It's no secret what the big story line will be when the first hole is played at this weekend's PGA Masters in Augusta, Ga. Tiger Woods, fresh off a stint in sexual rehabilitation following his national fallout on Thanksgiving, will garner close to 100 percent of the media attention and the public's eye when he tees off, as heads across the world will turn to see if the world's best golfer can parlay his revamped personality into a 15th PGA Major and fifth green jacket.
Still, the 95 other players looking to unseat defending champion Angel Cabrera and steal some of the gawking eyes away from Woods will have their work cut out for them. Woods is the odds−on favorite but has a litany of experienced golfers looking to deny him the perfect ending to his reformation comeback.
The field of challengers starts with Phil Mickelson, the crowd favorite currently ranked at No. 3 in the world, behind Woods and Steve Stricker. "Lefty" had a fantastic finish to 2009, capturing the Tour Championship and a World Golf Championship event in Shanghai, though he has struggled in the wake of Woods' absence to carry the success over to 2010.
Mickelson's best finish this year was a tie for eighth at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro−Am, and he has had just three top−20 finishes in seven starts. Most recently, Mickelson nearly missed out on the cut at the Shell Houston Open, ultimately finishing in a tie for 35th at two under par. This year, he has a tough pairing with Y.E. Yang, the defending PGA Championship winner, and Australian Robert Allenby, who has five top−10 finishes in PGA majors.
With his family−related troubles and his wife's bout with cancer over, Mickelson can turn his attention squarely to returning to the top of the golfing world. Though Mickelson is currently listed at 5−to−1 odds to win the Masters, how he will recover from his recent streak of poor play remains to be seen.
Anthony Kim, the winner of the Shell Houston Open, became the fifth player in 30 years to win three PGA Tour events before the age of 25. Kim's best finish at the Masters came last year, when he finished in a tie for 20th at two under par, overcoming a miserable first−round 75 to shoot a 65 in the second round, the best for any golfer in those 18 holes. For the streaky and notoriously boisterous golfer who helped the United States win the Ryder Cup, four good days could give him his first−ever green jacket.
After failing to win a tournament in 2009, Ernie Els has elevated himself to eighth in the world, just a .01−point average behind Englishman Ian Poulter, thanks to a hot start to 2010 in which he captured first at the World Golf Championships and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. From 2000 to 2004, Els posted five consecutive top−six finishes at the Masters, but had failed to make the cut each of the past three years. The battle for Els could very well come internally in a struggle between his recent history at Augusta and the success he has enjoyed in 2010.
In terms of sleepers at Augusta, look no further than the 27−year−old Hunter Mahan. At last year's Masters, he finished in a tie for 10th, and was in a tie for second after the first round following a six−under−par 66. Mahan captured first at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February and has surged up to 21st in the world. With a calm demeanor and a powerful golfing stroke, this year could be the one Mahan breaks out onto the national scene.
Padraig Harrington currently has the third−best odds of any individual to win and will tee off at 1:20 today with American Stewart Cink and South African Charl Schwartzel. As one of Woods' fiercest rivals, Harrington has won three majors in the past three years, and has tied for fifth at Augusta twice, though last year he finished a paltry 35th. The 2008 PGA Tour Player of the Year is 10th in the world, so look for Harrington to be extra fired−up, especially with all of the attention focused on Woods throughout the weekend.
And last, of course, there's Tiger. It's pretty clearly Woods' tournament to lose, even though he has had little competitive experience since his fallout in November. Still the No. 1 player in the world, Woods tees off at 1:42 with South Korean K.J. Choi and American Matt Kuchar. As ESPN's Rick Reilly pointed out this week, it is very possible that this "reformed" Woods could be without the infamous brutality on the golf course that has carried him to 14 Major victories. On the other hand, this could be the opportunity for him to prove to the world that an infidelity−free Woods is just as good on the links as the one that has five consecutive top−10 finishes at the Masters since 2005.
We all know he has the talent; now it's just a matter of whether or not Woods can put his personal life in order to challenge the top−notch field this weekend at Augusta.
