Michael Bamberger

1 week ago | golf.com | Michael Bamberger

When Rory McIlroy was a young pro touring “America” for the first time, 19 turning 20, wherever you saw him, his parents, Gerry and Rosie, were nearby. He didn’t need them for logistical support — the prodigy had been traveling the world (literally) without them since he was 10. They were busy, working full-time jobs to support his amateur golf. They were there for emotional support. Rory was an only child, and they were a threesome. They were a team.

1 week ago | golf.com | Michael Bamberger

AUGUSTA, Ga. — I’m not saying this is professional, because it’s not. And I’m not saying this odd act reveals my rooting interest, because it doesn’t. But as Bryson DeChambeau made his uphill way from the ninth green to the tenth tee, I stuck my hand out for some skin from the reigning U.S. Open champion, just like everybody else who lined the parade route that leads the players to Augusta National’s back nine and the celebrated start of the tournament.

1 week ago | golf.com | Michael Bamberger

Who Will Win: A Checklist. You’re tempted to say, by logic and experience, that any player who starts the Sunday round at 6 under or better can with this thing, this 89th Masters. In other words, these five players:Rory McIlroy, who is 12 under;his playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, who is 10;Corey Conners, who is 8 under;his playing partner Patrick Reed, who is 6;and Ludvig Aberg, also at 6 under. Plus Scheffler. Don’t leave off Scheffler, who is 5 under.

1 week ago | golf.com | Michael Bamberger

AUGUSTA, Ga. — On Sunday at Augusta National, Patrick Reed, your 2018 Masters champion and the artist previously known as Captain America, will be playing in the penultimate pairing with course-record dreams. Six under for three rounds, plus a 10-under finale? Yeah, sure — that can win. That’s beyond unlikely. But here’s what the current Hong Kong Open champion and member of the 4Aces team is actually playing for on Sunday: a chance to play in next month’s PGA Championship. Are the chances remote?

1 week ago | golf.com | Michael Bamberger

AUGUSTA, Ga. — To the lunch crowd on the second-floor porch of the Augusta National clubhouse Friday afternoon, the course, tournament and game might have looked genteel. Fifty yards away, on the first tee, the golfer Nick Dunlap knew the truth. His stomach was knotted, his mind was scrambled, his hands were damp with perspiration. Deep within the 21-year-old golfer, a war was underway, and he was losing it. But faced with a second-round option of fight-or-flight, he was choosing fight.