- Jason Day, Australia — It is hard to pick against a guy who won his last two tournaments, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the WGC-Dell Match Play, and six of his last 13, including the PGA Championship. And Day has come close at the Masters, tying for second in 2011, two strokes behind Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, and finishing solo third two years later, two shots out of the playoff in which fellow Aussie Adam Scott beat Angel Cabrera of Argentina. Before breaking through for his first major title last year in the PGA at Whistling Straits, Day finished in the top 10 on six occasions in Grand Slam events the previous three years, and he came in second three times in the majors. As long as his chronic back problems don’t flare up, he again figures to be in the mix.
- Bubba Watson, United States — Only two players managed to win three Masters titles in a span of five years, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, but Watson has a chance to join them this week. He beat Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa with a hook shot for the ages from the trees to set up a par on the second playoff hole in 2012, then won by three strokes over Jordan Spieth and Jonas Blixt of Sweden two years later. However, in his other five starts at Augusta, Watson’s best result was a tie for 20th the first time he played there in 2009. He is in form this year, posting a victory in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera and a runner-up finish behind Adam Scott in the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.
- Adam Scott, United States — Even though he cooled off a bit in the last month, Scott is definitely a threat to win the Masters for the second time in four years. He became the first Aussie to don the Green Jacket in 2013, when he made a birdie on the 72nd hole to get into a playoff with Angel Cabrera, the 2009 champion, and then won with a 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole. Scott did that with a long putter anchored to his chest, but with the ban on anchored putters taking effect in January, he used a conventional model to win the Honda Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Championship in addition to finishing second in the Northern Trust Open. He ranks ninth on the PGA Tour in putting average at 1.713 strokes per hole.
- Jordan Spieth, United States — The 22-year-old will try to become the first player to win the Masters in consecutive years since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002. The only others to pull off the feat were Jack Nicklaus (1964 and 1965) and Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990). Spieth led virtually wire to wire last year, starting with 64-66 and playing the weekend in 70-70 to win by four strokes over Danny Lee of New Zealand, Justin Rose of England and Henrik Stenson of Sweden. Two months later, he became the sixth player to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year. In his only other Masters appearance, he tied for second two years ago, three shots behind champion Bubba Watson. Spieth won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions by eight strokes in January. His game has not been as sharp since, but you can’t count him out.
- Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland — McIlroy will make his second attempt to complete the career Grand Slam this week, having tied for fourth last year in his first try, shooting 66-68 on the weekend but finishing six strokes behind winner Jordan Spieth. The Irishman’s best chance to win at Augusta came in 2011, in the third of his seven Masters starts, when he took a four-stroke lead into the final round but fell apart on the back nine en route to a tie for 15th. McIlroy had another chance two years ago, but a 77 in round two left him an uphill battle on his way to a tie for eighth. He became four-time major champion by the age of 25 when he claimed the PGA Championship in 2014, but even though he showed flashes of brilliance recently, he hasn’t won a tournament since the DP World Tour Championship-Dubai in November.
- Rickie Fowler, United States — Fowler put to rest the widespread opinion that he was all flash and no substance by winning four times since last May. The next step is for him to capture a major championship. He did the next best thing last May when he claimed the Players Championship in a playoff over Sergio Garcia of Spain and Kevin Kisner, but he is after the real deal. His best result in the Masters was a tie for fifth two years ago, and that was his worst finish in the majors that year, as he tied for second in both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship in addition to tying for third in the PGA Championship. Fowler won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January on the European Tour, and he finished in the top 10 in five of his past six stroke-play events on the PGA Tour.
- Phil Mickelson, United States — Lefty is a year younger than Jack Nicklaus was when he claimed the Masters at the age of 46 in 1986, and he can’t be overlooked this week based on the way he is playing. He has finished in the top 10 five times this year, including second in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, a tie for third in the CareerBuilder Challenge and fifth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He leads the PGA Tour in scoring average at 69.17. Mickelson, a five-time major champion who has three victories in the Masters, is making his 24th appearance at Augusta and has been close several on several other occasions, finishing third five times and tying for second last year, four strokes behind Jordan Spieth. He will make his third bid to complete the career Grand Slam in the U.S. Open at Oakmont in June.
- Charl Schwartzel, South Africa — Even though he is flying under the radar heading into the Masters because so many of the big names are playing well, Schwartzel certainly cannot be overlooked completely. He already has his Green Jacket, having won by two strokes over Aussies Jason Day and Adam Scott five years ago. In addition, Schwartzel has claimed three titles since November, winning the Tshwane Open and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on the European Tour and the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour last month in a playoff over Bill Haas. He is playing at Augusta National for the seventh time, and his best result other than his victory was a tie for 25th in 2013, which says something about seizing the opportunity when it arrives.
- Henrik Stenson, Sweden — Not only is Stenson right at the top of the list when it comes to golfers who have not won a major, but he carries the hopes of his country to become the first Swedish male to capture one of the Grand Slam events. He has come close, finishing in the top 10 in the majors four times in the last two years, including a tie for third in the U.S. Open and a tie for fourth in the PGA Championship in 2014. Stenson has nine top 10s in the majors during his career, but surprisingly none in the Masters, even though the course would seem to suit his game. He finished in the top 20 each of the past three years at Augusta National, with his best finish a tie for 14th in 2014. Stenson was second last week in Houston.
- Dustin Johnson, United States — Here is another guy who has never won a major championship, which is perplexing because he probably has as much natural talent as any golfer in the world. Johnson has been close, and much has been written and said about his meltdowns in the Grand Slam events, particularly in 2010 in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Of course, that was before he three-putted the final green with a chance to win the U.S. Open last year at Chambers Bay, leaving him one stroke behind champion Jordan Spieth. Johnson finished seventh or better in three of the four majors last year, giving him 10 top-10 finishes in the big four, with his tie for sixth last year in the Masters his best result at Augusta National.
–Courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
