Another reason why the start of Spring is my favorite sports time of the year. Just after Opening Day of MLB and March Madness have wrapped up, we get another HR of an event in the best golf tournament in the history of the game: The Masters.
Every year of this tournament is special, but this year in particular has the golf world buzzing like a lush in the early afternoon. The field is set with the lowest total of players since 1998 but the amount of story-lines are endless. There's a healthy mix of talented young studs and cagey old vets vying to capture golf's first major of the year. No time to waste.
A 40 yr old can easily win this Thing
Tiger's back is BACK and he's swinging the club like its 2004. I've always been a Tiger Woods hater but he's
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| Tiger thinking about snapping Lefty's Arm |
Henrik Stenson has a major under his belt (The Open) and hits the smoothest 3-wood in the game as far as most guys hit their driver. Jason Dufner (PGA) and Zach Johnson (M's, The Open) are also 40 somethings and major winners who can contend this week. Other older guys who can move the needle and have played very well at Augusta in recent years include San Diegan Charley Hoffman and Paul Casey, who won the Valspar Championship last month and had finished T6 or better the last three years at Augusta.
Young Guns aren't to be Messed With
If you don't know these names by now I don't know what I can do for you. But the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, John Rahm, and Hideki Matsuyama are going to be around the top of tournament leaderboards for the next two decades.
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| Spieth's Winning Putt, 2015 |
Want to hear how Spieth has fared in his first four years in this tournament? Starting in 2014 he has gone T2-1st-T2-T11 earning a meek 3.7 million with those finishes. He is tied with Tiger with the odds on favorite at 10/1 and is looking for his 4th major at the young age of 24.
Another 24 year old named Justin Thomas lit the tour on fire last year and hasn't let up. The 2017 Player of the Year has won 4 tournaments since the last Masters including the Honda Classic in late February and the last played major: The 2017 PGA Championship. Despite being an Alabama Alum, he's one of my favorites on tour.
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| 2017 PGA Champ |
The 3rd best golfer in the world in the ranks, Rahm (23) is playing in his 2nd Masters after finishing T27 last year in his debut. The Spaniard and ASU alum has 4 worldwide wins including San Diego's own Farmers Insurance Open last season for his first victory. He is looking for his first major title along with Matsuyama (26), the Japanese sensation who has 5 PGA wins and ranks 6th in the world. Matsuyama has a good track record at Augusta, with finishes of 5th, 7th, and T11 in his first 3 years competing here.
Aren't we missing some guys Here?
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| DJ with SmokeShow "Partner" Paulina Gretzky |
Oh I don't know, how about World Number 1 Dustin Johnson. Are people sleeping on this guy because he hasn't won a tournament since January? Well certainly not because he's T2 at 12/1 odds with Thomas and deservedly so. People forget that he was expected to win last year at Augusta. He had won 3 straight starts heading into the 2017 Masters and then had a slip
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| We've all been there |
Adding to the intriguing story-lines is Rory McIlroy who is also back to playing amazing golf after recent years of injuries and club throws. He won recently at Bay Hill a couple weeks ago and is looking to complete the Career Grand Slam of Major titles, having won the PGA twice (2012, '14), the US Open (2011) and The Open Championship (2014). Crazy to think that he hasn't won a Major since 2014; but he has to be very determined especially since he was supposed to be "The Next Tiger" and now he can beat El Tigre this weekend.
Then there's even more guys capable of winning this week that have won majors before, like Bubba Watson (2x Masters Winner), Justin Rose (US Open), Jason Day (PGA), and Louis Oosthuizen (Open). Bubba winning his 3rd jacket this week would be a significant bummer because I
Name|Odds to win| World Rank
Tiger
|
10/1
|
103
|
Spieth
|
10/1
|
4
|
DJ
|
12/1
|
1
|
JT
|
12/1
|
2
|
Rory
|
13/1
|
7
|
Bubba
|
15/1
|
19
|
Phil
|
15/1
|
18
|
Rose
|
16/1
|
5
|
Day
|
22/1
|
11
|
Fowler
|
25/1
|
8
|
Casey
|
28/1
|
13
|
Rahm
|
30/1
|
3
|
Matsu
|
35/1
|
6
|
Sergio
|
35/1
|
9
|
Long Shot Odds with Real Chances to Win
Alex Noren (40/1) - Didn't make the cut last year in his debut, but he's ranked 15th in the world with 10 professional wins and has finished T21 or better his last five tournments including a 2nd place finish in that wild playoff with Jason Day in San Diego this year and a 3rd place finish at Honda Classic.
