My favorite major golf championship is the Masters. There’s something magical about Augusta, azaleas, and Amen Corner. It seems every year, something special happens.
Strange that you may find it difficult to name the last 3 Masters champs. No Tiger, Phil, or Ernie (who has never won by the way). Steve Stricker is #2 in the world and hasn’t worn the green jacket. No Vijay, Boom Boom (Fred Couples) or Kenny Perry.
Nope. The last three winners are Zach Johnson, Trevor Immelman, and Angel Cabrera. The Masters has become the major of choice for first time major winners. Could that be the same again?
My early favorites out of the non-major winners are Ian Poulter, Stricker, and Anthony Kim. Kim, who won last week, played at Gold Mountain several years ago and came in second at the PNGA event. Kim is certainly an up-and-comer and a fun personality. Stricker has been nails on the tour the past three years, but hasn’t been able to crack the big one.
How about Tiger? Well, the odds are his game isn’t in shape yet to win. That being said, whenever he is counted out (not many by the way), he seems to do something special. Woods hasn’t won at Augusta since 2005. Something tells me his name will be on the first page of the leaderboard the last day.Personally, I’d like to see Tiger and Kim play in the final group. That would make for great drama.
OK…prediction time. I’m 1-1 on picks this year (and a bank shot away from 2-0). I’m going to go with Anthony Kim to win the green jacket ahead of Steve Stricker and Ian Poulter. Woods will play well in his return, but finish 5th. You heard it here first.
What do you think?
