2010 Masters Preview

When Jack and Arnie tee off tomorrow morning it will start the most highly anticipated Masters of all time. In years past the anticipation of The Masters has been high, but this year it has built to a crescendo. Never before (at least that I remember) has the Masters been the #1 sporting event for the entire week and golf been the most discussed sport for the six months before the event began. Obviously the main reason most people will be tuning in is because of the world’s best golfer, and world’s most famous sex addict (with all due respect to Jesse James). Obviously Tiger is the main attraction but the world of golf is also very exciting. There has been a long run up to this years event and it has built to a crescendo this week. Let’s take a look at the events that have gotten us to where we are.
1. October 3, 2009- Fred Couples turns 50. The all time fan favorite Freddie was ready for the Senior tour about 10 years ago. Who knew what a great turn for the positive the move would be for him? Since joining the tour he has three wins and a second and has become a good putter again. More importantly he appears to have the confidence to win again.
2. January 25, February 14, February 28, March 7, April 4, 2010- A different guy under thirty won each of these weeks on the PGA Tour. Bill Haas, Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim all have the talent to be stars and could win this week.
3. January 7, January 14, January 21, January 28, February 21, 2010- While a number of the young PGA tour players were playing good here in the states, a few of the stars that play in Europe were also getting ready to make a charge this week. The listed dates saw Charl Schwartzel win twice, Marty Kaymer win, Robert Karllson win and Ian Poulter win.
4. November 26, 2009- Tiger crashes his car. Initially Tiger was listed in critical condition. Then every cocktail waitress (as well as women of other careers) in Las Vegas and Florida report they are having an ongoing affair with Tiger.
5. February 19, 2010- Tiger makes a speech. Says he will return to golf someday. People assume he is out for the year.
6. March 14, 2010- The Big Easy wins at Doral. It is his first win in years. Couldn’t happen to a better guy.
7. March 16, 2010- Tiger says he will play in the Masters. Suddenly there is a major concern of TMZ invading Augusta.
8. March 28, 2010- The Big Easy wins at Bayhill. His second win of the season and he becomes the favorite at The Masters.

Finally we are ready for real golf.
The Old Past Champs
These guys were some of the greatest players to ever play the game, but not anymore.
Ben Crenshaw- Gentle Ben is just cruising along on the Senior Tour. He does not hit it far enough to compete but he will have a great time playing Augusta all week. He seems to be spending a lot of time on his business (which appears to be golf course design and teaching videos) and website design. They have a great website that apparently one of his children put together for a class project. It is very fitting for a two time Masters champ and a Ryder Cup captain. http://www.bencrenshaw.com/
Bernhard Langer- Now that I have been watching the senior tour more, thanks to Boom Boom, it has been a pleasure to also catch some Bernhard action. He is still the grinder he has always been, doesn’t waste shots, and thinks he is going to win every time. It is great to see and maybe he can make a run, but I am afraid the course is just too long for him these days.
Sandy Lyle- For a guy who hasn’t played serious golf since 1992, Sandy finds himself in a lot of controversies. Last year he was involved in some sort of Ryder Cup controversy and now he finds himself in a battle with Monty. Apparently he accused Monty of cheating in 2005 this past summer because Monty said Sandy shouldn’t have withdrawn from the British Open.
Larry Mize- Larry has continued his solid play on the Senior Tour this year. He cant really compete anymore with the tour players, but it must be nice to play Augusta every spring for the Augusta native. I wonder what Greg Norman is up to this weekend?
Mark O’Meara- Of all the insane rumors/things that came out of this Tiger scandal (porn stars, drugs, HGH, watching cartoons all day) one of the oddest was the supposed inability of his friends to contact him. What could Tiger have been doing from Thanksgiving until he went to rehab in late December? Then somehow Tiger set up a practice round with Mark. Did he just call him? Did they discuss the fact that Tiger had 25 mistresses? Did Mark ask about the family?
Craig Stadler- The Walrus seems to have drifted into semi-retirement and just cheering for his son.
Woozy (Ian Woosnam)- The Wee Welshman has moved on to the European and American Senior tour these days. I assume he will be involved in the Ryder Cup in Wales somehow, but outside of that Woozy is done with top level golf.
