The Most Hyped Masters Ever?

Good afternoon, and welcome to Caddyshanks. We're like the DJ at your favorite radio station, curating a perfect balance of hits and deep cuts from the world of golf. 

Here's what we've got for ya today:

• Recap: Valero Texas Open

• Recap: LIV Orlando

• The Most Hyped Masters Ever?

• Golf Shots Heard Round The World (Masters Edition)

• Better Than Your Desk (Masters Edition)

• For The Group Chat (You get the theme here?)

• Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

By Josey Orr

👑  Winner: Corey Conners $1.6 Million

Corey Conners hit em' with the ole Texas Two Step this week. 

Despite starting the day one back, Conners birdied three holes on the front nine, en route to a bogey-free round of 64 on Sunday.

Conners won the Valero for the second time. His two Texas Open wins are the only wins on Tour for the Canadian. Unfortunately for him, he now has to go back to Canada and split his winnings with communist dictator Justin Trudeau.

Fortunately, he gets to spend the week in Augusta for The Masters before he goes, unlike our pick for the week, Rickie Fowler, who will miss The Masters for the 3rd year in a row. 

What about everybody else?

2. Sam Stevens, 14 under: $970,100

T3. Sam Ryder, Matt Kuchar; 13 under: $525,100

5. Patrick Rodgers, 11 under: $364,900

T6. Chez Reavie, Lee Hodges, Byeong Hun An; 10 under: $300,375

9. Andrew Novak; 9 under: $260,325

T10. Ben Martin, Hayden Buckley, Rickie Fowler, Padraig Harrington, Chris Kirk; 8 under: $206,925

T15. Robby Shelton, MJ Daffue, Lanto Griffin, Alex Noren, Nick Taylor, S.H. Kim, Hideki Matsuyama; 7 under: $135,725

LIV Orlando: A Big Week for Brooksie

By Chase Majerus

Brooks Koepka shot 65, 65, and 68 to take the overall win and become LIV’s only member to have 2 wins. It was an epic day! Sebastian Munoz, who finished 2nd overall, fought hard to take the lead, particularly down the stretch in the third round but Brooks kept maintained mental discipline and played solid. It really came down to those final holes for Munoz, who was inconsistent from just off the green, where he chipped in on 16 and then totally skulled a bunker shot on 17. 

Munoz and his team, Torque GC (Sebastian Munoz, Joaquin Niemann, David Puig, Mito Pereira) were able to hang on to the number 1 team spot, with Smash GC (Brooks and Chase Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Jason Kokrak) taking the number 2 spot. 

Brooks Koepka, who is playing in the Masters at Augusta National this week, said on the 18th green after his win in Orlando, “You look at everything I’ve been through, I’m finally healthy. It’s good to play some good golf. I get chills thinking what I’m capable of.” 

The golf world eagerly awaits The Masters, the first golf major of 2023, and muses if LIV players like Brooks Koepka, still have what it takes to compete with its PGA Tour counterparts. 

Most Hyped Masters Ever?

By Josey Orr

Masters week is here and while we won't make our betting picks until Wednesday, we wanted to set the scene a little bit as we head to Augusta National. 

1. The LIV Factor: 18/88 Golfers in the field are from LIV. That gives us a decent chance someone from the upstart league is in the thick of it come Sunday. No Masters before has ever had this type of intrigue to it. 

Can you imagine Jay Monahan's horror if one of them wins? THIS LEAGUE! THE DRAMA!

2. The Goat Has Arrived: Tiger Woods has arrived at Augusta National. As of this morning, he, Fred Couples, Rory, and Tom Kim are playing a practice round together. What should we expect from El Tigre?

3. Course Changes: Augusta is playing longer than it ever has before, coming in at 7545 yds. Over the last two years, changes have come to holes 11, 13, and 15.

The biggest change is at No. 13. The par-5 has been stretched from 510yds to 545yds, making the typically "gettable" hole a little bit more tricky this year.

The par-4 11th hole has been pushed back 15yds. The par-5 15th was also pushed back 20yds. 

4. The Weather: It's not looking pretty for a single day. Wetter conditions typically favor longer players, but can also lead to some duress. Factor this into your bets. 

5. The Gambling: The Masters is the most predictive tournament on the PGA Tour, when it comes to past performance. Over the last five years, 13 players finished in the top 10 multiple times: Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris, Sungjae Im, and Corey Conners.

As of this writing Brooks Koepka is 35-1 - just sayin'.

Oh, and never, ever, count out Scottie Scheffler, last years champ. 

Golf Shots Heard Round The World (Masters Edition)

By Shanks Crew

Zhang Zings: Rose Zhang won the Augusta National Women's Amateur.

Ranking The Field: Barstool Sports own Daniel Rapaport ranks the field 1-88, with a little blurb about what each player has been doing lately. He also posted some pics of Matt Fitzpatrick's yardage book. 

Masters Merch: Who knew a gnome could be so popular?

Unsolved: The mystery behind Augusta's most beloved snack. No, not the pimento cheese sandwich, the olives!

3 Days: Until the 2023 Masters.

Better Than Your Desk

For The Group Chat

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Louis Vutton has created one of the most absurd golf things we've ever seen. 

On one side, there are 14 slots to hold your favorite clubs; on the other, there are four drawers to hold your garb, along with a dedicated section for 18 golf balls. The highlight is, of course, the makeshift putting green. The mat rolls out from the bottom of the trunk and leads to a built-in cup. As such, you can practice putting wherever you and your luggage end up.

The trunk also comes with a number of other golf-related items (sold separately). You can treat yourself to monogrammed towels and club head covers as well as branded golf balls and tees.

$129,000.00

That's all folks! See you Wednesday where we'll make some picks for the The Masters.