Masters Preview 2016

Masters 2016

Maybe…Yes Sir! The Masters is upon us. 

Before we get any further I must inform you the entire broadcast of the 1986 Masters is available for one week only on masters.com.  It is a fascinating watch to see just how unexpected the Golden Bear’s victory was.  If you haven’t seen it, I strongly encourage you to stop reading this and watch it.  Among other incredible things it contains the great Ben Wright call after Jack’s eagle on 15, “There’s life in the old bear yet!”

Up here in the north, only the heartiest of men and women will be out on the golf course with snow forecast this weekend.  Thankfully, our good friends in Augusta are hosting the finest sporting event of the year this weekend so we can just enjoy the action on whatever platform you choose to watch it from. 

The birds are chirping, the flowers are blooming, and Nantz has found a new tie.  The champions have filled up on Texas BBQ, and chocolate chip cookies and ice cream.  Jack and Gary are ready to hit that tee ball tomorrow morning to get us started.  By the end of the weekend someone is going to be wearing a green jacket and we are fortunate enough to get to see it unfold.

The Amateurs

In an event started by the greatest amateur of all time, the amateurs will always have a spot amongst the competitors.  Some of them have higher hopes than others but there are six amateurs this year , US Amateur Champion and runner-up, the British Amateur champion, the Asia-Pacific Amateur champion, the Latin America amateur champion,  and the Mid-Amateur champion. 

Romain Langasque- British Amateur Champion- The French are known for a number of great things, most especially the croissant.  Great golfers are not one of them.  In my history as a golf fan there have only been two Frenchmen I can remember, Victor and Jean.  Only time will tell if Romain will be the next great, but he will be in Augusta thanks to his victory at the British Amateur championship last year.  Last year at the British Open there were amateurs everywhere with Paul Dunne leading and Ollie Schneiderjans storming up the leaderboard on Sunday. Mostly unnoticed because no one had ever heard of him Romain also made the cut. 

Cheng Jin- Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship & Paul Chaplet- Latin America champion- I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we are probably one or two years from the a player in the Masters being born in the 2000s.  Cheng was born in 1998 and just turned 18.  Paul is 16 and was born in 1999.  Both qualified by winning these regional amateur tournaments that Augusta National had a big hand in starting in an effort to “grow the game” in these regions. 

Derek Bard- US Amateur Runner Up- Derek was the final victim of Bryson DeChambeau’s coronation as the best amateur golfer in America last summer.  Derek continues to attend and play for Virginia where he is having a pretty good junior season.  There was one potentially great player in the US Amateur final last year and it wasn’t Derek.

Sammy Schmitz- US Mid-Amateur Champion- As I say every year, the mid-amateur champion is often the worst player in the field, and is most likely the only person playing who won’t be a pro golfer.  Nobody had a better way to qualify for this year’s Masters though.  At the mid am last summer at St. John’s Island Sammy was leading the final by 2 holes with four to play.  The 15^th hole is a 290 yard par 4.  Sammy pulled out his driver and aced it to move to three up with three to play.  I am sure his opponent was in shock and Sammy won the tournament and his place in the field on the next hole. 

To diminish his hopes even more, Sammy is from Minnesota, has a job and a family.  In order to get some practice and soak up the perks of getting into the Masters by playing Augusta National, Sammy raised $25K on go fund me to pay for trips.  I am sure this helped, but he is competing against people who have spent years and all of the last few months doing nothing but playing competitive golf.

Bryson DeChambeau- US Amateur Champion- At this point he is an amateur in name only since he has already announced he is turning pro next week.  But he is the most interesting man in golf at this point.  He brings the mind of a scientist to the game of golf, which in a field lacking Robert Karllson is desperately needed.  The biggest and main reason for his intrigue is the length of his clubs.  All of his irons are the same length because he then only has to make one swing.  I read an interview Jim Nantz did, and in it he mentioned if Bryson were to win it would revolutionize the game since everyone would at least try this concept. 

Due to some SMU related NCAA violations (surprisingly, not Larry Brown related), Bryson is unable to defend his NCAA championship this spring and as a result he dropped out of college and has played a number of events this fall/winter with a fair amount of success.  He has also been borrowing DVDs of past Masters from Nantz to study the greens.  I can’t wait to see this guy, and expect to see him play well.

Past Champions (who are no longer good)

The greatest perk of winning The Masters is you get a green jacket.  But one of the other great perks is you get to play the rest of your life, no matter how old or bad you get.  Until they gently suggest it is time.

Sandy Lyle- The 1988 champion has had some success the past few years which is always a surprise.  However, this year he has made a fellow middle aged golfer’s dream come true.  Sandy has accepted the offer of Esteban Toledo to caddie for him this year.  Esteban is a long time middling player and realized last year that he was likely not going to qualify for the Masters as a player.  He asked Gentle Ben Crenshaw if he could caddie for him last year, but because he it was his last Masters Ben stuck with his man Carl Jackson and they trained Jordan Spieth and Michael Greller about how to navigate Augusta.  This year, Esteban asked Sandy and after some thought he allowed him the honor to work for free and donate $10,000 to a charity of Sandy’s choice. 

Larry Mize- Larry lists his interests outside of golf as fishing, all sports and piano.  Does this mean he doesn’t consider fishing a sport or he enjoys doing the fishing but watching sports on TV?  Anyway, he is currently 82^nd on the Senior Tour money list so his chances of success are very low.

Mark O’Meara- Mark is living the quiet life these days just being on the senior tour.  However, his son is making waves in the clothing world with his brand, Duvin, which to quote their website, “was started by four lifetime friends in the name of dudeness.”  I can’t say I am a likely customer, but if you are a surfer check it out.

Ian Woosnam- Woozy was lamenting his exclusion from the world golf hall of fame recently and said, “It is disappointing. Maybe I’m not in the limelight as much as other people who keep themselves in the limelight but that’s because I’m a quiet person. I don’t want to be in the limelight. Maybe that’s why I have been forgotten a little bit. But listen, if I don’t get in there it won’t be the end of the world.”  The good news for Woozy is if he wanted to remain under the radar he chose a great year to celebrate his 25^th anniversary of winning the smallest green jacket, because this year we are celebrating the ’86 Masters instead of the ’91 Masters.  If he is lucky they might do a throwback cut in for a minute early in the broadcast Friday to talk ’91 Masters. 

Angel Cabrera- Angel has always been a bit of a wild card, a guy with tremendous talent and stretches of what seems to be disinterested play and then short periods where you wonder why this guy isn’t one of the all-time great players.  In the first two majors of the year we return to the sites of his two greatest triumphs.  By father’s day he could be halfway to the grand slam, but I doubt it.  His best finish this year is a 42^nd in Palm Springs. 

Fred- Get Better Fred!!  See you in August at the Senior Open! (Fred is hurt and won’t be playing)

Bernhard Langer- As will be discussed again; the ban on anchoring the putter to your body went into effect when the calendar turned to 2016.  Bernhard was probably the most vocal critic of the new rule (Webb is right up there too) and so far has had the most controversy related to it.  While many of the guys who were anchoring changed putters, Bernhard is still using almost the exact same stroke with the long putter but right before he putts he moves it an inch off of his chest.  It is often hard to tell that it isn’t anchored and his competitors on the senior tour have made him aware of that. 

Tom Watson- The man who I have ranked at the 7^th best player of all time (rankings only go back to Hagen/Jones) is making his final appearance at Augusta National this week.  He would be the obvious next in line to become an honorary starter. 

I read a great book last summer by Joe Posnanski, called The Secret of Golf.  It is about Nicklaus and Watson.  One thing that really stood out to me about Watson is he has a certain set of principles and sticks by them at all times, which is likely why he has ruffled some feathers along the way.  One of them which I found odd was the belief that dishwashers are ruining society because they are a way to cheat hard work.  Thus, Tom has never used a dish washing machine.  He does eat at restaurants that use them so he isn’t totally against dishes cleaned by them.

My All Time Top Ten Ranking

1     1- Jack

2       2- Tiger

3       3- Hogan

4       4- Jones

5       5- Hagen

6       6- Player

7       7- Watson

8       8- Snead

9       9- Nelson

1        10- Palmer

The Worst Champions Ever?

These two really aren’t old, they just aren’t good

Trevor Immelman- At last year’s Masters Trevor’s chances that week and his game in general were looking very bad.  Since then he has slipped from 560^th in the world to 1,558^th.  This slip is mostly due to missing 12 of 17 cuts, a DQ and four cuts made with the best finish being a tie for 32^nd in the Barbasol Championship. 

My Queer- Mike Weir- It is not a good sign for your game when you decide the best course of action to take some time off.  I have never heard of some saying they are playing too well so they are taking some time off.  So you can imagine the state of The Queer’s game when he announced last July he was going to be taking time off.  He has since returned to professional golf, but the results remain the same.  Missed Cuts.

Won’t survive the cut

The Aging Europeans 

These three have been a thorn in the side of American’s for years so I won’t be sad to see Darren Clarke leave any of them at home (in Florida) during this year’s Ryder Cup

Ian “Poultry” Poulter- If you have decided to pick a fight with a pro golfer I suggest you go elsewhere.  At the Valspar Championship Ian was heckled by an adult, who then bragged about yelling at Ian and being drunk during the event on twitter.  Since Ian is leading the tour in twitter, he was quick to notice, find his employer, and report this to his employer.  His employer was not thrilled with their employee and fired the guy.  As he has proven many times before at the Ryder Cup, Ian is deadly in a one on one situation.

