2012 Masters Odds: 10 Sleeper Candidates to Take Home a Green Jacket

It isn't completely out of the question to believe that the 2012 Masters will be won by a sleeper nobody saw coming.

It was only last year that Charl Schwartzel shocked the golfing world to claim his first major at the 2011 Masters. Two years before that, Angel Cabrera surprised us all when he came out and did the same in 2009. Zack Johnson was completely unknown to many fans before he won the tournament in 2007. 

Augusta National has been the scene of many underdog victories, and I won't be surprised to see another Green Jacket go to somebody we don't expect to win this time around.

Here are the top 10 sleeper candidates who have a shot to win the 2012 Masters.

Note: Special thanks to Wikipedia and pgatour.com for providing all the legwork. All stats cited in this post are from these two sources.

10. Brendon De Jonge

Vegas Odds for Brendon De Jonge to win the 2012 Masters: 250/1

Augusta National Golf Club is a course that requires excellent ball-striking.

Thankfully for De Jonge, he just so happens to be good at that. So far this season, De Jonge ranks 37th on the PGA tour in greens in regulation percentage, hitting over 68 percent of his greens.

De Jonge is also a par-3 specialist, ranking ninth on tour in scoring average (2.96 strokes per par-3).

This skill set gives De Jonge a chance to pull off a major upset if he can get his putter going on the brutal, undulating greens at Augusta.

9. Rory Sabbatini

Vegas odds for Rory Sabbatini to win the Masters in 2012: 150/1

2012 hasn't been kind to Sabbatini thus far. He has entered into nine events, missing the cut in four of them and only finishing in the top 10 once. 

Sabbatini is a six-time winner on tour, though. He finished the 2007 Masters with a second-place finish, proving he has the chops to win at Augusta under the right circumstances.

Sabbatini will likely make his move on Saturday. He ranks seventh on tour for third-round finishes, posting an average score of 69 in his third rounds thus far in 2012.

He is also deadly from within 100 yards. He ranks sixth on tour this year in distance to the pin from 75-100 yards in, putting the ball within 10-and-a-half feet on average.

Combined with his No. 2 ranking for scrambling from the rough, Sabbatini possesses the skills necessary to win a Green Jacket.

8. Thomas Bjorn

Vegas odds for Thomas Bjorn to win the Masters in 2012: 150/1

Bjorn's chances to make it past the cut are tremendous. He ranks 18th on tour in scoring average before the cut (69.67 per round).

He isn't the longest hitter on tour, but Bjorn more than makes up for it with spectacular long iron play, ranking fourth on tour for greens in regulation beyond 200 yards (62.5 percent). This is a skill that will come in particularly handy at Augusta.

Bjorn is also quite a competent scrambler around the green. He ranks 16th on tour in scrambling within 30 yards of the pin and 23rd on tour in overall scrambling. 

Combined with the fact that Bjorn is also an excellent putter, I'd say that he has a chance to pull of a major upset if he can manage to pull his entire repertoire together for an entire weekend.

7. Anthony Kim

Vegas odds for Anthony Kim to win the Masters in 2012: 125/1

Kim is a supremely-talented young man that has fallen off the rails a bit over the course of the last year or so.

So far in 2012, Kim has entered into eight events, completing only two of them. He withdrew from his last tournament, the Shell Houston Open, and missed the cut at the other five events.

Kim is dominant against par-5s, though, and that fact alone should give him a fighting chance to get his mojo back on the golf course this week at Augusta.

He has come close to winning this tournament once before, finishing with a third-place finish in 2010. Kim has also come in with two other top-10 finishes at major championships, showing he has the game to get the job done when the pressure is on.

6. Davis Love III

Vegas odds for Davis Love III to win the Masters in 2012: 200/1

The last time Love III won on the PGA tour was in 2008, when he won the Children's Miracle Network Classic.

