Carlos Alcaraz and Jessica Pegula predict who will win The Masters at Augusta

The Masters has now arrived, with many undecided over who will claim the green jacket this year.

Rory McIlroy is the defending champion, but has made just four PGA Tour starts this season after dealing with a back injury.

World number one Scottie Scheffler is also in the field at Augusta National, but he has been kept busy by the birth of his second child.

Still, the top two golfers in the world simply cannot be ruled out of going all the way at The Masters, having won three of the last four titles between them.

They have been among the dominant forces in world golf for some time, but it is only Scheffler who has been predicted to come out on top via a crossover from the tennis world.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jessica Pegula predict The Masters winner

A handful of tennis stars predicted the winner of The Masters just before it started, including ATP number one Carlos Alcaraz, who is an avid golfer.

The Spaniard told Sky Sports: “I’ve got to go with my fella Jon Rahm, let’s go Jon!”

And Jessica Pegula, his WTA counterpart from the United States, has backed her fellow Adidas athlete Ludvig Aberg.

Pegula’s fellow American Taylor Fritz also shared his verdict, backing two-time winner Scheffler to emerge victorious once again.

The tennis and golfing worlds often overlap, with Alcaraz undoubtedly leading the way in that regard right now given his tendency to swap sports when he has the time.

He constantly takes to the course in a bid to improve his golf game, just like legendary figures Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal have been doing of late.

Tommy Fleetwood backed for first major win at The Masters

Alcaraz will likely be keeping a close eye on the action at Augusta National, despite his world number one ranking being on the line right now.

The Spanish superstar is currently competing at the Monte Carlo Masters, where his fierce rival Jannik Sinner is chasing down the top spot in men’s tennis.

Also involved in Monte Carlo are Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud, who have predicted their winner for The Masters too.

German ace Zverev commented: “I think Tommy Fleetwood is going to win his first major.”

And Norwegian icon Ruud said: “We have historically for Norway two Norwegians playing the tournament, so I’m going to say that a Norwegian will win this year’s Masters.”

Viktor Hovland and Kristoffer Reitan represent those two Norwegians who are eyeing the iconic green jacket this week.

Out first at Augusta National were Johnny Keefer and Haoting Li, followed by the trio of Naoyuki Kataoka, Max Homa and Carlos Ortiz.

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