Tom Watson- It was a heartbreaking finish to the British Open for Tom. When he got his drive on 18 in the fairway I thought he was going to do it. The ball on his second shot released a little more than he expected and the flat stick let him down. It would have been an amazing win for an all-time great at the age of 59. Unfortunately for Tom and his chances, the greens at Augusta are not the slow bumpy greens of Turnberry and the putting stroke that looked like it was held together with duct tape at the British will not hold up at Augusta.
The Amateurs
There is a lot of talent in this group, including a few teenagers. Some of them will come back as pros and have a chance to win. This isn’t going to be their year though.
An Byeong-hun- I have written about it before, but South Korea seems to be producing a lot of great athletes and cars. An is no different. He and his father moved here for him to play golf and he became the youngest player to ever win the US Amateur. The most interesting fact him is that both of his parents medaled in Table Tennis in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. How he got into golf I do not know? An also says his English is not very good so his first round pairing with Angel Cabrera should be pretty quiet.
Ben Martin- Ben was the runner-up in the US Amateur this year. He has been preparing like everyone should. He has played Augusta 11 times this year driving down from Clemson where he goes to college.
Matteo Manassero- Of all these amateurs, this kid will most likely become the next great player. He won the British Amateur last year to get into the Masters. He also played in the British Open last year and finished in a tie for 13th. He is only 17. The Italians has a surprisingly strong representation this year.
Han Chang-Won- Another South Korean teenager who will be playing. Han got into the Masters by winning the Asian Amateur. This kid is only 17 also. So to summarize there are a two 17 year old South Koreans and a 17 year old Italian playing in the Masters this year. Are we looking at a LPGA situation where the entire tour turns in 20 year olds mostly from South Koreans? The PGA Tour thought Tiger being out was bad for business.
Brad Benjamin- Brad won the US Publinks to earn a invitation to The Masters. Prior to winning the Publinks last summer Brad played his college golf at Memphis. He was the second best player on the team his senior season and never won a college tournament. I am thinking he had a hot week at the Publinks, but is going to be overmatched at Augusta.
Nathan Smith- This is the second chance for Nathan to play in The Masters. He won the 2003 Mid-Am and played in the 2004 Masters. In what was probably a great distraction and a great honor he played with Arnold Palmer in his final two rounds at Augusta. Last time Nathan played he double bogeyed 18 to miss the cut by two. Since he didnt get paired with Tiger and the circus surrounding him, I think Nathan will make the cut. He is my choice for low amateur.
Hopeless
There are a few guys playing this week that have not played well in a number of years. They wont be around Augusta much longer after this year.
The I-Man- Quietly, Trevor has become one of the worst players on tour. I wasn’t sure if I should have put him in past champs or this category. I went here because he could get better someday. Note: The I-Man won The Masters so he can play every year if he chooses to do so.
Michael Campbell- Dating back to 2008, here are the results of Michael’s last 31 events, WD, WD, WD, MC, MC, WD, MC, MC, MC, MC, MC, MC, MC, WD, T62, MC, MC, T69, 76, 70, MC, MC, MC, MC, WD, MC, MC, MC, MC, MC, MC. Clearly he has been playing very good. This is the last year of his exemption for the 2005 US Open championship. If you are a Michael Campbell fan, sorry, and enjoy watching his last Masters.
Win a Date- We thought it was the end of Win a Date last year but he came through with a tie for 15th last year and gets another year at The Masters. So far this year has been more like every year of his career except 2004 (when he won twice). He has played in 4 events and only made the cut in Cancun, which is a glorified Nationwide event. Coincidentally, that is where he will be playing next year.
Thursday and Friday players
Only the top 44 and ties are going to make the cut this week. Some guys who are dreaming of winning will not be playing Saturday, barring weather delays. Please don’t have any weather delays.
The Lion (Vijay Singh)- The past summer we hosted a caddie who was in town during the Nationwide Tour event. He had worked for The Lion for a few years and had some interesting insights into him. The one thing I found most interesting is that Vijay practices out of the fairway trap all the time, because he thinks it helps him hit it better. Obviously it has been very successful. This season it looked like The Lion was going to be in top form by now, but he suffered a back injury and hasn’t completed a tournament since Doral, withdrawing from the last three. I fear Vijay might end up with a WD again this week.
Steely (Henrik) Stenson- The man of steel has been limited due to the arrival of his second child in early March. Steely has only played four times so far this year and it has not been up to his standard. Steely has a ton of talent, but this baby is hurting his 2010 so far.