Graeme McDowell- As we have followed the last few years, Graeme is now in the restaurant business.  His first one is going so well he is expanding, with a new restaurant featuring G Mac & Cheese.  He has also played some golf and played better than last year, but still not good.  However, he seems to be this year’s guy who has a “new game plan.”  Every year there is some guy, usually who stinks at Augusta, who comes in with a new plan.  This year that guy is Graeme.  Almost always the new plan doesn’t work.  Last year it was Lee Westwood.

Lee Westwood- Lee has played 4 times this year and has missed three cuts and the fourth was the match play where he didn’t advance past pod life.  His streak of nine cuts made in a row will come to an end on Friday.

The Ryder Cup Captains

The fact that these two are in the field is a bit of a surprise and I am pretty sure neither has very high expectation.  Regarding the Ryder Cup weather, they are really playing with fire playing in Minnesota in the beginning of October. 

Darren Clarke- Darren is spending his time fishing and planning for the Ryder Cup.  He seems to be living the life fishing for either Permit or Bonefish down in the Bahamas or missing the cuts in golf tournaments.   He is still playing based on his victory at the British Open in 2011.  Barring a total miracle this will be his final time at The Masters as a player.

Davis Love III- In what was one of the most surprising finishes of 2015, Love won the Wyndham championship in Greensboro for a very unexpected win and spot in the Masters.  Since he got into a bunch of tournaments he is playing in more PGA events than he expected, while still making time for hunting and fishing.   Don’t worry America, he still has made plenty of time for picking out the golf shirts the players will wear at Hazeltine.    

The long putter casualties

These guys were using anchored putters and this new rule has really hurt them so far

Webb Simpson- Starting last season Webb switched to the short putter in order to be ready for the rule change this year.  So far it has not been a great success.  At the start of 2015 he was 43^rd in the world and he is currently 80^th.  After the first year of the short putter he wasn’t worried.  Year 2 started off better, but has gone downhill since February.

According to his twitter account he has recently moved into the 5^th Galaxy with his Samsung Galaxy.  I have recently moved away from the 5^th Galaxy and I am not sure how it will affect my golf game, but I was pleased with it in the 5^th Galaxy.  Although I will concede it is possible your golf game and your phone are not related. 

Keegan Bradley- It is somewhat fitting that the guy who won the 2011 PGA with an anchored putter to really get the discussion of a ban underway is now having the most trouble converting to the new rule.  This week Keegan dropped out of the top 100 in the world for the first time since he won that PGA.

The rest of the trunk slammers

For a myriad of reasons these guys just aren’t playing very well

Martin Kaymer- It was about 21 months ago that Martin won the US Open by 9 shots.  Since then he has played so little and poorly he lost his tour card because he didn’t play in enough events.  While this isn’t a huge problem since he can get into plenty of tournaments he also hasn’t played very well.  For a guy who has almost always struggled at Augusta no matter his form coming in this doesn’t bode well.

Steven Bowditch- The inability to break 80 is a major problem in pro golf and it is one Mr. Bowditch is having with troubling regularity this year, at one point posting 5 straight rounds in the 80s.  He did break 80 both rounds last week while still being nowhere near the cut.  Since he last broke par on tour he has shot in the 80s six times. Thankfully, if this doesn’t get turned around he won’t be lingering like Weir and Immelman he will just be out of our lives trying to turn it around somewhere outside of Augusta.

Troy Merritt- Like most 30 year old men, Troy has read each of the 7 Harry Potter books at least 12 times.  Hopefully he learned some of the magic involved in those books because to be slipping into a green jacket he is going to need every trick in the book to make up for his lack of distance.  (Note: While I have some interest in reading these books, I have not done so.  If magic isn’t involved my apologies to Potter fans)

Vaughn Taylor- The Augusta native makes a long waited and welcome return to Augusta this week.  Vaughn played in the Masters in 2007 and 2008 before a long (almost) decade in the wilderness.  After a shocking win, both because he won and Phil couldn’t get up in down from the front of the green, at Pebble Beach he returns.  However, I wouldn’t spend too much betting on this guy.  His finishes so far this year are MC, MC, WD, 1^st, MC, MC, MC, MC.  So if he makes the cut watch out.

Fabian Gomez- In contrast to some of these youngsters, Mr. Gomez has taken a longer time to make it to the Masters at the solid middle age of 37 years old.  He is also in the midst of just his 4^th year on tour with many of the previous years spent on the Argentine tour.  He seems to have found his stride on tour with a win last year in Memphis and another this year in Hawaii at the Sony Open.  However, he seems to have a difficult time in events where the other guys ranked in the top 50 are playing.  Given his penchant for slow starting and the fact that these other top 50 guys are all playing this week, I don’t have high hopes for him this week.

Hunter Mahan- The man who was once a lock for top 10s and making a ton of money is in a major slump, dropping out of the top 100 in the world this week.  His caddie left him for the ping pong talent of Matt Kuchar, he sold his house in Dallas to Jordan Spieth and somewhere along the way his game departed him too.

A not interesting fact- His dad has the same name as one of my dogs. 

Victor Dubuisson- So far Victor has only been able to win in Turkey, where he has now won the Turkish Airlines Open twice, most recently at the end of 2015.  However, for some reason this year he has only played 4 times.  In those 4 times he has not played well either, with two missed cuts and two low finishes in the world golf championships. 

Anirban Lahiri- The pride of the Indian subcontinent, Anirban shot up the world rankings last year with victories all over Asia and India.  Due to his high standing in the world rankings he has been able to play many times in America.  So far things have not gone very well at all.  Unless there is a very last minute change to move The Masters out of the country, Anirban is in trouble.  

Billy Horschel- I was once talking to someone about a hockey goalie (Steven Mason for the CBJ fans) and I asked him what he thought was wrong with him his response was, “I’ve heard of a guy having a 3 month hot streak, I’ve never heard of a guy having a 2 year cold streak.”  I feel like the back to back wins en route to the Fed Ex Cup was a hot streak and his poor play since and before then is more like reality.  Given his lack of success in the past at Augusta and his lack of success in the past year I don’t see the hot streak starting again this week.

Soren Kjeldsen- Soren came out of nowhere to win on one of the greatest golf courses in the world last year when he won the Irish Open at Royal County Down.  Can he do it again this week?  Based on his recent play it is very unlikely. 

Ernie Els- The most news Ernie has made in the past year is the result of missing ridiculously short putts due to a yippy stroke.  He says the problem has resolved by going cross handed.  I hope he is right because nothing is uglier than yipping a one foot putt.  Speaking from my own experience though, that is something that stays with you.  With greens this fast I will have to see it to believe he is fixed.

Playing the Weekend

The top 50 and ties and anyone within 10 shots of the lead will make it to the weekend this year.  Since there are only 89 players in the field a pretty decent amount of the guys who start on Thursday will be around on Sunday.

Jim Herman- Go Hermie Go- The 90^th member of the field (until the devastating withdraw of Fred so we are down to 89) had an incredible win last weekend.  Like most of America, I spent last Sunday watching the golf tournament from 1-6 with a brief interlude at 3 because the hockey game on NBC wasn’t over so I caught up on the Blackhawks for 5 minutes.  I was cheering for local favorite, Kyle Reifers, but as soon as it became clear he wasn’t going to win it was all I could do to avoid spraining my ankle jumping on the @gohermie bandwagon.  So far this season there have been two back to back champions so maybe he can become the third?

Zach “Jerk” Johnson- Last year’s final round of the British Open was probably the most exciting day of golf of the year.  As you may recall, the day started off with a trio of leaders, Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen and amateur Paul Dunne.  You had Jordan one stroke behind going for the third leg of the grand slam, and Day tied with him.  The action went back and forth with different people taking the lead.  Out of nowhere though, Jerk Johnson sneaked to the top of the leader board and took the lead with a great putt on 18 and an even better bird dance reaction from his caddie Damon Green.  While this was concerning, all the other players who people wanted to win still had holes left and would hopefully pass him.  Sadly, this was not the case and what was likely the best day of the year of golf was marred with this character as the champion.   

Charl Schwartzel- Charl has won three of the last eight tournaments he played.  However, it seems every year since his break through win in 2011 he has been playing well coming into The Masters and that hasn’t yielded great results with his highest finish being a tie for 25^th since then.  That said, I like his chances of winning a second green jacket over his chances of doing something interesting.

Vijay Singh- The lion is still battling out his lawsuit with the PGA Tour and also still battling it out on the PGA Tour rather than teeing it up on the Senior/Champions tour like most 53 year olds who are great at golf do.  He is having some success on both counts, but his putting remains iffy at best and for that reason I don’t love his chances to slip into his second green jacket on Sunday.

Justin Rose- Mr. Rose seems to be the popular pick amongst gamblers due to his good finish last year and his comparably high odds.  However, by his own admission his short game is a mess.  His long game is so good he might be able to largely mitigate the problem, but somewhere along the way he will need an up and down.

Jason Dufner- In the past few years nobody has had a bigger appearance change than Jason.  However, his game hasn’t changed too much which is both good and bad.  He should have plenty of chances at birdies thanks to his excellent ball striking, but his putting remains shaky as ever. 

Paul Casey- His Tuesday consisted of an ace on 12 and watching the 86 Masters documentary.  His Thursday will consist of 18 with the defending champion and US Amateur champion.  That is a solid week.

Ryan Moore- Ryan appears to be wearing normal clothing this year and it is paying off with some good finished.  With Bryson DeChambeau taking the crown of “man with the most eccentric clubs” from him maybe he will focus just on his golf.

Kevin Na- As a rule of thumb, it is not great news for a golfer’s chances at The Masters if three months ago there was an article about you called, “Inside the Complicated Mind of Kevin Na: A Case Study in the Frailty of a Golfer’s psyche”  As you can likely guess by the title there was an article about Kevin this year about all of the mental trouble he has had swinging, finishing etc.  If you don’t remember all this nonsense consider yourself lucky.  The premise of the article is he has been cured of his troubles, but I am going to have to see him under the gun to believe it.  I tend to like my Masters picks in a green jacket not a strait jacket.

