Masters Field 2013: Projecting Golf's Next Crop of Superstar Talent

Let's be honest, the Masters, without fail, annually has the weakest field of the four major championships.

Think about it.

This year, there are 93 competitors at Augusta, and although that number is a reduction from recent times, the Masters field size rarely breaks triple digits. The other three majors are a bit more expansive, opening up more than 150 spots for players in their respective championships.

In essence, the Masters field is 60 percent the size of each of the three other major championships.

One could argue that not all of the competitors in these latter three majors are top-notch.

The U.S. Open allows anyone with a 1.4 handicap or better an avenue to qualify for a limited number of spots. The Open Championship has a similar every-man-can-enter qualification process, and the PGA Championship sets aside 20 spots for PGA of America professionals (who are more instructors than seasoned tournament veterans).

The same can be said for the Masters though.

Is the U.S. Public Links winner really that good of a player? How about the U.S. Mid-Amateur champ? Does the name Hideki Matsuyama ring a bell?

If so, good for you, but most golfing fans would be shocked to learn that he has competed in the previous two Masters, courtesy of his back-to-back victories at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship—an event that clearly commands a star-studded field. (Not to mention that the Masters, like other majors, will use special exemptions on players not otherwise qualified for the field. This year, Ryo Ishikawa and Thaworn Wiratchant were the proud recipients of this unmeritorious distinction.)

So, by the standard of the field, the Masters is the easiest major to win. With less clutter from a random mix of about 60 more players, that only makes it easier to pick out the rising young golfers who are bound to rule the game in the future.

Disclaimer before I go on. It is really tough to predict who will be a superstar from evidence early on in one's career, simply because golf is just so fickle a game. From the evidence we have, these are the Masters competitors who haven't quite broken it big yet, but are, in varying degree of certainty, on track to do so in the years to come.

Tianlang Guan

Let's me preface this by saying, HUGE PROJECTION HERE! In fact, it is probably way too early to even begin to ponder what a 14-year-old's chances are on the professional circuit. Nonetheless, when someone who is yet to reach high school (boy, those were fun years) makes it into the Masters, it's tough not to talk about his future possibilities.

Anyway, congratulations to the young man for making it into what might be golf's most famous tournament.

He's a kid used to making history, becoming the youngest player to win on the China Amateur Futures Tour, on the China Amateur Tour, the China Amateur Open and compete in a European Tour event (a record that has since been broken). He also won the 2011 Junior World Championship in the 11-12 year-old age group.

Even early into his teenage years, he has already stitched together quite a golfing resume. If he can qualify for the Masters at age 14, what could he be doing when he can get a driver's license? Or when he can legally drink?

The potential for someone who has so much talent at such a young age is through the roof. He might not only become the best golfer China has ever produced, but maybe one of the best the world has ever seen. 

These are, of course, all fantasies of the future.

He still isl only a boy, and he was barely inside the top 500 of the world amateur rankings before winning his way into the Masters. Who knows what can happen in the meantime to thwart his progress.

Guan should enjoy his time this week as by far the youngest in the field. If he can play in a major championship at 14, he could one day be outstanding.

We'll just have to wait several years to see. 

Nicolas Colsaerts

As I said, some of these I'm more confident about than others. Colsaerts falls in my "lukewarm" category when it comes to predictions of future superstardom.

The once-upon-a-time teenage wunderkind fizzled in the first decade of the 21st century, as a golfing malaise overcame his superior talent in large part due to a self-admitted love for partying.

How bad was it?

By winter of 2008-09, Colsaerts had dropped outside the top 1,000 in the world and fell to the 1,305th position at one point.

Do you know how low that really is?

The four names directly ahead of that spot currently are Taichiro Kiyota, Otto Solis, Shota Akiyoshi and Matt Jager. Not exactly a quartet killing it on the golf course. 

So the Belgian isn't immune to hard times.

But despair can forge one's character, and Colsaerts has come out a better golfer because of his struggles. A new desire to work hard on his game has emerged and so has the 30-year-old in the world of golf.  

Colsaerts won on the European Tour in 2011, did so again in 2012 (and finished in the top 10 on nine other occasions) and produced a Ryder Cup performance for the ages with his eight-birdie, one-eagle effort in a Friday afternoon match in the 2012 edition.

The Belgian Bomber, as you might have ascertained from that nickname, can hit golf balls a long way. He occasionally possesses a magical touch with the flat stick as well, although he is inconsistent on that front overall.

Colsaerts is heavily on the rise in golf and has a truckload of talent. His resurgence is impressive and should be an exciting development for a country with absolutely no history of producing great golfers.

We still need to see more success before I can put myself 100 percent behind his superstar effort, but he is definitely heading in that direction. 

Russell Henley

Again, not supremely trusting in future superstardom here, but this kid has too much promise to ignore.

Henley, an All-American at Georgia, dropped below the golfing scene's interest when he struggled mightily on the Web.com Tour for much of the 2012 season.

Then, something really changed.

He won two times in three events, earned his PGA Tour card with ease and then became a member of the PGA Tour's winners' circle in his first start after proving victorious at the Sony Open.

Quite the swift turnaround for a 22-year-old. 

Henley's rise to prominence is not unexpected and if you've seen him putt, you would expect him to rule the game with an iron fist. The 23-year-old has a deadly stroke on the greens, and that's not just hype. He wielded his No. 1 asset in crunch time at the Sony Open to score five consecutive birdies to finish (and close out the victory).

Of course, there's still a hesitation.

As impressive as Henley has been, his professional career still is at its nascent stage. He also strikes me as a player more in the grinder roll, someone who can ride his putter to a lot of wins; Zach Johnson-y but with more length. 

