Masters Tournament 2015: Tee Times and Projections for This Year's Top Pairings
Nothing rings in spring better than the Masters Tournament, which kicks off on Thursday. It's always a must-see event, but this year's is an absolute can't-miss with the return of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy looking for his first green jacket and Jordan Spieth's quest to become the young king with a crown.
Those are just a few of the storylines worth keeping an eye on at Augusta National Golf Club. The field is fascinating because there are so many ways this tournament can play out, especially in a year that's been lacking one truly dominant player to this point.
With mere hours remaining before the first major tournament of 2015, here's a look at the tee times for this year's event and projections for the top groupings.
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Tee Times
Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson and Antonio Murdaca (9:35 a.m. ET)
Of all the players to keep an eye on at Augusta, Dustin Johnson is the most fascinating. He's had his share of off-field demons that have been well-documented, but he appears to have turned things around. The 30-year-old is playing as well as he ever has.
Johnson has played four PGA Tour events so far this season, finishing in the top 10 four times and winning the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship in March. He's never had much success at the Masters, with his best finish being a tie for 13th in 2013, but this year feels like a growing season.
On the heels of his win at Doral in March, Michael Bamberger of Golf.com presented the case for Johnson as a Masters favorite:
"Tee to green, Augusta National is perfect for him. (J.B.) Holmes pulverizes his tee shots. Johnson, without even using what Woods has called Johnson’s “extra gear,” was often 20 or more yards past him. Johnson also has more sawed-off approach finesse shots than anybody playing today, including Rory McIlroy, who tied for ninth at Doral. If he can reach three or four of Augusta’s par-5s in two per round, Johnson can slip into a green jacket without even getting hot with the putter.
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In previous years, Johnson has felt like a player getting by on raw ability. It's obvious he has a lot of that because the results proved it, but being able to take the leap from interesting and competitive novelty to major title contender is significant.
Johnson has never looked more ready for a moment in the spotlight than he does right now.
It's appropriate that Johnson would be in a group with Adam Scott, who always competes at Augusta and won there in 2013. The 34-year-old hasn't finished outside the top 20 at this event since 2009.
Also, if you are looking at odds for the event, Odds Shark has Scott listed at 22-1. As Kyle Porter of CBS Sports noted, "That's foolish." It really is, as there's no reason he should have the same odds as Phil Mickelson.
Scott isn't entering the Masters on a high note, having missed the cut at the Valspar Championship and finishing 35th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. But if you go back to his Augusta win two years ago, he finished 30th at the Tampa Bay Championship before getting a green jacket.
Antonio Murdaca is a 19-year-old amateur golfer who may have many great years at Augusta, but his first turn at the event is likely to be a humbling learning experience.
Johnson and Scott should be able to position themselves for a strong run with an early start on Thursday and strong track record of performance to build off.
Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Ryan Moore (10:41 a.m. ET)
Mickelson and McIlroy have started playing much better after getting off to slow starts on the PGA Tour. Lefty finished a tournament under par last week for the first time since January, while McIlroy bounced back nicely with two top-11 finishes in a row after missing the cut at the Honda Classic.
If you had to bet money on one player keeping his momentum going, it has to be McIlroy. He's 25 years old and is regarded as the world's top player. Charles Siebert of The New York Times Magazine went so far as to call the Irishman's swing the best in golf:
"(Jack) Nicklaus capped off McIlroy's fourth major, last year's PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky, by proclaiming, 'Rory has a chance to win 15 or 20 majors or whatever he wants to do.' And yet in a mind-bendingly precise and difficult sport like golf, there are qualities and essences, far more subtle and, in the end, more substantive than mere victory totals, that define greatness.
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For whatever reason, Augusta has been a house of horrors for McIlroy. He finished tied for eighth last year, but it was the first time he cracked the top 10 in his career. Yet the 2011 event, in which he imploded with an 80 in the final round, proved he can compete after taking the 54-hole lead by four shots.
Mickelson has been so Jekyll and Hyde this season that it's impossible to have expectations for him this year. He's played seven events, missed two cuts and has yet to finish in the top 10.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Mickelson does seem to enjoy success at Augusta more than a lot of courses on the schedule:
Yet it's important to put that in context. Mickelson missed the cut last year and finished tied for 54th in 2013, so recent history suggests contention isn't going to be easy.
Ryan Moore has been solid enough to stick around this weekend but not spectacular since winning the CIMB Classic in November. He's also struggled at the Masters with a missed cut last year, tying for 38th two years ago and not playing in 2012.
McIlroy is obviously the name to watch in this group, as he's going to be expected to win or at least finish in the top three. Mickelson's got the nostalgia crowd behind him, even though recent history shows that won't count for much.
Tiger Woods, Jamie Donaldson and Jimmy Walker (1:48 p.m. ET)
Let's start with Jamie Donaldson and Jimmy Walker, since Woods will overwhelm everything else. Donaldson has been slowly ascending at the Masters, missing the cut in his first appearance here two years ago before posting a solid 14th-place finish in 2014.
Yet Donaldson enters Augusta on a down note, having missed cuts in two straight events. He hasn't performed badly, with the exception of a 75 in the second round at the Valspar Championship, but isn't doing enough to get over the hump.
Jimmy Walker has gone in the opposite direction of Donaldson, bouncing back from a 31st-place finish at the Cadillac Championship to win the Texas Open two weeks ago. He also won the Sony Open in January and finished seventh at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Gary Van Sickle of Golf.com went so far as to say that Walker is McIlroy's biggest challenger for the green jacket:
"Walker has five wins in the last two seasons, including two this year. The PGA Tour is 20 events into its 2014--15 wraparound schedule, and on Sunday, with his dominating performance at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, Walker became the first repeat winner. He stretched his lead to as many as seven shots before finishing four clear of 21-year-old wunderkind Jordan Spieth.
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Even though Walker isn't getting the same amount of attention as other players, he absolutely deserves to be listed among the favorites for the Masters. He's been as consistent as anyone on tour and shows no signs of slowing down.
Because Walker has flown under the radar, it's fitting he's in a group with Woods because no one is going to draw more eyeballs, scrutiny and criticism than the returning superstar.
Everyone keeps waiting for Woods to be competitive in an event again, but nobody should have an expectation that he will win the Masters. Take a look at these stats tweeted out by SportsCenter:
Woods has been competitive at the Masters, even during this majors drought, finishing in the top six seven of eight times from 2006-13. Yet this is a different circumstance because he hasn't played in two months and looked terrible when he did play with more rounds over 75 (two) than under 70 (one).
Give Woods credit for realizing that he finally needed to step away to work on things before returning, but some part of this comeback run just feels like a guy who wants to play in the biggest tournament. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just not evidence things will be different.
Steve Politi of NJ.com wrote that Woods seems like a different person physically and mentally from the one we last saw in February because he's joking around and looks "more dialed in" than we have seen in a long time.
And yet the lingering doubts about what Woods is capable of doing still hover over him like a hurricane cloud ready to ruin all the good vibes. It's not being skeptical to think Woods will struggle this week; it's being realistic.
Woods has had enough time to tinker with his swing yet again and prepare himself mentally for the Masters. He's got a long track record of success at Augusta, so it would be an upset if he's not around for the weekend. Contending seems like a longer shot, though progress would be playing four rounds.
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