The Masters: Tiger Woods and 8 Other Golfers Who Can Win at Augusta
The time between mid-March and late April is the best time of the year to be a sports fan. March Madness, Opening Day of the baseball season, the NFL draft and the playoff races and the actual playoffs of the NBA and NHL are enough on their own to solidify this as the best time of the year to be a sports fan. Then there's the greatest event of them all, the Masters, which concludes every year on April's second Sunday.
Elite players tend to win at Augusta. Underdog stories happen at the other majors. Those are much deeper fields. Also, while Augusta presents its own challenges, it provides plenty of opportunities to make birdies or better. The winning scores tend to be lower, whereas the U.S. Open winning scores tend to be around par.
Underdogs tend to do better in the grinds. Look at past champions like Zach Johnson and Trevor Immelman. Not exactly favorites, but they weren’t the same kind of underdog that Ben Curtis was at the Open Championship in 2003.
Augusta is also a long course, so unless you plan on putting out of your mind like Johnson in 2007 or Immelman in 2008, you had better hit the ball far if you have any plans on donning the Green Jacket on Sunday.
Bubba Watson
1 of 9
If Amen Corner was ever made for one player, this is the man. His ability to hit high cut shots from the left side will give him chances to go right at the flag on 11 and 12. Watson's length shot making ability will allow him to attack the green in two with a low-to-mid iron while others are laying up or hitting long irons or fairway woods in.
His driving average is nearly 30 yards better than the tour average. His fairway percentage is right at the tour average. Watson can shrink a course in the way that few others can, but he is not one-dimensional. He ranks first on tour in greens in regulation, and in terms of hitting different kinds of shots; he has the deepest bag of tricks on tour.
While 15 is not a part of Amen Corner, Watson will have the same advantage there as he will at 13. When his competitors are trying to stop their low shots on the lighting quick greens, Watson will be hitting high cuts in, stopping them on impact. His short game and putting can be an issue, but his strong driver and irons make up for that. If Watson stays out of trouble, he is dangerous.
Rickie Fowler
2 of 9
It's easy to get drawn in by the Justin Bieber haircut and bright clothes. Those things draw the attention, but it's his game that will keep people's attention. Fowler ranks 28th in the tour's All-Around category. The two negative numbers that stick out are Fowler's ranking in driving accuracy (181) and greens in regulation (157).
There are also two positive numbers that stick out. He ranks seventh on tour in putts per hole and second in putts per round. Those are nice numbers, but players who miss a lot of greens often rank at the top of the tour in those stats.
While an analytic look at the numbers won't impress anyone, Fowler's performances will. Anyone who saw his Ryder Cup singles match against Edoardo Molinari knows that Fowler can make birdies when he needs to. He was down four holes with four to play and proceeded to birdie every one of them, earning a half point, giving his team a chance to win and justifying Corey Pavin's selection.
Because of his age, he is a dark horse. Because he has never even played in the Masters, he is a dark horse. But his raw talent and clutch play means that he can absolutely win.
Rory McIlroy
3 of 9
McIlroy is the eighth ranked player in the world, and there is a reason for it. He ranks 17th on the European Tour in driving distance and fifth in greens in regulation. That is a good combination for Augusta. He has one win in Europe and one win in the U.S.A, the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship. At that tournament, McIlroy made the cut on the number, and then responded with a 66 on Saturday and a 62 on Sunday to beat Mickelson by four shots.
His downfall could be his accuracy, as he ranks 97th on the European Tour in that department. That is troubling, but not a deal breaker, not at Augusta. Consider that Woods and Mickelson have a combined seven green jackets and neither of them has ever been known for their driving accuracy.
Still, he is a legitimate threat to win. He lacks much history at the Masters. His first tournament was in 2009. There, he finished tied for 20th. In 2010, he missed the cut. Don't be too turned off by that, McIlroy won't lose anything in driving length. If he gets hot; he could win the Masters, and could win by several shots.
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Hunter Mahan
4 of 9
Short game, short game, short game! Mahan has made the cut in all eight tournaments that he has entered in 2011. Looking at his stats, Mahan is one of the most complete golfers in the world. Other than his short game, his game doesn't have a true weakness. But oh my, what a weakness that is. It's been his downfall in early season tournaments. It also cost him a chance at beating Graeme McDowell in the deciding match of the 2010 Ryder Cup.
You can finish strong on tour with a weak short game if the rest of your game is as good as Mahan's. You may even be able to win tournaments, and Mahan has won three times on tour. The problem is that none have been majors, and they never will be unless Mahan finds a way to be strong around the greens for a week.
A short game can make the difference between making pars and bogeys on Sunday. One way to hide a poor short game is to not miss greens. Of course, that is easier said than done. The other way to negate a poor short game is to putt well, which Mahan can certainly do. Short game aside, he does have the overall game to be a threat.
Martin Kaymer
5 of 9
Kaymer is the top ranked golfer in the world and won the PGA Championship last year; he has also won three times since then. Additionally, he finished second to Luke Donald in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. He can't be ignored as a favorite and he may well be the first German since Bernhard Langer to wear the green jacket.
