really important with a couple of those approaches that are going to be
06:23coming in from right to left. And I just said it, right? He's a great ball striker. He's really long
06:29off the tee, and he's proven now that he can win legitimate tournaments. Not just the guy who's going
06:35to contend or have one really hot round, but a guy who's a proven winner. 30 seconds to go, Brad.
06:42Give me one quick lean before the weekend. Someone can find something on FanDuel and DraftKings that
06:48you like going into Thursday. Yeah, just go and bet Chris got her up top debutante. He's long off the
06:53tee, and this dude is tough as nails. I think he'll go out there and compete. All right. Awesome stuff,
06:59Brad. Again, congratulations. We'll follow all of your work at CBS Sports and all of our social media
07:03and all the work that Brad's doing this week. He's going to be busy. Thanks again for coming on.
07:07Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Take care.
Comments