Ones To Watch

Of course, the Masters Tournament is a big part of our year at Augusta Magazine. We take it very seriously as journalists, but we also have a lot of fun with it. To help the casual fan decide for whom they might want to cheer, we offer our best estimates of which golfers from around the world are playing at the highest level coming into the tournament, and which ones can stand the pressure of “the back nine at Augusta.” For your consideration, here are our 2012 Ones to Watch.

 

Photo by Michael Holahan

Luke Donald

The world’s number one ranked golfer had a spectacular year in 2011, becoming the first man ever to win the money titles on both the PGA Tour and the PGA European Tour. Donald added a tie for fourth in the 2011 Masters to two other top-10s here, including a third- place finish in his first trip around Augusta National in 2005. He won twice on the PGA Tour last year and twice abroad as well. The only void on his resume is a major championship. The 2012 Masters Tournament would be a great place to check off that box.

 

Photo by Zachary Boyden-Holmes

Jason Day

After making birdie on the final two holes, 24-year-old Aussie Jason Day finished tied for second with countryman Adam Scott in the thrilling finish of the 2011 Masters. He also finished second in last year’s U.S. Open. While Day’s only PGA Tour victory was at the 2010 HP Byron Nelson Championship, he finished his fourth year on Tour in 2011 with 10 top-10 finishes and ninth place on the PGA Tour Money List. Day’s excellent Masters performance last year included a 64 during the second round. Day has all the tools: length, nerve and a great putting stroke. He was right in the middle of the fray last year and he is sure to believe he can do it again this year.

 

Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt

Martin Kaymer

A former World number one golfer and 2010 PGA Champion. Martin Kaymer bowed out in the finals of the World Golf Championship Accenture Match Play to Luke Donald in 2011, but won the World Golf Championship HSBC Champions in Shanghai, China,  and the Abu Dhabi Championship, finishing third on the European Money List, and reached as high as the number two World Ranking. Kaymer has shown his mettle, overcoming a four-stroke, final-round deficit starting the final round of the 2010 PGA to defeat Bubba Watson in a playoff. Kaymer hasn’t shown much form at the Masters, missing the cut last year and never finishing higher than 46th in four appearances. But he is a proven commodity in big tournaments and, at just 27, Germany’s second major champion—after Bernhard Langer—is poised for a great 2012.

 

Photo by Corey Perrine

Rory McIlroy

The story at the 2011 Masters Tournament for the first 63 holes, and probably the story of the year, was Rory McIlroy. The 21-year-old McIlroy suffered an epic collapse on the back nine on Sunday, much as he had in the second round of the 2010 British open, shooting an 80 after taking the lead with a record setting first round 63. But the brilliantly talented youngster from Northern Ireland with the boyish charm and manly shoulders is a “nearly” can’t miss kid. He bombs it, hits precision irons, chips like Mickelson and putts like Crenshaw. If you can get him in the Calcutta, do so.

 

Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson had what would be a career year for most golfers in 2011, but it wasn’t up to his lofty standards, which caused him to fall to 14th in the world rankings. He won the Shell Houston Open (his 39th on Tour), had a good President’s Cup, was second at the Farmer’s Insurance Open and tied for second at the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s. The highlight of his year, though, had to come when his fellow PGA Tour players elevated him into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Who could forget the thrills Phil gave us in winning here just two years ago—his third green jacket. Don’t you know he’d like to equal Tiger Woods’s four?

 

Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt

Adam Scott

Adam Scott was a big part of the incredible race to the finish in last year’s Masters. Most people in the gallery thought he had done it when he reached 12-under late on Sunday and separated himself from the cavalry charge on the back nine—that is until Charl Schwartzel flew by him. It wasn’t a loss, nor was it Scott’s fault that he didn’t win Australia’s first green jacket. You didn’t lose when someone else finishes better than anybody ever has in 75 years. Scott finished the year ranked fifth in the world and plans to go higher.

 

Photo by Jackie Ricciardi

Steve Stricker

Amazingly, Steve Stricker was the highest ranked American at sixth in the world rankings at the start of 2012. It’s not amazing that Stricker is highly ranked—it’s amazing that there are no Americans in the top five. Probably the best putter on the PGA Tour, Stricker has already won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, the first tournament of 2012, and won twice last year, in Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament and the John Deere Classic. He is considered a consummate professional and nice guy by his fellow Tour players and is certainly a serious threat in the 2012 Masters Tournament.

 

Photo by Michael Holahan

Charl Schwartzel

What a show! As one writer put it, they came around the final turn six wide at the 2011 Masters. That’s when Charl Schwartzel found his fifth gear and finished the final four famous holes birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie! He has seven wins on the European Tour and had 11 top-10 finishes in 2011, adding the Joburg Open to his Masters Championship. The Masters has been won by South African players five times—three times by the legendary Gary Player, once by Trevor Immelman four years ago and once by Schwartzel, on the 50th anniversary of his hero Player’s first in 1961. It was no fluke. It could happen again.

 

Photo by Corey Perrine

Tiger Woods

After two years of personal challenges on and off the course, Tiger Woods finally won a golf tournament at the Chevron World Challenge in December. It was a small field tournament, but a great field and he won it in Tiger fashion—by one stroke with a birdie on the final hole for a six-under 66. He opened his 2012 season with a fine tournament at Abu Dabi and seems to have his new swing where he wants it. When his putter returns to its previous form, he could be the Tiger of old. In which case, betting on Tiger Woods will once again be an excellent investment strategy.

 

Photo by Corey Perrine

Lee Westwood

Ranked number two in the world, and at number one for much of 2011, Lee Westwood is a threat to win on any continent and any course. He had four victories in 2011, plus a second in the European BMW PGA Championship and a third at the U.S. Open. He finished 11th here last year and was a valiant second to Phil Mickelson’s classic finish in 2010. He played well enough to win the 2010 Masters, but what are you going to do when another guy hits the green from between the trees on Sunday and lips out on No. 15 that would have been three eagles in a row on Saturday? No, Westwood is definitely a favorite at the 2012 Masters and there may not be anyone who wants it more.