"I look at this year as sort of a free pass when everyone is going to be talking about Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Dustin and Jason Day. That said, I would always put Rory in the top 10 even coming off an injury." . . . "Any injury is serious when you swing a stick and hit a ball. Sometimes those rib injuries tend to linger." . . . "Rory goes at the ball so hard. I'm not sure the body is meant to be going at shots with that sort of violence." . . . "When he's not injured, he always seems to be on the edge of being injured. Part of the problem is this mania for power in the modern game." . . . "There's a link between Rory and Tiger. I'm convinced Tiger's body broke down because he overdid it in the gym. He shortened his career by 10 years—at least. I've never seen any of the heavier guys injured. I'm not sure any of the gym rats will have great longevity." . . . "If he's fully healed in time, this will be a good thing for him. He won't have to over-think his preparation or how he's playing. It takes a little pressure off him with all the talk about the career Grand Slam, etc. Down deep, he knows what he's playing for, and he's probably been thinking about it the last few years. But now I think he'll be more relaxed and could come in with a different mind-set entirely." . . . "Rory can't win there because he's a below-average putter. He has been his whole career, and not too many of them win at Augusta National. He's been streaky-good at times, but he's had one good putting week in the past two years. You can talk all you like about Rory winning the Masters, but that depends on him having his best putting week ever. And it has to happen at Augusta National. Really?" . . . "You have to putt well every day to win there, and Rory hasn't done that yet. But he is getting better through his work with Phil Kenyon, who is a brilliant putting coach." . . . "Rory's speed control is sometimes dodgy. It isn't something you can easily learn, either. You can work on mechanics and produce an efficient stroke, but speed control is innate, and Augusta is the ultimate test of that." . . . "Rory just got away from what he was doing as a kid with his putting technique. He came out as this amazing young player, and he was successful and then he said, 'You know what? I'm going to start dragging the handle toward the cup with my putting stroke.' That's the Stockton thing with the forward press and drag the handle, instead of the release method he was using. Either one works, but not when you've been doing one your whole life and then you go to the other. Why did he do that?" . . . "When he gets into trouble he's tempted to try to get out of it with one swing. You can't do that in the Masters. The course can make you feel like you can be a hero, but all too often you end up with a big old black eye." . . . "Whatever happened to him in 2012 [a 77-76 finish], maybe that's just stuck in his head." . . . "Rory is an in-and-out chipper, and his clubbing is suspect at times. How often do you see him and [caddie J.P. Fitzgerald] looking at each other in shock after his ball has finished 20 yards over the back?" . . . "If you listen to them on the course, you often hear Rory asking, 'What happened there?' More than once I've heard J.P. saying something like, 'OK, hit a soft draw with a 6-iron off that tree.' And I've immediately thought, This ball is going over the green. And sure enough, it does. So you have to wonder. I see Rory up close only occasionally, and I know he's going to hit the ball over the green when his caddie clearly doesn't. It makes no sense." . . . "Rory needs someone to tell him what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear." . . . "Why he doesn't employ Billy Foster is a mystery. Rory would have 10 majors by now if he did. Of course, we know what Rory is like. He's as stubborn as anyone on tour. The more people tell him that J.P. is not the right caddie for him, the more he'll keep him on."