Here's everything you need to know about the 2024 Masters PrizePicks: First-Round Plays for Thursday's major championship at Augusta National.
Augusta National Golf Club is a par-72, 7,555-yard track designed by Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie that presents one of golf's greatest challenges when combining its length, challenging green complexes and level of competition.
Find my 2024 Masters PrizePicks Plays for Thursday below.
2024 Masters PrizePicks
Jordan Spieth More Than 3.5 Birdies or Better
I wrote about Jordan Spieth in my FRL article this week, so if I like him to lead after the first round, then I obviously like him to record at least four birdies or better on Thursday. We are going to catch a lot of low numbers this week on the PrizePicks board due to the anticipated bad weather on Thursday.
The forecast calls for rain and wind throughout the day, but the morning wave is going get hit harder than the afternoon wave, which gives golfers teeing off later in the day an advantage. This bodes well for Spieth, who tees off in the penultimate group of the day.
While Spieth has failed to return to the level of dominance from the mid-2010s, he's still one of the world's best golfers. He continues to play his best golf at Augusta, and last year was no exception as he tied for fourth.
Since then, he has posted seven top-10 finishes over his past 20 tournaments. Augusta has always been a great fit for Spieth's game because of his elite prowess around the green, and the wide fairways let him get away with some inaccuracy off the tee.
While big numbers are still possible for Spieth, as we saw last week in San Antonio, those won't hurt us as long as he cashes four or more birdies. He made seven birdies in the first round at Augusta last year.
Viktor Hovland More Than 3.5 Birdies or Better
Viktor Hovland is the second golfer to back on Thursday as this is a great buy-low spot for the Norwegian. Yes, he has cracked the top 20 just once over his past five tournaments, but now we can attack a low number on someone who was a consensus top-five golfer in the world just a few months ago.
Perhaps he can turn the tide and get back into form at Augusta, a venue he has fared well at since posting the low-amateur score in 2019 and sitting next to Tiger Woods in Butler Cabin. Hovland has finished inside the top 30 in each of his following three appearances at Augusta, including his tie for seventh last season.
It was a tremendous performance in which Hovland gained true strokes in every category across the board in what was a well-rounded effort. He recorded six birdies or better in that opening round where he shared the lead at 7-under, and despite the weather, I think he can put together a similarly strong performance on Thursday. The weakness of Hovland's game is his short game, but softer conditions should help his scrambling.
Jon Rahm More Than 4 Birdies or Better
Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm is the last golfer to back on Thursday. He certainly made a lot of noise by going over to LIV Golf, but he has done well over there despite failing to claim a win as he has yet to finish lower than eighth across five events.
Making birdie or better has certainly not been the issue for Rahm as he ranks first on LIV in Birdie Average. Thursday will be his first round back against PGA Tour members since leaving, and with all the discourse around Scottie Scheffler this season, I think there will be a massive chip on Rahm's shoulder to remind everyone just who he is.
This time last year, many were debating whether Scheffler or Rahm was the best golfer in the world. That gave us a poetic ending when Scheffler slipped the green jacket over Rahm's shoulders on Sunday, but the pendulum has clearly swung completely back toward Scheffler.
Knowing how competitive Rahm is, that will be fuel for a statement round on Thursday.
