By far my favorite golf tourny of the year. The course is cool, the tradition is phenomenal, I love the quirky way they decide the field and the best players in the World always contend and more often than not you will get a Tiger, VJ, or Phil taking it home instead of a Justin Leonard, Rich Beem, Todd Hamilton, type. Which is much more entertaining.
4 People to Watch to Contend
Obvious - Retief Goosen - Retief has finished the past three Masters in 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd place. Talk about being close but just not quite. Is this the year Retief gets over the hump and gets to wear a Green Jacket? Probably not. But will he finish top 5 again? His chances are better than just about anybody else's.
Secondary - Geoff Ogilvy - Ogilvy got off to a miserable start of the season but over the past few weeks he's been on fire. In two appearances he's yet to have a breakthrough top ten performance. This year should be the year he makes an impact on the final day.
The Relatively Unknown - Paul Casey - The Brit who kind of flies under the radar in comparison to the likes of Luke Donald and Justin Rose and others has had some solid appearances at the Masters. In three trips Casey has two top ten finishes with his best finish being 6th last year.
Darkhorse - Shingo Katayama - The Japanese guy with the funny hat. He's always fun to watch at the Master's and in his career he's never missed a cut there. Thus, eventually you would think there could be a breakthrough into contention. So here's hoping the funny hat Japanese man is on TV on sunday.
3 People Who Might Surpisingly Miss the Cut
The Old - Fred Couples - Eventually Old Grey Fred is going to miss a Master's cut. He's been automatic for decades now and seems to play better at the Master's than he does at any other tournament in the world. But you have to figure eventually there will be a cutoff. Eventually he will miss a cut. Perhaps this is the year.
The Goofy Swinger - Jim Furyk -There's just something about Furyk that I don't like. I know he's a big time golfer and finishes near the top five just about every year but there's just something not right there for me. He'll probably end up in the top ten, but I kind of hope he doesn't make the cut.
One Asian Failure to Counter the Surprise - K.J. Choi - A Ton of people love K.J. Choi's chances at being in contention for this years Master's. And chances are he will. But it's so god damn difficult to predict shocking guys that will get cut that really you just have to go out on a limb. And I wanted an Asian guy to counter the Shingo dark horse pick and K.J. is the most prevalent.
2 People to Root For this Weekend
The Great Story - Drew Weaver - Playing for his lost classmates at VaTech, Drew Weaver flew to Britain to play for the first time on links course and somehow took home the British Amateur. Thus with the Amateur victory he gets to honor his fellow classmates by playing at Augusta National. If you can't root for this kid this weekend than chances are you have some serious mental health issues and should see a psychiatrist to work through whatever issues you may have.
The Old Guys - Gary, Watson, the Walrus and others - This is what makes the Master's so great. The best players in the world typically win the Master's at least once and they come back every year to tee it up with the current best in the world. None of these guys have any chance to win, but imagine if Player made the cut I think that would be cool enough. Unfortunately the coolness is a bit less this year without Arnie, Jack or Seve playing.
1 Winner
Tigger Woo - I'm really going out on a limb on this one. Fact Tiger has been almost unstoppable since the start of the 2nd half of last season. Fact Tigger is dominant at Augusta. Fact this season has the potential to go down as Tiger's best ever, he is playing that good now. And he is going to throw on yet another green jacket. I'd take Tiger over the field this week.
4 People to Watch to Contend
Obvious - Retief Goosen - Retief has finished the past three Masters in 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd place. Talk about being close but just not quite. Is this the year Retief gets over the hump and gets to wear a Green Jacket? Probably not. But will he finish top 5 again? His chances are better than just about anybody else's.Secondary - Geoff Ogilvy - Ogilvy got off to a miserable start of the season but over the past few weeks he's been on fire. In two appearances he's yet to have a breakthrough top ten performance. This year should be the year he makes an impact on the final day.
The Relatively Unknown - Paul Casey - The Brit who kind of flies under the radar in comparison to the likes of Luke Donald and Justin Rose and others has had some solid appearances at the Masters. In three trips Casey has two top ten finishes with his best finish being 6th last year.
Darkhorse - Shingo Katayama - The Japanese guy with the funny hat. He's always fun to watch at the Master's and in his career he's never missed a cut there. Thus, eventually you would think there could be a breakthrough into contention. So here's hoping the funny hat Japanese man is on TV on sunday.
3 People Who Might Surpisingly Miss the Cut
The Old - Fred Couples - Eventually Old Grey Fred is going to miss a Master's cut. He's been automatic for decades now and seems to play better at the Master's than he does at any other tournament in the world. But you have to figure eventually there will be a cutoff. Eventually he will miss a cut. Perhaps this is the year.The Goofy Swinger - Jim Furyk -There's just something about Furyk that I don't like. I know he's a big time golfer and finishes near the top five just about every year but there's just something not right there for me. He'll probably end up in the top ten, but I kind of hope he doesn't make the cut.
One Asian Failure to Counter the Surprise - K.J. Choi - A Ton of people love K.J. Choi's chances at being in contention for this years Master's. And chances are he will. But it's so god damn difficult to predict shocking guys that will get cut that really you just have to go out on a limb. And I wanted an Asian guy to counter the Shingo dark horse pick and K.J. is the most prevalent.
2 People to Root For this Weekend
The Great Story - Drew Weaver - Playing for his lost classmates at VaTech, Drew Weaver flew to Britain to play for the first time on links course and somehow took home the British Amateur. Thus with the Amateur victory he gets to honor his fellow classmates by playing at Augusta National. If you can't root for this kid this weekend than chances are you have some serious mental health issues and should see a psychiatrist to work through whatever issues you may have.The Old Guys - Gary, Watson, the Walrus and others - This is what makes the Master's so great. The best players in the world typically win the Master's at least once and they come back every year to tee it up with the current best in the world. None of these guys have any chance to win, but imagine if Player made the cut I think that would be cool enough. Unfortunately the coolness is a bit less this year without Arnie, Jack or Seve playing.
1 Winner
Tigger Woo - I'm really going out on a limb on this one. Fact Tiger has been almost unstoppable since the start of the 2nd half of last season. Fact Tigger is dominant at Augusta. Fact this season has the potential to go down as Tiger's best ever, he is playing that good now. And he is going to throw on yet another green jacket. I'd take Tiger over the field this week.
Comments