00:00The 2026 Masters Field is all set.
00:0391 of the world's best golfers tee off on Thursday to see who is going to be crowned king.
00:08Or in this case, who's going to get that green jacket.
00:11So let's talk about all the major storylines coming out of Augusta National with our New York Post sports columnist,
00:18Mark Cannizzaro.
00:19Mark, I mentioned 91 of the best golfers in the world.
00:22I'm not one of them.
00:24So you don't have to worry about writing any stories on me down there.
00:28But last year going into Augusta, all the talk was on if Rory would finally win another major.
00:34If he finally win his Masters in try number 17, he won it.
00:40So what or who is the major storyline going into this year's Masters in Augusta?
00:47Well, Brandon, the cool thing about this Masters to me is there are a number of storylines.
00:53I mean, there's just so many cool things, cool elements of this tournament.
00:55But Rory has to be at the top of the list just because of the fact that he is defending.
01:00The last guy to defend was Tiger Woods in the early 2000s.
01:04You know, Rory was always a very candid interview.
01:07We spoke to him yesterday.
01:08He talked because I remembered when he won last year, a year ago, the first thing he said in the
01:15interview room was basically,
01:17so what are we going to talk about next year?
01:19Because, you know, leading into the Masters every year, it's like, hey, are you going to win another major?
01:23Are you going to win a Masters for the first time?
01:25Can you complete the career Grand Slam and have all four, which is what he obviously did last year?
01:31So that was kind of his topic.
01:33You know, like it wasn't really in a nasty way, but he just said, what are we going to talk
01:36about next year now that we don't have that narrative?
01:38Right. So he, you know, he spoke pretty, pretty eloquently about that yesterday, about, you know, there is still much
01:45more that he wants, you know,
01:46because he has, after that Masters win, basically said, I've now accomplished everything I've ever wanted to do in the
01:51sport.
01:52You know, and that could be a dangerous place for an athlete, you know, because you can get complacent or,
01:56you know, you lose the hunger.
01:58And let's see how it goes, whether he whether he does at some point lose the hunger.
02:02But, you know, he is insistent that this isn't the end for him.
02:05He's he still feels like he can win, you know, he's got 10 or 12 more years, you know, to
02:09he's a 36 years old now to have a chance to win the Masters.
02:14So he's kind of topic number one just because of that.
02:17Scotty Scheffler is the world number one for the last three years.
02:20You know, people think he's struggling because he's only won once this year.
02:24But that's a product of him raising the bar to like tiger like levels because he's been so good for
02:29the last few years, you know.
02:30So and he hasn't played in a few weeks.
02:32He just had his him and his wife just had their second child.
02:35The fun stuff here to me amongst the fun stuff is we've got a couple of locals, you know, from
02:40the New York area who are legitimate contenders.
02:44Chris Godrup, who's from the Jersey Shore, grew up about 10 minutes from where my house is down there in
02:49Little Silver.
02:52He's he's won twice already this year.
02:54He's won four times since last year.
02:56Went to Rutgers, just a really cool kid.
03:00Bomber.
03:01He hits the ball, you know, a mile.
03:03And then you've got Cameron Young, you know, who grew up playing at Sleepy Hollow Country Club right up right
03:08up to Hudson from the city with his dad as his coach.
03:12His dad was the head pro there at Sleepy Hollow.
03:14And, you know, he's he's elevated himself into the top five in the world right now.
03:18He's ranked three in the world.
03:19Just one of the players championship.
03:21So both of these guys come in hot.
03:22I mean, we could actually have a major championship winner, you know, from the New York metropolitan area, which would
03:27be pretty cool.
03:28That would be cool.
03:29Well, Johnny Kiefer tees off at 740 a.m. on Thursday.
03:33That's going to kick things off.
03:35Set the scene for us, Mark, because you've been out there throughout the course of this week.
03:40Is there anything different at this year's Masters compared to recent years?
03:45The biggest difference, Brandon, is Tiger Woods is not here and Norris Phil Mickelson.
03:50And Tiger, as we, you know, most people know or is out out of the country, you know, in a
03:56rehab facility trying to get himself right after having another car crash and and dealing with with these painkillers that
04:03he, you know, he's been dealing with for a long time.
04:05This is the second year in a row he's not been here.
04:08Last year he was recovering from an Achilles injury.
04:11And Phil Mickelson, also not here.
04:13He's, you know, dealing with a family health issue.
