The Masters Tournament
Augusta National Golf Club
Thursday Apr 7th - Sunday Apr 10th, 2016
by David Barwise
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| Photo: espn.go.com |
The biggest, most significant Masters tournament in recent
years.
That may sound like an overstatement, but it isn’t. Let me
put it like this – the “Big Three” are as tightly matched as ever. We’ve seen
Spieth take victory at the beginning of 2016. We’ve seen McIlroy best Day to
rise to 2nd in the world, only for the Australian to leap-frog both
of them to go top.In fact, Day has two wins from his last two tournaments. But
then again Jordan Spieth is the only one of the three to win The Masters, and
he’s defending champion. And let us not forget that Rory already has FOUR
majors to his name, and he could have been higher up the pecking order if he
hadn’t been side-lined last year with injury.
Suffice to say that a win at (arguably) the biggest event of
the year would set any of these three apart from the rest. We all know what a
Masters win can do for one’s authority on the game – if you don’t, I turn your
attention to Jordan Spieth’s 2015. A victory on Sunday (or even a cut missed on
the Friday) could set the golfing landscape for the next 12 months.
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| Photo: www.sportingnews.com |
And that’s before we consider the fringe players. Okay,
maybe that’s a bit of an unfair term for golfers of this standard, but Rickie
Fowler and Dustin Johnson currently stand where Day and Spieth did at this
point last season. Both players are overdue for a major, and the hunger is
definitely there. Rickie has already found victory this season in Dubai, and
Dustin came close last week. They both have the ability to shoot low at
Augusta, so this may be their best shot at joining the majors club… and the
“big four”.
Of course, some of the other fringe players are already in
the majors club. Bubba, Adam Scott, Oosthuizen and Schwartzel all have global
wins in 2016, all have great experiences at Augusta, all have been victorious
here (apart from Oosthuizen, who finished 2nd to Bubba in *that*
playoff). All of these players will expect to be in contention and show their
resurgence to the world.
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| Photo: www.skysports.com |
It’s the biggest tournament of the year so far, so of course
it’s easy to claim that every big name is going to perform and challenge for a
green jacket this year. But obviously, that’s not going to happen. So who am I
not expecting to win? Easy. Henrik Stenson. I know that may seem strange
considering he’s 6th in world and on great form (a quick form-calculation
shows that his average finish this season is 9th – the only player
in the world’s top 30 to crack an average in the top 10). But the fact is that
he just isn’t finishing his tournaments off at the moment with the nerves
getting the best of his putting. You can sometimes get away with being a shade
uncertain with the putter at other golf courses, but not at Augusta National.
Also, for a former world no. 2, his record at the Masters nowhere near as
strong as his other major appearances (he has never broken into the top 10).
Another absentee at the top of the leaderboard – I’m
predicting – will be Patrick Reed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of the way
that he’s playing, but I don’t quite feel that he’s mature enough to win just
yet. Sure he has the determination to win you can see that with every swing of
the club, but can he handle the sport’s biggest stage? Not quite. He’s played
the Masters only twice so far and, unless if you’re Jordan Spieth (1, T2) I
wouldn’t want to back anyone who has to battle the biggest names this week with
so little experience. Remembering, on top of this, the controversial WD he had
at the Farmers Insurance Open because of bad weather, he still has a little
growing up to do before he’s in the mind-set of a major winner. Please, prove
me wrong.
As always, the Masters is one of the most hotly-anticipated
sporting events on the calendar. But whoever is able to cut through the
pressure, media attention and mountainous greens, can carve their way into
history.
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