Henrik Stenson (45/1) - Would be the second Swede to win a golf major this week
Matt Kuchar (45/1) - Hasn't won a major yet, but the fan favorite plays well at Augusta with four top 10 finished the last six years including a T4 last year. Who can forget that ace on 16 on Sunday last year (I sure AF do since it costed me BIG on a Paul Casey Top 5 finish bet)
Patrick Reed (50/1) - Last two starts include a T7 and T2. The Ryder Cup Hero hasn't won a major or played Augusta that well (best finish T22 in '15), but he finished T2 in the PGA Championship last season.
Tommy Fleetwood (50/1) - Another young stud (27) who ranks 12th in the world, the Brit didn't make the cut last year in his debut but finished 4th in the US Open last season. He recently won the Abu Dhabi in January this year
Oosthuizen (60/1) - Love the South African, has one of the best swings if not the best swing in golf. He has some history at Augusta:
Adam Scott (66/1) - Masters Champ in 2013 loves this course, with five Top 10s including T9 last year. Responsible for one of my favorites shots at Augusta ever.
Thomas Pieters (75/1) - Favorite value pick of the whole field. He hits the ball a mile, and finished T4 last year in his Masters debut. Also played a practice round with Fred Couples, Tiger, and Phil on Tuesday so maybe got some new tricks in his bag for the course.
Notable Pairings and Tee Times for ThursdaySo this will be an actual practice-round group Tuesday at the Masters:— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) April 2, 2018
Tiger, Phil, Freddie and Thomas Pieters.
All times and pairings can be found here. The following times are PST.
7:09am - Matsuyama, Casey, Kizzirie
7:42am - Woods, Leishman, Fleetwood
7:53am - Garcia, Thomas, Redman (A)
8:04am - Watson, Stenson, Day
10:27am - Mickelson, Fowler, Kuchar
10:38am - Scott, McIlroy, Rahm
10:49am - Spieth, Noren, Oosthuizen
11:00am - D Johnson, Rose, Cabrera Bello
Players with San Diego Ties
Have to root for these SOBs, #LetsGoSanDiego
Mickelson (15/1) - UNI Grad of '88
Rickie Fowler (25/1) - Technically Murrieta but I'll count it. Probably holds Phil's old title of "best player to never win a major." He will break through eventually, but I just don't see it this year at this course. I sure AF will be pulling for him though.
Charley Hoffman (80/1) - Has played well at Augusta recently, born in SD in 1976.
Xander Schuaffele (90/1) - Born in La Jolla and a SDSU grad; his rookie season on the PGA Tour last year included two wins and T5 at the US Open. This guy is legit, and is making his Masters Debut.
Pat Perez (125/1) - Torrey Pines Grad, and that hat in that picture and this quote about Spanos might make him your new favorite golfer:
“I’m done with the Chargers,” Perez said Thursday. “I’m so mad – like the rest of the town – at the way Spanos treated us. … They changed the logo that morning and they think fans are going to root for an L.A. team. Not going to happen. … I have no time for that. I’m not going to root for that. I don’t think Spanos gives two (bits) about the fans. I hope the team does well, I’m just not going to root for them because of Spanos.” - From Kevin Acee of UT
805West's Picks/Dreams
From names mentioned above (and others), here are some picks and dream picks for the results this year.
Missing the Cut (Dream) - Bubba Watson - I really f'n hate that guy
Missing the Cut (Pick) - Sergio Garcia - Repeat is out of the question, and he's satisfied with one Green Jacket for at least another year.
Top 10 Surprise (Dream) - Uhhhh, Pat F'n Perez DUHHHHHH - at 23/2 odds currently for top 10
Top 10 Surprise (Pick) - Tony Finau, dude hits it a mile and has been playing well this year - 9/1 odds for top 10
Final Three Pairings on Sunday (Dream) - Phil/Tiger + Spieth/DJ + Rory/JT
Do you believe in miracles? Because this would break the golf ratings record and never been broken EVER.
Final Three Pairings on Sunday (Pick) - Speith/Rose + McIlroy/Casey + Kuchar/Fleetwood
Dang that's a lot of Brits + the Irish treasure. But they have some legit chances this year.
Winner (Dream) - Phil Mickelson - Favorite golfer, would love to see him tie Tiger with four Green Jackets. He will be the first player to win a major over the age of 50, write that down. To win this weekend he might need a similar shot to this GOAT.
Winner (Pick) - Justin Rose - A few reasons: he's been playing very well in 2018 (3 Top 10s and 2 Top 5s), he loves this course, and he plays beautifully here. He has five Top 10s since 2007 at Augusta, and two runner up finishes (2017, 2015). All the noise will be about Tiger, Spieth, Rory, Phil, DJ, etc. He will make his move on Saturday, be in the last couple of groups and get the job done this year with a birdie on the 72nd hole.
Less than 48 hours away and I can't wait. Yay for golf!
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