04:16And this is the first time since 1994, which was my first Masters for the New York Post, that neither
04:23of those players was hit here in the Masters.
04:25So that's, you know, obviously both former champions.
04:28Tigers won five green jackets and Phil's won three.
04:31I know Rory last night, you know, at the at the Champions Dinner, they have an annual Champions Dinner here
04:37on Tuesday night at the Masters.
04:39Then the winner hosts the dinner.
04:41Rory, obviously, being the defending champion, hosted it.
04:44I know he had some poignant words to say about the fact that Tiger and Phil were not here.
04:50And so that's that's really, to me, the biggest difference.
04:53But I do feel like there's more storylines, more more legitimate chances to win this this tournament by a pretty
05:01good handful of players than I can remember in a long time.
05:04Because, I mean, we haven't even talked about the live the live, you know, golf guys like like DeChambeau.
05:10Bryson DeChambeau comes in here the last two tournaments he played, which was on live, obviously he won.
05:16John Rahm is is been a top 10 top five machine on live.
05:21He's constantly in the mix and he's won a green jacket.
05:25You got Justin Rose, who, you know, had his third runner up last year at the Masters when he lost
05:29to Rory in a playoff.
05:31There's just so many cool stories, you know, as as I referenced to, you know, before that I, you know,
05:38it just jacks you up, man.
05:40You're ready to go.
05:40I mean, I, you know, I come here on Sunday.
05:42I start writing for the post on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
05:45We're kind of leading up and building up and banging the drums for it.
05:48But, you know, I'm to the point right now.
05:49I just want to see I'm ready for him to tee it up and, you know, for it to be
05:53real.
05:54Do any of those stories or storylines surround any sleepers that could potentially kind of just go on a run
06:01and potentially, you know, win this green jacket?
06:06You know, usually, Brandon, sleepers are not part of the equation here.
06:11Usually it's one of the top guys that that emerges.
06:15But there are it's hard to call a couple of these guys sleepers.
06:18But Patrick Reed, who has won here in 2018, but he's on live golf.
06:23He's kind of disappeared from the public eye, so to speak, because nobody really sees live much on TV or
06:28watches it.
06:30And he's now on his way trying to come back to the PGA Tour.
06:33He's left live.
06:34He's playing some European events and stuff, and he's trying to work his way back onto the PGA Tour.
06:38And I think he's a sneaky pick.
06:40If I was a better, I would I'm sure his odds are, you know, I mean, they're probably halfway decent,
06:45but not not super low.
06:48I like him.
06:50A guy, young guy named Ludwig Oberg, who, again, is a top notch player, but he hasn't really closed the
06:57deal.
06:57He should have won them.
06:58He should have won the players championship last March and just kind of faded away and collapsed on the Sunday.
07:03He's played extremely well here at Augusta.
07:07He's only played a handful of Masters, and he's had two fantastic finishes here.
07:12I could see those two guys, you know, if I was putting some money on some guys and probably getting
07:16some good odds, I would put some money on those two guys.
07:20All right, now we've got to put you on the spot here, Mark.
07:24Your prediction, who wins the 2026 Masters?
07:28So I'm going a little against the grain, Brandon, because a first-time Masters participant has not won the Masters
07:35since 1979 when Fuzzy Zeller won it.
07:38And I am very, very keen on Chris Goddorup, our local guy from the Jersey Shore.
07:44His form is great.
07:46I spent a lot of time with his swing coach earlier in the week.
07:51He's, you know, he's worked on certain things that he's going to need here at Augusta.
07:55Long irons.
07:56Said he's highly improved.
07:57His chipping's been unbelievable.
07:59And I just think Chris is in a really good frame of mind right now.
08:02I mean, he's just got no weight on his shoulders right now.
08:04He's, you know, he's locked up his tour card.
08:06He's playing all the big events, you know, because of the wins that he's had previously.
08:10And, you know, he's won on different kinds of golf courses.
08:14I'm going, you know, and Fuzzy, who was a wonderful, you know, one of my favorites, you know, in my
08:18early days of covering golf, just passed away last November.
08:21This is actually the first tournament, you know, that I've, you know, Masters tournament that I've covered that he has
08:26not been here and not been a part of things, you know, in terms of his past.
08:31And so I'm going with Chris Goddorup, first-timer.
08:34Let's go.
08:35All right.
08:35Mark, appreciate you hopping on with us.
08:37Enjoy Augusta.
08:39Thanks, Brandon.
08:40Talk to you soon.
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