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Masters 2022 Tee Times: Pairings and Predictions for Saturday
April 8, 2022
The top-ranked men's golfer in the world played the first two rounds of The Masters like there was a wide gap between himself and the rest of the field.
Scottie Scheffler heads into the weekend at The Masters with a five-stroke advantage over his closest competition.
The three-time winner on the PGA Tour this season broke away from the field with a five-under 67 on Friday afternoon.
Scheffler is ahead of a quartet of players at three under, three of whom have major tournament victories on their resumes.
Charl Schwartzel won the green jacket in 2011, Shane Lowry won The Open in 2019 and Hideki Matsuyama is the reigning Masters champion.
Sungjae Im is the lone member of the group in second place without a major win. He finished in second place at Augusta National Golf Club two years ago.
Scheffler will play in Saturday's final group alongside Schwartzel. Im and Lowry will go out in the penultimate pairing.
Notable Tee Times
2:50 p.m. ET: Scottie Scheffler, Charl Schwartzel
2:40 p.m. ET: Sungjae Im, Shane Lowry
2:30 p.m. ET: Hideki Matsuyama, Harold Varner III
2:20 p.m. ET: Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na
2:10 p.m. ET: Cameron Smith, Corey Conners
2 p.m. ET: Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
1:40 p.m. ET: Justin Thomas, Christaan Bezuidenhout
1 p.m. ET: Kevin Kisner, Tiger Woods
12:30 p.m. ET: Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm
Full list of tee times can be found on Masters.com.
Predictions
Scottie Scheffler Continues Strong Play
The Masters is Scottie Scheffler's tournament to lose.
The No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking breezed past the competition during his five under 67 second round.
Scheffler's second-round score looks even more impressive after you consider he produced the low number in windy conditions. The morning wave of golfers had easier weather to deal with.
Scheffler was not fazed by the declining conditions as he set the tone for the remainder of the tournament.
The 36-hole leader proved over the last two months that he is more than capable of closing out events. His most recent win came at the WGC Match Play in which he won four matches in two days.
Scheffler shot a third-round 62 to break free from the field at the WM Phoenix Open in February. He completed that event with a final-round 67.
He produced a 68-72 weekend to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational to open up the PGA Tour's March schedule.
Scheffler kept a steady hand at Augusta National in his first two starts in the tournament. He shot two rounds of 71 on the weekend to finish in 18th place last year, and he carded a 71 and 72 on the weekend two years ago to land in 19th position.
Scheffler displayed few signs of weakness during his first two rounds, and unless he goes through an unexpected collapse, he should finish Sunday with the green jacket around his shoulders.
Justin Thomas Makes Run At Top
While Scheffler was pulling away from the field, Justin Thomas moved into the top 10 with a similar score.
Thomas shot a five-under 67 to move into a six-way tie for 10th place. The low round was a welcome sight for Thomas after he shot a disastrous 76 during Thursday's first round.
Thomas entered Augusta as one of the few favorites to win the tournament, but he dropped off the radar with his high Thursday score.
The 2017 PGA champion reeled off three consecutive birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes to earn an afternoon tee time on Saturday.
Thomas still has plenty of work to do to even come close to catching Scheffler, but his play on the back nine Friday suggests he can make a further push up the leaderboard.
Thomas made the cut in each of his seven appearances at Augusta, but he finished in the top 10 once in 2021.
He has multiple top-10 finishes in the other two majors played on American soil, and if he plays like he did on Friday, Thomas could add a second top-10 finish at The Masters to his resume.