Masters Preview

The Masters unofficially kicks off tomorrow with the Par 3 contest. This is another cool quirk about the Masters that I enjoy. Watching these guys freely trying to ace every hole is fun. Also the fact that the winner of the contest has never won the real tournament makes for an interesting dynamic as well. Every player has the same scripted response to the question, but you know they all think about it. They say that they don't believe in jinxes and superstitions like that. However this streak is turning into the Madden and Sports Illustrated covers combined. So I fully expect some middle to lower tier guy to end up winning the Par 3 title, because all the favorites are going to tank it on purpose. So, without further ado here goes my masters preview.

The favorite to win any major golf tournament is obviously Eldrick Woods. This is most certainly the case coming off an impressive win at Bay Hill 2 weeks ago. 2 things were established at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The first is that PGA players are still terrified of Tiger. If anyone watched the meltdown that poor Sean O'Hair had down the stretch can see that. If Tiger is in the final group on Sunday, its almost as good as 2 to 3 stroke advantage against the other guys in his group. The second thing is that Tiger is still the best clutch putter in the history of mankind. It is truly remarkable how this guy continues to drain these monster putts, seemingly with ease. He holed 3 gargantuan 15 to 17 foot putts in that final round, crushing O'Hair's spirit. That being said this is Tiger's first major back. There is no telling how his knee will hold up this week. Tiger might be tempted to reach back for that little extra and tweak his knee a bit. With the fact in mind that Tiger is indeed human(I think), here are some other guys I like this week.

Zach Johnson. Zach had himself a nice little tournament at Bay Hill as well. He actually shot a nice final round on Sunday in the same group as Tiger. Given he was a couple strokes behind and the pressure wasn't squarely on him like it was for O'Hair. Still this is a seasoned guy, been tested in the fire and come through the other side. He obviously has some great memories from Augusta, and has a good blueprint to follow to win this tournament. Look for him to lay up on all the Par 5s, and play within himself. This guy has a great demeanor and knows who he is. I expect him to play good solid golf and avoid mistakes.

Padraig Harrington. This guy has won two majors in a row, and it has all flown under the radar. It has been lost in the shuffle of the return to Tiger-Mania. It seems as if people don't think that it counts because Tiger was on the shelf. I think of it differently. Since Tiger was out, I think everyone else stepped up their game figuring that this is the best shot they'll get. So Padraig was able to take them both down while taking everyone's best shot. Speaking of guys that can make tough pressure putts, this guy is almost in the same class as Woods. He makes up for some inconsistent ball striking with some outstanding work with the flat stick. Paddy finished 5th at Augusta last year, and I expect another solid performance.

Geoff Ogilvy. This man is playing some outstanding golf this year so far. He won two of the 7 tournaments he has played in this year. He also finished in sixth this week at the Shell Houston Open. This guy is on a little bit of a roll, and I expect that to continue on through this week at Augusta. Geoff has typically fared better in the US Open than the Masters, but I think his early season form bodes well for him this week. Always a dangerous player I think this week should be no exception.

Since picking Tiger would utterly lame and boring, I'm going to go out on a limb with this one and pick Ogilvy. He is one of the few guys I think has the stones to stare Tiger down and not crumble. So the green jacket will pass from the South African Trevor Immelman to the Aussie Ogilvy.

P.S. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that this is the year Sergio Garcia pulls a Shooter McGavin and tries to steal the jacket as Immelman is presenting it to Ogilvy. Instead of a huge guy with a nail in his head running him down, it will probably just be Boo Weekley.