Thursday, April 9, 2015

2015 Masters Preview

Ahh yes, the best weekend of the year is FINALLY here. I wait all year for this, to lay on my couch and watch some incredible golf at one of the best courses in the world. There's truly nothing like it. You're also almost guaranteed to witness some incredible golf. From the start of Thursday's round till the end of the tournament on Sunday I can guarantee you I will not be watching anything but the Masters. This year will be absolutely incredible. Tiger is back and says he's ready to play. Dustin Johnson is off cocaine and focused. Young gun Jordan Spieth is hot lately. Rory McIlroy is trying to complete the career grand slam. Phil Mickelson will look to get his fourth green jacket although only 8 players in the history of the tournament have won it after the 44th birthday. It should be an incredible tournament this weekend. 

Thursday's Tee Times
Thursday has some absolutely AWESOME groups and I'm having a really hard time deciding which one I like the most. These are the top 5 groups that I am excited to see on Thursday. 

1. First we've got Patrick Reed, Keegan Bradley, and Ian Poulter, what a trio of absolute legends. Each of these guys is someone that you don't want to sleep on because they could easily come up and win it all while you're not paying attention. 

2. Then we've got Dustin Johnson (who I think has a possibility of wearing the green jacket) and Adam Scott who's also a solid golfer. DJ has been hot lately and I don't think that's about to change. 

3. Next we've got Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy, this is an honest question, has there ever been a better duo in golf? I don't think so. I feel like these two will probably hit the bar together after the round and slam beers and wheel girls. I love it. 

4. Then we've got young gun Jordan Spieth with Henrik Stenson, the 21 year old Spieth has gotten a lot of attention from his incredible display at last year's Masters so I wouldn't be surprised to see him at the top of the leader board come Sunday afternoon.

5. Next up we've got Jason Day, Sergio Garcia and, Rickie Fowler. They should keep this group together all weekend and call them the Choke Artists. I like all 3 guys but none of them are consistent enough to be putting on the green jacket come sunday. 

Obviously every grouping is pretty much full of studs but these are just a few of my favorites that I'm excited to see. I'm obviously also excited to see Tiger Woods but to be honest I do not care about Jamie Donaldson.

Last Year's Winner
I was talking about this earlier with Mark, I don't really hate any golfers, I appreciate the game and am generally a fan, until it comes to Bubba Watson. I hate Bubba so much. Such a god damn nerd. Bubba also won the Masters in 2012, that's 2 green jackets in 2 years, honestly it's impressive but I still hate you. I will probably drive to Augusta to fight Bubba if he wins again, I need someone new to wear that green jacket. Not some freak from Florida who looks like he's still breastfed. I don't expect to see Bubba do anything this year, wouldn't even be surprised if he missed the cut. (JK, I would be kind of surprised if he missed the cut). No one has won back to back green jackets since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002 and Bubba is nowhere near the player that Tiger was in those days. 

Tiger Woods
After a 2 month hiatus following some brutal golf, Tiger is back baby! This will be Tiger's 20th time competing for the green jacket. Most of those other years, Tiger was entering the tournament as a favorite, this year he will be a major underdog. No one expects much out of Tiger since he hasn't even been finishing rounds lately. Let me say this, throughout all his problems I have been a huge Tiger fan but I'm sick of him not competing. Golf needs Tiger and Tiger needs golf, that's just a fact. I think this is his official comeback, he said today that he feels good and is ready. Reading that fired me up an insane amount, I need Tiger! My official prediction is that Tiger will finish in the top 10 on Sunday.  Check out his press conference from yesterday here. 

Favorites to Win
Let me preface this by saying that these are MY predictions for guys that I think have a chance to win it, there is absolutely no science to it.

Dustin Johnson
DJ is my #1 pick to win it all. He's been playing great this year, he's off cocaine, his party days are behind him. This is his first major event since his hiatus. In his last 5 starts he's had 1 win and 3 other top 6 finishes. DJ's game fits Augusta well and I think he's going to capitalize on that this year. The guy can absolutely crush the ball which should suit him well on this long course. Look for DJ to be putting on the green jacket Sunday. 

Rory McIlroy
This one is probably pretty obvious. Rory has won the last two majors and since breaking of his engagement with tennis player Caroline Wozniacki he's been lighting the golf world on fire. Unstoppable. He comes to Augusta looking to complete the career grand slam. The only thing that worries me about McIlroy is that he's only had one Top 10 finish at Augusta, we'll see if he can turn that around this year. It would be awesome to see Rory get the grand slam and rock the green jacket. 

Jordan Spieth
Spieth is my favorite young golfer right now. He stormed the scene last year at the Masters. He was playing great until he had an awful back nine on Sunday last year. Now with a little experience under his belt I think this could be Spieth's major breakthrough. He is the youngest player behind Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia to win multiple PGA events. This could be Jordan's year. 

Broadcast Schedule: 
Odds: 
Here are the odds to win the Masters according to Keith Glantz and Russell Culver courtesy of NJ.com.
Rory McIlroy 5-1
Jordan Spieth 10-1
Bubba Watson 10-1
Jason Day 14-1
Dustin Johnson 16-1
Henrik Stenson 16-1
Adam Scott 20-1
Phil Mickelson 25-1
Jimmy Walker 25-1
Rickie Fowler 35-1
Matt Kuchar 35-1
Patrick Reed 35-1
Justin Rose 35-1
Sergio Garcia 40-1
Brandt Snedeker 40-1
Tiger Woods 45-1
Louis Oosthuizen 50-1
Lee Westwood 50-1
Angel Cabrera 65-1
Jim Furyk 65-1
J.B. Holmes 65-1
Billy Horschel 65-1
Brooks Koepka 65-1
Hideki Matsuyama 65-1
Charl Schwartzel 65-1
Martin Kaymer 70-1
Ian Poulter 70-1
Keegan Bradley 80-1
Paul Casey 80-1
Luke Donald 80-1
Jason Dufner 80-1
Zach Johnson 80-1
Ryan Moore 80-1
Hunter Mahan 100-1
Field (All Others) 20-1

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