Kevin Streelman-The man of streel and I have a lot of parallels going on with each other this year.  First, we were both cheering for Villanova Monday night.  Second, his wife Courtney was pregnant and it was looking like he was going to miss the Masters.  I have a similar situation going on at my house and have already bypassed an invitation to play in a major to ensure I am available for the baby to be born.  Fortunately for Streel, his baby came early and healthy and he is ready to go.  Due to the condensed northern schedule if that happens to me I will miss both majors I am scheduled for in June.

Branden Grace- Branden is convinced most fans couldn’t pick him out of a line up and he isn’t wrong.  However, he was one bad swing from winning the US Open and had a good finish at the PGA.  He seems to be primed for a big win.  However, he hasn’t fared well at The Masters the last two years.  I like he chances at Oakmont or Baltusrol though. 

Marc Leishman- It is a very happy return to Augusta for Marc.  Last year he withdrew from The Masters because his wife was sick with a life threatening illness.  Thankfully she recovered and was in good health by the time the big Aussie played in the British Open playoff.  Big Marc has all the shots one needs and plenty of length to get it done this week.

Chris Kirk-  The man born in Knoxville but reared in Woodstock, Georgia has been right on the bubble of the top 50 in the world the last 6 months after climbing up to 17^th last May.  He played well at the match play until falling to Rory in quarters. 

Harris English- While his back is still acting up and he can’t show off his prodigious talent this week, the word of one Frederick Steven Couples is still gospel around here.  I was watching an interview with Fred and he was asked who he thought was the best looking guy on tour and he named Harris English.  Who is going to argue with Fred about looks?  I put a picture so you can judge for yourself.

Danny Lee- After his win last year at the Greenbrier, Danny had this to say, "It was just amazing. It's phenomenal. It's my fourth time playing here, and I liked it every single year. Only one wish I had was if I had a girlfriend, it wouldn't be as lonely in the room."  This became a mission for a few of the tour players, especially Pat Perez.  At one point since then he had a lady in his life but my internet research could not determine the status of their relationship.  However, in golf he may have bigger relationship problems.  He is breaking in a new caddie this week after a split with his old one.  He should have hired a local guy this week.

Shane Lowry- Shane celebrated his birthday on Saturday with a round at Augusta with some of his best buddies.  Unfortunately, the reason he was playing there Saturday was because he missed the cut in Houston. 

J.B. Holmes- If it weren’t for bad injury luck JB would have no luck at all.  Fortunately, his current injury is much less severe than the brain surgery he had.  However, he withdrew last week from the Shell Houston open with a shoulder injury.  It sounds like he is going to give it a go but I don’t think this helps him.

Kevin Kisner- The Kis was on fire for about 6 months last year and was knocking on the door for a win most of the summer.  He finally got a win in the state of Georgia at the finest sponsored tournament on tour the RSM Classic.  However, after the tour took a trip to Hawaii, he returned home but his hot streak didn’t come with him.  Having grown up twenty miles from Augusta in Aiken, South Carolina he may have an advantage, but I would have felt a lot better about him in January.

Brooks Koepka- With Tiger out, Brooks may be the only guy in the field with his own logo.

He is a popular pick this week due to prodigious length and all around game.  However, I had this guy on my fantasy team last year and spent all summer cheering for him.  I was let down frequently.

Matt Kuchar- After a 5 year reign in the top 10 of the world the Kuch has dropped slightly in the last year and a half.  Is he simply in a slump or on a decline?  I am hoping we will see those pearly whites late on Sunday, but things are not looking as good as they did in prior years.

Scott Piercy- In his last three starts he has finished 17th, 18^th, and 19^th so he will almost certainly finish 20^th this week.

Robert Streb- Robert almost provided one of the great highlights on tour last season.  At the Greenbrier he broke his putter after gently tossing it back to his caddie.  One interesting note about clubs that get broken without video evidence, it is always due to a gentle toss and it is a fluke they break.  Since he was not able to replace it he had to putt with his sand wedge the entire back nine.  It seemed like all hope was lost but then a funny thing happened.  He was awesome with the sand wedge and wound up in a playoff.  He was then able to replace the broken putter and ultimately lost in the playoff because he didn’t stick with the one who brought him.  He also hit it over the green and chipped numerous times in the playoff.

Jimmy Walker- Jimmy is a Baylor Bear so it seems to be an appropriate time to discuss the best show on HGTV, Fixer Upper.  The show is set in the thriving metropolis of Waco, Texas which has to have the cheapest real estate of cities featured on TV.  It stars Jo and Chip Gaines who are a contracting/interior decorator team.  The basic premise of the show is they buy a house for very cheap (often under $50K or less) then put 100-150K into the house and make an incredible looking home for the people.  One thing I always find interesting is Chip just assumes they want to spend their entire budget.  Generally the houses appear to be teardowns and by the end they look great.  We are big fans.

Jimmy became the first man to ever break 20 in the par 3 contest today.  Thus he is doomed this week.  

Sergio- Probably my biggest regret in the history of writing this preview, even bigger than ever starting to do it in the first place, is the fact that I once picked The Canary to win it all.  Every time I see him on TV I am reminded of this great blunder, but my thinking at the time was his new found success with the claw grip.  Not only have I given up on Sergio but it seems he would be as surprised as anyone to win this week.  As it is becoming more and more clear Sergio is not going to win a major I can’t help but think what if that putt at Carnoustie in 2007 had gone in?  Man it was close. 

Off the top of my head, some of the great what ifs of golf-

1)       Sergio making that putt against Paddy- Does Sergio start to win and contend in major championships regularly?  He was 27 at the time.  He has finished 2^nd in two majors since then and both involved colossal collapses by him. 

2)       Ogilvy not chipping in on 17 at Winged Foot- What if he doesn’t make that chip on 17 and Phil has a two shot lead as he tees off on 18.  He just has to bogey to win the second leg of the grand slam and his third straight major.  Could he have done the Phil slam?

3)       Watson doesn’t chip in on 17 at Pebble- Obviously we wouldn’t have possibly the most famous shot in golf, but Jack would have won his 5^th US Open.  Does the ’86 Masters come as such a surprise?

4)       Larry Mize chip- You could make a what ifs of miracle shots involving Norman twice this long, but does this change everything for him?

5)       Yang-A-Tang doesn’t chip in at Hazeltine to beat Tiger- Does the implosion to Tiger still happen?  Probably because it was too big of a house of cards to never come out, but maybe his game doesn’t fall apart as quickly.  Maybe the scandal comes out later and Tiger wins a few majors in 2010 to put him right up there at 17 majors right now.

Thongchai Jaidee- Thirty years ago a 46 year old man became the oldest Masters champion of all time.  If this 46 year old does the same I can guarantee it will be met with less fan fare. 

Danny Willett- Danny wasn’t expecting to be able to play this week because his wife was due with a baby this week.  Fortunately for Danny this child decided to arrive about two weeks earlier than expected and he is able to play.  Danny is a rising star of European golf but with this baby at home, I am concerned about how much practice he will have had in the last few weeks.  For you Americans, just wait for this guy to dominate is at the Ryder Cup.

Byeong-hun An (Ben An)- Mr. An is making his second appearance at The Masters, and first since the 2010 version when he was the reigning US Amateur.  This is based only on my own speculation, but I bet about 15% of the guys who play as an amateur end up making it back as a pro.  At the end of the 1986 Masters broadcast a gentleman named Sam Randolph was in the Butler Cabin with Jack, Brent Musburger and the Augusta National guy.  He was the low amateur for the second year in a row.    

Cameron Smith- This guy allegedly got 4^th at the US Open last year with an eagle on the final hole.  I watched the entire US Open last year and have no recollection of this guy ever being on my tv screen at any point during that round.  Since this alleged 4^th place finish Cameron has been playing well and got 11^th at Pebble Beach.  If you see a guy who appears to be 15, it is either this guy or the amateur who is 16.

Matthew Fitzpatrick- Matthew is making his second appearance at Augusta in three years and the man is 20 years old.  Like An, he won the US Amateur to qualify.  He won his US amateur in 2013, prior to his freshman year at Northwestern.  Following in the footsteps of most Kentucky basketball players, he only lasted until Christmas break as a wildcat when he decided that his future was in golf and Evanston wasn’t the place to pursue it.   So far that is looking like a wise decision.  He won his first tournament on the European tour last October in the slightly less prestigious British Masters.

Daniel Berger- The last time we saw Mr. Berger he was trying to hit a ball that was near a rock wall in Austin Country Club.  He was playing Phil in the match play tournament and had driven his ball near a rock wall, but he thought he would be able to hit it.  He took many practice swings to make sure he had enough room.  Then he tried to hit the ball for real and as we all know happens, the swing changed and he in fact didn’t have enough room.  He hit the wall but not the ball leading to a loss of the hole, the match and an injured wrist.

Emiliano Grillo- The “class of 2011” is quickly becoming the 1983 QB draft class of golf.  The guys in that class and also in The Masters are, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, and Grillo.  Within a month last fall Grillo won the Web.com tour championship and then turned right around and won his first tournament up in wine country at the Frys.com. 

Smylie Kaufman- This young man should be thanking his parents for such a great name.  Smylie who has a brother named Luckie, won the second tournament of the year with a scorching 61 in the final round in Las Vegas.  Since then he has been playing well. 

David Lingmerth- David is best known for his victory at the Memorial last year in a heated final round battle with fellow European Union member Justin Rose.  Unfortunately for David, he has no chance to win this tournament or any other major championship due to something he had no control over.  In the year of his birth, 1987, David’s uncle Goran served as the kicker for the Cleveland Browns getting just enough Browns stink on himself and the rest of the family to curse them to a lifetime of heartbreak.

