2011 Masters Preview

Hello friends-

I hope everyone made it through the winter. It is spring time in the valley on Magnolia Lane. The legends of the game are returning to Augusta to answer the long discussed question, who will wear that green coat on Sunday afternoon? Who will walk that 18th fairway singing this tune? Masters week has finally arrived and for those of us in the north the world is starting to thaw. It has been a much longer winter than I anticipated, but now that The Masters has arrived, things are looking good. It has been an interesting year in the world of golf. Professional golf is in transition and while the torch isn’t being passed, it might be taken. Last year we waited to see if the dominant force of Tiger Woods was going to return and be the same. I think we have the answer to that question. At the end of this tournament, six people could be #1 in the world next week depending on how things shake out this week. A legion of good Europeans have emerged and a group of young Americans is starting to emerge. Will Tiger and Phil continue to dominate the game the way they have in the past? Is it going to be the European 20-somethings (who have won the last three majors) that ultimately take control? Will some of these 20-something Americans get into the mix? The good news is we will have The Masters every year to help us figure it all out. We are now less than a day away and I can’t wait. Let’s take a look at the field.

Amateur Hour

In order to ensure I am wrong about more things in this year’s preview I went ahead and ranked the amateurs in my expected order of their finish. They go best to worst.

U.S. Amateur Champion- Peter Uihlein- Peter Uihlein is going to be the next great golfer out of college. He got into the Masters by winning the U.S. Amateur last year and he is currently the #1 ranked amateur in the world. Additionally, his dad is the CEO of Acushnet (which owns Titleist). I went out to watch him in a college tournament this year and he hit two incredible shots on #8 and #9 at Scioto en route to a 3 2 finish on the front nine. When I knew he got it though was when he tweeted, “Sammie from jersey shore is awful.” Who can’t get behind that?

U.S. Mid-Amateur champion- Nathan Smith- This is the second straight year for Nathan to play in The Masters and the third time overall. He has been invited each time by winning the U.S Mid-Am. Clearly he is the best amateur in America that is over 25. What does this tell us? I have no idea. I looked through the names of the 64 guys who made match play in the mid-am, the two “famous” names were Phil Mickelson’s brother Tim, and Ray Floyd’s son Raymond. So yes a who’s who of golf names, but not the guys who made them. A mid-am champion has never the cut at The Masters either.

British Amateur champion-Jin Jeong- South Korea keeps coming up the incredible exports, first the Sonata, then the Equus and now Mr. Jeong. Mr. Jeong was born in South Korea, but now lives in Australia. He was the low amateur at last year’s British Open.

U.S. Amateur runner-up-David Chung- He is not nearly as famous as his fellow Stanford junior Michelle Wie, but Mr. Chung is the best golfer currently enrolled at Stanford. This guy sent a letter to Stanford’s golf coach when he was 12 because he heard Tiger did it. We are probably about 10 years away from an entire generation of pro golfers who grew with Jack’s records hung on the wall above their bed.
U.S. Amateur Public Links champion- Lion Kim- How the victorious lion Vijay Singh will enjoy this new guy trying to take his name, and how will Tiger enjoy another jungle cat on the scene? Due to his poor college choice you won’t find many kind words about this guy here.

Asian Amateur champion-Hideki Matsuyama- Mr. Matsuyama lives in the area of Japan that was affected by the earthquake and a lot of the people in his hometown are living in emergency housing. In his press conference Mr. Matsuyama said he wasn’t sure if he should play, but he was going to now that he was at Augusta. I hope this guy plays well this week.

Past Champs- Villages Division

You will find a few past champs toward the top of the rankings (bottom of the preview). However, these guys are all old enough to live at The Villages and have no chance.

Mark O'Meara- Mark has to be a little sad his buddy Tiger moved from Isleworth. There isn’t much to say about the defending Senior PGA champ this year.

Ben Crenshaw- In an unexpected turn of events Ben Crenshaw is now considered to be one of if not the best course designer in the world. I don’t know why this is so surprising to me, but it is. Ben is also making history this week. His caddie, Carl Jackson is caddying in his 50th Masters this week. This is his 35th year with Crenshaw. Apparently the first time he saw Crenshaw putting he knew he wanted to caddie for him. Clearly Carl is a smart guy.

Ian Woosnam- We are at the 20 year anniversary for Woosy’s Masters victory. Twenty years is a pretty long time, but check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWfXbLiaJ64&feature=related) It is hard to believe at least three of the same people will be in Butler Cabin, and if Woosy pulls off a miracle 4 of the 5 will be back.

Sandy Lyle- You may recall that last year Sandy got off to a great start with a 69 on the first day. He was able to follow that up with an 86. Following the second round he considered the 86 a success since he didn’t quit in the middle of the round like he did in the previous year’s British Open. I predict both rounds this year will be a lot closer to the 86 from Friday. He is a definitely the most likely to withdraw.

Larry Mize- I googled Larry Mize to see if he had done anything noteworthy in the last year. The newest article on the first page of results was from 2009. It hasn’t been a real newsworthy year for Mr. Mize. He did win the inaugural Montreal Championship last year on the Senior Tour, but apparently this new google formula doesn’t get that article onto the front page of results.