Kenny Perry- O Kenny, how are you not defending your title right now? Two holes away. Here are some quotes from Kenny in an article I read in USA Today.
- "I'm not near the player this year that I was last year."
- After breaking his putter on accident, “My son was with me, and I told him then this was a bad sign for this year."
- "I've got swing problems too, I'm hitting blocked shots and pulled shots. I'm really hitting some bad shots."
- "I hit some shots (on Monday) that I just had to laugh about,"
- "Last year my game was completely different. I was confident in my putting. I was confident in my swing. Now, nothing seems to be going well."

He sounds ready
Rory Sabbatini-Rory played in the SBS because he won last year and finished 2nd. Since then he has missed four cuts and his best finish is 30th. By the way, he has made $759K so far this year.
Shingo Katayama-The Japanese Cowboy has only played one time this year. I could not find any reason why this is the case, but this is not exactly the best way to prepare for an event.
Jerk (Zach) Johnson- Jerk Johnson has not been playing good so far this year. I have not been there, but my understanding is there is a heated debate in Cedar Rapids, Iowa about whether or not Chemical Ali Faroukmanesh has passed Jerk Johnson as the most famous person in Cedar Rapids. The polls are very close right now. Will it motivate Jerk? Time will tell.
Jason Dufner- Jason is blessed to be from the Buckeye state, having grown up in Cleveland. However he has never won and based on my google search the most famous thing he has ever done is hit his drive wildly at Quail Hollow and have it land in a girl’s lap. He has had a decent follow up to his career year in 2009 so far, but I don’t think he needs to get measured for a new jacket this week.
Robert Allenby- Robert’s biggest problem, and the reason he hasn’t won on tour, is his putting. Needless to say, this is not the kind of problem one wants to have at Augusta. He probably will win on tour someday, but it will be at a ball strikers course.
Yuta Ikeda- Every year we have a few “Jumbo Ozakis.” This year Yuta is the main one. When I say “Jumbo Ozakis” I mean a guy who plays almost all of his golf in Japan and his world ranking is artificially (in my opinion) high as a result. These guys typically do not play well outside of Japan. Yuta played decent at Doral, but has not played good in his other three starts in America this year.
The Bashful Prince (Ryo Ishikawa)- When you are 18 and have your own doll (http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstPhotos/index.php?photoid=46573) you must be doing something right. He hasn’t played very good this year though with his best stroke play finish a tie for 32nd. He is still only 19.
Heath Slocum- On top of the curious fact that Heath, Boo Weekley and Bubba Watson all went to the same high school, who would have guessed Heath would be the only one to qualify for The Masters. He won the Barclays last year, but hasn’t played as well so far this year.
Sergio Garcia- What is wrong with your game Sergio? Sergio has had one good event this year at the match play tournament. Then in the semi-finals he came completely unraveled when Poulter got a ruling he disagreed with, even though Sergio won the hole anyways. Outside of that he looks like a grump when he is playing. The fact that he averages about 36 putts a round is not helping the cause either. Sergio needs to get into the Camilo and AK school of appreciating and enjoying things and stop complaining.
Ricky Barnes- Anyone who watched the last 27 holes of the U.S. Open last year has no faith that Ricky might actually win this week. If I recall correctly, he had about a 6 shot lead and was the 4th man ever to be double digits under par at the US Open. Then all of the sudden he could not hit the ball because his body was a foot in front of the ball at impact. Ricky is a classic case of a guy who looks like he should be better than he actually is.
My Queer (Mike Weir)-Canada broke our hearts in the Olympic gold medal hockey game when Sid the Kid snuck that puck in the goal. That is probably going to be it in sports glory for Canada this year because I don’t see My Queer doing much this week.
Matt Kuchar- Matt got the “unfortunate” pairing with Tiger this week. What Matt should do is bring his dad as a caddie to jump and dance around whenever Matt makes a birdie. This annoyed Tiger back in 1998 and might again this year. It would really balance out the annoyance factor those two are bringing to the group.
Chris Wood-The last two years at the British Open all of the sudden we have cut to a tall kid with a porcupine haircut who is leading the golf tournament. Two years ago it was the amateur Chris Wood and this year it was the professional Chris Wood (same guy). I don’t know how he will do at this years Masters (probably bad) but this kid can play. However, he hasn’t played in America this year and he is struggling with his putter. For the European players this seems to be a recipe for disaster.
