Rory McIlroy and Top Contenders to Watch at 2015 Masters
Thursday's opening round of the 2015 Masters is still a few days away, but names for the biggest favorites in the year's first major have been kicked around for some time.
When it comes to playing for the green jacket at Augusta National, nothing in the sport is quite on the same level. It takes a special breed of talent to not only withstand the pressure and intensity of the tournament, but also to properly navigate the course's tricky greens and hole placements.
There figure to be golfers who emerge out of nowhere over the weekend at Augusta National, but it's an even better bet that at least a few of the biggest favorites will also top the leaderboard. Take a look below for the likeliest contenders to do so.
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Rory McIlroy
How can you not start this list with the guy who is dominating the sport?
Sure, Rory McIlroy is the world's No. 1 golfer, but his aura over golf is much more tangible than that. Before helping lead Europe to a resounding Ryder Cup repeat, the Northern Irish star claimed both of the year's final two majors at the British Open and PGA Championship.
His recent play has allowed for history to be made at Augusta, should McIlroy win. A victory would make him just the sixth player ever to complete the career Grand Slam and would also put him in company with Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan as the only golfers to win three majors in a row.
But of course, McIlroy's straggles at Augusta are also well-documented, as Golf Digest's Alex Myers reported:
While some of his poorest rounds have come at the Masters, don't forget that he put himself in position to win the tournament back in 2011 as a 21-year-old. Finishes of 40th place and 25th place in 2012 and 2013, respectively, came during a tough stretch of his early career. Since then, he's taken his game to another level—and that's putting it lightly.
McIlroy took steps toward succeeding at Augusta in 2014 with an eighth-place finish, but he knows better than anyone that his trophy case is missing an all-important piece of clothing.
Nobody knows about performing on the Masters stage over the last few years better than Bubba Watson.
The 36-year-old's breakthrough came in 2012 at Augusta when he won his first major in epic, against-the-odds fashion, but what followed left many wondering if Watson would ever get back to the pinnacle. He went winless in all tournaments for the rest of 2012 and all of 2013.
But he got right back to it last year, and when youngster Jordan Spieth and Jonas Blixt relinquished opportunities to hang with him down the stretch, Watson pulled away to win his second green jacket.
From his big-swing moxie to an aggressive mentality to his too-cool-for-school composure, Watson is simply built for the stage at Augusta. His style of play is hit or miss—as told by a 50th-place finish in 2013—for the Masters, but when he's making putts and taking the right gambles, he's almost unbeatable.
As if winning the green jacket twice isn't enough, Watson has a chance to join the company of many greats—such as Nick Faldo, Gary Player and Sam Snead—with his third this weekend at Augusta.
Jordan Spieth
He may be 21, but age is just a number for Jordan Spieth.
The young American is entering just his second season of full-time action on the PGA Tour but certainly doesn't play like it. After nearly becoming the youngest to ever win the Masters last year when Watson edged him, he followed up with a strong individual season and performance at the Ryder Cup.
Inexperience can often be chalked up as a reason for young golfers' inability to close out majors, but the 21-year-old is worlds ahead of where he stood last year at Augusta. A busy 2014 and a strong start to 2015 has him confident, per ESPN's Jason Sobel:
If Spieth's recent results are any indication, he's destined for another pressure-packed Sunday atop the leaderboard. He has three top-two finishes—including a win at the Valspar Championship—in three tournaments over the past month.
A fearless competitor who appears to have taken major strides both in his mental and physical game over the last year, Spieth has a chance to run away with the green jacket if he stays hot through the weekend.
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