Matt Adams | The Golf Channel Insider

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It's every weekday morning, live at 8 o'clock Eastern Time. Matt, how are you? Good Amy, how you been? We're good. We're glad to have you. What's the buzz factor at Augusta?

How would you rate it? The buzz factor is very high. With everything that's floating around the game of golf currently, mostly outside the ropes, inside the ropes, I don't know if I can remember a Masters where so many of the top players were in such great form. So it sets the stage for a great tournament. Of course, the part that we don't know is what's going to happen with the weather and what impact that's going to have in the coming days. So that's also part of, if you will, the buzz. There's a lot of talk about that. Yes, for sure. Okay, and you talk about guys with their health. We've heard from some of those. Just before we talk about some of the contenders, how hot is Scottie Scheffler right now?

Very hot. I mean, Scottie Scheffler's defending champion. He certainly has proven multiple times that he doesn't have a problem coming back and defending. Scottie Scheffler is a player that seems so resolute in his emotions, so comfortable in his own skin, that he doesn't seem to be consumed by the moment. He doesn't seem to be driven by the passion when he wasn't world number one to get back to number one, but he gets back to number one because the passion that he has is one that burns within to play the best golf that he possibly can. That kind of mentality that Tiger used to have back in the day of just play good golf and everything else takes care of itself. And that's very much the way it seems with Scottie Scheffler. It seems as though while he's the best in the world and playing the best golf overall as a result of that ranking, he doesn't seem to change anything else about who he is. He still drives a Yukon SUV from 2012 that has tons of miles on it. I'm not kidding.

He didn't even get a new car. I like it. So then who would you say are some of the golfers that would pose the biggest challenge to Scottie? Well, I think it's definitely the big three. I mean, you're talking about Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm would be the two chief contenders because those three have had such incredible form that any one of them on Sunday night would not be a massive surprise. I think the hardest to get to that point, frankly, even more so than defending champion Scottie Scheffler would be Rory McIlroy because he's chasing that piece of history for a career grand slam. And we know that Rory is subject to being an emotional golfer. And at times it can consume him like we've seen not only at Augusta National multiple times, but also at the 2019 Open at Royal Port Rush, where he later admitted it's just the emotions were too much for him. He wasn't able to channel it and play. Now, coming off of what he did last year in that final round, highlighted by the hole out 18, which was absolutely brilliant. I think he thinks that he may have found something to stem that tide and he may be able to perform accordingly. Jon Rahm is Jon Rahm.

He's got to talk about a passion that burns within if he can channel those fires. You know, it's a constant debate with those three at least of if any one of them, all of them, were playing at their very best at the exact same time, who would be amongst the best of them? And most people say it would be Rory McIlroy because of the way that he drives the golf ball. I would say right now it's Jon Rahm.

If everything is firing for Jon Rahm, he has so much power. He's got that competitive shield, that bravado, that passion that I referenced that right now, if he's on form at this Masters, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if he didn't win and went against him. Some of the big names not going until the very end. So, Scottie Scheffler not until 1.36 Eastern time and then Rory McIlroy is in the group right behind him. Then you've got Jordan Spieth who's in the final group going in this first round at 2 o'clock Eastern.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. Matt Adams with us from Fairways of Life Radio and YouTube and also the Golf Channel. And so, Matt, Tiger's there. We know last year he made the cut but really struggled because the track is so challenging to walk. How does he look to you?

Okay. I mean, it's funny with Tiger because we're used to doing this now over years and years and years. You're reading body language as much as you're listening to the words that Tiger says. And because Tiger, the template is pretty much the same. He comes into a press conference and although it was a little different this one because he talked about rolling back the distance on the golf ball and kind of bigger picture, elder statesman of the game type stuff, which is natural to his role now. But from the standpoint competitively, Tiger looks you in the eye and goes, look, I'm not the golfer that I used to be day in and day out but I can find it. And no one thought I'd do a lot here in 2019 and that turned out okay, right?

I'm paraphrasing. But in 2019 at least we saw, you know, Tour Championship coming in, we saw Forum coming in. At the Masters, those who play well and those who ultimately win here all have form coming in. Nobody finds it at Augusta National.

It just doesn't happen here. When it comes to Tiger Woods, his right ankle was completely crushed in that near fatal car accident. He's spoken and he said it the other day multiple times that he's lucky to have his right leg. And so the ankle has been rebuilt.

There's all kinds of equipment in there, screws and rods, etc. And that's what wears down. Now consider the fact that I referenced the weather. Looks like we're going to be okay today. But starting tomorrow, rains are going to come in in the afternoon. And on Saturday, the high is going to be 51 degrees with 100% chance of rain. So when you consider everything that Tiger's going through, let's say that it's a reasonable expectation for Tiger to make the cut.