John Rollins- John played a practice round with Freddie this week. Obviously that helps him. He seems to play very good at small events, he got in based on his win at the Reno-Tahoe Open. The Masters is not a small event.
David Toms- It sure seems like Toms is just waiting around until the Senior Tour starts for him. It is going to be about 6 more years. It also sounds like he is going to get shoulder surgery shortly after The Masters. One interesting fact I picked up about Toms is he grew up playing little league baseball with Albert Joey Belle. That is one heck of a combination. The laid back stylings of David Toms combined with the complete insanity of Albert Belle must have been a good balance on the team.
Nathan Green-Nathan won the Canadian Open to qualify for Augusta. The Australians and The English have a big push going this year for someone from their country to win, but the Australians don’t even expect Nathan Green to be the one who wins it for them.
Ryan Palmer-Ryan won the Sony this year. Since then he has missed a lot of cuts.
Brian Gay- Brian won twice last year and has played decent this year. However, his frosted tips, neon pants and short top visor are going to add some shots to his score. The only guy who has a chance to win wearing those clothes is Poulter.
Scott Verplank- Scott is apparently the only other player on tour that has had this platelet rich plasma treatment that Tiger got from this shady (and indicted) Canadian doctor. Scott had it on his elbow, but said it didn’t work. Of course he had his from an American doctor who is not indicted or associated with HGH. Outside of that news Scott is having a typical year. Typically he doesn’t play good at Augusta.
Thongchai Jaidee- Thongchai Jaidee is shooting for the career Thai Slam. If he makes the cut he will become the first Thai player that has made the cut in all four of the majors. Will he do it? I say no.
Louis Oosthuizen- Louis won for the first time last week to climb into the top 50 in world and qualify for The Masters. Louis is only 27 and it looks like he and Charl Schwartzel will take the torch of South African golf from Ernie and Retief, but not this year. Louis just won last week in Spain and he won the Par three contest. Neither event makes me think he is going to be a factor this week.
Jerry Kelly- I thought Jerry Kelly was working for the golf channel? He is in The Masters? http://www.jerrykelly.com/index.html
Anders Hansen- The only cuts Anders seems to make in America are at the world golf championship events and those do not have a cut. He missed the cut in his previous attempt at The Masters. On a positive note, he is the only Danish player at The Masters not involved in some sort of financial scandal.
John Senden-John has played very average so far this year.
The Weekend Warriors
If you make the cut but you never know what might happen.
Wild Bill Haas- Wild Bill is making his long awaited Masters debut this week. The expectations were very high for Wild Bill coming out of college and he has not really lived up to expectations so far. However, in the past 8 months he has shown signs that he might become a top player. In the fall Bill played good in the Fed Ex cup and got to play three of the four events. Then on a glorious Monday in Palm Springs he birdied the 72nd hole for his first win. Since then he has quietly played well and is slowly moving up the world rankings. So far in his career Bill has shown he is better on the second time around on things, but this week will be a good chance for him to get his feet wet in Augusta.
Double D (David Duval)- Somehow, one of the three players to be ranked #1 in the world in the last 12 years lost his game. He still acts like he is #1 though. He seems much more into the tournaments and focused during the majors and he also seems to play a lot better. If David can just get off to a reasonable start, he could be a contender.
Lucas Glover- Since he won the US Open last year Lucas has played solid. One thing we can expect is his hat will be pulled down over his eyes.
Geoff Ogilvy-Apparently Geoff has taken Marc Leishman under his wing this week to show him how to play Augusta. More importantly, he seems to have taken John Daly under his wing in the pie business. Geoff, Tim Clark and Peter Senior are partners in the Mojo Pie business. This clearly inspired John Daly to start his own pizza place which I am sure will be another in a long line of business successes for Big John. http://www.johndalypizza.com/
Stew Cink- Is Stew Cink the new Paul Lawrie? Not quite, but his major victory will be best remembered for who lost it rather than who won it. It is a shame for Stew that he had to win the one major when no one wanted him to win the playoff, but at least he had his neon green shirt on so he looked sharp. He is also an avid user of twitter if you are fan.
