It's That Time again

It's Monday the 4th of April, and it is the first day of a glorious week, the week of the first golfing major of the year and my favorite of the four golfing majors. There is just something special about Augusta National that sets it apart from all other golf courses and tournaments. Ask any golfer what course they would love to play most and the vast majority will opt for the lush green fairways of Augusta National Golf Club.

It's only a few short days before the first balls are hit by the professionals and already the fairways and greens on site have seen some action with some of the best young players in the world teeing it up in the Drive, Chip and Putt contests that are held for kids from the age of 6 up to around 15. I watched some of the coverage yesterday and the kids are amazing, seven year olds swinging it better than lots of adults at my home club! On Wednesday the pros will take part in the par 3 contest, which deep down nobody will want to win, as the winner of the par 3 contest has never gone on to win the overall prize since the par 3 contest was added to Masters week back in 1960. Golf is already a mental minefield, so the last thing any of the top players need is another thought bouncing around their head. So, with the exception of maybe Padraic Harrington who has won this 3 times, you don't often see the top players looking to win it, it is just a formality and a bit of fun before the real deal begins. Instead what you will see is lots of smiles and laughing, at least one hole in one and pros giving their kids, caddies and wives a shot or two as part of their novelty round. It's a good way to ensure that they don't win it!

Thursday at Augusta

Thursday comes and the wait is over for another year, as things get under way. Somebody unexpected gets off to a rocket start with three quick birdies in six holes, but they never keep it going. What August gives, Augusta doth take away just as quickly. It is not a golf course that you can take for granted by any means and the greenkeepers will have it playing nicely for practice on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday only for the real course and real greens to show their teeth on Thursday when the pros tee it up.

Questions abound. Who will we see slipping the green jacket on come Sunday evening? Will anyone melt down on the back 9? Will we see a late surge through Amen corner? Will a form player prevail or is a shock on the cards? Questions galore as we all lap up the kaleidoscope of colours we've grown accustomed to around Augusta National. The pink and white of the azaleas are a feast for the eyes, as the lush green manicured fairways wait anxiously for the worlds best players to toil tirelessly for the biggest prize in golf - The Masters title. A Title win will bring with it a lifelong invitation to play the Masters, which players like Bernhard Langer (winner in 1985 and 1993), Sandy Lyle (Winner in 1988), Larry Mize (Winner in 1987), José María Olazábal (Winner in 1995 and 1999), Vijay Singh (Winner in 2000) are utilising this year and it is always nice to see one or two of these veterans having a good tournament and Langer would be my pick to finish the best from those I just mentioned.

Even those who know nothing about golf or sport in general will be familiar with the scene that is Augusta National Golf course in in the US state of Georgia. This pristine golf course is what Wimbledon is to tennis players; what Wembley is to footballers. It is arguably golf's biggest stage and a stage upon which all of the world's greatest want to bring their A-game.

A nod to the past

One of the nicest things about the Masters is their appreciation of history and of the golfing greats of yesteryear. Not only do they allow previous winners of a green jacket to return to this golfing amphitheater each year, but they also include three of the greatest golfers ever to play the game to drive in the competition each year. I am of course talking about the three amigos Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.

With the passing of Arnold Palmer in 2016, there are only two of the great three left standing, but they are still very much part of the build up to the Masters, and will again drive off the competition this year. They were joined last year by legendary player Lee Elder, who became the first black man to play at the Masters in 1975. He inspired future golfing stars like Tiger Woods to pursue their golfing dreams.

@Ablaze's Tips for the Masters 2022

Firstly, if betting is not your thing, then just scroll on by this section, but I know some people like to have a small bet on the golf and many workplaces or sports club do a sweepstakes, so this is for your benefit. When it comes to picking winners for these type of tournaments, I like to whittle the list down to a smaller more manageable list, by removing players I believe will not feature based on some criteria, which I will go through now, but before I do so, here is the full list of players and their bookmaker odds for the 2022 Masters title.