Russell Knox- When J.B. Holmes withdrew from the HSBC World Golf Championship last year, Russell took his place.  After having his wife fill out the paperwork necessary to get a work visa in China at the last minute, and playing one quick practice round, Russell notched his first and so far only victory. 

Kiradech Aphibarnrat- In the world of golf it has been at least 15 years since being compared to John Daly was a compliment, but Kiradech enjoys the nickname Asia’s John Daly.  With a swing similar to long John’s swing and the physique, in John’s heavier days, to match the comparison is reasonable even if no one really would want it.  The only drawback is so far he seems to actually be trying and enjoying golf when he plays.

Jamie Donaldson- When I was a youngster my dad passed on the great wisdom that the best tool box is the yellow pages.  This is advice that I pass on to all of these golfers competing for almost $2M this week and one that Jamie learned the hard way.  This winter Jamie was doing some work involving a chainsaw and almost ended his golf career or at least severely changed it.  As you can see, his pinkie was almost a goner.  Surprisingly, this injury ended up healing rather quickly and his game does not seem to have suffered. 

Andy Sullivan- There were not many guys in the world hotter than Andy last year who won three times on the European Tour (only once in Europe though) to move into the top 50 in the world.  Outside of his strong golf game, he takes great pride in being funny.  From what I can tell he finds himself much funnier than anyone else thinks he is.  Based on a few interviews I have seen he would be a good fit on the English version of The Office.

Bernd Wiesberger- The cheeseburger got all of the names of the holes stamped on one of his wedges to put him more in the mood this week.  I have mixed feelings about this, it is cool but it also seems like something a high school girl’s team would do, but maybe it will help him. 

Chris Wood- Every year one of the players has a snafu with his clubs getting lost by the airlines.   This year it was Chris.  The fine folks at whatever airline he was using suggested he rent a set and they will reimburse the cost.  Of course Chris did not think this was a reasonable option.  I am unsure about the club rental policy at Augusta National, but the airline is who should really be thanking their lucky stars because there isn’t a worse deal than the price of renting a set of clubs.  A rental for a week would cost thousands of dollars.  I would also be surprised if anyone in this field could compete with 5 year old Taylor Mades with regular shafts.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello- This Spaniard might be the 8^th hottest player in the world and has moved up the world rankings more this year than anyone in the top 50. 

Top Sixteen

The fine folks at Augusta adjusted the rules and now only the top 12 and ties automatically get invited to next year’s Masters.  Since there will probably be a few guys tied I decided to rank 16 guys.

16) Rory McIlroy- If this were a one day tournament I would have Rory as the overwhelming favorite.  Since this is a four day event I am more leery of Rory.  For some reason every week he has a score in the mid 70s and needs to shoot a ridiculously low number to get back into it.  He is very capable of doing so, but it puts a lot of pressure of him.  Part of the reason for the big score swings is his putting, both cross handed and conventional, is streaky.  He is also tends to struggle some on firm courses where the ball rolls out.  All these things combined make me think Rory will need to shoot something crazy low on Sunday to finish the career grand slam. 

I have an additional prediction related to Rory: He will be the first person to shoot under 63 at a major championship. 

Finally, Rory’s custom Nike golf balls have a camouflage swoosh on them.  While it won’t make any difference it seems like adding camouflage to a golf ball is the opposite of what you want to do.

15) Dustin Johnson- Instead of the year of the golden child Spieth, we could almost as easily be coming off the year of redemption for the man from Myrtle Beach.  Following a return from suspension, a three putt on the 18^th at Chambers Bay cost him a chance at the US Open, but it was the collapse at St. Andrews that gives me more pause.  Prior to the Jerk winning, it looked like it was going to be a DJ runaway.  He had a lead after 36 holes, could drive half the greens and 20 under par or more was expected.  Then the weekend started and it was all over for DJ.  He was everywhere on the course and his body language was somewhere between “why am I here” and “when will this be over?”  Are we going to look back and say, boy all those close calls built up to a big win or man I can’t believe a guy as good as him never won a major?

14) Bill Haas- One of the big takeaways I had watching the full 1986 Masters broadcast was before the Nicklaus charge even began, Jay Haas was charging up the leader board.  The TV coverage couldn’t get enough of Jay during the first hour.  If Bill is to win this week, I think he will do it by coming from behind and posting a number.  As a fan of Bill, I get nervous when he is in contention because he looks so uncomfortable.  At the Valspar it looked like he was going to win most of the day but by the last couple holes I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to take a swing at the ball.  He has played well in the past at Augusta and I think he will again this week, but I can’t imagine him holding it together coming down the stretch of a heated battle.

13) Brandt Snedeker- There are some things you can set your watch to in golf like spring time in Augusta, the US Open on Father’s day, Dustin Johnson falling apart in the majors.  One that is getting very close and admittedly specific is, if Brandt Snedeker wins on the west coast he will miss some time due to a rib injury.  This time it seems to have been less of a setback than in past years and he is back.  Can he get back in the mix and avenge his narrow loss to Trevor Immelman in the classic 2008 final round.

12) Patrick Reed- The man no one wants to see up there.  The media doesn’t seem interested in him and the players don’t want to be around him.  However, in golf you play four rounds and put a number next to your name and quite frequently his is one of if not the lowest. 

11) Hideki Matsuyama- The man who puts so much power into each of his shots that his shoes squeak is another of the young superstars.  He took down Rickie in the desert and has played well since then.  He has the iron play to do it as long as he makes a few putts look for him to be in contention when the tournament starts Sunday afternoon.   

10) Bubba Watson- You don’t bet against Bubba and the San Francisco Giants in even years.  What I don’t like about Bubba this year is everyone is talking about him.  When he won in 2012 especially and 2014 there wasn’t much fanfare about him coming into the event.  Heightened expectations might bother Mr. Sensitive. 

9) Justin Thomas- Best known for being Jordan’s Spieth buddy, Justin is an excellent player in his own right.  He is from the city of Louisville.  He matriculated to Alabama where he spent two seasons.  This trip to college could end up being a big help to him this week.  One of his teammates on the tide was the son of Jeff Knox, who is a member and the course record holder at Augusta National.  Some of you may recall seeing Knox over the years as the marker for a single in the first group on the weekend and often times beating his playing partner.  Over the winter, Justin took a few trips to Augusta with Knox to pick his brain about the course and learn as much as possible.

8) Charley Hoffman- The glory ultimately belonged to another 38 year old last week in Houston, but Charley was leading after two rounds.  After a top 10 finish last year, and playing in the final group in last year’s 3^rd round look for the man in the green glove to be in the thick of it this weekend.

7) Rickie Fowler- During the NCAA basketball tournament this year there was a great commercial for Buick where the woman asks the guy if he locked the car and he was able to do so on his app.  She then asked if he closed the windows and of course he hadn’t and there were pigeons everywhere.  I am not sure why that was his job, but that is beside the point.  There were also some great Rickie Fowler commercials for the Masters.  In one his entire refrigerator is filled with pimento cheese sandwiches, in another his alarm clock is him waking him up with the sounds of bird chirping.  In the third, it was him looking at his closet full of green shirts, and him saying green in the new orange.  I’ve said it before and I will say it again, he won’t win The Masters in predominantly orange. I thought he finally gets it with these green shirts.  Even though I am not sure a green shirt and a green jacket is a great look I thought this was going to be his year.  Then I went on Puma’s website to confirm he was wearing green on Sunday.  I was betrayed.  He will be in orange.  Last time I trust commercials.  I bet that car locking app doesn’t even work.

6) Phil Mickelson- Phil finally found a good swing coach after years with Butch Harmon and he says he is hitting the ball better than ever.  I suspect he has something new to work on and that his helping his enthusiasm level, but the couple times he has gotten in the mix he has not come through, including blowing a lead at Pebble Beach.  I am sure his ball striking and short game are going to be good, it is the putting that leads me to believe he isn’t going to win, but never count out Phil at Augusta.   

5) Adam Scott- Last summer it was looking like Adam was going to be lost without his long putter and Stevie and he was last year.  What a difference a year makes with the biggest concern for this sweet swinging Aussie is if Stevie will screw him up.  He should be thanking the USGA for making him get rid of the broomstick and give the claw a try.  It suits him.  Will a second green jacket also suit him? 

4) Louis Oosthuizen- Quietly, Louis has been knocking on the door of a big win.  The knock on him has always been his motivation but he seems very interested in winning another major.  Bubba broke his heart in 2012 with that amazing shot in from the trees.  Watch for Louis to be quietly lurking all week.

3) Jordan Spieth- The man, the myth, the legend has finished 2^nd and 1^st in his two Masters appearances so far.  He also had one of the greatest seasons of all time last year so it is hard to predict him not playing well this week.  Sure his game seems a hair off, but he played well last week.  The biggest problem is his short putting.  Last year the short putts were scary with the looking at the hole or not, but they went in.  This year they are missing a little bit more often and it is costing him.  Last week the putter was looking a lot better.  May Spieth-a-mania start again!

2) Henrik Stenson- Nobody looks more imposing when they swing a golf club than Steely Stenson.  He is also often able to beat all but one person in the tournament, with an unbelievable amount of 2nds in the past year.  Since his last win at the end of 2014, he has finished 2^nd 8 times, 3^rd a few times and 4^th a few times. 