Chad Campbell- When I type his name in google I have more results for “Chad Campbell’s wife” than “Chad Campbell.” I would say it is more than likely she has a higher Q rating than Chad, and her claim to fame is being married to Chad. Chad is without a doubt the most boring guy on tour that has won 4 times, earned over $18M and played on 3 Ryder Cup teams.
Tim Clark-When Weiskopf called Jack’s tee shot on 16 in 1986 he said, “your destiny is right here.” Jack’s destiny was to win that day and become the greatest champion in golf history. On a slightly worse level, it is beginning to look like Tim Clark’s destiny is to finish as the all time money leader without a win. On his PGAtour.com profile, his biggest achievement on 2009 was pushing his streak of seasons with a second place finish to five. If Tim ever does get that first win, it won’t be at The Masters.
Sean O’Hair- Knowing what we now know about what Michael Jordan taught Tiger, is anyone concerned that Jordan took Sean under his wing during the Presidents Cup? We all thought that maybe he needed some more confidence or something, but maybe that’s not what was being discussed. I am sure Sean’s wife has been asking. We all knew Jordan couldn’t teach Sean about golf, so what was being discussed?
Soren Hansen-Soren could either be highly distracted or highly motivated this week as he will be playing this week while his case for tax evasion is ongoing in Denmark. If he doesn’t win the case he will owe about 1 million European, so this is a big case. So far this year he has played well, and has finished as in the top 20 in all 7 of his events. Apparently the Denmark tax authorities felt he was living in Denmark and he felt he was living in Monaco. The case will be over by the US Open, but who knows how this distraction will change his golf game.
Steve Flesch-Will Steve bring the dance that has swept the nation by storm to Augusta? As a Kentucky alum you have to think Steve will be doing the John Wall dance after each birdie.

Hunter Mahan- Hunter might be the best ball striker in the world. He is certainly in the discussion if he isn’t. However, he consistently wears the worst sunglasses in the world. Apparently the sunglasses are made by sundog eyewear and are designed based on classic cars. I don’t see it, but apparently sundog eyewear is also responsible for the monstrosity that Paula Creamer wears for her eyewear.
John Merrick- After finishing 6th last year, Merrick could be a sleeper for this years event. John just turned 28, and has improved every year. However, he is still looking for his first win and Augusta is not an ideal place to find the first win.
Ross Fisher-At some point a European will win The Masters again. Will it be Ross? He is kind of under the radar but he led The Masters for awhile last year on Thursday, finished 5th at the US Open and led the British Open early on Sunday before making a quad on the front nine.
Rory McIlroy-Rory has as much talent in golf as anyone in the world (excluding Tiger and Phil) but is there is a scarier story for a 20 year old golfer than back problems? Look at Davis Love and Freddie, those two missed so much time over their careers and probably left a lot of wins on the table because of bad backs.
Justin Leonard- Justin has been playing better as of late but Augusta has never been the course for him. To tame this beast you’ve got to do two things: 1) Hit it long and 2) Putt well. Justin usually handles #2 but unless his new swing coach is Mark McGwire, he’s probably not capable of #1.
Kevin Na- Here we are again with another South Korean. I am pretty sure the golfers in Korea are naturals. North Korea and South Korea are not the same country but I heard that even Kim Jong Ill shot 38 under in his first round ever, and it included 11 holes-in-one. Clearly the rest of the world is screwed if Kim Jong Ill starts playing professional golf. Actually that would probably be better for the world than his current occupation.
Nick Watney-Nick is one of the main guys who loves to wear a white belt but should not be wearing it. However, he doesn’t even come close to looking as goofy as Steve Wheatcroft (didn’t qualify this week) with his white belt.
Ben Crane- Ben Crane won at Torrey Pines this year. He didn’t look at the scoreboard all day and didn’t know he won until his playing partner congratulated him. However, the most interesting thing that happened to Ben all year was his quote/made up quote in Life & Style Magazine. They quoted his as saying, "This is no surprise to anyone who knows Tiger. He's a phony and a fake and he can't retain that squeaky-clean endorsement deal any longer." Charles Warren was also quoted with similar quotes. However, both players deny that they said anything like this and never spoke to Life & Style. Sounds like some quality reporting to me.
Ryan Moore- Ryan Moore has become a bit of a hipster. He has refused to take sponsor money, wears a train conductor hat, and what appear to be skater shoes. However, he has invested in a golf club company called Scratch Golf that makes all custom clubs. The clubs are expensive but very interesting. Unfortunately, Ryan has not been playing very good with his new clubs, but he has a lot of talent.