Full List of Players

Jon Rahm 11/1

Justin Thomas 12/1

Cameron Smith 14/1

Dustin Johnson 14/1

Scottie Scheffler 14/1

Collin Morikawa 16/1

Viktor Hovland 16/1

Brooks Koepka 18/1

Jordan Spieth 18/1

Patrick Cantlay 18/1

Rory McIlroy 18/1

Xander Schauffele 18/1

Bryson DeChambeau 33/1

Daniel Berger 33/1

Sam Burns 33/1

Will Zalatoris 33/1

Hideki Matsuyama 40/1

Louis Oosthuizen 40/1

Shane Lowry 40/1

Matt Fitzpatrick 45/1

Paul Casey 45/1

Sungjae Im 45/1

Tyrrell Hatton 45/1

Adam Scott 50/1

Corey Conners 50/1

Joaquin Niemann 50/1

Patrick Reed 50/1

Russell Henley 50/1

Tiger Woods 50/1

Tommy Fleetwood 50/1

Tony Finau 50/1

Abraham Ancer 66/1

Bubba Watson 66/1

Justin Rose 66/1

Marc Leishman 66/1

Sergio Garcia 66/1

Webb Simpson 66/1

Seamus Power 70/1

Billy Horschel 80/1

Gary Woodland 80/1

Max Homa 80/1

Si Woo Kim 80/1

Thomas Pieters 90/1

Brian Harman 100/1

Jason Kokrak 100/1

Kevin Kisner 100/1

Luke List 100/1

Robert MacIntyre 100/1

Talor Gooch 100/1

Cameron Young 125/1

Christiaan Bezuidenhout 125/1

Harold Varner lll 125/1

Lee Westwood 125/1

Sepp Straka 125/1

Tom Hoge 125/1

Cameron Champ 150/1

Erik van Rooyen 150/1

Francesco Molinari 150/1

Kevin Na 150/1

Lucas Herbert 150/1

Matthew Wolff 150/1

Ryan Palmer 150/1

Danny Willett 175/1

Mackenzie Hughes 175/1

Cameron Davis 200/1

J.J. Spaun 200/1

K.H Lee 200/1

Garrick Higgo 250/1

Harry Higgs 250/1

Keita Nakajima 250/1

Min Woo Lee 250/1

Stewart Cink 250/1

Zach Johnson 250/1

Charl Schwartzel 300/1

Hudson Swafford 300/1

Lucas Glover 300/1

Padraig Harrington 300/1

Takumi Kanaya 300/1

Guido Migliozzi 400/1

Austin Greaser 1000/1

Bernhard Langer 1000/1

Fred Couples 1000/1

James Piot 1000/1

Stewart Hagestad 1000/1

Vijay Singh 1000/1

Laird Shepherd 1500/1

Mike Weir 1500/1

Aaron Jarvis 2000/1

José Maria Olazábal 2000/1

Larry Mize 5000/1

Sandy Lyle 5000/1

That's all our runners and riders for this week, so now, I am going to start removing some players based on some facts. This first one is that 9 of the last 10 winners were aged under 40 (Tiger was the one who was over 40 a few years back). A second fact is that 10 of the last 10 winners were ranked in the World's top 30 golfers going into the event. My third fact is that 9 out of 10 players had made the cut the year before. My last fact is that 10 of the last 10 had posted a top 40 at Augusta before (in other words they knew the course)

I will now list the players who meet these four criteria, which whittles our list down to just nineteen players, which I have shared below:

@Ablaze's refined List of Players

Jon Rahm 11/1

Justin Thomas 12/1

Cameron Smith 14/1

Scottie Scheffler 14/1

Collin Morikawa 16/1

Viktor Hovland 16/1

Jordan Spieth 18/1

Xander Schauffele 18/1

Bryson DeChambeau 33/1

Will Zalatoris 33/1

Hideki Matsuyama 40/1

Louis Oosthuizen 40/1

Matt Fitzpatrick 45/1

Tyrrell Hatton 45/1

Joaquin Niemann 50/1

Tony Finau 50/1

Abraham Ancer 66/1

Billy Horschel 80/1

Kevin Na 150/1

@Ablaze's Five players to back

It is not easy to pick just five that I feel will feature, but I'll give it a go, so here are my five tips for Masters 2022:

Jon Rahm 11/1

Jon Rahm loves Augusta and has made the cut each of the five times he has played here. He finished 27th on his debut in 2017 and has finished 4th, 9th, 7th and 5th in the years that followed. Augusta suits Jon and if he can take care of the par 5s with eagles and birdies like he is capable of and avoids silly mistakes, then he is the one to beat this week and a justified favorite in my eyes. I think it might just be Jon's year.

Cameron Smith 14/1

Cameron Smith is hard not to like. He just looks so chilled out the whole time, I'm not so sure about the mullet he sports, but one thing is for sure the young man is a gifted golfer. With three top tens in his five appearances and all cuts made, the plucky Australian will be there or thereabouts come Sunday evening and he won only a few weeks ago at the Players Championship, so his game is sharp.

Collin Morikawa 16/1

Mr. Composure Collin Morikawa has teed it up twice at Augusta in 2020 and 2021 and never really got it going with only one score in the 60s, his second round 69 last year, but finishes of 44th and 18th mean that he knows his way around and experience counts around Augusta, be fully expecting Collin to improve on his previous showings and post his first top ten this week.

Xander Schauffele 18/1

Xander had a great year last year and ended up finishing 3rd and although he has only played here four times before, last year was not his best finish. He went one better in 2019 when finishing tied runner up to none other than Tiger Woods. Xander is another younster who knows his way around Augusta with finishes of 50th, 2nd, 17th and 3rd since 2018. I expect him to be in this again this year and he certainly has the game to win it if he is in with a chance come Sunday evening.

Tony Finau 50/1

Tony is my outsider. He made it in past all of my criteria above and is good value at 50/1 in my opinion. His form is a bit erratic, but that wont matter when he drives up Magnolia Lane and sees the Augusta National golf course on front of him. He is another Augusta specialist, with three top tens from four starts, which includes a 10th place in his debut year in 2018. His four finishes are 10th, 5th, 38th and 10th.

Others who may feature

I think the following players will all make the cut and some may feature when things hot up on the back 9 on Sunday evening. Augusta is all about knowledge and knowing where to miss and when to take your medicine, so these are a few older guys who tend to do well around this magnificent golf course:

Paul Casey 50/1

Mark Leishman 66/1

Justin Rose 66/1

Adam Scott 50/1

Thanks for reading.

The two images here are not my own and were sourced from the following sites:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/golf.com/news/features/100-facts-masters-augusta-national/amp/

https://amp.tmz.com/2020/03/13/2020-masters-golf-tournament-postponed-over-coronavirus/

Peace Out.