1) Jason Day- Last year during the PGA I was at a wedding in California.  Due to the wedding starting about an hour and a half late and it being at a place where there was no cell service, so I was in the dark for about 4 hours that Saturday. I was still living in the 5^th Galaxy at that time so my battery was running low so I just had to turn my phone off.  When I turned it on I was inundated with text messages and the news that Jason Day was in the lead and Jordan was on his heels.  A dream come true.  The next day we drove down to San Francisco.  My wife and her sister found a great place to eat whose specialty was fried chicken.  So I had a plate of fried chicken and headed back for the hotel while they went to check out the town.  As I sat with a belly full of fried chicken I watched one of the most incredible performances I had ever seen.  Jason was hitting the ball unthinkable distances and making putts from anywhere.  Since then he has been the best player in the world.  The weather may not allow it, but coming off of two straight wins I see him figuring out this course and challenging the -18 record owned by the Tiger and Jordan.  For the first time in 30 years a green jacket will be in Columbus!

Masters Preview 2015

2015 Masters Preview

The Masters has arrived!  Only time will tell who will be slipping on the green jacket Sunday night, but we are in for a great 4 days of golf.  I hope you enjoy the preview.

The Seniors

As we all know there are some players this week who are mostly ceremonial, some that are hopelessly out of it and some that still have some game but spend most of their time on the senior tour.

“Gentle” Ben Crenshaw- This is it for Gentle Ben.  After 43 appearances and two green jackets Ben has decided to hang it up.  I will never forget his triumph in 1995 and the fall over victory celebration he had after the final putt was holed.  It was an amazing tribute to his friend Harvey Penick.  Even the great Roger Federer hasn’t perfected the crumble on the floor victory celebration like Ben did 22 years ago.  Considering the better of his two scores last year was an 83, I don’t think anyone is going to be saying he left too soon.

Tom Watson- Tom is clearly an agent of change.  He guided our American Ryder Cup to an embarrassing loss last fall, didn’t listen to another soul on how things should be run and caused Phil to throw a hissy fit in order to force some changes we need to make if the Ryder Cup will ever reside stateside again.  You have to appreciate Tom’s ability to see the forest from the trees.  Sure he could have tried to win the Ryder Cup, but would we have ended up with a committee and Davis Love III as captain again?  Clearly the committee has proven their worth, the captain they have chosen is proven.  Unfortunately for the committee, there isn’t a person from America who has captained our team to three international victories in a very similar format to the Ryder Cup.    

Ian Woosnam- In the last 13 years the wee Welshman has made the cut at The Masters once.  The lengthening of the course has not helped people under 5’ 5”.

Jose Maria Olazabal- Does it feel like Jose Maria is older than 49?  He picked up his second green jacket 16 years ago at 33.  A year younger than Bubba was when he picked up his first green jacket. Why do the Spaniards in golf age at a more rapid rate?  Assuming they don’t do crazy range stretching like Miguel. 

Sandy Lyle- Sandy had a fine year on the golf course with a victory at the World Hickory Open.  The World Hickory Open may not be as familiar as the US Open, PGA, Open Championship or a pga stop that hasn’t changed sponsors recently, but The World Hickory Open is more unique than any of those events.  Held in Scotland, the World Hickory Open must be played with all clubs made prior to 1935.  Sandy had a blistering 69 on the second and final day of the competition to pull out a 3 shot victory.  The trouble for Sandy is all the golfers this week will be playing with clubs made in this century.

Fred Couples- This one hurts.  As much as I hate to put Fred in the same category as these washed up players, reality has to play some part in my picks.  Frederick is now 55 years old, when even the best seem to hit a wall.  He has only played in four tournaments so far this year, with only a 3^rd place finish in January to write home about.  We can dream and pray that Fred has it together this week, but even that will result in heartache.  Many times over the last ten years Fred has been in the hunt when the weekend began.  Each time the tournament slowly slipped out of his grasp.  It usually starts with a three putt caused by a very poor effort on a four footer coming nowhere close, then a fanned shot leading the another bogey or double (especially on 12) a few more bogeys coming in and he is out of it.  At that point we only have only Bloomin’ Boom Booms to help us cope.

Bernhard Langer- Weekend at Bernies is still pretty fired up about the long putter rule.  He seems to be the golfer most upset about it publicly.  I cant blame him there since he has putted with a long wand for most of the last 25 years.  Fortunately, by the time the rule comes in, he will be 58 and living on easy street somewhere in Florida, probably The Villages.

Mike “The Queer Weir- Just about two years ago, The Queer was ranked 1,547^th in the world.  He has since climbed up to 361^st.  Of course, when you go that low anything good that happens helps you move up a lot.  Despite about 5 years of results otherwise, Mike insists his game is in fine shape, but he cant play correctly because his elbow is so hurt he cant straighten it out.  I don’t know if this is the reason he cant play, or it is an excuse for why he cant play, but either way he cant play.  The queer is 44 years old this year.  So we should only have 25 or so more years of him playing at The Masters. 

Darren Clarke- Like many males in the world, Darren has chosen to grow out a beard.  I take this as a sign of retirement from the day to day grind of professional golf.  Instead of being concerned about himself, Darren is preparing to lead the Europeans against the Americans in the 2016 Ryder Cup.  Thus, he has said what he wants to see happen at this year’s Masters is Rory winning the career grand slam.  

Larry Mize- Last summer, my wife and my parents had the great pleasure of attending a wedding in Lexington, Kentucky.  The wedding happened to be the weekend of the U.S. Open.  Fortunately, my dad’s car has the SiriusXM PGA Tour radio channel so we didn’t have to miss a shot as we drove down. My dad and I thought this was a fantastic way to spend three hours as we made our way down to the land of the bluegrass.  By the time we hit Cincinnati even I thought it might not be a great idea, as golf on the radio is pretty boring.  Since I was driving I was getting worried about falling asleep as we drove.  Fortunately, we made it safely to Lexington and saw the happy couple get married.  Unfortuantely, a group in a similar situation may not survive.  SiriusXM has ramped up how boring the coverage can be by putting Larry on the radio.  Do not drive on Wednesday nights.    

Vijay Singh- As you may recall back when Ray Lewis miraculously recovered from a torn muscle recovering so quickly he gave the credit to miracle healing power of Deer Antler Spray.  As the world learned about Deer Antler spray Vijay admitted he was a user.  He was suspended by the tour and then he sued them back.  Well Vijay’s lawsuit has been creeping along as lawsuits do, but it seems to have reached the deposition/discovery phase of the event.  It might lead us to the most interesting word about the PGA Tour drug testing policy we have yet.

As far as golf goes, Vijay’s game is the same as it has been for his whole career.  He is still a good ball striker and a bad putter. 

Mark O’Meara- Turn back the clock, Tiger and Mark are best pals again.  On Sunday Mark said he hadn’t spoken to Tiger in a few years, but with the warm and friendly Tiger he is back in the picture and we are back to living in 1998. 

Trevor Immelman- The 579^th ranked golfer in the world hasn’t made a cut yet this year.  As I was looking to see what he has been up to I noticed he has put his house at Lake Nona for about $2M.  My first thought was wow he must have to scale back.  Turns out he has bought a house in Isleworth for $3M.  Top level pro golf is a lucrative profession.

Steve Stricker- Last year as he was partially retired Stricker had a phenomenal year.  In fact, he played so well it seemed like he ended up playing more than he wanted.  Unfortunately, like many retirees he had to get back surgery at the end of 2014.  So this year he has really stepped up his retirement.  He will be making his debut at Augusta. If you have always been dreaming of seeing Steve Stricker at the Masters get up now and start driving.  This will more than likely be the last time he plays at Augusta.

Amateurs

Gunn Yang- You have to like a name like Gunn- Mr. Yang is a South Korean who matriculated to San Diego State.  Last spring his golf coach at San Diego State decided to pull his scholarship.  In the revisionist history of the coach, this was done to motivate Gunn, but what is he going to say after he wins the US Am?   Either way, the motivational tactic/dropping paid off and Gunn is playing this week.  As a thank you to his coach, Gunn has taken a leave of absence from college.

Antonio Murdaca- Antonio got into the Masters by winning the Asia Pacific Amateur held at Royal Melbourne in October.  Antonio is another young, good Australian golfer.  In his preparation for this week he has spent a lot of time on a plane.  He flew to Augusta in the beginning of March for a week.  Flew to Australia where he dominated in the South Australia amateur and then flew back to Augusta.  Will all this flying around the globe hurt?  I cant see it helping.

Bradley Neil- The 19 year old hailing from Blairgowrie and Rattray United Kingdam is the British Amateur champion.  In the 40 years since they began playing, zero British Amateur champions have made the cut at Augusta.

Corey Conners- Mr. Conners was the runner-up in the U.S. Amateur last year to earn his way into The Masters.  He is a proud graduate of Kent State where he got a degree in actuarial math this year.  When he was a young man learning the game in Canada, Corey met Moe Norman who gave him a driver and a piece of great advice as Corey told him he needed to get to swimming practice.  Moe told him, “There’s no money in swimming.  There’s no money in swimming.  Golf’s where the money is.”  You can even win Olympic medals in golf now too.

Matias Dominguez- Hailing from Chile, Matias will be playing at Augusta thanks to his victory in the Latin Amateur Championship.  He is also currently the fourth best player on his college team, Texas Tech.    

Scott Harvey- Scott, the reigning mid-amateur champion, is probably the only player in the field who has a job outside of golf.  He resides in Greensboro, NC where he works as property manager.  I am sure his tenants will enjoy hearing about his trip the Masters, but being around for the weekend will be a stretch.

Byron Meth- Byron attends Pacific University where he learned the game from Michael Olowakandi.  He is also the last ever champion of the US Public Links.  His last name is also quite unfortunate coming on the heals of the end of Breaking Bad. 

