The Masters
Golf fans we have finally made it to the greatest week in golf, The Masters. Master’s week is a pretty special week, the games greatest professionals and top amateurs gather together to compete for the ever elusive Green Jacket. The history behind The Masters is what makes the week that much more special, between The Champion’s Dinner to the ceremonial first tee shots the Masters is surrounded by glory, legacy and in my opinion a little bit of magic.
Every year players from around the world gear up to compete in the Masters. Only a select few get the honor and privilege to compete for the Green Jacket. The top 50 ranked players in the world get an automatic invite, any player that has won a PGA Tour event throughout the season gets an invite and all past winners of The Masters receive a lifetime invite to the event which is probably my favorite exemption in golf. The Masters is held to such a high esteem, that winning it is such an incredible feat that is worthy of a lifetime invitation. However, that exemption has caused some uneasiness. Many believe that a lifetime exemption is too long, stating that players get old and can’t compete anymore. Personally I love seeing past winners like Larry Mize, Vijay Singh, and Bernhard Langer tee it up to give it a go at another green jacket. People disagree with this stating these players are too old, but that is the whole point of golf, if you do it right you can play this incredible game for the rest of your life and Augusta National and The Masters embodies that with this exemption.
Another great tradition that The Masters carries is the ceremonial tee shots. This is another magical moment during this week. This tradition started in 1963 and has since then been carried out through the years. Players such as Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, and Arnold Palmer have been Honorary Starters and have hit opening ceremony tee shots at Augusta. Currently Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Elder and joining us this year for the first time as an Honorary Starter Tom Watson joins the legendary group on Thursday morning to kickstart The Masters.
It seems like every year at Augusta there is either some type of looming controversy or something extremely exciting. This year fans could potentially be graced with the presence of 5 time champion Tiger Woods. As time went on leading up to this week we continued to see Tiger Wood’s name on the past champions playing list. As we grew closer and closer he name remained on that list. Then this past week a flight was chartered to Augusta, Georgia with the name Tiger Woods on the passenger manifest. It was then that many people believed Tiger Woods would be competing once again after his tragic accident last February. While he has not officially committed he has been at Augusta now for at least 4 days and he is due to give a statement regarding his ability to play this week on April 5th at 11am. I think I can say this for every golf fan out there, we all want Tiger Woods to play this week. With that being said, being completely realistic I don’t believe Tiger has much of a chance this week. Between his physical body, questionable weather, and the beast of Augusta National I just can’t see Tiger hanging around with the rest of the field who are all in midseason form at this point. However this is Tiger Woods we are talking about and he has done the unthinkable time and time again so ultimately if he was wearing the green jacket on Sunday afternoon a part of me and all of us for that matter wouldn’t be surprised.
The road to Tiger’s 6th green jacket will not be easy, the field this year is exceptional. New World #1 Scottie Scheffler looks to make yet another splash in the golf world with capturing his first major and first green jacket. Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth look to win their second green jacket and players like Rory McIlrory, Justin Thomas, and Sam Burns look to win their first green jackets. This year I have two players in mind that are primed and ready to make a substantial run; Jordan Spieth and Sam Burns. Spieth is coming off a very solid final round 5 under and the Texas Valero. He commented last week talking about peaking at the right time and I believe he might be on the way up to that peak. His putter has been stellar and as long as he can keep the ball in the fairway he should make a green run at his second green jacket. Sam Burns is next on the list. Burns has already won twice this year and has notched five top 10’s in 11 events. He knows how to win and he’s ready to capture his first major. Be on the lookout for Webb Simpson, Abraham Ancer, and Patrick Cantlay, these players can back door their way into a green jacket on Sunday. (Mike)
Pick’s of the Week:
A noticeable absence from The Masters this week is Rickie Fowler. Rickie’s struggles have been well documented over the last few years, but even with his game seemingly lost, he always managed to play well at Augusta. To me, Rickie is one of the easiest guys to root for on tour and there is no arguing that his presence over the years has helped grow the game tremendously. I am a firm believer that he will turn it around for at least a few more years in his career, but as time goes on it becomes less and less likely. Here is to seeing Rickie tee it up next year at The Masters.
For most of the last week I have been supremely confident in Cam Smith winning on Sunday, but as the week has went on it has become paingully clear he is the trendy pick this week to win. That being said, I think Viktor Hovland is in prime position to win the green jacket this weekend. I have not seen his name as much as I would have expected. He was without a doubt the best player in the world for a significant part of the last few months. Scottie Scheffler’s insane heater has shifted the attention away from Hovland, which I think benefits him greatly. There are no weaknesses in Hovland’s game and he has plenty of winning experience, although winning at Augusta is a different beast.
My bold prediction for the week is that at least 3 golfers in the OWGR top 10 will be missing the cut this weekend. I think Jon Rahm will let his temper flare up and it will cost him the weekend. I think Xander will just not play up to the standard we expect of him and his putter will let him down as he tries to make the weekend. I think Scottie Scheffler comes back down to earth a bit after his all time run he has been on. There is a big difference between doing it when nobody expects you to do it, and doing it with mountains of expectations. It is hard to believe that he started this year with no PGA Tour wins and now he is world number 1. This years Masters is shaping up to be one of the most competitive tournaments in recent memory so the world’s best will have to be at their best if they want to make it to the weekend. (Tyler)