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Tiger Woods Doesn't Quite Care For Ian Poulter's Prediction

British golfer Ian Poulter is renowned for being daring and bold: just look at his outfits and hair.

So it's probably no surprise that he would make waves when asked about Tiger Woods prospects heading into the 75th Masters.

“I don’t think he’ll finish in the top 5," Poulter told the Chicago Tribune. "The shots he was hitting at Doral, they were very inconsistent....You can’t afford to hit shots like that on this golf course and get away with it. I don’t think you want to rely on your short game that much around this place."

Asked about that Tiger smiled, paused, and offered "Well, Ian's always right."

That got a bit of a rise out of the media in the room. But it was the discussion of his game that was most compelling. Woods talked about the importance of having a good short game, the changes to his swing, and the impressive athleticisim of some of his younger competitors, like Dustin Johnson and Gary Woodland.

Tiger seemed to be in a fairly good mood during the encounter with the media which really should have no bearing on his performance this week.

But it is interesting to notice that the further he (and the public, as well) get away from his problems that started on Thanksgiving 2009, the more he can talk about golf, which should help him return to that tunnel-vision that made him such a formidable champion on the course.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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Round one of the 2011 Masters will begin very early Thursday at Augusta National.

The television coverage will be shared by CBS and ESPN but the Worldwide Leader in Sports will have the television coverage on Thursday, from 3 pm to 7:30. There will also be continuous coverage on Masters.com.

Some of the prized threesomes on Day One include the following.

The first big time pairing comes at 8:40 a.m., when young stars Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, and early favorite Nick Watney tee off.

Another young crowd kicks off at 9:24 when Rory McIlory, Rickie Fowler, and Jason Day goes off, followed an hour later by Matt Kuchar, Lee Westwood, and world number Martin Kaymer at 10:19. Phil Mickelson's threesome--which includes former US Open champion Geoff Ogilby and reigning US Amateur champion Peter Uihlein--will face the par-4 first hole known as Tea Olive at 1:48 pm. 

Still, the most anticipated group tees off at 10:41 a.m., when Tiger Woods, reigning  US Open champion Graeme McDowell and Robert Allenby hit the course.

The players will be practicing on the course for the next two days, but today several will sit down and discuss the tournament and the course. Lee Westwood, world  number one Martin Kaymer, and reigning British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen have already met  with the media, while Tiger Woods (1 pm), Phil Mickelson (2:30 pm), and Nick Watney (3:30 pm) will later today. The interviews will be available to watch on Masters.com

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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Golf's Greatest Living Legends Will Meet Up  Once Again

Arnold  Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Together they've won 25 majors, and 135 PGA Tour stops. They are two of the most beloved figures in the world of sports. And since they've combined to win 10 Green Jackets--largely due to a stretch from 1960-66 in which they won five of six Masters played--they are intimately woven into the history at Augusta National.

So it's only fitting that they should be the men who serve as "honorary starters" for this year's edition.

For decades, a golf legend has opened up the tournament with a ceremonial tee shot, much like the baseball tradition of the "first pitch" in baseball, starting with Jock Hutchinson in 1963. Since Hutchinson, winner of the 1920 PGA Championship, Fred McLeod, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Ken Venturi, and Sam Snead carried on the tradition.

Palmer, now 81 years old, started doing so in 2007, 43 years after winning his last green jacket. His rival Nicklaus joined him for the first time last year and the two will share the honors again this Thursday morning.

With the game of golf coming more and more into the mainstream each year, the honorary starter is a nice way to fold in the game's history to those who don't know it. After all, how many of the people who pop EA Sports Tiger Woods 2012 into their Nintendo Wii or XBox actually know the faces of Arnold  Palmer and Jack  Nicklaus?

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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The Beautiful Course To Host It's 75th Masters Tournament

Augusta National is one of the most hallowed places in all of sports. The dogwoods, the water, the architecture, the water, etc. And then there is the history. Built by the great Bobby Jones and architectural genius Alister MacKenzie during the Depression, the course has been walked by handfuls of truly elite golfers.

Names like Sarazen, Hagen, Hogan, Nelson, Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus, Miller, Trevino, Watson, Norman, Mickelson, Woods have all played there.

