Teeing Off: The Masters Preview: Part 2

Wow, it’s here already. The greatest week of the year! Welcome to Augusta National, everyone. And here I am, your faithful golf correspondent, giving you my picks and predictions for this year’s tournament, as promised.

The hottest player in golf is undoubtedly Dustin Johnson. DJ has won his last three starts in a row, including back-to-back World Golf Championships. How will DJ fair at Augusta? Don’t bet on him! My beef is not with Johnson, it is simply with the fact that he has peaked too soon, about two weeks too soon. I expect DJ to be competitive, but I have a hard time seeing him able to win four tournaments in a row ... just playing the odds here.

How about Rory McIlroy? Rory will complete the career grand slam with a victory at Augusta. And everyone knows the McIlroy is one of those rare talents who truly is unbeatable when he has his best game. Unfortunately for Rory (and my sister, his biggest fan), he hasn’t really had that much game this year, except for a rare moment where he held the lead a couple of weeks ago in his first tournament back. Rory got off to the slow start this year because of rib injuries, which is tough luck, but hey, golf sure isn’t fair -- it’s less fair than life.

Jordan Spieth? I expect big things from Jordan. First, he has never finished worse than second place at Augusta in his career. He missed the cut this past week, but I expect that to only help him prepare and rest for The Masters. Spieth has had a great year, both driving and in proximity to the hole on his approach shots. He has in the past struggled in this area and relied on his putter. If Spieth gets 30-35 makable birdie putts this week, which he should get if he continues striking the ball this well, he will win in style and capture his second green jacket.

Who is most likely to be a first-time major winner? Well, last year saw four first-time major winners. Can we see the trend continued at Augusta, making it six in a row (going back to the 2015 PGA Championship)?

I expect a strong show from Rickie Fowler, who already has a win under his belt this year and played very well in Houston this week. Justin Thomas has won three times this season already (including a 2016 wrap-around event), but has cooled off lately. He seems to have turned his whole attention to Augusta starting in February. He is surely motivated by his best friend’s (Spieth's) success.

And who is a good dark horse pick this week? Alex Noren. That’s right, you’ve never heard of him ... That’s why I went with him as the dark horse. Noren is actually the 10th ranked player in the world. But he plays on the European Tour and thus is unknown to many American golf fans. Noren won four times in the previous calendar year and is poised for a major. The Swede has no weaknesses is his game, and he knows how to close. Alex Noren is my dark horse for The Masters, but he’s my favorite for The British Open.