The Masters 2019
It is Masters Week and it is truly one of the best weeks of the year for Sports. The College Basketball Final Four just concluded with Virginia taking the Championship and the NBA Playoffs begin as well this week. A great time for a sports fan but there is nothing like The Masters at Augusta National. The PGA Tour is deeper than ever with talented Golfers and even the older guys such as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are playing better golf. Who will take home the coveted Green Jacket this sunday. I will take a look at four Golfers who I think are favorites to win this weekend plus one dark horse golfer that has a shot that no one is really talking about.
A Talented Field Takes Aim at the Green Jacket
Man look at all those great golfers, it can be anyone taking home the first place prize this sunday. According to Las Vegas, Rory McIlroy is the betting favorite going into the Masters this weekend. With Rory being the betting favorite, the rest of the top betting field is loaded and any of the top 20 favorites could easily take home the Green Jacket on Sunday. This Masters field could be one of the best fields we have ever seen. Here are my four favorites going into the Masters at Augusta National.
My 4 Favorites
Justin Rose
Justin Rose is Mr. Consistent in Major Championships every year. He always finds a way to be near the top of the leaderboard in every major. He is very consistent with his golf play as well. Rose does not make very many mistakes on the golf course. He is itching for a win at Augusta National as he was the runner up in 2015 and 2017. For Rose to win he needs to be aggressive on the Par 5’s and score very well on those holes during the tournament.
Rory McIlroy
Rory has yet to get that monkey off his back and complete the career majors grand slam with a victory at Augusta National. Rory is famously known for having a 4-shot lead going into the final day of the 2011 Masters and he fell apart. McIlroy was also in the final pairing on final day last year but again played poorly on Sunday. Rory is coming off a victory at The Players Championship and has the mojo to come away with the Green Jacket this weekend. I believe Rory will need a huge comfortable lead such as a 5-shot lead going into Sunday for him to win. If not I am unsure if he can get through that mental block of his Sunday collapses in recent history.
Jordan Spieth
Jordan Spieth has become a huge fan favorite over the years. He loves Augusta National and the pressure that the Masters brings. In 5 career appearances he has 4 Top-5 finishes, winning in 2015 and being the runner up in 2014 and 2016. Spieth has struggled in general with his game the last year or so as his last PGA Tour win was the 2017 The Open Championship. When Spieth is focused he is one of the best if not THE best golfer in the world. Jordan Spieth has a great chance to win this weekend just because he knows and owns this course.
Rickie Fowler
I feel like the entire golf world wants to see Rickie Fowler breakthrough and get his first career Major Win. Rickie plays very well at Augusta National as he was the runner up last year and has 4 Top-15 finishes in the past five years. Rickie is a streaky golfer where he can get hot and get some birdies to fall for him. At the same time he gets cold and makes mistakes to shoot some bad scores on holes. Rickie needs to minimize the mistakes and take the bogey instead of trying a hero shot to get the par and end up with a triple bogey. I would love and want to see Rickie win the Masters. I think he plays well this weekend to be around the top of the leaderboard and maybe he gets hot on Sunday to turn that orange outfit into a Green Jacket.
Dark Horse Pick
Tony Finau
Tony Finau is my dark horse pick for the 2019 Masters this year. Maybe its because he is from Utah and I want to see him have success this weekend but that is okay. Tony had probably the best year of his PGA Tour Career in 2018. He was able to make the Ryder Cup Team and he had 3 Top-10 finishes at 3 of the 4 Majors. One of those Top-10 finishes was at the Masters so that success at Augusta will bring him confidence going into this years tournament. I see Tony Finau competing this year just like he did last year.
Who Do I Want Wearing the Green Jacket
Tiger Woods
Alright lets talk about Mr. Tiger Woods. He is FINALLY healthy as we saw him play great golf last year and he remained healthy throughout the PGA season. He is one of my favorite athletes of all time and every time I watch golf it is because of him. I want him to win this weekend so bad. If he were to win the Masters this weekend it would be one of his greatest accomplishments. As I mentioned in my opening paragraph that this field is one of the best field of golfers in the history of this tournament. Tiger coming back from all the injuries to win the Masters would be incredible. Do I actually think he can do it? Yes, the answer is yes. He struggled at the Masters last year but he finished strong finishing 6th at The Open and finishing 2nd at the PGA Championship. After missing the cut at the US Open he had 6 Top-25 finishes out of the final 8 tournaments.
Tiger knows he can take that Green Jacket and it would be the talk of the Sports World if he were to win. Thats what I want too, Tiger Woods putting on that Green Jacket for the 5th time!
Follow Craig Tucker on Twitter | @jctucker_3