Presidents--most notably Dwight D. Eisenhower--have walked it with great frequently as well: the "Eisenhower Tree" stands on the 17th hole, so named because it was frequently struck by the former president.

Nicknames are a big part of the Augusta legend, as each hole has it's own name: The fifth hole is known as "Magnolia", the eighth, "Yellow Jasmine", the 16hth "Redbud" and so on.

Another portion of the course with a famed nickname is Amen Corner, a stretch of the course that runs from the 11th to the 13th holes, that is so formidable, it often brings players to their knees.

Several of golf's most memorable moments have taken place at Augusta National. Tiger Woods famous Nike-logo chip in on the 16th hole in 2005 is one of the most recent, but two decades earlier  unheralded Augusta native Larry Mize stole the Green Jacket from Greg Norman with a miraculous chip in on the second playoff hole.

In 1975 Jack Nicklaus fended off charging rivals Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf with an incredible birdie 40-foot putt at the 16th hole on Sunday that earned a record fifth Green Jacket.

But the first great Masters moment came in the third edition of the event, when Gene Sarazen holed out a four-wood from 230 yards on the 15th hole of the final round for a double-eagle, forcing a playoff which he ultimately won.

Hopefully the 2011 Masters will give us another thrilling finish to cap off three-quarters of a century of excitement.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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Lefty Can Leap Over Some Legends With Another Major Title

In addition to bumping him up the favorites list for this week's Masters Tournament, Phil Mickelson's win in Houston last week was the 39th of his career. That put him in some pretty high profile company.

He is now has 39 wins on the PGA Tour, tying him with Tom Watson and Gene Sarazen, two of the greatest golfers in history.

There's no doubt that Mickelson is a World Golf Hall of Famer, even if he were to walk away from the game today. But with only four major titles (and neither coming in the British or US Open) should he be considered in that truly elite class highlighted by Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Tiger Woods, Watson, Sarazen, and Arnold Palmer and a few others?

As great as Mickelson is, the answer is no.

Yes, playing in the Tiger Woods era has hurt Lefty. But virtually every era has that supreme players: Sarazen and Walter Hagen had Jones, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson had Hogan, and Palmer, Watson, and Lee Trevino had Nicklaus. Each of those men were able to win more majors than Mickelson.

Should Lefty win the Green Jacket this week, he would climb into a tie with Palmer and Woods for second most Masters titles. But I don't think he can climb into that Jones, Hogan, Nicklaus, Woods status without at least one win in the US or British Open. Those are still the most prestigious championships in the golf world, and showcase a truly great, all around golf game.

Furthermore, for all his achievements, his sad history with the US Open--most notably the 2006 collapse at Winged Foot--is still a part of his legacy. Should he one day claim a US Open title and truly exorcise that demon, he will have won three of the four majors (the British Open just doesn't seem to fit his game) he will warrant a place in that upper stratosphere of golf legends.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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A Great Start Key To Tiger's Comeback

Arguably the only thing Tiger Woods hasn't done in his golf career is win a major championship after entering the final round out of the lead.

But there's a reason that he has 14 majors--second most in golf history--despite that fact.

Tiger has a great track record for starting out strong. He shot a thrilling 65 at Pebble Beach in the 2000 US Open, the year he lapped the field. There were also great opening round scores by Eldrick in his victories at the 2000 British Open and 2000 PGA Championship. The same is true when he won back-to-back British Open in 2005 and 2006 and his PGA title in 2006.

But interestingly enough, none of Tiger's four Masters titles,came via a remarkable opening day score. The lowest total he ever posted those four years was an opening round 70.

That's not to say Tiger isn't capable of a great first day at Augusta. Just last year he shot a four-under 68 on Day One: a shocker, considering his long lay off. But that was actually the only time he's ever broken 70 in the first round of the Masters.

Furthermore, he's had some terribly opening round scores at Augusta: He's posted a four-over 76 (2003) and a 75 (2000). And the last year he won the Green Jacket (2005) he stumbled out of the gate a bit with an opening round 74.

Tiger can certainly rebound from a middling opening day. But his confidence could certainly use a boost and there's no better way to get that done than a blistering 66 or 67 on Day One.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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Does The Champion  Have To Start Out Strong?

Phil Mickelson won last year's Masters thanks to an outstanding five-under closing round 67. But it certainly helped that Lefty got off to a great start.