The Rookies

The guys who have played more than one Masters, especially who are playing their 2^nd or 3^rd, repeatedly say their first year they were in awe of the course and tournament and they will be better in their next year.  Of course, it is easy to see this in hindsight that you were overwhelmed.  That said, I am sure some of these guys are going to do well.  Last year Spieth was a rookie and he almost won.  Someday a rookie will at Augusta again, but it wont be this year.

Brian Harman- The first time I ever heard of Brian Harman was at the 2005 Walker Cup.  He was the youngest Walker Cupper of all time.  Now at the ripe old age of 28 he makes his debut at the Masters.  Unfortunately, he comes into the event having missed four cuts in a row. 

Brooks Koepka- Officer Koepka has taken a path from Florida State to the European minor league tour, to the PGA tour and now finally here.  He has won in all of those places so far and a victory at The Masters someday would surprise no one.  Unfortunately, he is injured right now.  If it were not Masters week he wouldn’t be playing.  I expect big things from him this year, but not this week.

Morgan Hoffman- Oklahoma State is a golf factory that was built by a man named Mike Holder.  A lot of the things that are now what most tour pros do started at Oklahoma State.  These include exercising, dieting, avoiding the bars, not smiling or showing emotion, taking it one shot at a time, sticking to the game plan, aggressive swings to conservative lines,   and probably many other things cause 75% of the golfers to be boring.  I have seen Morgan on tv a few times and witnessed him in action at US Open qualifiers a few times so I feel I am very qualified to make this assessment, Morgan is the manifestation of all this.  If you don’t know much about Morgan, imagine Hunter Mahan with a little less personality.

Airnban Lahiri- Way back in the early days of the previews there would be about 4 golfers who somehow were in the Masters despite them playing almost all their golf in Asia.  Fortunately, the powers that be, Hootie Johnson, Billy Payne, Bill Gates, etc got a copy of this preview resolved most of the issue.  Unfortunately this guy has been renting apartments all over asia racking up world ranking points. He is currently the 34^th ranked player in the world, mostly due to dominating on the Asian tour this winter, but he also moved up 3 spots in the world rankings after missing the cut at the Shell Houston Open this year.  This isn’t Airbnb’s fault, he didn’t design the World Rankings, but it needs to be pointed out.  Hopefully Condi Rice will see this and get on solving this problem. 

Bernd Wiesberger- The final round of the PGA last year might have been the most exciting round of golf last year.  Bernd had the best seat in the house as he got to play with Rory in the final group.  However, Bernd was a mere spectator as Rory, Rickie and Phil battled down the stretch.  The final hole was a little confusing with Rory playing through Phil and Rickie and no one knew what was happening.  One thing I recall was the PGA just giving Bernd a par on 18 and telling him to pick up so they could crown Rory before the light ran out.

James Hahn- He won at Riviera to get in this week, and then had a child a week later.  So he is having a great year.  Since the win/birth he has only played in one tournament where one of his rounds was an 80.

Danny Willett- Danny attributes his good play to learning to tame the chimp in his head.  Since this is a problem we could all have I checked it out and found he was able to tame the pesky chimp by working with a gentlemen named Dr. Steve Peters, who wrote a book called The Chimp Paradox. 

Brendon Todd- Brendon was the college roommate of Chris Kirk.  Apparently they are an odd couple type, with Chris Kirk being the Oscar and Brendon being the Felix.  For the younger readers, or the readers who watched basketball, Oscar is the Matthew Perry of the new sitcom on CBS.

Cameron Tringale- At this point in his career Cameron is best known as Richard Fowler’s roommate, but he is making a name for himself outside of the orange highlighter.  At last year’s Memorial Tournament Mr. Trinagale picked up random people and drove them to their car.  I can him a lot of credit for this.  If I had a player pass I would be going nowhere near the traffic for laymen.  He must like sitting at 4 way stops.

Seung-Yul Noh- Dr. Noh appears to be about 12 but he is actually 23.  After turning pro at 16 years old he has been making money on various tours.  As a big fan of South Korea and the growing number of South Koreans I may need to invest in Rosetta Stone for Korean.  Unfortunately since that is not in the cards anytime soon, I will continue to be unable to read the tweets from Dr. Noh. 

Robery Streb- One thing you don’t see much these days are people calling themselves Bob.  There are people who get called that but not by choice.  In an interview she did after Robert won at The McGladrey Classic, Robert’s wife seemed to go out of her way to call this character Robert.  Are Bob’s disappearing?  See for yourself- This graph shows the percentage of people named Bob in America.  This is a concern.

Shane Lowry- Shane has been playing good this year.  He missed the cut at Bay Hill but it seemed he was pleased about that so he could watch Ireland in the Rugby championships.    

Erik Compton- I am sure many of you know the Eric Compton story, but for those of you who don’t it is truly remarkable.  I am certainly not the writer to say it eloquently, but he is a guy everyone should be cheering for this week and every week.  If you don’t know the story, stop reading this nonsense and read this story about Erik. 

http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/erik-compton-151-his-third-heart-151-has-shown-more-mettle-anyone-game

Ben Martin- Ben is not technically a rookie at the Masters.  He played in the 2010 Masters after he was the runner-up in the 2009 US Amateur.  He is a Clemson grad and seems like a good Southern boy.  He just got married to girl from Winston-Salem whose father is the fourth generation first and middle name Christopher Columbus.   

Mikko Ilonen- Rhymes with Me-So, like the soup- Like our friend Ben Martin, Mikko made his debut in the Masters as a result of good play as an amateur.  He was one of the 40 British Amateur Champions to miss the cut at Augusta.  But on the strength of defeating Steely Stenson in the World Match Play Championship, not to be confused with the Aceenture Match Play Championship, he finished 2014 as the 47^th ranked golfer in the world and he is back to Augusta.  He has since dropped to 62^nd so he needs to get it going or it will be another long 14 year wait.

???

The Feline- Tiger Woods- We could probably write a preview twice as long to discuss the feline, and I am sure you can find that online.  But two thoughts- when he was been sitting out for the last two months I kept forgetting that he wasn’t sitting out because he was hurt, but because he was terrible at golf and couldn’t chip.  It seems impossible that he had to sit out for two months because he couldn’t chip the ball onto the green, but that is where he was.  The second thing, he has returned this week and is all smiles, hugs and sunshine.  He has rekindled his friendship with Mark O’Meara, is playing the par 3 contest, and is not being the total jerk we have come to love.  It makes me ask so many questions but especially, has he been in therapy?  Is he on anti-depressants?  I don’t see this week going well, but I doubt even Tiger knows.

Injured

Kevin Stadler- Kevin hasn’t played since the tour was in Hawaii, which was back in January for those of you unfamiliar with the schedule.  There seems to be no news on whether or not he is recovered, but he has a tee time so I am guessing he is going to give it a go.

Marc Leishman- Unfortunately, Marc’s wife is sick with what sounds like a fairly serious case of pneumonia.  It sounds like he wont play, but hopefully he will because his wife gets better.

Update: Leishman has withdrawn, in case you were wondering where he went.

Victor Dubuisson- After making his splash last year with his hands of gold, it is Victor’s shoulder making the news this year.  He has only played in three tournaments so far this year and withdrew from the last one at Doral.  Victor has the kind of game that could help him win at Augusta, but not this year.

Struggling/Poor Track Record

There will only be one winner and about 50 guys making the cut.  We cant take everyone.

Geoff Ogilvy- If you don’t watch Buckeye basketball you might not get this, but Ogilvy really reminds me of Marc Loving.  His attitude seems to tilt somewhere on the line of mild disinterest to totally disinterested.  He spends 90% of the time moping around, playing poorly and then suddenly, out of nowhere something good will happen (or Phil will double the last hole).   Currently Geoff seems to be playing like the post suspension Loving. 

Graeme McDowell- I have a theory based on current trends that eventually all we will do is sit around drink craft beer and wear custom tee shirts with clever sayings on them.  It recently occurred to me that we will also be doing all of this while living in downtown Columbus. 

Fortunately, one of the choices of beer we will be able to drink has come from the kitchen of Graeme McDowell with his new beer called GolfBeer.  Right now they have Freddie Jacobson, Graeme McDowell and Keegan Bradley flavors. 

Camilo Villegas- Camilo had a win in Greensboro to get in this week, but since then he has been back to his solid but nothing special golf. I look for this to continue this week. 

Padraig Harrington- I am a big fan of Paddy and love his approach of tinkering, changing things and trying to improve.  However, I don’t think it has helped him on the golf course in the last 5 years.  However, he has a different way of looking and thinking about golf and life.  I recommend you check out all the Feherty shows, but one in particular to see is Paddys.  In his last 10 starts he has won twice and finished outside of the top 50 the other 8 times. 

Kevin “The Man of Streel” Streelman-The man of streel, the only Dukie in the field has been dancing up a storm this week celebrating the big win national championship by the rent-a-players from Duke.  That said, the officiating in the whole tournament was pretty awful.  What makes me the most upset with the officials is they make a ton of bad calls, but they are so sure and cant be reasoned with at all.  Where is the accountability?  Also, why don’t the players complain about them after the game?  I know the nba players and all coaches get fined, but what if some sophomore from Wisky just went on a rant?  Suspension?  Anyway,Deal with it Bo.

Ben Crane- Ben seems to be the resident tour comedian/guy to go to for viral videos.  I am hoping he picks up Mr. Bubbly, Tiger, for his next shoot.

John Senden- It has been a rough year so far for John.  He has played poorly and missed a bunch of cuts, and finished 83^rd, which is difficult to do in a full field tournament.

