Posted:
#1
Written by: Matt Fargo
Famed Augusta National plays host to its 80th Masters. Back in the day, hitting the ball a mile would be the greatest asset a player could have. And even though the yardage has increased from 6,985 yards in 2001 to 7,435 yards today, bombing it is no longer the edge. Ball striking is now a big factor as hitting greens in the right spots can lead to easier putts. Only three times in the last 14 years has the winner finished outside the top 22 in driving accuracy, and only twice have they finished out of the top 10 in greens in regulation.
Unless you have seen Augusta National in person, you cannot appreciate the enormous elevation changes which means getting a flat lie is a rarity. Basically, it is a 'second shot' course which means the approaches are important just to get into position. Hitting an approach shot to the wrong place in some cases means not even being able to go after the pin, whether it be a chip shot or putt. That brings big scores into play so the thought process of shots is just as important as the physical part of the game.
Even though the course is much longer, it does not take the small hitters out of play as we have seen many contend and even win recently. Because the course has been tightened, it actually brings every player to an almost even playing field and that is what the goal has been since redesigns started taking place. The setup has made the goal pretty simple actually - hit fairways and then hit the correct side of the green and there is a good chance of being on the first page of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Past history plays a big part as you will see names near the top that you rarely see in other events as successful players here are usually successful close to every year. Americans dominated here early on with Gary Player being the only non-American to win through the first 43 years and he actually did it three times. Since then, it has been up for grabs as over the last 36 years, Americans have won the green jacket 19 times (nearly half of those by just three players) with the rest of the world not far behind with 17 wins.
The most shocking fact is that despite dominating the United States in the Ryder Cup, the European contingent has struggled at Augusta. Granted, it is a totally different experience but with the huge amount of world class players, a European hasn't won since Jose Maria Olazabal in 1999. Could this be the year that changes? In total, the green jacket has been given to only six European players (Nick Faldo 3 times, Jose Maria Olazabal 2 times, Seve Ballesteros 2 times, Bernhard Langer 2 times, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle).
How do first time participants fare at Augusta? Not very well as a Masters rookie has not won here since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. But there have been some close calls, especially two years ago with Jonas Blixt and Jordan Spieth both tying for second in their debuts and Jimmy Walker and Kevin Stadler finishing T8. This year, there are 19 players making their Masters debut. Last week's winner Jim Herman will be making his first ever start at the Masters.
The first Masters took place in 1934, won by Horton Smith by two strokes over Craig Wood for his first of two wins here. He earned $1,500 for the victory and eight decades later, the winner gets $1.8 million. To put it in even greater perspective of how far it has come, Charley Hoffman finished T9 last year and collected $270,000. Arnold Palmer played here 50 times which included four wins and took home a grand total of $279,013.
Jason Day, the winner of the most recent Major at the PGA Championship last year, is the favorite at +595. Rory McIlroy, who is seeking his first green jacket is next at +745 while defending champion Jordan Spieth is the third favorite at +855. Not far behind is two-time Masters Winner Bubba Watson +1,020 followed by 2013 champion Adam Scott at +1,060. Rickie Fowler at +1,485, Phil Mickelson at +1,555 and Dustin Johnson at +1,650 round out the top eight.
**********************************************************
Curious who Matt's leaning on this year to win the coveted green jacket? Copy & Paste the URL below for Fargo's Masters Winners Package!
https://experts.covers.com/Matt_Fargo/PickPack/6fde768803e549959fa8942a72994985
In addition to his tournament winners, Matt will be releasing guaranteed head-to-head matchups. Copy & Paste the URL below for Fargo's 6-pack.
https://experts.covers.com/Matt_Fargo/PickPack/caed985b431745829a5278e091d5433e
Save big money and pick up Matt's PGA Full Season subscription and get all of Matt's 2015-2016 PGA Tour picks, tips and advice all the way to the 2016 Tour Championship. Copy & Paste the URL below:
https://experts.covers.com/Matt_Fargo/Subscription/f33b3df7fce948d5bbb1b795d20eac13
Take it to the books!
The Covers-Team
Winning Starts Here
0
Hot Forum Topics