Tom Watson- Tom has a new book out called The Timeless Swing. A couple weeks ago he was making the rounds doing promotion and he wound up on the greatest radio show exclusively on television, Morning Drive. Morning Drive is on Golf Channel every morning. It stars the greatest ESPN radio replacement, Eric Kuselius and Gary Williams, not the basketball coach. It also has sidekick Holly Saunders (rumored to be dating Mr. Kuselias, although he is also rumored to be married so who knows), and has stock updates from Nicole Lapin, who also hosts Worldwide Exchange on CNBC. Somehow this show fills about 8 hours of air time a week talking about golf. It is quite a feat. This explanation is selling it short. The best thing I can say about it is, it is the best radio show exclusively on TV, edging out All Bets are Off with Bruce Drennan.

Craig Stadler- Incredibly Craig Stadler has a full fashion line of men’s and women’s golf clothes on his website. I could see the walrus symbol replacing the Polo horse or Lacoste alligator in the coming years.



Jose Maria Olazabel- Jose is actually way too young to get his hands on the Lopez signature course at The Villages, but since he is the upcoming Ryder Cup captain and was elected into the hall of fame this year this seems like the right spot for him. Ollie has only played in one tournament this year and that was last week. He missed the cut.

On a related note, during the Champions dinner Phil had all Spanish food in honor of Seve. That is a great gesture. Sadly, Seve couldn’t make it. It sounds like Seve is reeling from much worse than the Bear’s attack these days.

Short Week

Hopeless

There are always a few guys who have just totally lost their games. Don’t bet on them. There aren’t many this time. No more Win A Date or Michael Campbell.

Mike Weir (The Queer)- Like almost everyone who has ever tried the stack and tilt method of swinging, The Queer’s game has fallen apart. This week he decided to go back to his old coach. Canadian golf is hinging on whether or not he can return to form. You may notice half-Canadian didn’t make it this year. As we have seen this might be a “process.” A few of the 271 people ahead of The Queer in the world rankings: S.S.P. Chowrasia, Bernd Weisberger, Brett Wetterich (who won on the Nationwide Tour two weeks ago).

Henrik Stenson- Steely Stenson, aka the man of steel, seems to have run into the same fate as his friend Spiderman’s Broadway play. Last year he got 3rd at the British Open, but the rest of the season was a disaster. You might think last year’s performance at Augusta where he beat 5 people might have been the worst of it. However, Steely was the only guy who lost to Tiger at Firestone when Tiger was at his absolute worst.

Not Playing Great

Frankly there are a lot of good players in this category. There are 99 players in the field this year and only about 50 will make the cut. Take out the ams, seniors and the queer and steely and you are left with 83 players, so 33 good players are going to get cut.

Lucas Glover- The most notable thing Mr. Glover has done since he won the U.S. Open was grow and incredible beard. I see no reason why that won’t continue to be the case this week. His game currently looks like his beloved Clemson Tigers football team. They look good once a year, but mostly disappoint. Maybe Tommy Bowden is his coach now.

Geoff Ogilvy- On the 25th anniversary of the greatest masters ever (1986 for the non-mathematicians), it should be mentioned no Australian has ever won The Masters. It is hard to believe that there isn’t a spot for me to discuss Greg Norman every year. Anyway, Geoff seems to be motivated and ready to win about once every 11 months. He stays happily between 20th and 30th in the world rankings using this method. He won a tournament in October so he will have a little while before he is ready to go. He should be a good pick at the PGA Championship.

Louis Oosthuizen- Until the British Open last year Louis was best known for his unconventional name and the way the European tour announcers said it. Then he became known as Shrek when the world learned of his nickname. This guy totally dominated the British Open with incredible ball striking, a big goofy grin on his face, and the characters of Shrek as his head covers. You have to love anyone who embraces the Shrek nickname.



Trevor Immelman- When the I-Man won the Masters in 2008 I thought he was going to be a force. He has a great swing and seemed to have put it all together. Clearly that was not correct. He shot 78 his first round after he won The Masters and he hasn’t been very good since. He hasn’t had a top 10 since the end of 2008. He has had a wrist injury but Trevor is quickly become one of the worst Masters champions of all time.

Stewart Cink- While his game is not in great shape, Stew seems to be in the running for best golfer tweeter. Based on my casual observation it is a race between him and Ian Poulter. Currently Stew has 1,208,000 followers and Ian has 1,146,160 followers. If 6 of the top 7 players in the world ranking win this week they will be #1 in the world rankings. Same goes here for Ian or Stew in the twitter rankings. Regarding the world rankings, if Paul Casey, who is #6 in the world wins he won’t be #1, but if Tiger who is #7 wins he will be. That’s the beauty of having a world ranking system no one understands.

Tim Clark- Little Timmy Clark has been injured almost all of the year. He continues to say he is going to play this week but he has withdrawn from about 5 tournaments the week of the tournament this year. We all learned during the Michael Jordan flu game in 1997 to doubt the weak, but Timmy playing would mildly surprise me. Playing well would really be a surprise.

Sergio Garcia- Our old friend Kenny texted me on Sunday of the Bayhill Tournament, “Sergio would be winning this thing if he could putt.” This is a statement that can be made almost every time Sergio plays, but it seems almost certain Sergio never will be able to putt. At this point he isn’t even a sure thing on the two footers, so anything not resembling a tap-in is almost a sure miss. Augusta is not the place to play with a balky putter, and that’s all Sergio ever has.

