The Masters 2020 tips: Bryson DeChambeau is the name on everyone’s lips but why we’re backing Rory McIlroy to win Green Jacket and complete career grand slam

Seven months on from when it was originally scheduled to take place, The 2020 Masters will finally get under way on Thursday.

Traditionally the opening major in the calendar, it's now become the third and final one of the year due to the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

No fans will be in attendance at Augusta National, Georgia, but that won't diminish the determination of the world's best golfers to win one of the game's ultimate prizes.

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The US Open Champion, Bryson DeChambeau, is the man everyone is looking at going into this.

The self-styled 'golfing scientist' has undergone a remarkable physicial transformation and his aggressive play and analytical methods are reinventing the game of golf - and sparking plenty of debate.

He's the form player, the favourite with the bookies and comparisons are being made with Tiger Woods' incredible emergence at Augusta in 1997, when he powered his way to his maiden major.

Swinging it like a mad axeman and aiming where he is, it’s going to be remarkable to watch DeChambeau in action.

While he was only ranked 6th in driving distance at The US Open in September, his spin numbers on his driver are now dialled in. Make no mistake, the American will lead driving distance this week.

There’s no doubt he should be the favourite, and we honestly reckon he’s up there with Tiger and John Daly as the most interesting player of the post-Seve era.

However, despite all that, DeChambeau is NOT the man we're backing for glory this week.

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Why not? Well, Masters champions generally reach an understanding of Augusta National after 40 competitive rounds and DeChambeau is still learning arguably the most nuanced course in the world.

Add to that he’s going to be blasting it into uncharted territory, and maybe this particular Masters is a little too early for him to master.

DeChambeau has 12 competitive rounds, with a best finish of T29.

Next up, he hits a draw, pretty much exclusively. It’s the reason we’re eliminating John Rahm from our thinking, too - despite his astonishing play in practice.

If you look at the stats, they both haven’t played the par 3s well enough. You need to be able to move iron shots both ways and play those par 3s well. Just ask Francesco Molinari and Jordan Speith.

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Then there’s putting. Augusta National do not allow green reading books. Bryson has turned into an amazing putter (6th strokes gained putting this season) and he has his system, which happens to rely on the greens books. Without that, we’re not sure how well he’ll putt.

So with all that in mind, who are we backing? Rory McIlroy - simple as that.

The Northern Irishman hasn't won a major in six years and hasn't fared better than fourth at Augusta.

But we think this is his time to get that elusive Green Jacket and join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods as the only players to have won all four major championships.

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McIlroy has never won a tournament with a score that’s worse than -12, and he’s historically won on long, soft golf courses. The forecast is heavy rain, with as much at three inches of rainfall by Saturday.

In a heavily disrupted season where not much has happened for him, he still leads the birdie charts with an average of 5.33 per round.

It’s due to be warm, around 25C, we know it’s going to be wet and it’ll play very long, with the likely set up encouraging birdies over the weekend. We think this is right in McIlory’s wheelhouse. Just look at Congressional in 2011 and Valhalla in 2014.

This course is set up for McIlroy, who recently became a dad, and, in our mind, he's destined to finally complete the career grand slam on Sunday.

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