2011 Masters: Top 10 of Golf's New Generation Who Can Win Green Jacket
The Masters at Augusta National requires a combination of length, touch and uncanny putting. More than anything, it requires nerves. When the greens get fast—and nothing suggests that they shouldn't be firm and scary this week—winning comes down to holding onto one’s nerves. That’s where youth is served.
Augusta National is tricky and deceiving and experience helps. That’s why the average age of the past 10 winners has been 33.8, with Tiger Woods in 2001 standing as the youngest in that span at 26. Of course, Tiger was 21 when he won in 1997 and since then the course has undergone major remodeling. For that matter, so has the style of play in American pro golf.
Experience may be very important at Augusta, but a new generation of young stars have the combination of uncanny touch and fresh nerves that can propel them to the Masters' awards ceremony early Sunday evening. Here’s a rundown of leading contenders, age 30 or under.
Dustin Johnson
1 of 10
Age: 26
Attributes: With amazing length off tee (310 yards), will make even the longest par-fours within short irons for him. Good drives on holes 2, 13 and 15 will require 5 or 6-iron approach shots to reach on the second shot. Putting is good and can get streaky good.
Detriments: When the greens at Augusta get firm, many approach shots bound off the putting surface and stop on tightly mowed chipping areas. This is the weakest part of Johnson’s game. Nipped wedge shots that stay low but have lots of backspin are required. During hi blow-up during the final round of the 2010 U.S. Open, Johnson showed his short game shortcomings.
Gotta Have It: Amazing tee game. But Augusta requires more shaping than just the straight bomb. If he can hit the fairways, his length and putting touch can make him unbeatable.
Nick Watney
2 of 10
Age: 29
Attributes: He’s peaking. Solid play at Doral, coupled with his good play during three-fourths of last year’s PGA Championship (on the ungodly Whispering Straits) have proven that he’s ready. His key stats: 300 yards per off the tee, 7-of-10 greens in regulation, 7-of-10 getting up-and-down and a magical touch with the putter (just over 1.5 putts per green).
Detriments: He folded once, as Johnson blew by him during the final round of the PGA Championship. Chipping skills are in question.
Gotta Have It: Good driving. Not the longest, but his 60 percent in fairways needs to be a little higher at Augusta.
Rickie Fowler
3 of 10
Age: 22
Attributes: He’s made six of eight cuts so far and has finished in the Top 10 twice. He’s going good despite the fact he’s been hitting barely over half of the fairways. A great putting touch—just over 27 per round—saves him.
Detriments: Lack of experience. You can be Harry Potter and still not figure out Augusta National’s greens. Poor approach shots can leave putts that are excessively difficult to leave eight or 10 feet coming back on the next one.
Gotta Have It: Great driving at 292 (he’s long enough) and great irons to let his putter take over. No place lets a player feel momentum like the Masters. Once he gets going he’s hard to beat.
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Graeme McDowell
4 of 10
Age: 30
Attributes: He’s hitting on all cylinders. He’s had four Top 10s so far and he’s not the longest (287), but he’s consistent (nearly 70 percent in fairways). Add that to a wickedly good putting touch (29 per round) and it adds up to a real threat. That and the confidence that comes from winning the U.S. Open.
Detriments: Lack of experience on Augusta National. It remains to be seen if he knows the breaks on the greens and the proper bailout places.
Gotta Have It: Knowledge. If he hits it where he wants, and he’s putting well, McDowell has the guts to win. Notice how he stared down Tiger Woods last December, sinking two clutch putts on the final two holes to prevail.
Rory McIlroy
5 of 10
Age: 21
Attributes: Amazing length off the tee and an unnerving ability to turn white hot, blistering approach shots. His win last year during the Wachovia, including a final-round 62, capped his amazing rise to stardom.
Detriments: Lack of familiarity at Augusta. It is a course that needs to be massaged rather than pummeled, and McIlroy can get a little erratic with his tee game. That tends to put too much pressure on his irons and then his putter.
Gotta Have It: Like Fowler, he’s another that if he gets on a roll, the energy from the Masters patrons can electrify his game.
Hunter Mahan
6 of 10
Age: 30
Attributes: Enough length (290) off the tee leading to 7-of-10 greens in regulation. Add to that a putter that averages 29 strokes a round. But the frosting is confidence: He’s made all nine cuts this year and he’s had four Top 10s. He’s ready to bust through.
Detriments: The flubbed chip during last year’s Ryder Cup is exactly the shot that will be required to save pars at Augusta. But then, he’s also one of the best wedge players on Tour and that will help.
Gotta Have It: No blow-ups. The double-bogey from the middle of the fairway or the mis-clubbed approach that ends up in the water, leading to a triple bogey. You can say that of all the players, but Mahan can let that affect his momentum.
Justin Rose
7 of 10
Age: 30
Attributes: Two wins do a lot for a man’s confidence, and he’s made all eight cuts in 2011. He’s scoring well thanks to being of the best in hitting greens (72 percent).
Detriments: Not the longest (just under 285) and his putting so far has been about Tour average (29.4 per round).
Gotta Have It: Rose’s game is precision, and Augusta National rewards precision. Tee shots that land in fairways leading to approach shots that stop in the right spots leads to good scores. Rose has that game.
Anthony Kim
8 of 10
Age: 25
Attributes: Long enough (287 off the tee) with solid iron play (66.1 percent GIR). That and he’s won three times in the last three years. And his putting (28.5 per round) is better than Tour average.
Detriments: Honey, get the dogs because some of Kim’s tee shots end up in deepest part of the woods. His scrambling isn’t the best, either, at 58 percent.
Gotta Have It: Solid iron play set up with a consistent tee game.
Ryan Moore
9 of 10
Age: 28
Attributes: He’s won (in 2009), he hits two of three fairways in regulation and he’s decent putting.
Detriments: Not real long off the tee (under 285), but when he misses be gets up and down just over 55 percent of the time. At Augusta National, that part of his game will be tested.
Gotta Have It: The Salutatorian golf game—not the best in any one thing, really good in everything.
Ricky Barnes
10 of 10
Age: 30
Attributes: Fearlessness. He plays like he doesn’t care and that helps. He hits barely more than half of the fairways, yet still hits nearly two of three greens in regulation. Fairways will be key for Barnes.
Detriments: Poor tee shots can lead to lack of control on approach shots, and that can overwhelm even the best of putters. In that category Barnes is about average at 29 per round.
Gotta Have It: David’s sling shot, in the form of dead-on approach shots.
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