Gregory Havret- It seems every ten years or so a French golfer enters our lives. Mr. Havret came out of nowehere (ranked #391 at the time) to finish alone in second at the U.S. Open last year. He played with then #1 in the world, Tiger Woods, and beat him by 3 strokes on Sunday. Since then he has had one third place finish but is sliding back down the world rankings. I see him going to way of Thomas Levet, Jean Van de Velde or the Do Do.

Ernie Els- There is not anything wrong with Ernie’s game and there isn’t anything especially good with Ernie’s game. He just seems to be off to be. If you recall, in 2007 Ernie announced that he had a three year plan to become #1 in the world. Maybe once the plan didn’t work out he got discouraged, maybe he got a job at Hooters (Big Daddy reference), but he just seems off. It is a shame because he really could have been #1 with good play the last two years.

Davis Love III- If Davis hadn’t earned his way into the field I would put him back with Sandy Lyle, Ben Crenshaw, and Larry Mize. He has about as much chance to win. Mr. Love seems to have transitioned totally into captain of the Ryder Cup mode and is just playing until he can join his buddy Freddy on the Champions tour.

Brandt Snedeker- One thing I have noticed doing this preview, some guys have babies and just keep rocking no problem, some guys take months off after the birth. Brandt had to withdraw from the Honda Classic but was back the next week. His caddie also really played with fire. Brandt’s wife texted the caddie to tell him she was in labor on the second hole but he didn’t tell Brandt until they were finished. This caused Brandt to almost miss the birth. I don’t know why the caddie waited because it was the first round and Brandt was going to withdraw anyway. I was not able to find out if he kept the caddie, but what an aggressive move. Hopefully he tried to talk Brandt into continuing the tournament after the round.

Alex Cejka- Mr. Cejka is the lowest ranked player in the tournament that isn’t a former champ. He got in courtesy of his 8th place finish at the U.S. Open. Last year he was hit or miss. In his last 15 tournaments of last season he finished in the top 10 5 times and missed the cut or withdrew 9. He mixed in a tie for 51 in the other event. This week I expect an MC or WD.

Jim Furyk- If golf was like every other sport, Jim would be considered the defending champion going into the season. In golf his championship is barely remembered. Who can forget the exciting FedEx Cup playoffs? Having watched it, it is pretty cool to see a guy make a three footer for $10 million. On a separate Furyk note, I saw him tailgating at a Buckeye game and he is huge.

Jeff “Boom Baby” Overton- Boom Baby was the star of the US Ryder Cup team and he might be the only guy Johnny Miller has complemented in years. However, I feel like Mr. Overton’s aggressive putting style and stroke could lead to some wildly bad putts. His practice strokes are like Ben Crenshaw and his real stroke is the exact opposite. I am envisioning him putting into a creek at some point along the way this week.

Bo Van Pelt- I was checking out bovanpelt.com and I discovered some exciting news. The man from Richmond, Indiana must have taken one of Tom Raper’s RVs over to famous golf hotbed Oxford, Ohio. Apparently he met his teacher Mark Wood, now a top 100 teacher, there in 1988. This is really hard to believe. Did they practice at Hueston Woods? If anyone has any information about this please let me know.

Mark Wilson- Making his debut at Augusta this year, your Fed Ex Cup leader. This is the third major he has ever played in since he turned pro in 1996. To say he got off to an uncharacteristic start would be a huge understatement.

Camilo Villegas- For some reason at the start of this season there seemed to be a rash of players getting disqualified due to fans calling in penalties. Camilo was the first “victim.” It seems logical the PGA tour and or the European tour could just give the player the appropriate penalty and let them keep going. There are USGA rules the tour doesn’t obey. For example, you can’t practice putt on tour but you can per the rule book. God forbid logic be used when it comes to golf. All that said, the DQ was just the start of a bad season for Camilo.

Ryan Palmer- As Roger Clemens gets ready for the next trial trying to prosecute baseball players we all know took steroids for lying about it, he picked up a side job. Last week he caddied for Ryan Palmer during the pro-am at Houston. I can’t imagine having Roger on the bag is good for the game. Was he in Mr. Steinbrenner’s box before picking up the bag? Did he throw broken clubs at other players? If this was a plan to secure some steroids shouldn’t he have called Brian McNamee?

Robert “Bob” Allenby- Bob talked to Jack Nicklaus recently and decided in the past he has played Augusta National too aggressively. This year he is going to shoot for the middle of greens because that’s how Jack told him to play. Unfortunately for Bob, Jack was an infinitely better putter than he is. I see this being a one of those best laid plans of mice and men that is going to go awry.

Ben Crane- Suddenly Ben has emerged as the resident tour comedian. He has had three videos go viral (not quite Rebecca Black, but made their way through the golf world) and says he is working with Rickie Fowler to make another one right now. The great thing about the movies is he started making them because of George Clooney. Apparently Ben and George have a mutual friend and Ben made a movie for a birthday party. George was so amused he kept pushing Ben to make more. Hard to believe those two have a mutual friend.

Charley Hoffman- I was watching the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year and one of the announcers mentioned Charley would like to cut his hair but he feels like it is his trademark. It may be his trademark but isn’t it a bad thing to have an ugly blonde mop on your head as your trademark? Wouldn’t it be better to have no trademark?