Luke Donald-Luke has had a quiet couple of seasons (mostly due to injury) but has 3 top-ten’s this year including a second to Stricker at Riviera. Every time I watch this guy play I’m fascinated by the size of the polo horse on his shirt. Luke is listed at 5’9” but I swear his polo horses are at least 6’1”. Ralph Lauren is truly a magician with the sewing needle.
Marc Leishman-This is the last golf tournament Mark will play as a single man. He is getting married in two weeks. If he wins does he go through with the wedding? It could be bad luck, it could be time for a different girl,or he might want to go on the Tiger plan. A win this week could change his entire life in more ways than one.
Steve Marino- The last time Steve won a golf tournament of note was the 1999 Virginia Amateur and he completely fell apart last year when he was tied after two rounds at The British Open. He is having another solid year though and has made about $6 million the last four years. Interestingly, I found this link “http://www.nicindy.org/whos_greek/greeks_in_sports/other/Golf.php” that shows the “Greeks (fraternity members)” in golf.
Simon Dyson- This is Simon’s first chance to play in The Masters and last week said,“I have to admit that when I played the practice rounds the week before last I was like a kid in a sweet shop.”
The Mechanic (Miguel Angel Jimenez)- The Mechanic more or less sponsored one of the European Tour events this year because it was unable to attract a sponsor. You have to expect some good karma from that. He has also been playing pretty good so far this year.
The Scientist (Robert Karlsson)- The Scientist had a very serious eye injury last year. Apparently he lost his depth perception and had to take four months off. He has returned this year and won in Europe but hasn’t played well in America since then.
Soren Kjeldsen- I don’t know what is going on in Denmark, but Soren recently said, “You cant take hair off a guy who is bald.” He was describing the fact that his former manager stole and spent all his sponsorship money for the last three years. Soren and Soren Hansen need to get their financial situation under control. I don’t think this is the year for either of them.
The Molinari Brothers- When Edoardo won the US Amateur he was considered a fluke. Now he and his brother are both top 50 in the world and Francesco is probably the better player. Italian golf hasn’t been in this good of shape since Costantino Rocco was making 80 footers at St. Andrews.
Adam Scott- Yankee fans you may want to put your money on Mr. Scott this week. Aside from the fast that he is actually playing reasonable golf, the word is he is back to dating Kate Hudson. If she could get A-Rod to play good baseball come playoff time, maybe she can teach Adam how to putt.
Oliver Wilson- With the obvious exception of Larry Mize, being from Augusta or going to Augusta State (where Oliver went to college) has not proven to be a huge advantage over the years. It is probably because these people have about the same opportunity of playing Augusta as I do. Oliver didn’t play good last year, but his dad was sick and he was injured. I suspect he will play better this year in his second trip around Augusta.
K.J. Choi- I am beginning to think K.J. might be the Sonata of South Korean golfers. He is solid, has had a great deal of success, and we thought he was the bees knees a few years ago. Then all of the sudden the Genesis (Y.E. Yang) comes along and surpasses it. Then right at the peak of the Genesis the Equus is rolled out. Could some of these young South Korean amateurs be the Equus?
A good chance
These guys didn’t make my top 16, but any of them putting on a green jacket Sunday night will not surprise me at all
AK (Anthony Kim)- I don’t know if it was Robert Allenby tattle-taling on him after The Presidents Cup or AK just deciding to start dominating, but AK looks like he is taking it seriously. Last year every event he played the announcers (Faldo or Miller) said, “I don’t know if he is taking this seriously” of “I don’t know if he has the dedication needed to really excel.” That said to me this guy is spending a lot of time in the bar and everyone knew it. Even though AK denied it, I have no doubt that Allenby was telling the truth about AK coming in “upside down” the night before singles in the Presidents Cup (It still seems odd to bring this up after losing 5 & 4 to AK though). Suddenly this year, AK is fit and all the announcers are saying he has changed and is taking it seriously. Depending on how much he celebrated last weeks win, AK could be a force with that putter. If he had hit a fairway last week I would really be feeling good about his chances.
