OverDrive - Duthie on the Masters Tournament storylines, McIlroy's journey for a win and Scheffler's pursuit of more wins

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

TSN Host James Duthie joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the sports world, the storylines for the Masters Tournament, Rory McIlroy's quest for a win, the Canadian contingent, Scottie Scheffler looking for another green jacket, LIV Golf players in the tournament, the course changes for Augusta National and more.

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Join today and be part of something amazing. Here he is, our main man, James Duffy. He's Mr. Ottawa. He is. Are you aware of what else is going on in the world, J.D.? I'm on the golf course, but we are allowed the rest of the time. OK. I'm not an idiot.

I'm not on deserted island. All right. I'm just asking. I am fully aware. I mean, I even catch the least game last night. So I just heard what you guys have said and reaction on social media. But you are right. You do get, I find this happens to me twice a year.

It happens at the World Juniors and O would dub second this, that you kind of just forget the NHL for the two weeks of the world juniors when you're focused on the Latvian defense. It happens here at the masters where you do get completely engrossed in this thing. But when we're back at the house at night, we try to watch hockey games if we can get them and keep a half an eye on what's going on. Yeah, it's pretty incredible. Like Ottawa officially punched a ticket last night and Montreal beats Detroit and RIG. That basically means they're in, which means you're going to have all three Eastern Canadian

teams in, Winnipeg's in, Edmonton's in. I can't wait. The first round is nuts every year. We always say this. We're three nights into the first round, we're like, oh my goodness, this is the greatest thing ever. And that's often with two Canadian teams making it. So this year, if it is Toronto, Ottawa, if it is Montreal in a separate series, man,

it's going to be two of the best weeks period. But I got to focus on tomorrow morning because these are my favorite four days. Look at the first round of the playoffs and probably the Masters, the fact they go back to back. I always say this, the Masters is amazing, but it's more amazing for what it represents. When you turn it on Thursday morning and it's not just the Masters, but you're like, okay, the hockey playoffs are around the corner and you can kind of smell summer and the golf courses are starting to open back home.

I know you've had a couple of rough weather days there but you know what I mean? I think there's something about the Masters that's more than the Masters at least for Canadians because it kind of just represents the end of a long winter and it's just the perfect way to kick off the fun times. So just before we get into hardcore golf talk, I just want to hear about your attire. I mean, are you, did you, is it tight shirt after tight shirt? Like where are you at here? I mean, are you well aware of how you're going to, especially your right arm?

Like I don't know if you know this, but I always watch- Are you pinning it back again? Yeah, like it's the right arm with the microphone. You know, first of all, I'm not in master shape. Graham Dullett suggested the other day, and I seconded this, that we should get dumbbells on the set to just do a little pump before we come on camera. That's a porn move. I have a little porn labrum, so I haven't been working out much.

I'm a little corn labrum, so I haven't been working out much. So I'm a little skinnier. So I don't know if it's Puma that has given me slightly bigger size shirts, but I don't think I'm going to get quite the youth medium blowback that I get in most years. And probably not to fit, it's probably because I'm not in shape anymore. I've given up on that. Okay. Well, we'll mix that into the budget next year, get you guys some 10 pound dumbbells, 15s, 20s. Weeksy looks great down there.

You guys are dialed in. There's been coverage all week. I don't know if you caught Cam Smith on the range today. Dude, what the hell was he doing? He's wearing a sports coat. Suit jacket, yeah. What was the explanation on that smoking jacket i don't know duchambo made comments earlier in the week about

how live i guess the live golfers have gotten some heat in the past for the way they look i don't know if they if they mean you know just at the majors where they're wearing their you know their crushers shirts and it doesn't really look like but the best at some place like Augusta National. I didn't know he was being sarcastic, you know, because the live guys usually stand up for themselves. So I don't know if this

was a comment on that. Oh, you want us to look more professional? I'm gonna wear a suit basically on the driving range when I'm practicing or if there was some other inside joke. Because he had the, if you look closely, he had his logo, I don't know what Team Kamsmith plays for, but he had his logos on the suit. But that was, between that and Hovland's sweater yesterday, it's been a bit of a show. I don't know if you saw that. It looked like kind of a summer version

of the ugly Christmas sweater. But yeah, I guess they can get away with it. I don't think we're going to see anybody wearing a suit jacket come round one or round two of the Masters. Cam was doing some sort of inside joke that I didn't understand. Yeah, that's a weird place man to pull that kind of statement off. Have you seen any of these, like people are talking a lot about these trees that are gone. Like have you put eyes on this? Is this like a noteworthy topic or what?

