Butch Harmon backs Brit to land breakthrough Masters win

Legendary coach Butch Harmon has named who he thinks will win this year’s Masters – and it might surprise you.

The opening major of the men’s season gets underway on Thursday, with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy set to lock horns at Augusta National.

But Harmon, 81, has told Neil McLeman of the Mirror that he fancies a player outside the top two in the world.

And that is Tommy Fleetwood.

• The Masters: The curious case of Tyrrell Hatton

• PGA Tour winner splits with caddie week before Masters

“I will go away from choosing the two obvious ones in Rory and Scottie Scheffler,” Harmon said, “and pick Tommy as my winner this week

“His game suits Augusta very well, he is a right to left player. I have done some work with him this year trying to hit the ball a little higher going into the greens because the greens get very firm and fast.

“I have been working with Jose Maria Olazabal on his game the last few days and we were talking about Tommy at dinner. He was talking about what a great competitor he is and that his game fits Augusta National.

“The question for Tommy is how well he will putt those greens because I know his long game is excellent. He struggles a little on the 15-footers and in – the ones you need to make a lot of.

“If he gets that sorted out, he will be in there with a real chance because his long game is very good for that golf course.”

Fleetwood, however, will have to break his continued drought on US soil. The Englishman, a twice runner-up in majors, is still without a win on the PGA Tour.

It’s despite earning over $25 million on the circuit, making him the first player to hit that figure without a title. And, of course, no Brit has won the Masters since Danny Willett in 2016.

• McEwan: Fallen Angel Cabrera should be nowhere near the Masters

• PGA Tour winner splits with caddie week before Masters

However, Harmon has seen one thing in his time with Fleetwood that gives him belief of changing that.

“I have been working with him for about two-and-a-half years and I have seen an increase in his self-belief during that time,” he said.

“It is one of the things I talk to him all the time. I tell him: ‘You need to understand how good you really are’.

“He would be such a great winner. He looks great and he would be such a popular winner – a new superstar. I think it would be great for golf if it did happen.

“It is just so hard to win these majors. But having said that, the Masters is the easiest of all of them to win because there are only about 90 players in the field, a lot of those are former champions so they are not going to have a chance.

“A lot of them are first or second timers. Jack Nicklaus used to say that the field whittles down to only about ten or 12 people who have a chance, and I would definitely put Tommy Fleetwood in that category.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.