The Big Cheese (Steve Stricker)- Here is the #2 ranked player in the world and by all accounts the nicest guy on tour. That said I feel he doesn’t have a chance to win. Steve has two fatal flaws in his game that emerge in crunch time. He starts hitting it left off the tee and starts pushing his putts. He got a big lead at Riviera and nursed it home for the win. He won’t take a big lead and thus those two flaws on Sunday will cost him too many shots to win.
El Pato (Angel Cabrera)-*Defending Champ* After becoming the first player to win a Masters in a playoff after hitting a tree on his second shot El Pato hasn’t really done much. I did see him in a Ping commercial this weekend. There is nothing that spurs on the American public to buy golf clubs than a random tour pro who used an interpreter during last years acceptance speech. This guy gets in a groove and starts playing great. It could happen anytime, could be this week.
Phil Mickelson- For those of you who have read this preview before, you probably remember there haven’t been a lot of kind words written about Phil. However, with the sad news about his wife Amy I started to pull for Phil just a little last year. With Tiger out and the way Phil finished last year I really thought he might take over #1 or win a few times. However, Phil’s putting has regressed back to where it was in the late 90’s. Phil could get hot at any moment and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him win this week, but the putter is going have to be a lot better.
Graeme McDowell-Is Graeme the best European player here? Probably not. Is he playing the best? Maybe so. Graeme got 6th at Doral and finished in the top 20 of all the majors played in America last year. Do not be surprised the see Graeme and his three day beard on your tv screen at some point this weekend.
Top 16
As always the top 16 and ties will be invited back for next years tournament
16) Alvaro Quiros- Our friend John Daly has made a career (however pathetic it is) by being the longest hitter in the game. Alvaro also has freakish length (averages 316 off the tee) but has started to learn more about how to play rather than just hit it hard. Hopefully Alvaro becomes the player he can be. How mad will Sergio be when he passes him as the best Spanish player? It might be soon.
15) Charl Schwartzel- Charl could be the hottest player in the world. He has won twice on the European tour and finished 2nd and 3rd in his last two events on the PGA Tour. This is his first Masters, but don’t count him out. It seems like it might be the year for South Africans. He played with his hero The Big Easy in the final round of Doral and played a great round. This 25 year-old is a man to follow.
14) The Rooster (Y.E. Yang)- Many months ago there was a #1 golfer who could do no wrong and had never blown a 54 hole lead in a major championship. This all changed on a hot August day in Minnesota when Y.E pulled up in his Sonata, decked out in a Rooster covered shirt. He was not scared of Tiger and shocked him with a chip-in eagle on 14 to start an avalanche of events that changed Tiger’s life forever. Without, Y.E. winning the PGA does all of this news still come out? I don’t know where I heard this, but there are rumors that Elin was telling Tiger that The Roosters bag over the head celebration was much better than Tiger’s fist pump and that’s why he stormed out of the house on Thanksgiving. Then she was running down the driveway doing the Rooster Dance with Tiger’s clubs over her head. Tiger was furious and just sped away. This all makes sense why Tiger doesn’t want to discuss it. He doesn’t want all of his competitors to know how to get to him.

13) Ben Curtis- Ben has been getting ready for Augusta and could sneak up for his second major. With the lack of the great players playing good, and Ben hitting the ball good enough to score he can do it. Ben was leading Bayhill on Saturday and had the low round of the tournament in Houston. He may be boring, he may not be cool enough for NFL, but he is good, and he could sneak up on us and win this week.
12) Paul Casey- The consensus is Casey is ready to win this week. He has been playing very good this year, and he is a great ball striker but his putting is extremely streaky, and often times not good. At Augusta the greens are the main defense. It is going to take 4 good days of putting for Casey to win. I don’t think he has it in him. I think he probably has three days of good putting in him, but the fourth day will cost him.
11) Ian Poulter- Ian got his first win in the US this year at the match play tournament. However, I am concerned he might be the next Monty (with different/better? fashion). He has had most of his success overseas and seems to take things very personally on the course, at the bar, and on his twitter account. For example, he is currently in a fight about PETA on his twitter account. He will probably be fine at Augusta but if the fans at the US Open get on him look out.
10) Jim Furyk-Jim is one of the most consistent players of all time. Over the past few years he hasn’t been putting as well as he did in the early 2000s. However, he has started to putt better again and won at Innisbrook. It could be time for Jim to collect his second major. It would be fitting for the most highly anticipated Masters of all time to end with the most boring golfer in the world winning.