Luke Donald- The former #1 seems to have found his level at just about #50 in the world.  IT hasn’t been a great year for Luke so far.  He has missed the cut in three of the seven tournaments he has played in, finished outside the top 50 in 3 and finished 7^th at the Honda Classic.  However, even the 7^th is a bit misleading.  He hit a tee shot on a hole and got the result that can only happen in Florida.  It hit a house that was about 5 yards from the edge of the course and then bounced back into the fairway.  http://www.pga.com/news/golf-buzz/video-luke-donalds-tee-shot-hits-house-finds-fairway

Keegan Bradley- As you may have heard if you have been watching the news recently Tom Brady went to the Bahamas and jumped off a cliff.  He was okay and put the video on spacebook for all the world to see.  Patriots fans flipped out.  What was slightly less known but much more important was a basketball game was played in the Bahamas with His Airness himself, Tom Brady, Keegan Bradley and three random people.  Why this happened I have no idea, but it did.  See for yourself: https://instagram.com/p/0yasCKg0GH/ I don’t remember reading about Jack playing hoops with the Big O just before the Masters in the 60s, but maybe he did.

Thomas Bjørn- If you have been following the golf landscape the last 15 years you have seen that the World Golf Championships have been a big boon for the top 50 or so golfers in the world.  Four times a year they hold these no cut events.  The winner gets a very large check, but that happens at every tournament.  The big difference is for the players who usually would get cut.  They also pick up a nice big check.  Thomas really took this perk to the extreme this year at Doral.  He showed up, played 8 holes at 3 over, hit his tee shot in the water on the ninth hole and walked off the course.  He then stopped at the pro shop and picked up a check for $42K thanks to his last place finish and called it a day. 

Ian Poultry- Mr. Poultry reminds me of the famous San Diego Chicken.  There is a lot of clucking around, foolish gimmicks, fancy cars, spikey haircuts, but in the end he is merely a sideshow.

Charl Schwartzel- Last year Charl fooled me because he was having a lot of high finishea prior to the Masters.  This year I have learned.  Charl has been playing quite well in his native continent Africa.  He has also played decent in the nearby continent called Europe.  Where he hasn’t played well is in America.  Sadly for Charl, barring a surprising last minute change this golf tournament will be held in the greatest country in the world.

Jason Dufner- I was expecting a big comeback year for the Duff, but it hasn’t started out particularly well and now we have this divorce situation.  There has been a lot of sympathy on the internet for Dufner because his wife Amanda was/is better looking than him, by far.  But fear not internet, if Dufner is interested in finding another good looking lady he will have no trouble because even after the $2.5M payment to Amanda he is rich and he is famous.  Further, there will be more golfers with good looking wives and girlfriends to be seen on the internet..   

Joost Luiten- Joost has a phenomenal new website where you can find all the news you could ever want on Joost.  Even better you can subscribe to get the Joost newsletter.  I don’t think I am a big enough Joost fan to sign up for this, but I am sure his close friends and family enjoy the updates. 

However, I have a Fred Couples google alert set up and I get an email almost every day with the goings on of Freddie.  It is fantastic.

Ernie Els- The Big Easy has hopes of a break through this year, but his putting has always been the problem here and it isn’t getting better with age.

Sergio Garcia- In hindsight, picking the Canary last year was a mistake.  Not a mistake I will make this year or any other year.

Cashing Checks

The top 50 and ties will be around for the weekend.  This will end up being close to 2/3^rd of the field

“The Resort”-Sang-Moon Bae- Not since Larry Nelson have we had military service play such a large part in a golfers life as it has for the resort so far this year.  The resort has been summoned to South Korea to serve for two years in the military, as all South Korean men must do to fight off the Northern Koreans from hacking any of their movie studios.  The Resort did not report as he was supposed to and was charged with violating the law.  Strangely, if he doesn’t get this resolved, he will be unable to play in the President’s Cup this year in South Korea.

Hunter Mahan- Move over John Madden, Hunter is the new spokesman for Ace Hardware.  Hunter will be promoting the new in store pick up program.  Tell me if you have ever used a service like this, you can check online and if the item you want is in stock you can drive to the store and pick it up.  Brilliant.

Justin Rose- Rose is just Rose.  He has been playing quite poorly this year but has finished inside the top 25 the last four years at Augusta. 

Branden Grace- Nobody in the field has moved up the World Rankings farther this year than Branden this year.  He has a win in Africa and Qatar this year and another win at the very end of 2014.  Branden is a streaky player so this bodes well for his chances this week. 

“The Jerk” Zach Johnson- My old friend the jerk.  In researching to see what jerky behavior this guy was up to I read two articles at the Cedar Rapids Gazette.  The Jerk clearly had my ip address and wanted to mess with me because I had to complete two questions to read these articles.  The first one was, “Would you like an app that matches your hat and your shirt?” and the second one was “Do you pursue photography as a hobby?”  I told him I would want that app and I am an avid photographer. 

Sadly I learned today that the Jerk’s fortunes may have taken a turn for the positive.  He has switched back to his old trusty see more putter and is thinking of making another run for the green jacket. 

Ryan Palmer- Ryan Palmer is confident he can win this week thanks the added distance he has picked up thanks to dropping weight lifting from his work out routine.  I shudder to think how short I would hit it if I started lifting weights.

Kevin Na- For a guy who doesn’t do much to draw attention to himself and is a pretty good player Kevin seems to have an interesting thing going on a lot of the time.  One year it was the 16 he made, another it his inability to swing the golf club within 5 minutes of standing over it.  This year it is his ugly shirts, which he himself described as a magic eye type of thing.  I clouldnt tell you they really work, because I have never seen what you are supposed to see in one of those things.

                                                   The key to the universe is somewhere in there (Getty Images)

Webb Simpson- For some reason, Webb and the Jungle Cat are the only two golfers I follow on twitter.  Of course Tiger never tweets, but sometimes one of his lackeys sends out a tweet.  Maybe Hugs Tiger will also tweet.  Anyway, Webb does tweet some and based on this here is my guess of his priorities: 1) God 2) Family 3) Drinking Coffee 4) Playing golf with his friends 5) Professional golf.   

Thongchai Jaidee- Earlier this year, Thongchai hit a drive that was measured at 410 yards.  He said it was about 90 yards further than he expected it to be.  It reminds me of when I was on the middle school golf team.  One day we were having practice at Gahanna Municipal with two groups.  The first group had four golfers and the second group had 3 players and one of our coaches.  When the second group came in saying that our coach had hit a 400 yard drive.  The coach was a very nice woman, she was my 5^th grade social studies teacher and later became the librarian.  This caused a lot of debate amongst group 1 and group 2, because it is impossible that she actually hit it 400 yards, but group 2 insisted she had.  The debate was never resolved and I am pretty sure she always thought she had it that far. 

Lee Westwood- One fascinating thing about The Masters is most of the players think they have the answer, but all the theories are conflicting. Most of these theories are espoused from players that haven’t won before and the theory matches how they have been playing recently.  This is the case with Lee this week.  He hasn’t been playing very well coming into the week, thus he has been saying form makes no difference and it is all about who knows and plays the course well.  Either way, Lee will keep up his tradition of wearing his sharp UPS golf shirt sans green jacket on Sunday.

Chris Kirk- Making his second appearance at the Masters he is a member of the big Georgia contingency playing this week.  As I mentioned earlier, Chris and Brendon Todd were roommates at Georgia and formed an Odd Couple dynamic, with Chris being the carefree one. On PGA Tour most of the players have a profile with some of their favorite things listed.  My guess is Chris forgot to fill his out and just recapped his prior day.  Chris lists his favorite book as The Broker and other things he likes as Roger Federer and lasagna. I assume the day before he filled out the survey he read The Broker, watched some tennis and had lasagna for dinner.  I haven’t read The Broker, but I agree those other two things are excellent. 

Russell Henley- What do you know, another Georgian.  Russell arrived at Augusta but his golf clubs didn’t thanks to his good friends at United.  As a result he had a day of rest.  For most of us, this is the equivalent of our computer being lost or broken at work.  One thing that is usually entertaining is when the internet goes down at work for a little bit.  Everyone quickly realizes their capacity to get much work done without the internet is limited and suddenly it is, LUNCH TIME!

Charley Hoffman- One year I was at the Memorial and I was watching my dad keep score.  I got into talking to a nice couple who was also watching and they told me they were Charley’s aunt and uncle and they lived in Marion, Ohio.  I have always cheered more for Charley for this reason.

 

Speaking of Marion, for Buckeye fans, on elevenwarriors.com every day they have the Skull Session to get you up to speed on all the Buckeye news of the day.  It is usually written by a gentlemen named DJ Byrnes who is a Marion native.

Matt Every- One thing that seems to have become a thing this year with golfers, or they are discussing now, is their trainers.  It is not a big surprise they all have trainers, but what has surprised me this year is how many have two trainers now.  One trainer is for home and one trainer is for the road.  I don’t know which trainer gets more credit for the win at Bay Hill, but I know Matt got to shake Arnie’s hand.

Paul Casey- The former number 3 is back in the top 50 in the world.  He is playing very well this year.  However, back when he was a top 5 in the world player he didn’t play great at Augusta and I don’t see that changing this week.  

Brandt Snedeker- To me Brandt has the most possibilities to what could happen this week.  He could get hot with the flat stick and win the whole tournament or he could shoot 77-78 and be on his way back to Nashville Friday afternoon.

Billy Horschel- Winning $13.5M in a three week plan is life changing, even for these guys.  It was looking like the post Fed Ex Cup hangover might have set in for this year, but suddenly a 3^rd place last week and he is looking like he might be ready to go for 2015.  However, as Billy himself admits the worst part of his game is his short game.  That is not great for him this week. 

Stephen Gallacher- If not for his 81 on Saturday last year at Stephen might have been in the hunt.  So assuming he has realized that breaking 80 all of the days is a key to contending he should be right in the thick of things.

