The Masters makes a welcome return to our screens this week between Thursday, April 8 and Sunday, April 11.
Augusta National in Georgia will play host to the event, which will even see a handful of fans permitted in to watch the action unfold.
UK viewers can watch it on Sky Sports Masters, with the build-up starting today.
Only six months ago, the belated 2020 tournament saw Dustin Johnson demolish the opposition, finishing a huge 20 under par. The 36-year-old went home with the fabled Green Jacket and a tasty $2,070,000 prize weighing down his wallet.
His nearest challengers, Cameron Smith and Im Sung-jae, sat joint second on 15 under par. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods managed 11 under par and 1 under par, respectively.
This Year's Favourites
The manner of Johnson’s performance last time out has unsurprisingly made SkyBet place him as the 8-1 favourite this year. Other notable favourites include Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth, who both stand at 9-1. Rory McIlroy can be found a little further back at 14-1. Tiger Woods will be absent after a horror car crash in February, which left his career hanging in the balance.
Winning The Masters back-to-back is a feat only achieved by legends Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. Others have won the tournament multiple times, but not two years running. Course form should be taken into consideration, however, the nature of these tournaments having so many runners and riders and external factors makes it common for players to place well one year and slump the following year. Therefore, betting on Johnson at 8-1 may be a risky move, especially as he isn’t in particularly good form.
US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau was the favourite for the last iteration of The Masters, but flopped, finishing far down the leaderboard. He’s also hasn’t managed a top-20 finish in four attempts at Augusta. Nonetheless, his positive recent form has lifted him to 9-1.
Jordan Spieth looks like challenging this time round as well. He won the tournament in 2015, and his recent return to form in general has left him looking dangerous at 9-1. The Players Championship winner Justin Thomas may be a decent bet at 10-1. He’s shown improvements in his performances as his recent form suggests he’ll compete.
Jon Rahm managed a respectable seventh-placed finish at Augusta last year, but has been disappointing this year.
Betting on superstar Rory McIlroy is a huge gamble at 14-1 given his awful form and having recently replaced his coach.
Despite Tiger missing out and McIlroy looking unlikely to seriously challenge, The Masters will give everyone a much-needed distraction from the third wave of COVID-19 sweeping across the world.