That's not quite superstar level, but that's not his ceiling. I would not be surprised if he proves me wrong and indeed becomes the superstar that he at least has the putting prowess to be.

Thorbjorn Olesen

If Colsaerts' Belgium is a nearly barren cupboard when it comes to golfing talent, Thorbjorn Olesen's Denmark isn't much better. The only Dane of any note in the entire history of golf is Thomas Bjorn, a solid player who still is yet to win his first major championship a decade after squandering an incredible opportunity.

Olesen could be so much more.

The 23-year-old is but an infant on the European Tour, yet that has not stopped him from already becoming one of the circuit's best players. In his second full season in 2012, Olesen finished in the top 10 seven times (including the Open Championship) and bagged his maiden victory on the world's second-most impressive golfing tour. 

A new year and nothing has changed.

The Dane finished tied for second and tied for third this year and added another top 10 at one of the PGA Tour's more prestigious events, the Arnold Palmer Invitational. 

There's really little to dislike about this young man.

He's stylish (that new Nike contract has been working wonders on his wardrobe, not to mention he didn't need an adjustment period with the new clubs, unlike someone else we know of), carries an effective putting stroke and is one of the best out there with an iron in his hand.

His driving is a glaring weakness (he's wildly inaccurate and not particularly long), but everything else is there for him.

He has great talent. He works hard and has an air about him that just screams coolness and confidence. If he can learn how to tame his tee shots, nothing will be left to stop him.

Branden Grace

These South Africans just keep on coming.

Three years ago, it was Louis Oosthuizen who emerged when he routed the field to win the Open Championship. Two years ago, it was Charl Schwartzel whose birdie-birdie-birdie-birdie finish at Augusta netted him a green jacket.

Last year, it was Branden Grace's turn to have a coming out party.

The 24-year-old came from nowhere in 2012 to take the European Tour by storm. He won twice in January and didn't stop there. Another first-place showing in April meant three wins on the year and a fourth was added when he triumphed again in October. It was quite the introduction

More acts are sure to follow. It will be difficult for him to match the four wins he posted last year in 2013. For the long term though, few are better investments than Grace.

He's young, solid in almost every facet of the game, and he knows how to win. Another South African superstar awaits.

Rickie Fowler

The first thought many fans have when this name pops up is "this guy is really overrated."

Depending on how much attention you believe Rickie Fowler gets, this statement isn't necessarily invalid. But let's look at the facts of his case. 

The American is 24,has an impressive PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow under his belt and looks better than ever in 2013. Fowler already has three finishes in the top six and put up one heck of a battle against Tiger Woods at Bay Hill before withdrawing his charge in the closing holes. 

The pessimist might look at that and argue that Fowler has no wins this season and choked at Bay Hill when he put two balls in the water on 16.

Viewed in a slightly more neutral light, Fowler's high finishes show that he is putting himself in position to add to his victory total, and the disaster at 16 should not overshadow the fact that, from a trail position, Fowler gave Woods problems for 15 holes without his best stuff. 

So, Fowler deserves a bit more credit from the so-called "haters." He's obviously super talented, but Rickie also is a really gutsy player. Both of these attributes will serve him well as he attempts to rise to the game's elite level.

Overrated?

Depends on whatever analyst you heard. Fowler is more than just flat bills and an all-orange get-up, he's a star in the making.

Matteo Manassero

Definitely can't say this guy is overrated. In fact, he's highly underappreciated in the U.S. Matteo Manassero still has more than a week to go to reach his 20th birthday and has already made quite a mark in the game of golf.

At age 16, he won the Amateur Championship, becoming the event's youngest winner. The next year he became the youngest player to ever make a cut at the Masters.

Then he decided to move his talents full time to the European Tour. Three wins in three seasons and the Italian has already climbed inside the top 50 of the world golf rankings.

It's unlikely Manassero will be a virtual unknown in the United States for that much longer. Even if he continues to play the European Tour exclusively, his growing stack of wins will be tough to ignore, especially because major championships (plural) are likely in his future.

Italy can boast about the Molinari brothers if it wants, but it would be best served putting itself behind Manassero. He's still a teenager and already has three wins. Expect that number to really increase in the coming years.

Jason Day 

You might have caught a glimpse of his name in 2011. It will certainly come up a lot more in future years.

The land of Greg Norman might have produced its finest golfing specimen yet. Jason Day was a boy who grew up so poor that the Salvation Army served as much of his source for clothes. That early experience has instilled in him a desire to succeed, and, so far, he has done just that.

Day struggled in his early years on the PGA Tour, but broke through in 2010 by winning the Byron Nelson as a 22-year-old. An even bigger season met him in 2011: 10 top-10 and two runner-up finishes in major championships. He appeared ready to take the next step to stardom.

Unfortunately, the combo of dealing with injuries, tending to the birth of his first child and developing an uncharacteristic poor work ethic made 2012 a highly disappointing effort.

Refocused and free of distractions now, Day has quietly returned to form in 2013, posting three top-10s already in the young season, including a third-place finish at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. 

The Aussie harbors one of the best short games in the world and is as gritty as they come. His birdie-birdie finish at the 2011 Masters had to be one of the most impressive displays of golf ever performed in a losing effort. 

Day must improve as a ball-striker if he wants to be one of the best. He is only 25 though, and with the work he generally puts into his game, that problem should be solved. 

It's no exaggeration to say that Day has the most upside of any young golfer sans McIlroy. Day is a determined man with a warehouse full of golfing ability. He doesn't just have the potential to become the greatest Australian golfer since Norman, he has enough in him to become the greatest golfer the country has ever seen.