It’s one of the best weeks in the sports year with The Masters officially teeing off early on Thursday morning from the iconic Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Seeing who joins the likes of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer with their name associated with the words “Masters Champion” will be decided over four grueling days of golf at the most pristine course in the world
As one of the more storied programs in all of collegiate golf, the Alabama Crimson Tide as they usually do have several players competing for the coveted Green Jacket and to etch their name into golf history with all of the greatest players to ever play the game.
The first and most notable is of course two-time major champion Justin Thomas, who wants to add the Green Jacket to his two PGA Championship titles. Thomas is not quite one of the favorites this week, though he is still considered as someone with a great chance to compete and is still within the top-ten of the World Golf Rankings.
Thomas teed off Thursday morning at 9:15 a.m. CST and is paired in the same group with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Arizona State amateur Jose Luis Ballester.
The second Tide golfer is a more recent Tuscaloosa resident in the 21-year-old Nick Dunlap. Becoming the first amateur in over 30 years to win a PGA Tour event last year when he won the American Express, Dunlap turned pro and has been up and down since.
Currently ranked No. 42 in the world, he has finished top-20 in two tour events since the start of this season.
Dunlap likely cannot win, but you truly never know at Augusta. He is paired with two top-20 players in the world in Robert McIntyre and Billy Horschel.
As for the final player, it’s world No. 109 Davis Riley, who turned pro back in 2019. Riley was in the first group of the morning and ironically was paired with Auburn alum and Montgomery native Patton Kizzire.
Riley won the Charles Schwab Challenge last May over some of the best players in the world and has a couple of top-tens this year, but he would need the performance of a lifetime in order to win a Green Jacket or even contend.
Through his first 13 holes, he was even par on Thursday.
Tide fans across the state will be tuned in throughout the weekend and rooting for their former Alabama stars during a “tradition unlike any other.”
