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PrintOnes To Watch
As the 75th Masters Tournament begins, expectations of a champion rise like the warmth of an Augusta spring day. Will someone win their first green jacket? Or will there be another victory added to the records of a previous winner? Whatever the final round holds on that fateful Sunday afternoon, the tournament forecast compiled here includes some of the world’s best golfers, predictably, because it’s at the Masters where the stars of the game have historically dominated. Since the second tournament in 1935 when Gene Sarazen hit “the shot heard round the world,” with a double eagle on No. 15 to tie the lead and later win, it has been about the stars of golf. So with that in mind, here are our top 10 picks for 2011 along with how they have earned their standing in the world of golf.
Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker
Paul Casey
Englishman Paul Casey finished 2010 ranked number eight in the world and then started off 2011 with a win in the Volvo Golf Championship in Bahrain on January 30. Casey won the 2009 Shell Houston Open on the PGA Tour and has 11 international victories. Last year he had top six or better finishes in three of the four World Golf Championships, tied for third in the British Open and had five other top-10 finishes in America including a tie for fourth at the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta. The victory in Bahrain this year was against a star-studded European Tour field and he has proven he can win against the best.
Photo by Zach Boyden Holmes
Fred Couples
Yes, we know that Fred Couples is 51, but his four-win first season on the Champions Tour where he was named Rookie of the Year showed he is still very long off the tee and the return of his putting stroke, especially on those three-footers that have troubled him so much in the past decade, puts “Freddie” back into a winning frame of mind. In February, Couples led the Northern Trust Open after the second round and, with three opening birdies on Sunday, he had the early lead before fading to a tie for seventh. In his fourth win last year at the Administaff Small Business Classic, “Freddie” shot a final-round 63 that included a brilliant 29 on the back nine. He was atop the leaderboard after the first round in last year’s Masters, his 26th, and shook roars out of the galleries with birdies on the second and third holes on Sunday before finishing sixth. Meeting the press after the fourth round last year Couples said, “I have a game that’s suited to this course. This is my all-time favorite spot.
Photo by Annette M. Drowlette
Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk is another top player who missed the cut at the 2010 Masters (with a plus-12 total for the back nine over his two rounds). Furyk has 16 PGA Tour wins (26 overall worldwide), including the 2003 U.S. Open and last year’s Tour Championship, which won him the coveted FedExCup as the top player of the year on the PGA Tour. In addition to his one major win, Furyk has 17 top-10 finishes in majors, including two fourths and a tie for sixth at the Masters. He finished second on the PGA Tour Money List last year with wins at the Transitions in March and the Heritage in April before his big win in Atlanta at the end of the season. Furyk is certainly a major threat to win here this year.
Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt
Martin Kaymer
Martin Kaymer won three tournaments in a row in 2010, starting with a major championship in the PGA Tournament in August. He shot up the World Rankings, winning his next two outings at the KLM Open in the Netherlands in September and then at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews in October. Kaymer also won the 2010 Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in January. He won twice on the European Tour in 2008 and again in 2009. He had top-10 finishes in the 2010 U.S. and British opens. He has missed the cut in all three Masters Tournaments he has played, but Kaymer is clearly an emerging star in the game of golf. If he surprises you by winning the 2011 Masters, you haven’t been paying attention over the past three year.
Photo by Zach Boyden Holmes
Matt Kuchar
Matt Kuchar had the kind of year in 2010 that all Masters’ fans have been waiting for since he charmed us with his brilliant smile and wonderful golf playing the 1998 Masters as an amateur. Last year he finished second in the FedExCup playoffs with a victory at the Barclays, led the Tour in money earned with $4.9 million and won the Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average at 69.61. A natural crowd pleaser, Matt Kuchar would be welcomed by Augusta galleries as the winner of the 2011 green jacket.
Photo by Zach Boyden Holmes
Graeme McDowell
Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland led a fierce European charge throughout the 2010 golf season, winning the Celtic Manor Wales Open in his last start before winning the U.S. Open, both in June. He won again in October at the Andalucía Valderrama Open in Spain. He missed a playoff by one stroke in this year’s season-opening Tournament of Champions. The first World Golf Rankings of 2011 have him at number five. Europeans won 10 PGA Tour events last year, but none so important as McDowell’s Open victory at storied Pebble Beach. He was 54th in the 2010 Masters and tied for 17th the year before that—his best finish in three tries. McDowell has certainly reached the world stage and a second major championship in two years would validate the first
Photo by Corey Perrine
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson won his third Masters Tournament in rousing style last year, certainly the highlight of another good year on the PGA Tour. He finished second in his next start at the Wells Fargo Championship and finished in a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open. He had three other top-eight finishes, all in important tournaments, at Pebble Beach, the Memorial and the BMW during the FedExCup playoffs. “Phil the Thrill” will surely bring the highest bids at Augusta-area Calcutta parties before the tournament and just as surely will be the gallery favorite to tie Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods with the second-most green jackets at four.
Photo by Zach Boyden Holmes
Steve Striker
With two victories and more than $4 million last year, Steve Stricker finished fifth on the U.S. Money List and seventh in the World Golf Rankings. Although he had an undistinguished run in the majors in 2010, with a tie for 18th in the PGA as his best showing, he finished strong, as usual, with three top-10s in the FedExCup playoffs. He holds the all-time lead in that category with 13. He has only two top-10 finishes in 10 appearances at the Masters, with his best a tie for 6th in 2009. Stricker’s greatest strength is his uncanny putting ability and every Masters fan knows how important that skill is at Augusta National. The two-time comeback player of the year, Stricker is very popular among his fellow touring pros and could get his first major championship victory here this year.
Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt
Lee Westwood
Now Europe’s top player for the second time, Lee Westwood had a brilliant 2009 season. He shot a course record 8-under 64 to win the season-ending Dubai World Championship, taking him to fourth place in the World Golf Rankings. Westwood also won the Portugal Masters, ending a streak of three play-off losses and three recent near misses in majors. Westwood missed the classic U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate by one stroke. He tied for third in both the British Open PGA Championship last year. Nick Faldo is the only Englishman with more tournament victories than Westwood. His best Masters was sixth in 1999, but his resurgence last fall makes him a favorite in any important tournament.
Photo by Michael Holahan
Tiger Woods
Despite not winning a tournament in 2010 for the first time in his professional career, which dates back to 1996, Tiger Woods finished with a number two World Ranking. That was because his lead over the rest of the world had been so huge as the year began. He didn’t really come close to winning with ties for fourth his best showings, coming in the Masters and the U.S. Open. But any of us who have lived on the planet during the past 15 years knows how immensely talented and determined Woods is. The Masters is his favorite tournament and he will be breathing fire when he tees it up here in 2011.
