Masters 2012: Top Amateurs in Action at Augusta National

Provided you watch enough golf, you know who the top contenders are at this year's Masters. Tiger Woods is at the top of the pecking order, and he's followed closely by greats like Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and so on.

Not many eyes are on the amateurs in this year's field. This is probably because relatively few people have any clue who they are or what they can do.

Which is fine. The amateur circuit doesn't get a lot of national press, so people can be excused for not knowing who these guys are.

What everyone should know, however, is that there are some pretty good amateurs in this year's field. Here's a look at some of the best and the brightest.

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)

Hideki Matsuyama just turned 20 in February, but he already has loads of experience under his belt.

Most notably, Matsuyama won the Asian Amateur Championship in 2010, and that gave him a chance to compete at the 2011 Masters. He was the first Japanese amateur to ever compete at Augusta National.

Matsuyama did pretty well too. He finished one-under for the tournament, tying for 27th.

Since then, Matsuyama has continued collecting assorted honors, including a gold medal at the World University Games and his first tournament victory on the Japan Golf Tour.

So keep an eye out for Matsuyama. He's a rising star from a country that is producing quite a few of them these days.

Patrick Cantlay (USA)

Patrick Cantlay is a sophomore at UCLA, and he also just turned 20 years old. Like Matsuyama, he's also already made some noise in a major tournament, finishing tied for 21st at the U.S. Open last year.

That wasn't all Cantlay did in 2011. He led the UCLA golf team to four tournament victories before it ultimately lost in match play at the NCAA championship. Cantlay himself won several awards, including Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Cantlay qualified for the Masters by making it to the semifinals in the  U.S. Amateur Championship last summer, according to The Orange County Register. He sounds unusually confident about his chances.

"I feel comfortable here, though, playing with the pros. It doesn't really bother me, and I am looking forward to having a good week," he said.

Interesting. People usually aren't this calm when playing at the Masters for the first time. Or so I'm told.

Kelly Kraft (USA)

Kelly Kraft is the reason Cantlay didn't win the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2011. Kraft beat him in the final, two up.

At 23, Kraft is a little older than his amateur comrades. He's also less than a week away from turning pro, as he plans on turning pro on Monday, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. But for now, he's just soaking in his first Masters experience.

"This is the main prize, right here," said Kraft. "This is what I stayed amateur for, to play in this thing. It's been great so far."

This will be the just the first major for Kraft this year, as his win at the U.S. Amateur Championship also qualified him for the U.S. Open and the British Open. He won't be an amateur when those tournaments roll around, however, so now is his chance to win a major championship with amateur status.