Heath Slocum- Heath is the forgotten man from Milton high school. It is also the high school of Bubba Watson and Boo Weekley. I imagine it is because he has a relatively normal name and doesn’t hit it too far. The name won’t hurt him this week, but his lack of power is a big problem for him at Augusta.

Jason Bohn- Jason turned pro in 1992 when he made a hole-in-one during a college fundraiser and won $1 million. After he turned pro he dropped out of college and started playing mini-tours. The crazy thing is he took the 20 annual payments so he still has this year and next of collecting $50K to go. He probably doesn’t even notice the money anymore.

Carl Pettersson- I am so pleased to see someone carry on the tradition of Kenny Perry and keep the transition lenses alive on the PGA Tour. He is prepared for all weather unless Corey Pavin picked out his rain suit.
Stuart Appleby- Stu had a 59 to win at The Greenbrier and earn his way back into The Masters. It was an incredible round and finish with a birdie on the 18th. I don’t see him shooting 59 or winning this week.

Arjun Atwal- After a long run of personal problems, golf problems, injury problems, and car wrecks Arjun is making his Masters debut. Fortunately for him, Tiger took him to Augusta a couple weeks ago to show him the ropes. Apparently he talked Tiger into hitting that chip on 16 he made during the 2005 Masters. Hopefully Arjun did the Verne Lundquist call for him. “OH MY GOODNESS IN YOUR LIFE!” I don’t know if it will help, but there isn’t a better guy to learn from on Augusta National.

Kevin Na- It seems Na has finally pushed slow play too far. For years pro golfers have been getting slower and slower. There are two reasons for this in my opinion: 1) Since 1997 we have seen every shot on tv by the slowest player that has ever lived. 2) It seems like every golfer has a team of coaches, including a sports psychiatrist. Anyone who has ever read Bob Rotella, playing fast is not one of his big things. However, Na seems to have pushed it too far and people are getting upset. Let’s hope that this is the year that the PGA Tour penalizes someone for slow play. I understand not penalizing Tiger, but does anyone care about Na? Does he bring crowds or move tv ratings? No, might be time to send a message.

Kevin Streelman- I am watching Leno while I type this and Neve Campbell is on right now. Are people actually planning to see Scream 4? I cant imagine this is something the movie world needs. Regarding, Streelman, after his big 2009 he seems to be struggling..

K.T. Kim- Mr. Kim plays most of his golf on the Japanese and Asian tours, and he pretty much cleans up over there. In his two tournaments in the United States this year he got T49 and lost in the first round of match play. I am very skeptical about how the world rankings work and how tournaments worldwide are rated. This guy seems pretty good, but if he played in the United States I doubt he would be in The Masters.

Yuta Ikeda & Hiroyuki Fujita – These two dominate the Japanese tour and are typically pretty terrible in the tournaments they play in America. Usually I would be up in arms about these guys getting a spot in The Masters, but it is hard to be too rough on these Japanese guys this year.

Jerry Kelly- The only thing of note that journeyman Jerry has done this year is get his ball stuck in a tree and use a picture to identify it. His ball was stuck in a tree and there was no way he could get it so was going to have to take a lost ball penalty. However, a newspaper man was there and he was able to zoom in on the ball so Jerry could identify it. Jerry took an unplayable lie and only lost a stroke.

Sean O'Hair- For a guy who was on the rise for a couple years Sean seems to have hit a slump. According to pgatour.com his best finish this year is a T24 and he has missed the last two cuts. I am not sure what is wrong with his game, but he seems to be the one who inspired both Justin Rose and Tiger to go to Sean Foley and now he isn’t playing very well. Maybe he is making a swing change, maybe he is just struggling a little bit but his game isn’t very sharp.

D.A. Points- Generally the celebrity nonsense at Pebble Beach is hard to watch. This year with Bill Murray and D.A. Points it was an incredible tournament though. I was actually much more interested in who would win the celebrity tournament than the real one. They were both decided on the 14th hole. The 14th hole at Pebble Beach seems to be the hardest hole in golf if the flag is on the left side. Last year both Paul Goydos and Aaron Baddelley gave away the tournament on 14. This year Points came to 14 tied and he and Bill Murray were also tied. Somehow D.A. made the shot from the fairway for eagle and basically sealed up the tournament for both himself and Bill. It was an emotional day for both guys. D.A.’s career was made and Bill finally won after years of nonsense.

Playing the weekend

Getting Paid

These guys are will make the cut, but aren’t really contenders for this years title

Bill Haas- For whatever reason it seems like Wild Billy plays his best golf on the west coast. This is somewhat normal but for a guy who grew up in South Carolina and matriculated at Wake Forest it doesn’t make too much sense. Bill won two tournaments last year, including the best named tournament on tour, The Viking Classic. This year things were looking good, but now I am getting worried because he has missed two straight cuts. I think Wild Billy will play solidly this week, but the putter will let him down a few times.

Anders Hansen- Anders Hansen could walk into my kitchen right now and I would have no idea who he is. If he walked in wearing a list of his results from golf tournaments though I would think he has a chance to make the cut at Augusta.