Adam Scott- The broomstick is back!  Making its final trip around Augusta (until rules change again) the broomstick just might save Adam’s season.  Since they announced long putters we going to be outlawed Scott was an easy pick for who it would affect the most.  So far that seems to be the case.  Adam has been getting worse weekly with the short putter he has been using.  With the long putter he will be good, will he bring the Kiwi back too?

Jim Furyk- As I was having dinner with my wife this evening I asked her who she thought was going to win this week.  She asked me how Jim was doing this year.  My response was he is having a normal year.  So I suspect he will have a good solid finish this week.  I just hope for the viewers and Jim’s sake he is just going along solidly and doesn’t arrive at his decent finish by contending and then blowing it.  There is only so much of that putting routine we can take.

Dating Tip: For you single guys out there, a little Jim Furyk talk over dinner is a real winner

Rickie Fowler- Rick Fowler is not off the hottest start on tour.  So far in his career he has been excellent in Ryder Cup years and not so excellent in non-Ryder Cup years.  However, he was great in majors last year so I am guessing some of that mojo will carry over to this week. 

Martin Kaymer- Marty did all amateur golfers a big favor during his US Open romp last year at Pinehurst.  As you may have noticed pro golfers love to chip when they are around the greens.  This may be the best thing to do some of the time, but at least half the time it seems they would be better off putting.  This is really true with most amateurs.  Personally I love to putt from off the green, primarily because my chipping can be a little shaky. Marty made this play cool by putting from everywhere at Pinehurst.  Now when I do this at home I can say I am copying the great Marty K and not trying to avoid a bladed shot across the green.  I cant remember if Tiger played in the US Open last year, but hopefully he caught wind of this plan.

Jamie Donaldson- As an American and thus a fan of the US Ryder Cup team Jamie Donaldson is the kind of guy you learn to hate for that week because an unknown like him is cleaning the clocks of Tiger and Phil. That was the case with Donaldson last year as once again the Europeans won.  Outside of Ryder Cup play he is a very good golfer but his greatest glory will probably always be in the Ryder Cup.

Gary Woodland- Last year Gary had a 30 on the front nine and the looked like he might challenge the famous 63.  It didn’t happen.  This year he has a new swing coach for the 4^th time in four trips to Augusta.  The first switch seemed to cause a lot of problems, but the next two haven’t been too much of a problem.

Bill Haas- Wild Billy has had an interesting start to the year.  A few middling finishes, a top 7, a victory and a new child. This new child is what is causing me to discount his chances.  He has only played once since the second baby was born and he missed the cut last week.  Based on Billy and James Hahn, the key to the pga tour is to get your wife pregnant.  You will probably win the week for the baby is born and then sit out for two months.

Jonas Blixt- Jonas finished 2^nd last year in his debut.  This year has been ugly, so will Jonas be a guy who is awesome at Augusta or will he play to his current form.  I am banking on his being good at Augusta.

Top 16

16) Jimmy Walker- I am sold as Jimmy Walker being one of the superstars of American golf, but I am still baffled that at 36 he has gone from a relative unknown player to one of the 10 best players in the world.  Unfortunately, he has to deal with the sideshow of Tiger the first two days which will hurt him.  This is usually a problem because of the crowd, but new age Tiger could lend some other problems, he could be blading chips, he could walk off the course at any point with any ailment or he could be a chatty Kathy out there. 

15) Hideki Matsuyama- 95% of the action I have seen of Hideki has been at Muirfield Village.  Since he won the Memorial last year this is probably a skewed sample, but both during the President Cup and The Memorial he hit some great shots.  This guy is going to win a lot, but not this week.

14) Louis Oosthuizen- Louis has started a brand called Louis57, under which he operates a winery, a junior academy, a foundation, a restaurant and a golf course design business.  It is called Louis57 because Louis shot a 15 under 57 on a course in South Africa.  I was looking to buy some of the wine, but it is not easy to get it shipped outside of South Africa.  If Louis wins this week, I expect the brand might be heading to stores soon.

13) Ryan Moore- Ryan seems to enjoy being outside the mainstream of the golf world.  One year he was playing scratch golf irons, another year(s?) he was wearing a tie.  This year he is playing without an equipment sponsor but is once again playing with irons no one has ever heard of.  The irons he is playing with are called Parsons XTreme Golf, which is a company owned by the founder of GoDaddy.  So expect some interesting commercials from this company.

12) Miguel Angel Jimenez- The man has become one with his workout routine.  This vine I just couldn’t stop watching. http://www.golf.com/tour-and-news/miguel-angel-jimenez-famously-warms-masters

11) Phil Mickelson- Phil, Phil, Phil what to do with you?  At Glory’s Last Shot Phil came out of nowhere and it looked like he was going to win there for a little bit.  It was not to be as Rory was too good, but it was a reminder that when Phil is on he is as good as anyone in the world.  This year his game has been so so, and his putting shaky but he has three green jackets in his closet and has pulled off some of the most incredible shots at Augusta.  So in conclusion, Phil has become Angel Cabrera.

10) Angel Cabrera- Speaking of, As he has proven many times over the years, Angel playing well or poorly coming into the week has no real bearing on what will happen during the tournament.  He has missed the cut three weeks in a row and he missed the cut last year.  He is also suffering from a personal problem as his son was in a bad car accident in Argentina.  For anyone else this would cause me to conclude he was in trouble.  Angel though is a different guy and could turn all these negatives into positives.

9) Rory McIlroy- At this point picking against Rory seems silly.  He is the worlds best player, has won the last two majors and seems invincible when he is playing well.  I don’t know why but he hasn’t been playing well so far this year, and I am sure he will turn it around soon, but he also wont win all the majors forever. 

This seems like a good time to mention that Rory’s ex-fiance was at the basketball game with JJ Watt Monday night.  WoWatt

8)  Matt Kuchar- From the time he first played at Augusta The Kuch has played well at Augusta.  The Kuch has finished in the top 10 in each of the last three Masters.  He started this week off a little unconventionally by playing doubles with Venus Williams against the Bryan Brothers.  He has a great history at Augusta and should be good to go after a short drive over from Sea Island. 

7) Dustin Johnson- DJ has returned from his roughly six month vacation and been on a tear.  He has 4^th, 2^nd, 1^st and 6^th in six tournaments.  While we are not sure exactly why he was away for 6 months, and he isn’t sure exactly what his real estate holdings are in Myrtle Beach, he has correctly pegged the point of the tournament.  Here is a snippet of an interview with Dustin this week from Golf Digest: 

Q. And you still have your home in Myrtle Beach; correct?

DUSTIN JOHNSON:  I don't know -- no, I sold it, but I think I still kind of own it. I'm like an owner finance, I don't know. You'd have to ask my accountant (laughter). 

No worries. The Masters is not about identifying the best accountant.

Unfortunately, this statement is quite true.  Maybe someday the fine folks at Augusta will host a golf tournament for that purpose.

6) Patrick Reed- Patrick has made hay in Augusta before as a member of the Augusta State golf team.  He has also been making hay this year on the course.  He hasn’t been making hay with his former teammates but that shouldn’t hurt him this week.  I would love to see him and Tiger play together Sunday in their matching red shirts. 

5)  J.B. Holmes- After his self proclaimed 6 year slump, J.B. is back in the groove.  The biggest and most serious part of the slump was a brain surgery that didn’t work out very well.  Thankfully, he seems to recovered and playing very good golf.  He has two seconds and a first so far this year. 

4) Bubba Watson- When you are twice as disliked by your peers as Patrick Reed and Rory Sabatini you have really managed to alienate a lot of people.  I dont know that you get on that list by care about being on it, but Bubba didn’t make many of the past champions like him more with his champions dinner from Tuesday night.  I cant blame any of them though.  Bubba had the full range of the Augusta National kitchen and could have served basically any thing he wanted.  He chose banquet food: caesar salad, chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, confetti cake, and vanilla ice cream.  I am sure all the food was good, but a little creativity could have gone a long way.

3) Steely Stenson- Steely has been playing quite well with two 4ths and a 2^nd in his last three tournaments.  However, he went on spring break and got the flu.  As a result he hasn’t been able to get out as much to see the course as he would like.  He should be recovered by Sunday afternoon though. 

2) Jordan Spieth- I joined a fantasy golf league this year and Jordan is the star of my team and probably my favorite player to watch week to week.  One of the reasons for this is because he is always in the top 10 so they show him a lot on tv.  He doesn’t do anything particularly flashy but he probably has the best short game on tour.  The only thing that scares me as a fan is his ball striking gets a little loose at times down the stretch of tournaments. As a person cheering for him, if his ball is near the green I immediately assume he is going to get up and down for par.  If he is on the green I like his chances to make the putt.  If he is hitting a long club I am scared the ball could go anywhere.

1)    Jason Day- What you see above is the key to this years Masters Tournament.  As we all know, Jason has made his home in Columbus and plays his golf over at Muirfield Village.  As we also know, noted ice cream maker, golf course designer and 6 time Masters champion also happens to be somewhat involved at Muirfield Village. 

You see all kinds of veterans tutoring rookies about how to play at Augusta.  Jason doesn’t need that, he knows how to play it.  He needs someone to push him over the top.  Who better than Jack?  One of my favorite parts of the 1986 telecast is when Jack is standing on 16^th tee, and Jim Nantz asks Tom Weiskopf what Jack is thinking right now.  Tom’s response is fantastic, he says, “If I knew the way Jack thought I would have won this tournament.”  

What better way to learn the way Jack thinks than to share a coffee and doughnuts ice cream over breakfast and talk about it.  Lets hope this is how Jason has been preparing. 

1986 Masters Highlights for your viewing pleasure- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37Fw4r2Ft5k

The foreign invasion is reeling under the Bear’s attack.