Masters branded a ‘joke and embarrassment’ as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler snub causes uproar – MASHAHER

ISLAM GAMAL11 April 2024Last Update :
Masters branded a ‘joke and embarrassment’ as Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler snub causes uproar – MASHAHER


Golf fans tuning in to try and watch the group of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have been left furious after finding out they weren’t included as one of the featured groups.

There are four featured groups for the first round of the Masters with two from the morning and two from the afternoon.


Defending champion Jon Rahm’s group with Nick Dunlap and 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick was one of the morning featured groups.

The other focused on Wyndham Clark, Viktor Hovland and Cameron Smith.

TV cameras follow the entire rounds of featured groups with a spattering of other golf stars throughout the coverage.

It means that a number of high-profile groupings at major events are often overlooked.

Rory McIlroy was not in the featured group

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Arguably there was none more high-profile then the trio of Scheffler, McIlroy and Schauffele.

The trio sit first, second and fifth respectively in the Official World Golf Rankings.

But fans were mystified at the start of the first round to find out they weren’t one of the featured groups from the early session.

One viewer fumed on X: “World number 1 and a Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, arguably the most popular golfer in the field and Xander Schauffele one of the betting favourites are not a featured group for coverage? @TheMasters your brand is a joke and coverage is an embarrassment.”

Another moaned: “Criminal to not have Scheffler McIlroy a featured group.”

A third asked: “Why in the world wouldn’t they put Scheffler, McIlroy and Xander in featured group coverage?”

One other person sarcastically said: “Wait all day to watch McIlroy and Scheffler and we get Nick Dunlap.”

Another snide remark read: “Who would want to watch Scheffler, Mcilroy, and Schauffele anyway? Clearly, they are nobodies in the golf world since they are not a featured group today.”

The latter set of tee times will see Tiger Woods’ group with Jason Day and Max Homa as one of the featured groups.

The fourth and final featured group will be Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood.

All eyes are once again on McIlroy this week to see whether he can complete the Career Grand Slam.

The 34-year-old has come close on several occasions in recent years and finished second back in 2022.

All three players are ranked inside the world's top five

All three players are ranked inside the world’s top five

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Woods feels confident his TGL business partner will eventually put on the green jacket.

And McIlroy felt “flattered” to hear Woods’ faith in him to win at Augusta.

He said: “It’s flattering. It’s nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that.

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Thousands were packed in to see the world's best golfers

Thousands were packed in to see the world’s best golfers

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“So, yeah, I mean, does that mean that it’s going to happen? Obviously not.

“But he’s been around the game long enough to know that I at least have the potential to do it.

“I know I’ve got the potential to do it too. It’s not as if I haven’t been a pretty good player for the last couple of decades.

“So, but, yeah, it’s nice to hear it when it comes out of his mouth.”


Source Agencies

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