Aaron Baddeley- “ I know it was you, Badds. You broke my heart. You broke my heart!” Badds won the Northern Trust Open this year and it was probably Freddy Boom Boom Couples last chance to win on tour. I had the Boom Boom decorations out and was ready to party. It was a sad day for everyone with a heart. Badds is playing good though. He seems to have escaped from stack and tilt and is back to playing good and putting great.

Jonathan Byrd- The most exciting conclusion to a tournament last year was the Justin Timerblake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. J. Byrd, Martin Laird and Cameron Percy were in a playoff. They all tied on the first hole and they were going to play one more hole before they had to call it due to darkness. J. Byrd had the honor so he hit first and made it. A hole-in-one for the victory after the other two guys missed their shots. I am guessing about 50 people saw it live, but it was very exciting.

Jason Day- Jason day has long been discussed as one of the best ball strikers in the game. Long being a relative term since he is 23 years old, but for about four years. He got his first PGA Tour win last year at the Byron Nelson. However, his most impressive feat last year was his decision to live in Columbus and marry an Ohio native. This guy is clearly destined for greatness if he keeps making good decisions like that. It should be noted, Tiger’s reportedly new girlfriend has Ohio ties. It could be the start of the comeback.

Rickie Fowler- Rickie led The Memorial for a long time last year until he ultimately fell off at the end. I am not sure if he got annoyed with all the people yelling Bieber or Rose just made too many birdies but it was sad to see him not win. Rickie has all the skills needed to become the next American superstar but he needs to get a win. He has been pro less than two years and should be a senior at Oklahoma State (with Peter Uihlein) but he has been in contention a number of times. I think he will be like Duval, as soon as he wins they will come in bunches. Since he is also into BMX racing an interesting bet would be if he will win or be on Rob Dydrek’s Fantasy Factory first.

Y.E. Yang- One of the biggest stories in golf this year has been the number of guys on twitter. A few guys are mentioned all the time, but Yang is rarely mentioned in the conversation of great tweeters on tour. However, like his golf game, his tweeting is vastly underrated. About half of his tweets are in Korean which makes them difficult for me to read but the ones on English are great. He recently mentioned his desire to buy an RV but his wife is against it. A problem I am sure many men have faced in their life. It could be a nice little present for himself if he can walk away with the green jacket and the $1.35 million that goes along with it.

Ricky Barnes- Somehow Ricky keeps popping up in these majors. It is hard to explain how. It might be the painter’s hat, but I don’t like it. On top of everything else, the best named company that I know of, Duff & Phelps, chose to sponsor this bum for the year. Even though I love the name I will not be using Duff & Phelps for any investment banking needs until their crest is off the shirt of Barnes.

Miguel Angel Jimenez- I don’t know a ton about the European Tour but I have to think Miguel has a Boom Boom type following. Golfwise his game is looking good. He is up to 25th in the world and could be a force. Off the course is where he has really been making a mark. He has been drawing comparisons to the Dos Equiis “most interesting man in the world” since the commercials starting running. Furthermore, he inspired someone to dress up like him at the Ryder Cup and it caused a great photo and many photoshops.

Ryan Moore- While wearing a tie and cardigan to play could be viewed as a tribute to Bobby Jones, it feels more like he thinks he is cooler than everyone else to me. Evidence of this is also the fact he got an equity piece of Scratch Golf because he didn’t like the corporate golf stuff. Less than a year later he signed with Adams. The guy can play though.

David Toms- For whatever reason I am always shocked when David Toms pops up on a leaderboard. It has happened a few times this year though. Augusta is a course that suits him because he has the smoothest putting stroke out there, but the length hurts him these days. My guess is he is trying to gear up for the PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club this year, a place he knows he can win.

Rory McIlroy- I might be the only person who watches golf saying this, but I am concerned about Rory. Without question he has an incredible swing and hits it incredibly well. Additionally, what he did at Quail Hollow was amazing. His putting is what scares me. He is not a great putter, and statistically not really a good one. I can’t help but look at him and see Sergio. There are also the whispers about his back. I hope I am wrong about this stuff, because Rory seems like a good chap.

Robert Karlsson (The Scientist)- The Scientist has not found his magic elixir for Augusta National, or any other course in America so far. I am sure he has been in the lab, but rumors from Augusta are the elixir has not be located.

Edoardo Molinari- Oddly enough, Edoardo hasn’t played particularly well Europe so far
this year but has played well in America. This could bode well for him here at Augusta. I just hope his brother’s kid doesn’t keep him up all night in the house. Uncle Eddie might not be ready for taking care of infants.

Ross Fisher- Stop me if you have heard this one before. Ross Fisher’s wife is pregnant and is due during The Masters. Phil Mickelson made this type of nonsense famous in 1999, but Ross had the exact same problem during the 2009 British Open. This time he isn’t sure what he would do since his wife is in Europe. Clearly he should keep playing because he is going to miss the birth anyways and it is his second child.

Peter Hanson- Hanson is a sneaky good player which we never hear about in America because he plays almost all the time in Europe and he is 32 so he doesn’t get included in the under 30 lists. However, he was on the victorious European Ryder Cup team last year although he did get beat badly in singles by the biggest loser in U.S. Ryder Cup history, Phil Mickelson (that’s a fact not my opinion).

