Masters Favorites 2012: Top 20 Competitors in the Field

The Masters is here, which means it's time for all of those closet golf fans to come out and admit they watch the sport.

Arguably one of the greatest events in all of sports, the yearly tradition of playing at Augusta National is one of those memories players will keep with them forever.

This year, 97 of the world's top golfers will battle it out for the right to wear the green jacket.

The question is, who will win the honor? Will Tiger Woods continue his improvement and build off his win last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational? Can Rory McIlroy get over his collapse from last year? Does Phil Mickelson have another run in him?

All these questions will be answered by Sunday. One thing is for sure, though: We will witness one of the greatest moments of someone's life.

Heading into the tournament, here is a look at my top 20 players in the world.

Nos. 20-16

20. Sergio Garcia

Garcia has really made strides since this time last year when he was ranked 82nd in the world. This season, he's had four top-20s, with two being in the top five at the Qatar Masters and Northern Trust Open. He struggled a bit in Week 10 at the Cadillac Championships but has rebounded nicely in the last two weeks heading into the Masters.

Once thought to be the top challenger to Tiger Woods for many years to come, Garcia struggled to stay relevant for many years. Now, he's relevant again and could contend for the title.

19. K.J. Choi

Choi is due for a good performance. Other than his fifth-place finish at the Hyundai Tour of Champions to open the season, Choi hasn't finished above 24th this season.

Still, his sweet stroke and his play last season, especially at the Masters, has him in contention for a title.

18. Ian Poulter

Poulter experienced a little bit of a fall in the rankings since February but is looking to turn that all around. Who can think that he hasn't with his third-place finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational?

With an extra week to prepare for Augusta, Poulter could be one of the dark horses to win the tournament.

17. Matt Kuchar

Kuchar has put together a nice season so far with top-10 finishes in his last three events. The one thing Kuchar is looking to do is get past his Masters funk. He's had trouble solving Augusta National as he's only been under par one time in the five times he's played in the event.

Could this be the year Kuchar breaks through?

16. Bubba Watson

How can you not like someone with the name Bubba? Watson is arguably having one of his best seasons ever and will look to continue to do so at the Masters. In his seven events this year, his lowest finish was 18th, with three top-fives as his best finishes.

Watson could very well be the most dangerous guy outside of the top 10.

Nos. 15-11

15. Graeme McDowell

McDowell started off the year great at Abu Dhabi with a third-place finish but was 59th and 33rd in his next two events. However, he earned a ninth-place finish at the Honda Classic and followed it up with a 13th-place showing at the Cadillac Championship. He then finished runner-up to Tiger Woods last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

However, he's struggled the last two years at Augusta National, finishing out of the top 50. Hopefully, he can work some of his early season magic and pull a rabbit out of his hat at Augusta.

14. Jason Day

Day was the runner-up at last year's Masters and could be in prime position to win it this year. However, we know the top guys from a previous year aren't guaranteed to do well the next year.

Day has been decent this year with a runner-up finish at the Qatar Masters. Still, he has some work to do if he wants to even have a repeat performance of last year.

13. Hunter Mahan

Mahan struggled at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Qatar Masters but has had a decent season thus far, including a win at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Prior to missing the cut last year at Augusta National, Mahan had top-10 finishes in 2009 and 2010, finishing both years at seven under (par). His focus has to be on Day 2, as he's struggled in the past, never shooting below a 71.

12. Dustin Johnson

To say Johnson struggled to start the season would be an understatement. However, he's turned it around with three top-10 finishes in his last four events. Johnson is another player who has struggled in all of his Masters events, shooting one over (par) and six over (par) his last two years.

11. Webb Simpson

Simpson has had a roller coaster of a season, finishing four of his seven events outside of the top 30. However, if he's on his game, he could be one of the most dangerous players in the field.

One thing that will be unknown for Simpson is how he plays at Augusta National. With it being his first event, he doesn't have the experience that others do, but—as we've seen in the past—experience means nothing at the Masters.

10. Steve Stricker

Sure, he's ranked No. 5 in the world, but something seems amiss with him.

He has finished in the top 10 in three of the four events he's participated in, including a win at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, which shows he's on top of his game.