His 2012 season has been a disappointment so far, with Love III missing three cuts out of five events. He can make all of that frustration disappear with a timely performance this week.

Love is a 20-time winner on tour, including a major championship at the PGA in 1997, but Love III has never managed to win at Augusta. He's gotten close a handful of times, finishing in the top 10 six times, including two near-misses where he finished second.

He may not be a favorite, and I know he's getting old, but I believe Love III has one more big-time performance left in his bones.

5. Darren Clarke

Vegas odds for Darren Clarke to win the Masters in 2012: 250/1

Darren Clarke, like Davis Love III, isn't finding 2012 to be to his liking.

His best finish came over on the European Tour, where he finished 20th at the Volvo Golf Champions event at The Links.

Over here in America, Clarke has entered in four events, missing the cut twice and finishing no higher than 33rd.

Still, if Clarke manages to make the cut this year at Augusta, he has a fantastic chance to be right there in the thick of things once the weekend rolls around. 

Clarke is one of the best golfers on tour on the final two days. This year, he ranks first on tour for third-round scoring averages (68 strokes per round) and sixth on tour for fourth-round scoring averages (69 strokes per round).

If he makes it into the weekend, expect Clarke to contend for his first Green Jacket to go along with the Claret Jug he won at the Open Championship last year.

4. Y.E. Yang

Vegas odds for Y.E. Yang to win the Masters in 2012: 100/1

Yang shocked the world in 2009 when he not only hung with Tiger Woods on a Sunday, but overcame the man we all thought was impervious to final-round jitters at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Yang has also come close to winning two other major championships, one of which was at the Masters in 2008, when he came in eighth.

This year has been a tough one for Yang. He has missed the cut twice, and his best finish was his 17th-place showing at the WGC: Accenture Match play event.

The one single stat that gives Yang a chance to win is his No. 5 world ranking as a putter, which will come in quite handy on the crazy-fast greens at Augusta.

3. Vijay Singh

Vegas odds for Vijay Singh to win the Masters in 2012: 150/1

You can't ever count out Singh. He is one of the most consistent performers on tour, and he has been doing it since the late-80s.

Singh also has the advantage of having won at Augusta once before, in 2000. He has won three majors in total and has finished in the top 10 19 other times. 

So far this season, Singh has entered into eight events, missing only one cut. 

He can still hit the ball a mile, ranking 36th on tour in total driving distance (293 yards). That is incredible for a man of his age, and it gives him a chance to attack the par-5s at Augusta, a crucial part of the winning formula.

2. Sean O'Hair

Vegas odds for Sean O'Hair to win the Masters in 2012: 125/1

O'Hair is somewhat of an enigma out on tour. He is as talented as anyone else, yet he hasn't ever been able to harness his talent with any kind of consistency.

He has won only four times on the PGA tour since joining in 1999. During that stretch of time, O'Hair has finished only two times in the top 10 at a major championship.

One of those times was at Augusta, where O'Hair finished the 2009 tournament at 10th place.

O'Hair is a prolific scorer at times, and his birdie percentage ranks him 31st on tour. He is also a terrific long-iron player, ranking 18th on tour in approach shots from over 200 yards. 

If he manages to pull himself together and plays within his means, O'Hair has a chance to break out with the win of his career this week at the 2012 Masters.

1. Angel Cabrera

Vegas odds for Angel Cabrera to win the Masters in 2012: 125/1

Cabrera should never be counted out in any major championship. He has won two of them, including one at Augusta in 2009. 

This season hasn't been quite as good as he may have hoped, though. Cabrera has entered into six events, missing the cut four times and finishing the other two with finishes of 21 and 24 in the other two.

Still, Cabrera can bomb drives and take advantage of par-5s as good as anyone in the world. 

His past experience and ability to play well under pressure give him a shot to contend every time he steps onto a golf course.

I won't be surprised at all to see Cabrera fighting for the lead this weekend, and I certainly won't be surprised to witness him win his second Green Jacket.

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