Charl Schwartzel- It seems Charl lost his title as “Next great South African golfer” when Louis Oosthuizen won the British Open. He is now living in the U.S. and playing on the PGA Tour though so if he can win he can get it back. I am thinking he would fit in better in the U.S. if he switched it up and changed his first name to Karl.

Ryo Ishikawa- The best golf story of the year is going to be Ryo Ishikawa. It is pretty much a done deal. He is going to donate all of his winnings this year to the Japanese relief fund. He is also donating a 100,000 yen for every birdie. I don’t know if someone told Ryo to do this or he dreamed it up on his own but what a great thing to do.

Adam Scott- Adam Scott was in jeopardy of falling behind the Adam Scott from Parks and Rec as most famous Adam Scott in the world, but he seems to have gotten his game back together and is back up to 30th in the world. He has broken out the broomstick putter for the past couple months, which is generally a red flag, but Adam was such a terrible putter that using one of the colored putters from mini golf would have been an improvement.

Francesco Molinari- Francesco’s wife had a baby this year so he took the golfer equivalent of paternity leave and missed about 6 weeks of action. Of the Molinari brothers, Edoardo likely has the best chance here. Francesco is known as the ball striker of the duo and that’s not ideal for Augusta success.

Steve Marino- Steve Marino is the most nervous looking person I have ever seen play golf. His club is never still prior to a shot. It might be the reason he has never won. However, let me be the first person to say Bay Hill was playing unfair on Sunday. As far as I can tell saying anything negative about Arnie or Bay Hill is illegal in golf media, but it was ridiculous. There was no way to stop the ball on a few greens, especially 17, and there was obviously too much sand in the bunkers.

Alvaro Quiros- Alvaro has a lot of potential, but so far he hasn’t put it all together. Even at the tournament he won this year, The Dubai Desert Classic, he had a number of weird things happen. He was right up at the top of the leaderboard when on #8 when his ball got stuck in a tree. He had to take a penalty stroke and hit it again. Fortunately, he made an up and down from about 200 yards to make triple. Following that things looked bleak but he rallied with a hole in one on #13 and took the lead. He was able to hold on for the win after that. It was emblematic of his game. He has the talent but there are too many holes where he can blow up for him to really have a chance this year. Last year #13 ruined his week. A man with self-described bricklayer hands will always have a hard time at Augusta, because he can’t dig himself out of bogey, double or worse. I predict #15 is the hole that gets him this year.

Matt Kuchar- If Bobby Jones were still living these days, he would be working hard to figure out how to get Kuchar a win. He seems like the southern gentlemen The Masters would love. How many times would we see footage from the ’98 Masters when his dad was going bananas if Mr. Kuchar could get into contention? He has been the most consistent American player for the past year so it is very possible.

Paul Casey- Mr. Casey is too streaky of a putter to win. Although he is great from tee to green so he should be solid. What I find most interesting about Casey is this new type of golf he and Monty are sponsoring. The golf is called PowerPlay Golf. Per Wikipedia (as reliable source as there is), “In PowerPlay Golf, players can choose to play to the 'easy' white flag or the more difficult black flag. If they score a birdie or better to the black flag, they earn double Stableford Points. Each golfer is compelled to take exactly three 'PowerPlays' in the first eight holes. They then have the option of a fourth 'PowerPlay' on the final hole. But if they get a net bogey or worse, they lose points from their total score.”
This seems like an odd concept, but I guess we will see. I am not sure why people always want to change golf. It has had a pretty good run

Jhonattan Vegas- Admittedly I am not up to date with all current politics but the most reasonable move of the year by a dictator was caused by Mr. Vegas. For years Chavez had been pushing to seize all the golf courses in Venezuela. That was until Venezuelan Jhonny Vegas won the Bob Hope. After the tournament, Chavez changed his tune and was saying, “I am no enemy of golf” and suggested he and Vegas will start practicing together. Vegas saved golf in Venezuela, who has done more for the game this year?

Contenders

These guys might not be the hottest players in the world, but they have experience and know what to do if they get up there. Also, I could only put 16 people in the top 16.

Luke Donald- Luke has been given a new nickname by his new phychiatrist, The Assasin. This is something I will believe it when I see. Like when he wins a stroke play tournament.

Vijay Singh (The Victorious Lion)- The lion is starting to roar again this season. After he tried to talk himself into good putting the last two seasons, The Lion accepted the fact that he is a lousy putter and went to work on a new style. This year he is using a never before seen grip. He was asked to describe it and said, “Just another grip. I don't know. Just another grip. I don't have any name for it, but if it keeps going in, I don't care what you call it.” I vote we call it “The Lion Claw.” The Lion actually led the field in putting with The Lion Claw in Phoenix. Who knows how it will hold up this week, but it seems better than anything he was doing before.

Zach “Jerk” Johnson- Fittingly for his boring personality the Jerk has had equally boring results this year. He has finished between 20th and 57th every tournament this year.

Angel Cabrera- As is his style, El Pato has not really been taxing himself too much this year having only played five times so far. The past play of Angel is usually not indicative of how he will play in majors or anywhere else but he hasn’t been playing well for about two years. So it might be time for him to contend again.

Rory Sabbitini- After holding off the Yangatang (Y.E. Yang) to win the Honda three weeks ago this guy could be a dark horse. He placed second at Augusta in 2007. He also might be a little more rested than he has in any other tournament this year. He didn’t play last week after playing the first 10 weeks of the season. Apparently he thinks he is the A.C. Green off the PGA Tour, in regards to his games played streak.