However, maybe it's the fact that he's alternated between good years and bad years lately at Augusta National.

Last year, he shot five under (par) while the year before was a three-over(-par).

I'm convinced he could have another awful tournament and could be the one player ranked in the top five in the world that may not make the cut.

Call it a gut instinct, if you will.

9. Adam Scott

Scott has finished 17th, 33rd and 13th in his three events this year.

Why he doesn't like to play many early season tournaments is beyond me, but after last year's second-place finish at the Masters, I'm not going to question him.

After seven straight years of scores that were over par, Scott has been under par the last two years. I don't see any reason why this year won't be the same.

8. Justin Rose

I've been very impressed with the play by Rose so far this year.

With four top-15 finishes, including a win at the Cadillac Championships, Rose seems to have made some improvements on his game that could lead to success at Augusta.

Over the last few years, he's had the tendency to come on strong in Day 4 of the tournament to get himself into a respectable finish.

If he can string together two or even three good days, there's no telling how high he could finish.

7. Martin Kaymer

I honestly think him missing the cut at Abu Dhabi lit a fire under him, which has shown in his four other tour events this season.

All four of those were top-20s and Kaymer showed he was gearing up for the Masters.

However, Augusta has not been kind to him as he's missed the cut in all four of the events he's played in.

Could this year be different for the German?

Can he make the cut?

6. Charl Schwartzel

Let me just go ahead and throw it out there: Schwartzel got lucky to win the Masters last year.

Sure, you can say he just played his game and Rory McIlroy collapsed, but Schwartzel should have been second.

With that said, he is the defending champion and has a good opportunity at repeating this year.

He missed the cut at the Transitions Championship but still has three top-five finishes on the season.

Schwartzel will look to prove last year wasn't a fluke and that he deserved to don the green jacket.

5. Lee Westwood

Currently ranked third in the world, Westwood has impressed this season, finishing fourth (twice) and second (at Dubai).

If there's anyone to stop this "Tiger, Phil and Rory" talk, Westwood could be the guy.

With a sweet stroke and success at Augusta in three of the last four years, including a second-place finish in 2010, Westwood is my favorite to win the title despite not coming into the tournament as the best player.

4. Luke Donald

Donald's Augusta career is bookended with a fourth-place finish last year and a fifth-place finish in 2005.

In between those, he's struggled, never getting under par. He did finish 10th in 2007 with a seven-over(-par).

Donald is coming off a win at the Transitions Championship and a sixth-place finish at the Cadillac Championship, but struggled prior to that this season.

Should Donald struggle at the Masters and get beat by Westwood or McIlroy, he'll likely lose his top spot in the world rankings.

3. Phil Mickelson

Sure, he's ranked 15th in the world, but can you ever say Mickelson is not in contention at a major?

Lefty has struggled at times this year despite winning the Pebble Beach Pro Am, but he always turns it on when it comes to majors.

He's got three green jackets to his credit, along with 10 other times he's finished in the top 10.

If there's one lower-ranking player to have confidence in this weekend, it's Mickelson.

2. Tiger Woods

Finally, Woods won an event.

I'm glad it's over with and we can move past it for the Masters. Now that he has that confidence to know that he can win again, he's likely the most dangerous player in the field.

Although I don't think we'll ever see the Tiger Woods who rarely ever finished out of the top 10, I still think we'll see a golfer that will regain the top spot in the world rankings by the end of the year.

With four green jackets to his credit, along with eight more top-eight finishes, it's safe to say Woods has mastered Augusta National.

If anything, he likely could've had a fifth green jacket last year had he not had a horrible third round.

Still, look out for Tiger. He just might well get his fifth this year.

1. Rory McIlroy

To say McIlroy is ticked off and playing with a chip on his shoulder would be an understatement.

After his Red Sox-like collapse last year at the Masters, in which he lost a six-shot lead, McIlroy has been a man on a mission.

Since then, he's won the U.S. Open, Hong Kong Open and Honda Classic, with 11 more top-three finishes.

McIlroy is going to have a look in his eye this year that won't be satisfied until Schwartzel is putting the green jacket on him.

If there were ever a time that I would bet on golf, this would be the year—and my money would be on McIlroy to win the whole tournament.