Masters Favorites 2012: Why Youth Will Trump Experience This Year

This is a good time to be young and on the PGA Tour. 

Just sit down and take a moment to consider what we saw last year. Charl Schwartzel won the Masters at the age of 26. Rory McIlroy won the U.S. Open at the age of 22. To wrap up the year's slate of majors, Keegan Bradley came out of nowhere and won the PGA Championship at the age of 25.

For the record, then-26-year-old Dustin Johnson fell a couple strokes short of winning the British Open. With better luck, he would have won, and all four majors would have gone to players in their 20s.

What we're going to find out in a couple days time at the 2012 Masters is whether or not 2011's youth movement was a mere fluke, or a sign of things to come.

I like the young guys to keep doing work. So should you.

The youth vs. experience argument is captured in the key matchup of this year's tournament: Rory McIlroy vs. Tiger Woods. Tiger is the one-time prodigy who went on to become a golf legend. McIlroy is a prodigy now, and is looking to become a golf legend.

I've already picked McIlroy to win the whole thing. He's playing outstanding golf these days, and he proved last year that he can handle Augusta National. What he couldn't handle was the pressure of finishing, but he ditched his reputation as a choke artist by earning a dominant victory at the U.S. Open. 

Tiger can match McIlroy in terms of talent and he obviously has the edge in experience, but where McIlroy has him beat is consistency. Tiger has won an official PGA Tour tournament, but that doesn't mean he's "back." Tiger is a good bet, but McIlroy's consistency (and sheer talent) makes him an even better bet.

There will be other veterans in the hunt besides Tiger, of course. You can never count out three-time Masters champ Phil Mickelson, nor can you count out World Golf Rankings standouts like Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Steve Stricker, Justin Rose and so on.

The veterans, however, are going to get a tough test from the youngsters, some of whom are playing outstanding golf right now.

Keegan Bradley tops the charts. He hasn't fallen back to earth after his Rookie of the Year season in 2011, and he's finished in the top 10 in each of his last two tournaments heading into the Masters. Hunter Mahan, who is not yet 30, is also heading into the Masters playing his best golf, as he just won the Shell Houston Open. He also won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year.

You obviously can't rule out Schwartzel after what he did at the Masters last year, even if he has missed the cut in his last two PGA Tour events. For that matter, you can't count out 24-year-old Jason Day after what he did at the Masters last year, not to mention what he did at the U.S. Open. 

While we're at it, we can't rule out world No. 6 Martin Kaymer (27), even if he has never made the cut at the Masters. World No. 10 Webb Simpson (26) could make some noise in his Masters debut, and perhaps Rickie Fowler (23) will overcome his issues to make some noise in his second Masters start.

Heck, let's just keep this simple: Anybody who's young and on the tour is going to have a shot at Augusta National in the coming days. The one big exception is Dustin Johnson, who is out with a back injury, according to the Associated Press.

Simple reasoning? Without a doubt, but you have to consider the reality of the situation. The veterans will be heard from at the Masters, but they're going to be outnumbered. This particular youth movement has strength in numbers.

This year, Augusta National will be no country for old men.