Rory McIlroy won his second consecutive Masters title on Sunday as he defeated Scottie Scheffler by a single stroke. With the biggest stars in the golfing world and millions of viewers at home tuned in, it was the biggest sports story of the day by far.<\/p>\n
So it was only natural that ESPN\u2019s First Take, a noted show that documents goings-on in the sports world on the Worldwide Leader in Sports, would want to discuss what happened at Augusta. But the segment only proved just how far out of its depth the show (and ESPN as a whole) is when it comes to talking about anything other than football and basketball.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the fact that the person ESPN chose to bring in for the Masters discussion was *checks notes* ESPN NBA analyst Brian Windhorst?<\/p>\n
This is nothing against Windhorst. Apparently, he\u2019s a golf fan, awesome. He\u2019s great in his basketball roles<\/a>. But this is ESPN we\u2019re talking about. The network is valued at THIRTY BILLION DOLLARS. Can\u2019t we find one person actually affiliated with the golfing world to come in and shoot the breeze with Stephen A. Smith on a Monday morning after the biggest tournament of the year? We can\u2019t find a single individual who can beam in via satellite who actually covers golf on a regular basis?<\/p>\n Scott Van Pelt, Laura Rutledge, and Marty Smith covered the tournament first-hand. Curtis Strange and Andy North are former major winners who are in-house golf analysts at ESPN. So is Michael Collins. What about Jason Kelce?!? At least he was there<\/a>!<\/p>\n If they didn\u2019t want to stay in-house, they could have scooped up one of dozens of golf content creators, influencers, or YouTubers to come in and do the spot as they leaned on Josh Pate during the college football season. Chris Solomon, Brendan Porath, and Kevin Van Valkeburg are just a few of the many options.<\/p>\n Nevertheless,\u00a0First Take\u00a0instead relied on Stephen A. Smith and Brian Windhorst to carry the load, and they looked about as comfortable as Greg Norman with a back-nine lead in a major.<\/p>\n As bizarre as the setup was, the conversation turned<\/a> to a truly inconsequential topic to find something, anything, to debate. Smith brought up Rory McIlroy, who is preparing for the Masters by playing practice rounds at Augusta National. The two then debated whether that was somehow an \u201cunfair advantage\u201d or whether McIlroy was breaking some kind of protocol.<\/p>\n Newsflash: He was not.<\/p>\n Did Rory McIlroy have an \u201cunfair advantage\u201d in the Masters Tournament? \ud83e\udd14@stephenasmith<\/a> and @WindhorstESPN<\/a> weigh in on McIlroy\u2019s back-to-back wins \ud83c\udfc6 pic.twitter.com\/A4X0SIE4HI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 First Take (@FirstTake) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how anybody else feels about that. He didn\u2019t break any rules, didn\u2019t violate anything. I\u2019m not saying that, please don\u2019t get me wrong. But what I am saying is that does give you an advantage. Not only familiarity with the course because you\u2019ve been playing there for years, but you\u2019ve been there over the last few weeks. That\u2019s what he said. And saying that, you have some people that will believe from a gentleman\u2019s perspective that was an unfair advantage. I don\u2019t think it should take anything away from what we saw him do. I respect the man; he\u2019s a two-time Masters champion right now. We all know he\u2019s one of the greatest golfers in the world, but I did think that was important to bring that up with you,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n Other PGA Tour golfers and people who actually cover the sport dismissed the talking point as a completely irrelevant figment of Smith\u2019s imagination. Everyone who qualified for the Masters had the ability to play practice rounds at Augusta. To try to make this a \u201cdebate\u201d or \u201cdiscussion\u201d about whether Rory had an \u201cunfair advantage\u201d is ludicrous. The guy who shouted \u201cGive me back my son!<\/a>\u201d on Saturday was less offensive to the Masters than this.<\/p>\n Yes, there\u2019s a number of rounds that ANGC will say no to for me to go by myself and play by myself. That number is prob a little lower for me than a guy like Rory.<\/p>\n If you find a member to host you every time, there\u2019s no limit.<\/p>\n I had plenty of chances to go to ANGC myself if I\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/TvmdcciyK1<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Michael S. Kim (@Mike_kim714) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n If someone in your life shares this opinion, please let them know that *every golfer* (not just former Masters winners) has unlimited access to the course in the lead up to the tournament. This is not a thing. https:\/\/t.co\/F7blzR8PGW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/t.co\/EQaiw5Kz0n<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/eeKQgPk2eE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe this has been an actual talking point. There is not a dumber debate. Not worth spending a single second on https:\/\/t.co\/zH35ymaFVH<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Joseph LaMagna (@JosephLaMagna) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n What a brutally bad take. Just ask @K_Kisner<\/a>. https:\/\/t.co\/hfNhdjFh8m<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n I hate giving these jackasses the attention they want, but they said so many wrong\/dumb things that I have to say something.<\/p>\n Every player in the field could have taken as many scouting trips as Rory did, it was not something only he could do. https:\/\/t.co\/UQXZ4F98rV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Nate (@Just_Some_Guy29) April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s just one more example of\u00a0First Take\u00a0stumbling badly over a sport<\/a> that is outside their wheelhouse<\/a>. If ESPN is going to talk about the Masters, please, please, please at least try to make it halfway legitimate. Otherwise, please just stick to the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t