THE SPOTLIGHT FALLS on Augusta National today as the first round tees off at the 2019 Masters for the opening Major of the season.

The defending champion is Patrick Reed, the US golfer who won his maiden Major twelve months ago, by a shot over Rickie Fowler but it is a bunch of big names who are the favourites heading into the opening round.

Four-time Major winner Rory McIlory is the favourite as he seeks to complete a career Grand Slam and enters on the back of a blistering run of recent form that has yielded seven top-10 finishes, including a Players Championship title, to date in 2019.

Yet he’ll have plenty of competition with the likes of 2015 winner Jordan Spieth, a four-time Masters champion in Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, who has finished second twice since 2015.

Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas are a pair that have made breakthroughs in landing a Major title in recent years but both are still chasing their first Green Jacket.

So do you think a member of that leading pack will triumph or will there be an outsider celebrating on Sunday evening?

Let us know who you feel will be crowned the Masters champion.

Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here: