The Florida Swing Is Here, Which Means the Masters Isn't Far Away

Success in the sunshine state doesn't guarantee form at the year's first major, though Scottie Scheffler won last year at Bay Hill and then at Augusta National.

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The Masters is just five weeks away and Florida is typically the point when we get seriously stoked about the first major championship of the year.

It’s been a long time—more than seven months—since Cam Smith hoisted the Claret Jug at St. Andrews, always making the trek to Augusta National the most anticipated among the four major championships.

Even though the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens did not have a stellar field, it still offered an opportunity to earn a spot in the field with a victory. Chris Kirk seized it with a playoff win over Eric Cole and will play in the Masters for the first time since 2016.

And while success in Florida does not necessarily portend success at the Masters, it doesn’t hurt. Guys are trying to get in a rhythm now. They are putting on smoother greens than they saw during the West Coast events and—aside for two events in Texas—are in the same time zone.

This event isn't far away, now that the PGA Tour is in its Florida Swing :: Andrew Davis Tucker/USA TODAY Sports

Scottie Scheffler certainly wasn’t impacted by playing so well leading up to the Masters a year ago. After getting his first win at the WM Phoenix Open, he held off a strong field in difficult conditions at Bay Hill to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he will defend his title this week. Then he went on to the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play to move to No. 1 in the world heading to the Masters.

"One of the things I always struggled with was putting myself in this position enough," he said on the eve of the final round at the Masters. "I think I may have lost a 54-hole lead in Houston, but outside of that, I don't remember any other ones.

"So I've always just kept trying to put myself up there. And for me, I never really focused hard enough on Thursday and Friday, and I was always behind the 8 ball going into Sunday. So for me, being in this position, it's nice to be in control of the golf tournament. And all I'm trying to do out there is be committed to my shots and execute, and after that it's not really up to me."

Scheffler is a great example of a player who learned from his success leading up to the Masters and took the experience of winning to help him achieve his first major title.

He became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win at Bay Hill and Augusta in the same year.

The Players Championship was played after the Masters in March from 2007 through 2018. Nobody has gone on to win the Masters since the Players changed back to March and prior to 2007, Woods was again the last to do so, winning the Players and the Masters (on his way to the Tiger Slam) in 2001.

So winning isn’t everything.

Throw in the Valspar Championship, which will see Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and defending champion Sam Burns among others, and there is a good bit of high-level golf to be played over the coming weeks leading up to the Masters. Spieth won the Valspar in 2015 leading up to the Masters.

And don’t forget the 16 players who are eligible for the Masters who will be competing in LIV Golf events. Their lead-up is far less stressful and includes just two more tournaments—the LIV Tucson tournament the same week as the Valspar and LIV Orlando the same week as the Valero Texas Open, the week prior to the Masters.

The ability of Smith, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen or any of the others to find form in LIV tournaments and turn it into success at Augusta National will be fascinating to see play out.

So far, we've seen a good number of high-profile players winning. Jon Rahm has won three times in 2023 and in five of his last seven starts. Scheffler won in Phoenix. Rory McIlroy won in Dubai. Max Homa won at Torrey Pines and last fall as well. Smith won a tournament in Australia.

Over three of the next four weeks we will see a majority of the top players in the world competing together, including next week’s Players Championship, while honing their games for Augusta National. There will be opportunities to qualify for the Masters via winning a tournament or moving into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking as well.

Florida is always the time when this comes into focus. Magnolia Lane is not far away.