Biggest Questions Remaining 1 Week Before the Masters

The 2015 Masters will tee off on April 9 at Augusta National, but there’s still so much we don’t know about the year’s first major.

Does Bubba Watson have what it takes to repeat as champion? Can Rory McIlroy get his first green jacket and complete a career Grand Slam? Will Tiger Woods even be in the field?

As it stands, the Masters field is full of pros in blistering form from Jason Day to Henrik Stenson. So, while this year may not be primed for a Charl Schwartzel-caliber upset, fans are pretty much guaranteed to see a thrilling shootout between a dozen or so of the world’s current best.

And, after all, isn’t bringing the best play out of the best players what the PGA Tour all about?

Though we’re sure to see some stellar play next week, that’s the only element of the 2015 Masters that is essentially etched in stone. For a better idea about the other X-factors, here is a look at some of the biggest questions swirling around Augusta one week out.

Will Tiger Play?

This seems to be the first question on everyone’s mind any time a major tournament rolls around.

Let’s face it: Tiger Woods’ appeal in the sport of golf is practically immeasurable, and the media coverage and pageantry surrounding a major magnify that even more.

However, despite all the public inquiries and speculation, the four-time Masters winner is apparently still undecided about whether he’ll make his 20th competitive appearance at Augusta.

Tiger played an 18-hole practice round at the famed course Tuesday, per Yahoo Sports, but the anxious sporting world has yet to hear the definitive ruling on his plan to play.

According to Tiger’s close friend and former Stanford teammate Notah Begay III, there’s a “50-50 chance” the former world No. 1 will compete next week, per Fox Sports.

Begay also noted he was hopeful of the progression of Tiger’s overall game since his withdrawal from the Farmer’s Insurance Open on February 5, saying, “I think his golf game as a whole is in a great place. I think it was good for him to take a step back and reassess a variety of different things and do things on his timeline.”

Meanwhile, Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte called attention to the impressive fact that Tiger recently shot a 66 on his Medalist home course in Florida while playing “worst-ball” format.

Considering that playing worst-ball means he hit two balls and played his next shot from the worst of the two locations each time, it would seem to suggest Tiger is well on the road to recovering his low-scoring form.

Though Begay and Rosaforte may share a positive outlook, others aren’t so optimistic.

Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee argued that Tiger’s “catastrophically bad” short game is nowhere near ready to tackle the greens at Augusta, per Emily Kay of SB Nation. Chamblee added, “Given what we’ve seen, it’s unimaginable to me that in this short period of time, he would have been able to come to any sort of manageable level of short game.”

Since there isn’t a deadline for declaring intent to play prior to first-round registration, we’ll just have to wait patiently for the 14-time major champion’s decision. But come now—all things considered, do you really think he’d miss this?

Can Rory McIlroy Win His First Green Jacket?

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

It may be shocking to think, but the newest Tiger on the block, Rory McIlroy, has never won a green jacket.

The Northern Irishman’s best career finish at Augusta saw him tie for eighth place last year, but it certainly wasn’t his most memorable outing. No, his most memorable round took place the Sunday of the 2011 Masters when he gave up a four-shot lead and carded an 80 on the day to tie for 15th in the tournament.

It wasn’t all bad, though, according to the 25-year-old. "I learned so much about myself and what I needed to do the next time I got into that position,” he told the BBC. "If I had not had the whole unraveling, if I had just made a couple of bogeys coming down the stretch and lost by one, I would not have learned as much.”

While a lesser player may have been haunted by the experience, the four-time major winner chose to embrace it, saying, “It was a huge learning curve for me and I needed it, and thankfully I have been able to move on to bigger and better things. Looking back on what happened in 2011, it doesn't seem as bad when you have four majors on your mantelpiece.”

McIlroy, with new resolve, will be looking to secure his first green jacket and complete a career Grand Slam next week. Despite finishing T11, T9 and missing the cut in his last three PGA Tour outings, he’s still determined to collect the missing piece of his trophy cabinet/wardrobe.

Said McIlroy, “[The Masters] is the only one left, and it is a course I feel I can do well at. I feel I could win multiple times, but getting that first one is the most important thing. Winning all four majors means you are a complete player. I can achieve something special.”

At 11-2 odds per Odds Shark, McIlroy is the favorite to win this year’s first major. He has demonstrated the skill and mental fortitude to complete his career Grand Slam; all he needs to do now is bring it all together next week at Augusta.

Will Bubba Watson Repeat?

Standing between McIlroy and the Northern Irishman’s dreams will be last year’s champion, Bubba Watson.

