Masters weekend is upon us. There are a ton of storylines to follow this year, chief among them is Tiger Woods’ return to the stage that made him a worldwide star.
Other storylines to follow at this year’s Masters: Will Rory McIlroy finally get over the hump? Will Thomas Pieters play well again after finishing fourth last year? Will Rickie Fowler get his first major? Will someone new rise up and steal our hearts? There is going to be a lot to watch and a lot to be excited about on golf’s biggest stage.
So who should you be watching the closest? Who are the top contenders to put on that Green Jacket and take their place in history?
1. Tiger Woods
This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Woods has played some great golf over the last two months, playing in five tournaments and placing in the top 12 in three of them. Woods has also been playing well recently too finishing tied for second at the Valspar and tied for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He took two weeks off to prepare for Augusta and with how well he’s been playing plus his decent history at the Masters it’s no surprise that Tiger is one of the favorites to wear the jacket again.
2. Dustin Johnson
The world’s number one player is obviously going to be one of top players to watch this weekend. Of the five events Dustin Johnson has participated in this year, he’s finished within the top 16 in four of them. furthermore Dustin finished sixth at the Masters in 2015 and fourth in 2016. He didn’t compete at Augusta last year but he’s right at the finish line it’s just going to take one final push for him to finally get there.
3. Rory McIlroy
Recently, Rory is coming off a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and has jumped up the FedEx Rankings by almost 150 spots. However we know that Rory has had trouble finishing strong at Augusta and it’s become somewhat of a distraction. That being said McIlroy has finished within the top ten at the Masters every year since 2014 so like Johnson he’s right there it’s just a matter of finishing the thing. Coming off his recent win Rory must be feeling confident and when he’s on he is one of the best golfers in the entire world.
4. Rickie Fowler
Fowler hasn’t started the 2018 season great, but he finished 2017 really strong nothing finishes within the top four in each of the last three events of 2017. Like McIlroy and Woods, Fowler also has a strong history at Augusta, placing outside the top 12 just once since 2014. Rickie has grown as a golfer a lot over the last few years and being able to finally get that first major win would be huge for him to continue as one of golf’s new stars.
5. Bubba Watson
Bubba has two wins so far in 2018, which coincidentally is the same number of green jackets he already has. Bubba has to be considered a major contender this weekend just because he does play the Masters so well (obviously) and is playing very well of late. Bubba can absolutely swing it and that alone makes him dangerous.
Honorable Mentions:
Obviously guys like Phil Mickelson and the world’s second ranked player Justin Thomas need to be considered as contenders for the Masters. Jordan Spieth is also going to be up there come Sunday as well.
All in all though it’s bound to be a fun weekend, so let’s strap in and get ready to watch some great golf.
Follow Jake on Twitter @JakeHasan2
More predictions at Doc’s Sports.
