My Top 5 in no particular order. I want Freddie, think Olgilvy, expect Tiger, wouldn't be surprised at Padraig, don't know about Phil. I think top youngin' goes to Mcilroy. OLGILVY WOODS COUPLES MICKELSON HARRINGTON YOUNG GUY = MCILROY
Freddies like an old fighter, he can't go the distance anymore. You have to go with Tiger and since no player who won the week before has ever won the Masters, you can cross off Paul Casey. I like Geoff as well he's got a great game. I wonder who will come out of the crowd and give it a run this year. Last couple of winners were hardly favorites going into the Masters.
If Tiger is solid off the tee he will be extremely difficult to beat. The rest of his game is unrivaled. Any he is mentally tougher than any of them. So I'll go with Zach Johnson. 8)
What do you think is the most predictive stat for a good Masters tourney? Driving Accuracy Greens in Regulation Putts per round. I went to the PGA site after watching a Golf Channel show that the expert said that driving distance didn't really matter, that the last 2 winners were guys who hit the fairways. When I ran the stats for those categories, the Driving Accuracy report didn't give me anybody in the top 25 I thought had a chance, same for Putting. It was the GIR report that when I looked at I said now there's a list of guys who I think can do well this week. Of course I throw all that out and Pick Tiger and Phil like everybody else and of course Harrington. Terry
Terry Augusta has never penalized heavily those that can't find the short grass. Unlike some course setups like the USGA's Open courses, the rough at the Masters is rather tame. With U grooves the big boys don't skip a beat. Putting as always is at a premium and hitting the right part of the green really helps. Oh and if Harrington wins his third straight major, I'll drink Jameson's all next week.
The way their manicuring Augusta lately, with basically no rough, the players are getting huge roll for distance. I think accuracy comes in for the placement of the drive at the Masters. The long hitters will get the benefit of shorter irons to the green, but the medium hitters have middle to long irons they can control perfectly. The greens are pretty big at Augusta, but tricky and undulatiing. It becomes a putting contest at this time. If they make it a U.S. Open venue like they did a few years ago, then the steady eddie guy (Goosen, Johnson) have great chances. If it plays moderately, the guys with above average to long drives, and out of those, the ones who hit GIR with the best percentage have the best shot. If that's the scenario, then it's a putting contest.
AJ....for fun only how about you take your top 5 and I will take my top 5 and we see who has the best cumulative score. I would say if one of our players misses the cut we add plus 2 each day for Sat. and Sun. play. Also, how about we disallow Ogilvy, Harrington, Woods and Mickelson from our selections because we both would have those guys anyway? My Top 5: Furyk Casey Watney Garcia Villegas Or....I tell you what....I'll put these five against your five that you named.
Let's do both. My 5 against your 5 and I'll also take: Couples Els Stenson Goosen Mcilroy I should take Kim, but there's something about this kid....
I think Gipper should weigh in on this...being the golfer that he is. He can re-use one from each of our groups if he wants because we can't tie up everybody. Gipper.....whadda ya say....give it a go?
I like Tiger Phil Geoff Stricker Cink. No way someone as short as Kim wins the Masters. They'd have to go to the Boys dept for a Jacket!
McIlroy??? I know he's Irish and that does give him some advantages...but no 19y/o is going to be in the top 10 at the Masters.
Alright Terry...Ill give you those but really they should against AJ's first five and many are similar. Do you have a top 5 void of the names I listed as excluded? I think anyone that did this would pick Tiger, Phil, Padraig and Olgilvy.
OK I'll make up another 5. 1. D.J. Trahan 2. Briney Baird 3. K.J. Choi 4. Tim Clark 5. Steve Stricker Tee 'em up!
Doc, Have you seen this kid play? BTW, check his vegas odds. He's got better #'s on him than some pretty big names.