Just 144 days after Dustin Johnson’s record-setting performance to win the Masters, the best golfers in the world have converged at Augusta for the 2021 edition of the Masters.

It’s no surprise that D.J. entered this year’s tournament as the betting favourite at +900 odds.

Johnson, who will tee off at 10:30 a.m. ET, is listed at +1600 odds to be the first-round leader.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Thursday April 8, 2021.

 

Johnson aims to repeat

D.J. will be looking to extend the longest streak of rounds under par at Augusta in Masters history when he takes the course this morning.

There have only been three repeat winners in the history of this tournament – by far the fewest among the four major championships.

After setting a Masters scoring record in last year’s tournament, all eyes will be on D.J. to see what’s in store for an encore.

Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau each entered the day tied for the second shortest odds to win the Masters at +1000 odds.

Spieth, who was 50-to-1 to win the Masters as recently as Feb. 1, has completely turned things around of late with his excellent play, including last week’s win at the Valero Texas Open.

Meanwhile, Thomas has registered seven straight rounds under par at the Masters, which is the third-longest active streak heading into this tournament behind Johnson (11) and Brooks Koepka (10).

Koepka is currently +2500 to win the Masters along with Collin Morikawa.

DeChambeau will be making his fifth career Masters start. He’s never finished in the top 20.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy (+1600), Patrick Cantlay (+2000) and Xander Schauffele (+2200) round out the betting favourites to win the Masters outright.

Corey Conners leads the Canadian contingent at +7000 odds to win outright.

Conners, who has posted the third-best greens in regulation percentage at the Masters since 2016, teed off at just after 9 a.m. ET this morning.

 

You can catch complete coverage of the Masters throughout the day on TSN.

 

 

McDavid, Draisaitl dominate Sens again

If you are unlucky enough to play an opponent that has one of Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, or both, in a fantasy hockey league matchup on a week that they play the Ottawa Senators, I feel bad for you.

If you happen to play them in a week when the Oilers play the Senators twice it’s even worse.

If you happen to play an opponent that owns both McDavid and Draisaitl in a week that the Oilers play Ottawa twice and you are competing with that opponent for the Presidents’ Trophy in the final week of your fantasy hockey league season, I feel even worse for you.

I know that feeling because I’m in that exact spot this week and it’s terrible.

McDavid and Draisaitl combined for four goals, four assists, a plus-4 rating, two power-play points and a game-winning goal for Edmonton (-200) in Wednesday night’s 4-2 win over the Senators.

The fact that that tandem was able to do that much damage on four goals is remarkable.

McDavid added another incredible milestone to a growing list of accomplishments in his young NHL career.

Meanwhile, Draisaitl recorded his fourth four-point game of the season. Three of them have come against the Senators.

 

Campbell Sets Maple Leafs Record

Jack Campbell made 32 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs (-160) beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 on Wednesday night.

With the win, Campbell improved to 10-0 and set a Maple Leafs franchise record for the most consecutive wins.

In terms of fantasy hockey, is there a better waiver wire steal that was available late in the season than Campbell?

Campbell owns a 1.58 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage this season.

If he can continue to put up those kinds of numbers, he could be the key to countless fantasy hockey championship runs, regardless of Frederik Andersen’s status.

Here’s what TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button had to say about the Maple Leafs’ goaltending situation following last night’s win.

 

Durant dominant in Nets return

Kevin Durant didn’t miss a shot in his return to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.

Durant went 5-for-5 for 17 points with seven rebounds and five assists off the bench for the Nets (-9) in a 139-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

It was just the second time in his career that he shot 100 per cent from the field in a game. 

Elsewhere in the NBA, the Phoenix Suns (+125 ML) took down the Utah Jazz 117-113 in overtime.

Devin Booker and Chris Paul combined for 64 points, which matched their most combined points in a game this season.

With the win, the Suns are now just 1.5 games back of Utah for the best record in the Western Conference.

Phoenix is also three games up on the Los Angeles Clippers for the best record in the Pacific Division entering tonight’s head-to-head showdown.

Anyone who has read this column over the past couple of months knows how high I have been on the Suns.

Just a few weeks ago, Phoenix was +1200 to win its division. As of this morning, the Suns are -110 to win the Pacific.