AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – A capsule glimpse of 10 candidates for the Masters, which will be played November 12-15 at Augusta National Golf Club. Players listed in order of predicted ending:
XANDER SCHAUFFELE
Age: 27 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 7.
Worldwide victories: 5th
Majors: None.
Major subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T10, US Open-5.
Best of 2020: The lowest number of points in the Tour Championship and still runner-up due to the staggered start.
Masters Memory: Split the lead with four holes to play and fail to screw the 15th par-5 while closing with four par to finish a shot behind.
Backspin: He plays both the majors and Brooks Koepka without the trophies. He has reached the top 10 with seven of his 13 majors and achieved two runner-ups. Its Californian cold hides a violent game. Last year showed that he is ready for the next step.
BRYSON DECHAMBEAU
Age: 27 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 6.
Worldwide victories: 8.
Major subjects: US Open (2020).
2020 Majors: PGA Championship-T4, US Open-Won.
Best of 2020: Win his first major at Winged Foot with a US Open strategy that shows he sometimes knows what he’s talking about.
Masters Memory: A tie for the 21st in 2016 to be the low amateur. It’s still his best result in three Masters appearances.
Backspin: He might get more exposure than Tiger Woods, who is going into the Masters, for adding nearly 50 pounds of mass to aid his efforts to swing as hard as possible. He wants a 48-inch driver in the game for the Masters. He’s already done a 400-yard drive at home and plans to take down Augusta National by the length. He still has to chip and putt, which he did extremely well at the US Open.
DUSTIN JOHNSON
Age: 36 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 1.
Worldwide victories: 23.
Major subjects: US Open (2016).
Main subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T6, US Open-T2.
Best of 2020: Win the FedEx Cup for the first time and be voted PGA Tour Player of the Year for the second time.
Masters Memory: That fall down the stairs that forced him to retire in 2017 when he had won his last three tournaments and was the overwhelming favorite.
Backspin: Johnson has a little less competition than planned as he ran a positive test for the coronavirus that kicked him out of Shadow Creek and Sherwood. His second place last year was his best chance of winning, an experience that can only help him move forward. I only have one big grille with him.
Rory MCILROY
Age: 31 years
Country: Northern Ireland.
World ranking: 5th
Worldwide victories: 26.
Major subjects: US Open (2011), British Open (2014), PGA Championship (2012, 2014).
Main subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T33, US Open-T8.
Best of 2020: Everything on the course was closed before the golf in March due to the pandemic. The birth of his daughter from the course.
Masters Memory: In 2011, lead four strokes into the finals and shoot 80.
Backspin: This is his sixth time coming to the Masters and having the chance to complete the Career Grand Slam. What helps this year is that it is not being scrutinized closely because of the strange year sparked by the pandemic. What doesn’t help is just two top 10 in 12 starts since golf resumed in June.
PATRICK CANTLAY
Age: 28 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 9.
Worldwide victories: 3rd
Majors: None.
Major subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T43, US Open-T43.
Best of 2020: 16 months without a win with a rally to win the Zozo Championship in Sherwood.
Master Memory: Making Eagles on the 15th hole in 2019 to take the lead only to drop shots on each of the next two holes.
Backspin: There isn’t a major weakness in his game other than not winning enough. What should help him with this Masters is the experience of the competition last year and the experience of winning on his last start before going to Augusta.
JON RAHM
Age: 26 (on the Tuesday of the Masters).
Country: Spain.
World ranking: 2.
Worldwide victories: 11.
Majors: None.
Main subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T13, US Open-T23.
Best of 2020: Reach world number 1 for the first time by winning the Memorial and doing a 65-foot birdie putt to win for his first FedEx Cup playoff win at Olympia Fields.
Masters Memory: Shootig 65 on the third round to give himself a chance in 2018 and still in the mix until he goes into the water on Sunday 15th hole.
Backspin: Winning a major is the next step for the great Spaniard. The guess would be sooner rather than later. In each of his four full years as a professional, he has won several awards worldwide.
JUSTIN THOMAS
Age: 27 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 3rd
Worldwide victories: 14.
Major subjects: PGA Championship (2017).
Main subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T37, US Open-T8.
Best of 2020: Win several tournaments for the fourth time in a row.
Masters Memory: To be paired with Jordan Spieth in the finals when Spieth went from nine strokes behind to a draw with a birdie on the 16th hole in 2018. He’s still waiting for a great memory of his own.
Backspin: After a break in August where he didn’t get better than 25 in three big events, Thomas seems to be leaning in the right direction after Augusta. He has not yet reached the top 10 in his four previous appearances.
TIGER WOODS
Age: 44 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 32.
Worldwide victories: 93.
Major subjects: Masters (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019), US Open (2000, 2002, 2008), British Open (2000, 2005, 2006), PGA Championship (1999, 2000, 2006, 2007).
Majors 2020: PGA Championship-T37, US Open-Cut.
Best of 2020: Break all four rounds at Torrey Pines and finish ninth. It was the only time of the year that he was in the top 10.
Masters Memory: Win 2019 to end 11 years without a major, 14 years without a Masters to complete the return of four back surgeries and share the moment with his two children.
Backspin: This is the first year Woods has not competed in a tournament when he was not injured. He has not played for five months because of the pandemic and has only played once in a row as it restricts his competition.
BROOKS KOEPKA
Age: 30 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 12.
Worldwide victories: 10.
Major subjects: US Open (2017, 2018), PGA Championship (2018, 2019).
Main subjects 2020: PGA Championship-T29, US Open-DNP.
Best of 2020: Two shots from the lead into the finals at Harding Park with a chance to become the first player to win the PGA championship in line play three years in a row. He only made a birdie on the 12th hole, shot 74 and finished 29th.
Master memory: jumping back from a double bogey in the water on # 12 to an eagle on the 13th, finishing a shot behind Tiger Woods.
Backspin: With the pandemic and injuries, Koepka has spent more time at home than at tournaments. He started the year in first place and is in 12th place in the Masters. In 14 tournaments that year he only had one chance to win the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He drove into the water on the 18th and finished second.
COLLIN MORIKAWA
Age: 23 years
Country: United States.
World ranking: 4th
Worldwide victories: 3rd
Major subjects: PGA Championship (2020).
Majors 2020: PGA Championship Won, US Open Cut.
Best of 2020: He made a 25-foot birdie putt to stay alive in a playoff he won at Muirfield Village, and won his first major at Harding Park a month later.
Master Memory: This is his first appearance. He was 2 months old when Tiger Woods won his first Masters.
Backspin: He has a chance to join an elite group if he wins the Masters. For the past 100 years, Gene Sarazen, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Jordan Spieth have been the only players with two majors aged 23 or younger.