The two-time Masters winner is an 11-1 favorite to repeat, per Odds Shark, and for good reason. Watson came in third at the WGC-Cadillac Championship last month and tied for second at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

In addition to quality finishes this year, Watson is also currently ranked third on tour in average driving distance (309 yards) and second in scoring average (approximately 69.4), per PGATour.com. Combining those two factors will be a major boon at an Augusta course that embraces long drivers.

According to BBC golf correspondent Iain Carter, Watson is learning from past mistakes (not unlike McIlroy) and “looks well equipped to win again” this year.

Regarding his first attempted title defense of two years ago that ultimately resulted in a 50th-place finish, Watson stated, “In 2013 I was a newcomer. I was still trying to find my feet. I was still trying to figure out, somehow, I'm Masters champion.”

The added pressure and media distraction got the better of him then, but he learned quickly and came back to claim his second green jacket in 2014. The 36-year-old summed up his feelings about returning as champion again next week, per Carter:

"

I know my routine, I know what I want to do and I know what I need to do. And now I know what the Champions Dinner is all about and now I know what the head of the table feels like. Hopefully just knowing that I'm not as nervous, not as skittish, not as anxious to get to see all these great champions in this Champions Dinner. So hopefully this time I perform a little bit better and hopefully everything works out on Sunday and I have a chance to win.

"

It seems Watson has figured out the biggest psychological obstacle to winning his third Masters, so there’s nothing stopping him from being a front-runner yet again this year.

Can Henrik Stenson Win His First Major?

Last year, Golf Digest ranked Henrik Stenson as the best active player never to have won a major. The closest he’s come was a second-place finish at the 2013 British Open.

However, he finished tied for fourth at the U.S. Open and tied for third at the PGA Championship last year, suggesting he’s not far off the pace when it comes down to a major Sunday. 

Stenson’s last three Masters haven’t been great (T14 in 2014, T18 in 2013 and T40 in 2012), but he has been showing steady improvement over the years that looks set to continue in 2015.

He’s currently ranked No. 2 in the world, thanks to some great play so far in 2015 (also noted in the above video), and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he was near the top of the leaderboard in the final round.

So far this year, Stenson has finished second in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, fourth at the Valspar Championship and tied for fourth at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.

The Swede also currently ranks second on tour in greens in regulation (72.9 percent) and first in scoring average (69.3), per PGATour.com.

Unfortunately, Stenson had to withdraw from this week’s Shell Houston Open and cancel a planned practice round at Augusta after he caught the flu. However, he’s hopeful he’ll be “up and running” by next week, per Ryan Lavner of GolfChannel.com.

This setback from sudden illness is not ideal, of course, but his three consecutive top-five finishes on tour this year mean Stenson still has momentum in his favor.

Jason Day vs. Adam Scott: Who Will Win the Aussies’ Masters Battle?

Could we see a real-life unfolding of a Mad Max movie at this year’s Masters?

“Certainly not” is likely what any steward (or, generally, any sane person) at Augusta National would tell you. But fans can still hold out hope that this battle of Aussies will be just as exciting as any film from that apocalyptic Australian franchise.

OK, maybe that’s overselling it just a tad, but Jason Day and Adam Scott have both had solid performances this year. They are also currently considered at 12-1 and 20-1 odds to win this installment of the Masters, respectively, according to Odds Shark.

As far as the PGA World Golf Rankings are concerned, Day is No. 4 and Scott is No. 5.

Day has the definite edge in terms of momentum, as he tied for third at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January, won the Farmers Insurance Open in February and tied for fourth at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am one week later.

Scott, on the other hand, tied for fourth in the WGC-Cadillac and tied for 35th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

Day will be looking to build on the near misses of 2011 (T2) and 2013 (third) and become the second Australian ever to win the Masters. “I always wanted to be the first Australian [to win the Masters),” said Day, per Jim Tucker of Australian Golf Digest. “I’m OK with being the second Aussie to win. I just want it more than I ever have in my whole career.”

But who was the first Australian to win the Masters, you ask? Why, it was none other than Adam Scott, of course.

Though Scott was the first to break the Aussie barrier, he is not without demons of his own in the form of an on-again, off-again relationship with his long putter.

Scott, in an interesting move, will be switching back to the anchored putter with which he won the 2013 Masters, according to The Associated Press (h/t Ryan Ballengee of Yahoo Sports. He tried to make a proactive transition to a non-anchored putter (which is a PGA Tour mandate for all players starting in 2016) at the start of this year, but recent inconsistency (noted in the above video) has driven him back to his comfort zone for the next week at least.

When it comes to putting, every golfer knows the mental game is key, so Scott’s return to what is most familiar is almost certain to give him an invaluable psychological boost, if nothing else.

As it stands now, it’s really a toss-up between the two Aussies.

Though Day has the current form and psychological drive to find his way into a green jacket next week, Scott’s experience of having been there and done it all before means he cannot be counted out.