In the opening round he made four birdies and a thrilling eagle to post a 67, the day's second lowest total, tied with K.J. Choi, Tom  Watson, and Lee Westwood. The only man to shoot a higher score was 50-year-old Fred Couples. 

Coincidently, Westwood, Choi, and Couples all entered the final day in the hunt and finished inside the top six.

Two years earlier, when Trevor Immelman won his first major title, the South African finished each of the four days in the lead. 

So does that mean a great start (or at least one that isn't disastrous) is vital to contending at Augusta National?

Probably not. But the Masters isn't like the US Open. It's harder to climb the leaderboard if no one is posing sevens or eights because a terrible drive landed buried them in rough.

Certainly major trouble can befall a player in the Masters. Tom Weiskopf once posted a 13 on the par-3 12th. Amen Corner has the potential to be nasty. But there seems to be less carnage at Augusta National than at the British and US Open or even the PGA Championship.

The limited, invite-only field contributes to that: aside from the aged former champions and the senior and amateurs who are usually invited more as honorees than as potential contenders, the world's best players are in the field.

So not only can one bad day can ruin a players chances, so can a fairly mediocre day. More than likely the man who slips on the Green Jacket Sunday night will have crafted four spectacular days in a row.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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Is the American Primed To Win First Major Championship?

No one should really be surprised to see Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods at the top of the favorites list heading into the 2011 Masters.

Tiger's game is something of a mess and although Phil won last week, there should be some concerns about the 40-year-old holding up through 72 or more  holes two weeks in a row. still, they are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. 

Translation, until they're old and grey, they will always be considered Augusta National favorites.

But there is one name at the top of that favorites list that isn't one of the "usual suspects." Nick Watney.

According to MySportsbook.com, Watney--not Dustin Johnson, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood, or world numberone Martin Kaymer--is the man to win if Tiger and Phil don't pull through.

And with good reason. He won three weeks ago at Doral, his lowest finish in 2011 is 13th, last week at  the Arnold Palmer (he would have finished  a lot higher had it not been for a closing round 73), and has Top 10s in each of his other four starts. And just for good measure, the Sacremento, California native finished seventh last year at Augusta thanks to a blistering 65 on the final day.

He is very long off the tee (18th in driving distance on the Tour this year) so he'll definitely have a good shot this week: he has trouble keeping the ball in the fairway (129th in driving accuracy) but at Augusta National that's far less worrisome than it would be in the US Open where the rough and narrow fairways are torturous. But more importantly, he is swinging a very hot putter right now. Watney is second on the PGA Tour this year with 1.687 putts per hole.

Watney is only 29 and he'll likely have a long career ahead of him. So if he doesn't win this week he should be atop the Masters favorites list for years to come.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win

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Las Vegas Still Likes Tiger This Week At Augusta National

Their strategy about encouraging betting aside, Las Vegas is back on the Tiger Woods bandwagon.

According to MySportsbook.com,  Eldrick is an 8-1 favorite to win his first green jacket in six years, his major in almost three years, and his first tournament in a year-and-a-half.

As confident as Vegas seems to be in him, they don't exactly think he's head-and-shoulders above the entire field. Nick Watney and Phil Mickelson are both 10-1 favorites.

But given all his problems on and off the course, does Tiger really deserve to be considered the front runner?

Certainly he has an advantage over most in the field (particularly those hot shot "20-somethings" that Jim Nantz is so fond of talking about and will do so again this week) with regard to his experience at Augusta National. This will be his 16th tournament appearance at Augusta.

And if last year was any indication, then you really have to like his chances this week: in 20111, he hadn't appeared in a tournament in months, showed up at Augusta, and finished fourth. And had it not been for a few early bogeys on Sunday, it might have been Tiger who slipped on the Green Jacket.

But does that potential warrant the "favorite" status? I don't think so. We haven't been given any indication in the last few months that Tiger is capable of putting together four days of subpar golf, something he'll likely need to win this week at Augusta.

In the end, I think Tiger will play well this week, certainly contend, and have an outside shot at winning his fifth green jacket. But it's still a little strange to see him considered the favorite at any tournament these days.

For more on the Masters, see Masters 2011: Top Five Young Golfers Looking for Their First Major Title Win