Masters 2016 Golf Preview

Masters 2016 Golf Preview

Every year the Masters throws up some major surprises and this year will be no different. Can Jordan Spieth defend his crown?

Every year we see the best golfers from all over the world, past and present major champions, and up and coming amateur golfers head to Augusta to win the covered green jacket. Last Year American Jordan Spieth and current world number two won his first green jacket by eight strokes over American Phil Mickelson and Englishman Justin Rose.

Augusta tests the best of the best every year and it always brings surprises, shocks, tension, drama, amazing atmosphere and breathing taking Golf. One thing you need at Augusta is flexibility and being able to adapt if the course changes (shadows do have a big effect on ball flight later in the day) if you have that you are a good chance of winning.

Augusta National names its holes individually after plants or object on every hole. For example, the opening hole 445-yard par 4 is called tea-olive. (Have a look at http://www.augusta.com/masters/coursetour for more info). Other odd characteristics that Augusta has includes spectators not allowed to have their phones on the course, the caddies to wear all white, holes side by side.

Fans will miss up and coming star South Korean Sangmoon Bae (who’s out due to military service), veteran American Jim Furyk along with former champions Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal and 14-time major champion American will not be at the tournament due to injury. The loss of Woods will certainly hurt as they do draw in the crowd and television numbers.

New Zealand fans will hope that Danny Lee will at least make the cut and be competitive at his first Masters tournament. However, the Masters is known for spitting out first timers who play on the great course. It will be interesting to see how Danny goes with his new caddie, after splitting with his former caddie earlier this week.

Generally, when the Masters tournament comes around there is no clear cut favorite and this year’s tournament will be no different. Here are our picks as to who we think are players to watch out for.
Golfers to watch this weekend:

Jason Day:
The Australian World Number 1 comes into the Masters in superb form after winning the WCG Matchplay Championship at the difficult TPC Harding Park. Jason also won the final major of the year, the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. The likable Aussie is growing from strength to strength as a golfer and has been compared to Australian legend Greg Norman who had a good all-round game. Although Jason is in good form at the moment he needs to get off to a good start and shoot an under par round in round 1 to build confidence going forward in the tournament.

Jordan Spieth:
America’s World Number 2 and defending champion comes back to Augusta looking to be the first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002 to defend the green jacket. Speith has the game to win as he proved last year as he hits the ball straight, strong from the fairway which put him in a good position to make birdies. Going against Speith is momentum, he got knocked out earlier than expected in the WGC Matchplay championships two weeks ago and is struggling with his putting.

Rory McIrory
The former world number one and four-time major champion comes to Augusta trying to capture his first green jacket and be the first British player to win the green jacket since Sir Nick Faldo in 1996. The problem for Rory at Augusta is pressure, Rory back in 2011 should have won his first green jacket after going into the final round with a four shot lead. However, he cracked badly pressure and shot an 80 and in doing so lost by 10 shots to eventual winner Charl Schwartzel. Every year he comes in with good form to Augusta with the hope of finally winning his first green jacket. But you would have to wonder how much that final round still plays in his mind when he comes to back to Augusta every year.

Bubba Watson:
Two time former Augusta Champion Bubba Watson also is another guy than you can’t rule out. His incredibly long drives allow him to go for the long par 5’s and drivable par 4’s which allows him the chance to gain extra strokes. Bubba knows how to cope with the pressure at Augusta after his nail-biting victory over Louis Oosthuizen in 2012. Bubba’s driving though can be a weakness though as if you go offline here its difficult to get back on.

Adam Scott:
Adam Scott comes back to Augusta with iconic Kiwi caddie Steve Williams after Steve didn’t attend last year due to being in retirement. Since coming back on Adam’s bag this year, Adam has been in the top 10 on a consistent basis in 2016 and has won the Honda Classic and WGC Cadillac Championship. Steve has helped Adam regain the confidence that made him World Number 1. Expect him to be in contention as Steve knows how to caddie at Augusta as he helped Tiger Woods win his 4 green jackets and also help Adam pick up his first green jacket in 2013.
There are other golfers including former British Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen and former Us Open Champion Justin Rose who will be very competitive this weekend. Both golfers can both hit the ball along way which allows them to take advantage of the slopping fairways at Augusta. Dustin Johnson, has got the game to win him his first major championship, long hitter, good fairway player and good in and around the green. But pressure can get the better of Dustin if he has a chance to win. Veterans Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson always lift here as they love the tournament and both are former champions.

My Prediction
I think that you will have a surprise name lead round one but Jason Day will claim his first green jacket.