Okay, well I don't think it will be when you guys turn on the TV tomorrow. I don't, and I'm curious and send me a text, I don't know that you will notice it. It's not like you walk on the premises and you go, oh my God, what happened here? Because for your listeners who don't know, 1600 trees went down in the hurricane that happened, I think, end of September, Helene. But it is noticeable if you've been here a lot. And the first place you notice it is

when you're sort of standing on 10T, walking down that fairway. So for those who haven't been here, 10 is kind of one of the higher points of the golf course in that you go really severely downhill to Amen Corner. So if you're standing on 10 or walking down 10 Fairway, Augusta Country Club is right next door to Augusta National Golf Course,

and you could never see it before. And now you have a clear view onto that golf course. So that's the first thing you notice where, oh my goodness, there's another golf course right next door here. Then there's parts, remember when Len Matisse got in the playoff with Weirsey and hit that tree down there. Soil the shorts down by the tree.

Yeah, so where Len Matisse was there, he probably wouldn't have that problem today because a bunch of trees are out down there. So what I think will be most interesting is there are several places, around 16, too, there's a bunch of trees missing where you do notice that there are certain points on the golf course where you can see through to other fairways and other greens where you couldn't before. So let's say they have a playoff again and it ends up on 10 and you hit the

ball down where Len Matisse hit it, there's probably, I don't know how many trees were there before, I'd have to go look at the tape, but it seems like there's only a third of the amount of trees that there were there. So it's definitely noticeable in a subtle way when you're walking around the golf course, but I don't think watching on TV you're going to notice any difference. With James Duthie, live from Augusta, head of the Masters starting tomorrow. So if I were to give you these two options as a storyteller, as a guy who covers the tournament and has been doing it for a long time.

One option is Rory McIlroy wins the tournament and we experience that and we talk about it for the next four days and then on Monday and Tuesday and basically the rest of his career or you can create any other outcome, any other story that you think would be actually better than that, which would you take, Rory or the field? And if you take the field, what would that story be? Okay, I mean I love the Rory story but I would take the field and you know just selfishly okay you know Nick Taylor you know beating Scottie Scheffler in a playoff I think from a Canadian standpoint it's you know

something like that or Corey Connery's breaking through if I think you almost have to take the Canadians out of that question because we're I think it would be hard to beat something like that and only having these second ever green jacket, uh, from a Canadian. So if you took the Canadians out of that question, that's a, that's a, that's a tougher question for me, maybe, you know, I don't think the world would agree with this, you know, somebody like Spieth winning just cause I think he's completely fascinating and he just hits it all over the yard and you know,

for him to find it again here and win would be interesting. But you're probably right outside of, well, besides like, I mean, if you're really saying the field, if Bernard Bernie Langer, Bernie Langer wins in his last Masters when I was, they were showing his yardages now with his clubs and it's the first time ever a professional golfer where I hit the ball farther than him on many of the clubs so I suppose something like that but realistically Rory would be the story and I'm all for it I just think first of all you're sick of talking about it I've been coming here I think I

started covering the Masters full time again about the time that Rory started trying to finish the Grand Slam, so 11 or 12 years ago, and I'm sick of talking about it. I'm no Rory sick of hearing about it. I think this is honestly the best chance he's ever had the way he's playing. I think that would be an ideal story outside of a Canadian. Jimmy, every year you guys go through the Canadians and what they need to do. I think that would be an ideal story outside of a Canadian. Jimmy, every year you guys go through the Canadians and what they need to do, I mean,

they're all capable. I mean, to play at that level, they all hit it the same, but what really has to happen as opposed to the old, oh, this putter's got to get hot. Do they just have to get to a different level? Does it just take a different animal or to get to a different level as an athlete to get that done at that golf course? I look we're not fooling our listeners oh you and I text each other on Sunday sometimes when guys are in contention and we just feel like we know what's going to happen. Yeah.

Is that they're going to they're going to shoot 74 on Sunday and finish you know 12 and I don't know what that is. You know it's cool to have four Canadians in the field. These guys have all won on tour and have good resumes. Penderoth has three top tens this year. Nick's already won. Connors is playing the best of his life. But you're right. You always feel like they're not quite at the level to win. I mean, to be realistic about it, Nick has missed nine straight cuts in majors. So Nick's the guy that if he gets in the hot... Nick's the one guy, I would say this. How do you explain that first of all? Nine straight cuts in majors. It's insane.