Lee Westwood- The women’s tennis #1 player and overall player has been ridiculed for the past two years because whoever has been #1 wasn’t the best player due to Serena’s light schedule. Sadly we had a similar situation in golf for a few weeks this year when Lee Westwood was #1. It is just a quirk of the world rankings, but it seems like to be #1 you ought to have a major trophy on your mantel. Mercifully, the buff wearing superstar from German passed Lee at the Accenture match play tournament so we had a legitimate #1, rather than a Caroline Wozniacki type. Always good, never great.

Padraig Harrington- Padraig is one of my favorite players. I love his grinding style, his swing and especially his squeaky high pitched voice. Thus, I was very concerned when I read an article this winter detailing all the changes he had made to his game. They included his grips, the way he grips it, the takeaway, the swing plane, his chin position, and his whole putting routine. Thankfully he has been okay. He got dq’d in the beginning of the year but was leading after that round, played okay at Pebble starting out, and then got tenth at Doral. So maybe all the 10 handicaps with this kind of nonsense going on in the head every shot aren’t as far off as we think.

Retief Goosen- Not that there is anyone else that fits this category but has there ever been a two time U.S. Open champ and top 20 player discussed less than the Goose? Goose has played well at Augusta over the years. Anyway, I was looking at his website and he has gotten into the wine game. He owns a vineyard in South Africa. They sell three types of wine right now. Their signature brand is called The Goose Expression 2005. Does is have a taste? What expression are they talking about?

Top 16

As always we have the top 16. The top 16 and ties will be invited back to next years tournament. Although I would guess most of these guys will be qualified in other ways.

16) Ian Poulter- Mr. Poulter is quite the character. He seems to be the only guy who consistently will tweak Tiger, predicting this week Tiger wont finish in the top 5. He is quite the fashionista, although he seems to have toned it down a little. He also seems to be the ring leader of the European side these days come Ryder Cup time. So with all this flamboyance it is easy to forget or not know that he doesn’t hit it very far. Last year he was leading after the second round but it is hard to keep it all together when you have about 30 yards longer into each hole than the bombers. He said after the tournament last year that he hit a few bad drives and just wore down. I see that happening again today.

15) Justin Rose- It was only ten months ago that Mr. Rose was the hottest player in the world. Curiously, Mr. Rose began his turnaround when he started working with Sean Foley (Tiger’s new coach). Maybe if Tiger keeps working hard he can work his way to 24th in the world. Rose is playing good though and should be a factor this week.

14) Dustin Johnson- Easily could have won two majors last year, but this is the year he provided us with the most entertaining move of the year. DJ has apparently been dating the same woman for a number of years and lives with her in Myrtle Beach. This year at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Alan Shipnuck, SI golf writer, reported that Mr. Johnson is now dating Natalie Gulbis. For those of you who don’t know Ms. Gulbis is a good looking LPGA player. She also had the good sense to date the charming Ben Roethlisberger. Anyway, apparently this was news to the girlfriend that was living in Dustin’s house in Myrtle Beach. All of this caused Dustin to have to withdraw from the Sony (the next tournament) and smooth things over with his girlfriend. Thankfully for both of them, it seems they are back together. But this incident might explain some of the odd thinking that went into the left handed shot at Pebble and the penalty at Whistling Straits for grounding his club.

13) Gerry “Bubba” Watson- It is hard to believe one year ago Bubba wasn’t even invited to The Masters. Righfully so, Bubba is considered a favorite this weekend. He played great at Torrey Pines and has contended a couple times this year. It seems like once Bubba figured out how to win he started dominating. As long as he doesn’t injure himself with all the dancing he does while he swings the club he will be a factor.

12) K.J. Choi- The tank has taken a cue from the ladies of South Korea and loaded up his bag with hybrids. He is currently two short of my mom, who goes up to the 6 iron hybrid. He has also switched back to his trusty putter with the fat grip. Don’t look now, but he is starting to play good again. He has had some good finishes at Augusta and at Bay Hill he said he put the hybrids in his bag for The Masters. I expect to see the tank with a shot to win on Sunday.

11) Martin Laird- After the Buckeyes lost to the Wildcats I called it a college basketball season for me and watched every minute of Bay Hill. Gary Williams, from Morning Drive, predicted he would win at Bay Hill so I was hoping he would. I am not sure why I wanted Gary to be right but I did. I had not seen too much Martin Laird action prior to Bay Hill and I was very impressed with his game. He hit it long and straight, and made a nice comeback on the back after falling apart on the front. This is only his first Masters, but I expect him to have some success.

10) Nick Watney- Nobody back doors top tens like Watney. Coming into this Watney has had a top ten all but one week he has played this year. He won the Honda, but every other top ten has been from a good last round and moving from about 20th to the top ten. I expect him to win the crystal for the lowest round of the day on Sunday and slide up to another top 10. There is also a decent chance he is home before the winner has his jacket.