He is a legitimate favorite, but he is not the favorite. Because of his recent accomplishments and top world ranking, it is easy call him the single odds on favorite. That should be done with caution, as Kaymer has never made a cut at Augusta.
Averaging 296 yards a drive in Europe, Kaymer will be behind the likes of Watson, but plenty long enough to take advantage of the par fives. He hits the fairway 56 percent of the time, which is good enough for 96th position on the European tour in driving accuracy. That number leaves a lot to be desired, but he ranks 14th in Europe in greens in regulation.
While Kaymer hasn't shown it yet, he has the game to be a force at Augusta.
Lee Westwood
6 of 9
Since 2008, Westwood has recorded a tie for third or better at least once in all four of the majors. 2010 was painful for Westwood, who got a front row seat when Phil Mickelson went eagle, eagle, birdie on 13, 14 and 15 on Saturday.
Westwood shot in the 60's on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and had a respectable 71 on Sunday, Mickelson was just better, shooting a 67. Louis Oosthuizen ran away with the Open Championship in 2010 held at St. Andrews. Westwood finished second at that tournament. Historically, players with success at St. Andrews have also had success at Augusta.
Do you remember the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines? Tiger Woods made a great birdie on the 72nd hole, forcing a Monday playoff with Rocco Mediate. That tournament has been described as perhaps the best U.S. Open of all time.
Do you remember that 72nd hole? Do you remember that there was a player playing alongside of Woods? Who also had a birdie putt that would have put him in the playoff? That player was Lee Westwood.
Not enough for you? Consider this: Westwood is a highly ranked player that has never won a major. While he has never won a major, he has had several strong finishes in every one of the majors at least once in his career. He has multiple top 10 finishes in the Masters. The same things were being be said about someone else at this time of the year in 2004.
Phil Mickelson
7 of 9
No, he hasn't won anything this year. He hasn't won anything since the 2010 Masters. That's not a promising sign, but it's not a sign of the apocalypse either. He hadn't won anything in 2010 before winning the Masters. Actually, he was less effective in 2010 before the Masters than he has been in 2011. Mickelson has a great history at the Masters, as three of his four major wins have come at Augusta.
An expression often heard at the Masters is that "the tournament doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday." The back nine features a lot of high risk, high reward holes. Because of that, in most years, anyone in the top 10 entering the back nine has a shot at winning. That history bodes well for Mickelson, who has the length to reach any par five in two. Even if he fails to do that, is there anyone deadlier with a wedge in their hands?
Lefty has 12 career top 10 finishes at Augusta and with the exception of 2007, he has finished in the top 10 every year since 1999. He may be on the back end of his prime, but as long as he is in the field, he is still a threat at Augusta.
Don’t look for that to change anytime soon.
Dustin Johnson
8 of 9
One of these majors will be Johnson's. He fell victim to a harsh, yet sadly correct ruling at the 2010 PGA Championship. That kept him out of a playoff with Kaymer and Watson. In the U.S. Open, Johnson missed finding a lost ball by a matter of seconds early in the final round. He went on to shoot an 82.
Sticking to the theory that the tournament doesn't start until the back nine on Sunday, Johnson has a great shot. He has entered eight tournaments in 2011. In three of them, he finished in the top 10. He is one of the few golfers on tour who can match Watson's length, he easily has the ability to reach any par five in two.
His greatest problem is that unlike Mickelson, his short game doesn't bail him out. It hasn't been as much of a liability for him as it has been for Mahan, but it's far from a weapon. If he is ever forced to lay up, he will likely drop a shot to the field.
The positive is that while he has never won a major, he has won twice at Pebble Beach, a major venue. He has also proven to be resilient. If he makes a bad bogey, it isn't likely to derail him for the entire tournament.
Tiger Woods
9 of 9
"We've never seen him struggle like this before." Actually, yes we have. We have certainly seen this in majors. After winning the Masters in 1997, Woods didn't win another major until the PGA Championship of 1999, a period of 10 majors. After Woods won the 2002 U.S. Open and didn't win another major until the 2005 Masters, a period of 10 majors. His last major win was at the 2008 U.S. Open. Since then, 10 majors have been played, though he has only entered eight of them.
After winning the PGA Championship in 1999, Woods faltered at the Masters in 2000 before winning the following three majors that year then the Masters in 2001. We know that as the Tiger Slam. The 2005 Masters victory was the first of two majors that year, a feat that he duplicated the following year.
The personal problems are obvious, and his golf game has struggled. After winning the 2008 U.S. Open, Woods wouldn't play again for nearly a year, as he had knee surgery. Remember, he didn't play at all in 2008 between the Masters and U.S. Open. By his standards, he struggled in 2009, winning six tournaments but no majors.
His major struggle was highlighted in that year's PGA Championship. There, for the first time in his career, he failed to win a major where he held the lead at the beginning of the final round.
Woods was playing well at the end of 2009, and then the Thanksgiving car wreck happened. We all know the rest of the story. He played an abbreviated schedule in 2010 and failed to record a win. He is just now beginning to play a normal schedule again, and he is improving. The swing changes he has made haven't led to any wins, but they will.
He will never be the same dominant force that he was during his prime. His own influence has brought far too many talented golfers to the tour for that to happen. But does anyone really want to bet against him?
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