Because I don't know what it is about Nick. Obviously he doesn't have the game that some of the best players in the world have but what Nick has and what I would say here is if Nick was the guy who was there on Sunday if Nick was you know in the lead shot off the lead three shots off the lead he would be the guy that I would believe could get it done because he's one of the best closers on tour whenever whenever he gets a sniff he wins wins. That's what he does. Whereas, you know, Cory is always there, but you know, besides the Valero Texas Open, can't get it done.

And Pendrith, I just think, maybe have the best game of the three, you know, with his length and stuff for this course, but I think first timer, it's just too much to ask. So look, most realistically, I think, oh, it would have to be a situation where A, Cory's putter gets hot, which it actually has for the first time in ages, like at times this year,

where it's looked decent. And maybe he gets in a situation where he's in the third or fourth to last group, most of the low number, and maybe some guys, somehow Scottie and Rory or whoever, DeChambeau or whoever up near the top kind of falter, and he wins like in a Danny Willett kind of way, I think that's the most realistic thing to happen. Because look, these guys are you know they have three Canadians in the top whatever it is you know even in this field is

impressive but let's face it there's another level for the Scotties and Rory's and DeChambeaux's and so on so it's tough but I think they would have to win that way it's I really it's hard for me to say this but I have trouble seeing like you know Scottie Scheffler and Conor in the last group and Corey being able to beat him. I would love him to prove me wrong. I think what might have to happen is it's just a scattered leaderboard for one of those guys to grab it.

I think what you just said is accurate. You put Scottie Scheffler in the final group or something. I don't think anyone's beaten that guy. He's done it twice. He's comfortable in that position. He was in the final pairing both times he won. It wasn't like he shot a 62 on Sunday and stole it. So like, and that is one thing I would say about this Masters, which feels different to me, James, is that last year, Scheffler felt like a lock. The year before Rom felt like a locker close to it. You know, Scheffler prior to that, like this year, Scheffler hasn't won, he had the injury.

Shafly was banged up. The Liv guys, you know, we'll see what comes of it. I find it's more difficult for me to really pinpoint like a true favorite. I know Scheffler is based on the books. McElroy is based on who he is. But every five or six years, there's that one, like a Danny Willard or a Charles Schwarzel, a Mike Weir, like it happens. You mean a winner that we hate watching, Hayes?

No, I mean a winner that would, on a day like today, the Wednesday, you say, that guy's not gonna win, and then that guy wins. Like that's what happens. It's easy to see Scheffler, it's easy to see McElroy, it's easy to see it because of who they are and what they do. But it doesn't work that way every single year at the Masters or anywhere for that matter. Yeah, you know the Willett year is a good year when Jordan fell apart and the Weirsey year is a good year. Because there was nobody, I can't remember what happened to Tiger, he was somewhere in the hunt there.

But the guys at the front were like Jeff Maggert kind of fell apart and they took that stupid penalty where he hit his ball out of the bunker. And, and, you know, Len Matisse, I think you, you know, realistically, you'd probably need a year like that for, for one of the Canadians to win. And again, that doesn't diminish what they've done. They're all really good players. I think the Liv guys are really interesting this year, um, simply because a lot of them are playing well and it's hard

to gauge. Nobody really watches Liv and it's hard to gauge what those tournaments are. But there's a bunch of really interesting names playing well. Sergio's hitting the ball like he hasn't in probably 10 years and Bry know Bryson's Bryson Koepka is playing pretty well there and we always like I don't think we said a word about Kefkaal a week and sometimes he just shows up at these things you know two years ago against Rom it was him and Rom down the stretch you know Phil's playing okay Patrick Reed is like an automatic top 20 at the Masters every year and Patrick Reed's playing well and if if you were to ask me, by the way, the reverse of your first question, the

least, uh, the worst storyline I could imagine for myself would be Patrick Reid, uh, winning this thing by three or something on Sunday. I just, I just don't like the guy, but there's a bunch of live players, Joaquin Nieman, who Phil keeps saying is the best player in the world. And he's already won twice on that tour. So, you know, the, the live guys are always a mystery, but I, I, the one, neiman who phil keeps saying is the best player in the world and has already won twice on that tour you know the the live guys are always a mystery but i i hate the one i'm not good predictions but i think at least one of those guys is

going to be very much in in the hunt in the back nine on sunday yet absolutely uh... and that has been the case ever since that that you know came alive they they show up at these tournaments and as to a three of them they're generally the top ten all right JD, get started tomorrow. We can't wait to see it. Thank you for doing this as always. All right. Thanks, boys. Take it easy. There's James Duffy. That just happened with me, Vashi Kapelos, Canada Decides 2025. Stay informed with my

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