9) Fred Couples- It pains me to say it, but there is no way that Fred is going to win again on the PGA Tour. His last chance came at Riviera this year. He started Sunday two back and birdied the first three holes and suddenly had the lead. Then the world’s coolest golfer lost his cool and his lead. It was heartbreaking and expected. He has the game to contend, but not the nerves. It seems like when he gets into contention he starts hitting weak right shots and his putting leaves him. Last year may have been his final run at Augusta, but I sure hope not. I have the Fred decorations up in my house. On a positive note, with Langer out for a few months you have to like Fred’s chance for the Charles Schwab Cup this year.

8) Gary Woodland- Gary might be having the best year of anyone on the PGA tour. He started the year ranked 591 in the world. Gary seems to be the new breed of player we will be seeing for a long time. He is a great athlete and played a year of division 2 basketball before deciding to focus of golf in college. This guy has already been interesting to follow this year, and I look forward to see how he does at Augusta. I don’t think he has the experience to really contend this week but he has proven me wrong numerous times already. If anyone is going to pull a Fuzzy Zoeller this year it will be Gary.

7) Hunter Mahan- There are few things in life that are more certain to end in failure than the marriage of a golf nerd and a Dallas cowboys cheerleader. We may as well start writing the, Mahan is struggling because he is getting divorced, followed by the Mahan has found a new girl and is making a comeback to be published in 10 years. That said, currently the marriage seems to be working out pretty well for Mr. Mahan and he is playing pretty well. It seems like almost every week we see his goofball shades, flat brim Ping cap and the shaggy blonde hair and big bushy chin hair (what is the name for that?).

6) Steve Stricker- The Badgers have caused me plenty of disappointment this year, so I say this reluctantly but I expect Steve to play good this week. His putting starts to look like Sergio if he has the lead on Sunday, but all other times he is really good. He also played good last week and has been solid this year. On a related note, having Andy North sitting right behind the Badgers on senior night at the Schott was great. That game probably reminded him of his battles against another Buckeye, who happens to have 18 majors.

5) Tiger Woods- Who knows? If you are reading this I am sure you have heard plenty of discussion about Tiger. Tiger was amazing for 13 years. Then he got caught having numerous affairs, publicly embarrassed and that caused him to become a good but no longer great golfer. Somehow along the way Tiger decided he needed to change his swing again for good measure. It makes no sense to me why Tiger isn’t as good as he used to be. There really is no evidence from this season that he will be close to a top 10. But then there is last year’s tournament. It was Tiger’s first tournament back from self-imposed exile. He was hitting pop-ups all over the place and he still finished in 4th place. Maybe he is just good at Augusta National. I am as confused as anyone. This is the first time since 1997 Tiger isn’t the betting favorite prior to a major. I expect Tiger to play good. Maybe I have seen him play good too many times to believe he never will be again.

4) Anthony Kim- Ak is the biggest wildcard in the tournament. Last year, he and The Big Easy were the two hottest players in the world. He got third last year and I was expecting a huge year. His thumb got hurt and he has not been the same since his return. The question of his maturity seems to be up for debate between golf writers all the time, but I am not sure that really matters. Whatever he was doing from college up until now has been fine, and the guy at #5 on the list won a lot while acting immaturely. Last week he played a little better and it is beginning to look like he might be rounding into form just in time. While Phil and Tiger are currently the undisputed kings of Augusta, AK has had some success. Don’t forget he made 11 birdies in a round once at Augusta.

3) Graeme McDowell- The coolest man in golf? Very possibly, but probably not. Has anyone ever gone from relative unknown to legitimate star fast than Graeme? He won the U.S. Open while wearing a cardigan, scored the winning Ryder Cup point and beat Tiger in his own tournament in a six month run. Now word comes that he is skipping the par 3 event so he can watch his team in the Champions league against their rival. While I don’t know much about the Champions League, I wouldn’t be dealing with the Par 3 tournament if the Buckeyes were playing their rival.

2) Marty Kaymer- It is not every day you get a chance to make a fashion statement and do it as a matter of function, but Kaymer did just that in introducing the golf world to the buff. The buff is actually made for fishermen to fight the sun, but Marty was clearly using it for warmth. I am really hoping this catches on for golfers this year. Regarding his golf, I am a little worried about Marty’s desire to hit a big hook at Augusta when he plays a cut everywhere else. He hasn’t had much success here the past three years, but it seems to me that is not a ball flight issue. I have faith in him though. He is clever and is as solid of a putter that we have seen in a long time. Plus you know you will be rockin’ those khakis so at least he will look good.

1) Phil Mickelson- I thought long and hard about this one folks. I considered making a Mark May type pick and picking some random guy to stir up an argument, but I decided to pick the guy I think will win. There is no way for me not to think Phil will be in contention down the stretch. After last years Masters I remember thinking, “Phil might win the next five Masters.” I heard him say in a press conference that he swings his absolute hardest at Augusta and has been training for it. He has brought back his goofy two driver system that led him to a victory in 2006. He has bones, a goofy grin and Amy with him to help him out. He is the defending champion and the course suits his game incredibly well. If you had one pick would you pick someone else? If you had money on it? My biggest concern about this pick is he is the favorite. Phil has made a lifetime of being at his worst when expectations are high. He just passed Tiger in the world rankings last week and if he wins he will be #1. Will Phil freak out about this on the back nine? Alright maybe I am not as confident as I thought. If this doesn’t pay off I will have to use Phil’s famous line from the U.S. Open last year, “Took a gamble their Bones, didn’t pay off.”