9) Camilo Villegas- I largely blame Camilo for all of the nonsense that is going on with the fashion of golfers these days. He may not have been the first, but he popularized the tight shirts, tight pants and goofball bets. Having said that, Camilo was on fire a month ago and certainly has a chance to win this week.
8) Dustin Johnson-Dustin is quickly becoming star, and contending or winning could be a huge step for him. Last year Dustin made four eagles and dominated the par fives but struggled on the other holes. Will a year of experience change the other holes for him? I think so. My biggest concern for him is behavior around the club. As they say, “you can take the boy out of Myrtle Beach, but you cant take the Myrtle Beach out of the boy.”
7) Tiger Woods- Has there ever been a wider range for what a golfer might do in a golf tournament? The possibilities are endless. There is a chance he could come out and dominate, he could come out and be terrible. Will the crowd embrace him, will the crowd heckle him? Will he still be the ice cold competitor he used to be, will he embrace the crowd? Will he still curse and throw his clubs, or will he smile and wave to the crowd? Did sleeping with all those women hurt him or help him? Will the fact that he probably hasn’t had sex in 6 months after having it daily for years be a problem? Personally, I think we will be right back to where we have been for the past couple Masters. Tiger will start slow and shoot over par Thursday. He will make the cut by a shot or two on Friday, and then steadily climb the leaderboard on Saturday and Sunday. Whatever happens it will be interesting.
6) Lee Westwood- Lee has been very close to winning a major the past couple seasons. However, none of those close finishes were at Augusta. He has been playing good recently. This could be his time. I wont pick him to win though because he seems to shrink in the big moments. In 2008 he had a putt to make a playoff in the US Open, last year at the British he had a putt to make a playoff, and even last week he started in a position to win and shot 41 on the front. He shot 31 on the back to get another comfortable top 10, but nowhere near a win.
5) The Big Easy (Ernie Els)- A month and a half ago Ernie wasn’t even on the map. Then he wins arguably the two biggest events of the year so far and he is the favorite. The Big Easy has had plenty of success at Augusta, almost all of it sprinkled with heartbreak. He watched Phil make the putt on 18 to win in 2004 and he also finished 2nd in 2000 to Vijay. Welcome back to relevancy Ernie.
4) Freddie Boom Boom Couples- As noted above Freddie has officially turned 50. He has played in six golf tournaments this year. Four of them were on the Senior tour and two on the PGA tour. The Senior Tour may have been made just for Freddie. He can ride around in a cart, play three rounds, hit irons into the par fives, and contend every week. A crazy thing happened out there though, Freddie started putting good. Freddie might be the most consistent ball striker in golf, but he suffered from a balky putter (and a bad back) for many years. All of the sudden he can putt and wins every week. Throw in his Ecco shoes and movement to Bridgestone cap instead of the visor and this year has been the rebirth of Freddie.
3) Paddy (Padraig Harrington)-Nobody, and I mean nobody gets themselves ready for a major title more quietly than Paddy. For whatever reason Paddy decided to change his swing last year. It did not turn out to be a good decision. So Paddy went back to the old swing that won three majors and has been playing good if not great golf. He has also been one of the few guys to discuss Tigers situation like a normal human being saying he thought Tiger should get to know the other golfers better and no one knew him. However, he didn’t take the time to listen to the press conference because, there is a"small matter of a golf tournament going on this week.” This guy is ready to go. Look for his name on Sunday.
2) Martin Kaymer- Of all the guys from Europe ranked in the top 10 Marty is the best. He hits it good and putts it good. He is solid all the way around the course and seems to be getting better and better in the US, coming off a third at Doral. He is shaped in the mold of the great Bernard Langer and is a grinder with a lot of talent. He has recently moved to Arizona and is said to be enjoying the American women. This could turn into a weakness, but right now he is keeping his nose clean.
1) The Goose (Retief Goosen)- Did Retief and the Big Easy visit Dr. Galea this offseason? At the beginning of last year it looked like both guys might be finished. Suddenly Ernie is winning every week and Retief has six top 6 finishes this year. Retief also has four top 4 finishes at Augusta. So he is playing good and has played good at The Masters before. So everything looks good, but the main reason I see The Goose taking home the green jacket is his new found hairstyle. It doesn’t look like he has cut his hair in 2010, and he just might be the modern day Samson of golf.