Masters Field 2017: Odds, Favorites and Tournament Preview

While many golf fans have been following their favorite sport since the start of the wraparound schedule in 2016, many others won't really give golf their full attention until this week.

They will follow the lead of CBS announcer Jim Nantz, who will go from calling the national championship game in college basketball to the beauty and wonder of Augusta, Georgia, for the Masters.

The first major tournament of the year will feature the game's best players, but that will not include Tiger Woods. He will miss the Masters for the third time in the last four years due to his continued back problems. 

Woods didn't officially declare himself out until last Friday, but he simply has not been able to get comfortable with a golf club in his hands.

The sport is still in excellent shape, and golf fans are excited for a showdown among the game's best players.

Player	Odds	Skinny
Dustin Johnson	+500	Best player in the world
Jordan Spieth	+700	Has the game to win at Augusta
Rory McIlroy	+750	Has all the tools, but does he have the consistency?
Jon Rahm	+1,800	A coming star on the tour.
Hideki Matsuyama	+2,000	Precise, talented and focused.
Jason Day	+2,000	Family illness may keep him from playing his best.
Rickie Fowler	+2,200	Capable of getting on a roll.
Justin Thomas	+2,500	Has already won three tournaments.
Phil Mickelson	+2,500	If he can avoid beating himself, Lefty has a shot.
Adam Scott	+2,800	Has won at Augusta.

Dustin Johnson is at the top of the list currently as he is the No. 1 player on the FedEx Cup points list. Johnson has already won three tournaments this year, and he also has five top-10 finishes in the seven events that he has entered.

The numbers are great for Johnson, but it is the remarkable length he gets off the tee (tour-leading 316.2 yards per tee shot) and his ability to keep it straight that has made him such a dominant player. Many of Johnson's peers can also hit the ball far, but Johnson has the edge on nearly all of them.

He is not a one-trick pony either. He excels with his irons and his short game, and when his putting is on, he can win any tournament.

The other thing that Johnson has going for him is that he has been through several past failures in majors that have steeled him for the biggest events. He broke through and won his first major last year when he earned the U.S. Open Championship, and going through his past difficulties have made him an even tougher competitor to beat.

Johnson is favored to win win the Masters with odds of plus-500, according to OddsShark. A $100 bet on Johnson would return a $500 profit if he were to end up wearing the green jacket.

Jordan Spieth knows that Johnson will be difficult to beat.

"I think Dustin Johnson is the guy to beat in golf no matter where you are,” Spieth told Kyle Porter of CBS Sports last week. “Put him anywhere, I think just about anybody would agree with that. He’s the guy to beat. If I play my best golf, I believe that I can take down anybody, and you have to believe that. But I think that right now, he is the guy that everyone is saying he’s playing the best golf in the world."

Spieth and Rory McIlroy are the second and third choices with odds of plus-700 and plus-750, respectively.

Spieth ranks seventh in FedEx Cup points, and he has an average score of 69.301 per round. While Spieth has been the No. 1 player in the world, he currently sits in sixth in those rankings.

Spieth's precision with his irons and his putter are the parts of his game that will set him apart. He won the 2015 Masters and tied for second last year, and when he is on his game, he has shown he understands the nuances of Augusta and how to play well at the legendary course.

McIlroy has tremendous tools at his disposal, and he can dominate with his length, accuracy and shotmaking ability. However, the key factor for McIlroy has to be consistency. Can he put all those factors together at the same time, and can he get his putter going?

If he can, McIlroy is capable of taking down the field. However, when he starts to hit errant shots, he can lose his game in a hurry. McIlroy ranks 48th in FedEx Cup points this season, but that is the result of playing in just four official events.

While he has not won any of them, he finished tied for fourth in two of them and tied for seventh in another. He made the cut in all four of those events.

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Jon Rahm does not have the track record of Johnson, Spieth or McIlroy, but he has been hot this year and is the fourth betting choice at plus-1,800.

Rahm is a 22-year-old Spaniard who ranks fourth in FedEx Cup points and has a 69.504 scoring average. Rahm has a first-, a second- and a third-place finish this season and has won more than $3.5 million on tour as he heads to Augusta.

Rahm went head-to-head with Johnson in the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play event two weeks ago and finished in second place. While he did not win, he was not intimidated by Johnson, and he showed he could play with the best in the game.

Hideki Matsuyama is another young player who appears to have an excellent chance of making an excellent showing at Augusta. He is plus-2,000 to win the Masters, and the 25-year-old native of Japan ranks second in FedEx Cup points this season.

Matsuyama has two wins and two second-place finishes on the tour, and he has earned more than $4.5 million. Matsuyama takes advantage of his opportunities to score when he gets them. He averages 4.65 birdies per round, and that ranks third on the tour.

Look for these five players to command attention throughout the Masters, and one or two of them could be in contention for the first major title of the year Sunday.

All player ranking and statistical information courtesy of PGATour.com.