Certainly hope so from a fan's perspective that that's the case. Well, if he's going to play earlier on Saturday, then he's going to be in the 40s at best and likely playing in a driving range with rain with wind gusts at or above 20 miles per hour. These are the conditions, hate to say it, but these are conditions that for someone like Tiger, it could be tough for him. Just wild speculation. These are the conditions that you could see Tiger be unable to compete because of the way that that arthritis in that ankle and the rest of his body that's been so surgically repaired might be aching. I hate to say that, but it's something to keep an eye on because we have seen that pattern before.

Sure. Phil Mickelson took a self-imposed exile in 2022. What's it like to have Phil back at Augusta National?

You know, Phil and all the live players, I think it's good to have them back. And I know it's going to shock some people because the narrative is supposed to be that everything live is bad and evil, etc., etc. I always ask the same question. If the money had come from Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, would we have the same moral outrage?

Probably not. Not to mention the fact that the public investment fund from Saudi Arabia that backs live is in all kinds of stocks. Do you think an Uber? They have more money invested in Uber. They have money in the credit cards that we use, etc., etc., etc. So, you know, it's not that I like the source of funds, it's that I'm also a realist with it.

These are paid professional athletes and if you really want to go down the rabbit hole of knowing where all the money comes from that backs all the players' salaries and all the sports, you might have a different perspective. But these guys have earned the right to be here. The master said, look, if you have a right to be here, if you have status that provides you with an alleyway to be here, you're here. And I like that. So I like that the guys are here. I think the thing that we saw once everybody's together, once the party's together is a couple of things. One, the majors are actually going to be stronger because it is the one place where we'll see all the best players in the world together at the same time. And two, once the players are together, I mean Rory played a practice round with Brooks Koepka the other day. The players are not at each other's throats. Now they've had some disagreements with each other and there's players that like each other and don't.

That's just human beings, right? But they're all here playing. Phil is here.

All accounts on Tuesday night at the Champions' Dinner was that he was very, very subdued. I think their persona of who Phil Mickelson was publicly and privately was cracked through all of this. There's many people saying, hey, Phil is a martyr now.

What he was saying was correct. And while Phil was saying in terms of the tour and giving more to the top players, et cetera, et cetera, has come to fruition to his credit. The thing that brought down Phil Mickelson was not that he was speaking those truths. The thing that brought down Phil Mickelson was that he was revealed as being something different than the public image of what everybody thought that he was with the smiling thumbs up.

And they found out, oh, he can be very conniving and planning and strategic behind the scenes and at times quite crude. So that's what brought down Phil Mickelson. And I think that's the reason why he's a Phil Mickelson that is far less out in the open and in your face, the smartest guy in the room type of Phil persona as he used to have. However, it does seem like, Matt, that the fans still respond to him very similarly than they had in the past. Do you think the fans just still love Phil or they're going to hold on to this?

No, I think it's I think it's red state, blue state society we live into. The people who are diehard Phil fans and he lost a lot of them are still going to be diehard Phil fans on site. It is not the same crowd reaction to Phil Mickelson as it used to be, where it used to be probably 80, 90 percent of the crowd was with this deep expression of love for everything that he did.

It's not that at all. Now, those that do still harbor their their pandemonium for Phil Mickelson, you're going to hear the cheers and you're going to hear all the rest. The other part of it is that we saw this with Tiger when he had a social falling of his own making to 10 years ago now more. And you'll find that sports fans, particularly American sports fans, in my view, are very forgiving and they're willing to give someone a second chance if they see a contrition, if they see an effort being made, et cetera. So I do think that there is a pathway back for Phil. I just think it takes time. And I think Phil was incredibly smart as he's proven over and over again that you have to let the dust settle. And I think his judgment, but based on the way he's been acting in the way that he's so subdued, is that the duck hasn't fully settled yet. But it's starting to so much to look forward to.

And that's just tree topping some of the major challenges. Yes. Wide open.

It's been this way for quite a while in the majors in golf. You want to find Matt Adams on Twitter at Matt Adams FOL. The Fairways of Life show is eight o'clock Eastern Time.

You are doing it today, correct? Yeah, we'll we'll be having we have all kinds of content. We've posted Fairways of Life on YouTube. OK. Our national television show, Amy, this weekend kicks off. You have to check your local affiliates around the country.

I know in the New York area, it's MSG in the wing when it's nice and Valley sports sports, AT&T sports and excites everywhere. Awesome. You are a star. We always appreciate a couple of minutes with you. Have fun this weekend. And we'll talk to you soon. So much fun. Amy.