What to look out for as the Masters tournament in Georgia starts
Atlanta, Georgia (AP) – Golf's first major of the year offers its customary abundance of interesting storylines, from the outlaw LIV tour to Scottie Scheffler's quest for a second consecutive green jacket to an extended 13th hole. Oh, and don't overlook Tiger Woods.Welcome to the Masters, where the golf season officially begins on Thursday amidst Augusta National Golf Club's azalea blossoms and soaring pines. Over the upcoming four days, keep an eye out for the following:
The Masters of golf
The PGA Tour's historic clash with aggressive challenger LIV will take place at The Masters.The rivalry between the players who stayed with the PGA and those who opted for the generational wealth offered by LIV's Saudi benefactors is inevitable, despite the fact that there were no overt displays of enmity throughout the practise rounds and winners supper. Everyone will be watching the scoreboard to see how the 18 participants in LIV are doing compared to the rest of the field. If one of them won the green jacket, it would likely be compared to the New York Jets' stunning victory over the Baltimore Colts in the third Super Bowl, which gave the fledgling American Football League parity with the National Football League. Golf is an individual sport, of course, but the importance of the Masters to both tours cannot be ignored after the last year's exchange of scathing remarks. Cameron Smith, the current British Open champion who switched teams to LIV, said: "I'd love to see one of us guys get up to the top of the leaderboard and really give it a nice shot."
Large three
Only three athletes—Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, and Woods—have won the Masters twice. With two triumphs and nine straight top-12 finishes, Scheffler, the top-ranked player in the world, appears ready to make a run at joining that distinguished trio. I don't get to start at 1-under just because you're defending, he remarked. "I'll approach it the same way I do a lot of other tournaments," the player said. The next two men in the global rankings, Rory McIlroy and possibly Jon Rahm, should present Scheffler with a formidable task. These three dominated the year's first quarter. Though he struggled in March, Rahm became the first player in over 50 years to win three times on the West Coast swing. In the previous six months, McIlroy had two victories and two more top-three finishes.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Scheffler and McIlroy are co-favorites to win the Masters, with Rahm close behind. McIlroy is attempting to make history, much like Scheffler. To complete a career Grand Slam, the Northern Irishman needs to win the Masters. Only five players have triumphed in each of golf's four major competitions. "It will happen in due course. Rory is talented. He is the expert. Woods, the most recent player to complete the modern career Slam, remarked that he "has all the tools." Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben, and Gene make up the remaining group.
Unhappy 13th
The easiest hole on the course for a long time has been the 13th, sometimes known as "Azalea." The hole is finally playing like a par 5. The tee box at hole 13 was moved back 35 yards after purchasing a plot of property from the nearby Augusta Country Club. The hole's length increased to 545 yards as a result, making it more comparable to other par 5s at major competitions. On Sunday's back nine, there should be a lot more intrigue if everything goes as planned. The changes, according to Masters Chairman Fred Ridley, would help "restore the element of risk and reward" that was envisioned in the course's original design. Golfers will have to decide whether to try for the green in two from a considerably further position. or lying up and directing their third shot towards the green. It makes perfect sense to Xander Schauffele. The extra yards, in the words of Schauffele, "put you in that no man's land." "You simply lie down. It's not complicated at all.
Although Woods is only a part-time competitor these days, no one is more familiar with Augusta National than the five-time champion. Woods miraculously made the cut last year while still being in pain from a terrible vehicle accident. He still walks with a slight limp, a reminder of all the physical hardships he has faced over the previous 15 years. But that swing seemed to be working just well. McIlroy said, "I'd say he'd be one of the favourites if he didn't have to walk up these hills and have all of that." He is capable of all shots. Woods never enters a match without feeling that he has a chance to win, but he is aware that his chances of winning a sixth green are extremely slim. Only Nicklaus has ever achieved this accomplishment, which he did in 1986 at the age of 46. Woods is now 47. He admitted, "I don't know how many more I have in me."
unpredictable weather
This week, the erratic weather of early April is predicted to be in full force, which could result in significant alterations to the course. The day before the competition, Augusta National was roasted by temperatures that were around to 90 degrees, and more of the same was predicted for the first round. However, a storm front was moving towards east Georgia, perhaps bringing significant rains and dropping temperatures into the low 50s by the weekend, according to forecasters. Come Sunday evening, the player who has demonstrated the greatest adaptability to that vast range of circumstances will probably be the one donning the green jacket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(AP) ATLANTA — With a new bill that Governor Brian Kemp signed into law on Thursday, Georgia would outlaw the majority of gender-affirming procedures and hormone replacement therapy for transgender people under the age of 18. Despite fervent protests from Democrats and LGBTQ activists, lawmakers on Tuesday approved Senate Bill 140, which has grown to be the most contentious legislation of Georgia's 2023 legislative session. Without the fanfare the governor occasionally employs to commemorate new legislation, Kemp signed the bill in private. Kemp said in a statement, "I appreciate the many hours of polite debate and consideration by members of the General Assembly that resulted in the final adoption of this bill. "It is our highest responsibility as Georgians, parents, and elected leaders to safeguard the bright, promising future of our children, and SB 140 takes an important step towards accomplishing that mission."
It's a part of a national conservative campaign to outlaw drag shows, gender-affirming medical care, and transgender athletes. Similar bills have been signed by the governors of South Dakota, Utah, and Mississippi. The new law, according to critics, infringes unconstitutionally on parents' rights. Shortly after Kemp signed the measure, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia declared that it will "use every legal means at our disposal" to prevent it from taking effect. In Arkansas and Alabama, judges have temporarily blocked laws that would have restricted the care of transgender adolescents in a gender-affirming manner. Under the Georgia law, doctors could still give drugs to delay puberty, but Republicans argue that restrictions on other treatments are necessary to stop minors from making decisions they will later come to regret. The law, which goes into effect on July 1, states that minors who are currently taking hormone therapy may continue to do so. Opponents, meanwhile, claim that the legislation targets vulnerable children and intrudes on personal medical decisions, and that it is based on misinformation and a desire to establish a new front in the cultural war to appease conservative Republican voters. A provision that specifically exempted doctors from both criminal and civil culpability was removed from the law. Although the size of that group is unknown, conservative groups had advocated for the amendment because they want patients who later regret their treatment to be able to sue their doctor. The proposal's detractors claimed that it would harm transgender youngsters and force doctors to go against accepted medical practices. They also charged Republicans with forsaking their prior support for parental decision-making rights. Transgender children and their parents actively opposed the bill in recent weeks, warning lawmakers that they were further marginalizing a community that was already predisposed to committing suicide at alarmingly high rates. Republicans denied that they had any ill intentions, claiming that they only had the interests of children and people's access to counselling in mind.
