We’re only just a couple of weeks away from the start of the 2015 Masters and excitement is slowly building for the first golfing major of the year. All eyes will certainly be on Rory McIlroy as he looks to complete the career Grand Slam at Augusta next month. It definitely won’t be easy, though, for the World No. 1, as a slew of other contenders are desperate to make their mark in golf’s biggest stage as well.
Read on below as we list down the five golfers we think will make some noise in this year’s Masters. While you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the 2015 Valero Texas Open here.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Five Golfers to Watch Out For at the 2015 Masters
Rory McIlroy
[sc:Golf240banner ]It’s Rory McIlroy’s world and we are all just living in it. McIlroy cemented his status as the world’s No. 1 golfer with back-to-back major victories in the British Open and the PGA Championship last year. He won the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool by two strokes over Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia last July before edging past Phil Mickelson in a classic final-round shootout in the year’s final major at Valhalla a month later.
Ever since he grabbed that PGA Championship win last August, McIlroy has set his sights on winning the famous Masters green jacket this year. It will not only give him his first ever victory at Augusta but it will also make him just the sixth golfer to win all four major titles.
McIlroy came close to winning the Masters before, holding a four-shot lead at Augusta in the final round back in 2011 before imploding with an eight-over-par 80 on Sunday. He has recovered nicely from that meltdown, though, grabbing four major wins since then.
He has started the year like a house on fire, finishing second in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship before lifting the trophy at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic a week later. Although he missed the cut at the Honda Classic in his PGA Tour season debut last month, McIlroy has bounced back strongly from that debacle, finishing ninth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship and 11th at the Bay Hill Invitational.
Bubba Watson
With golf’s first major just around the corner, we certainly can’t leave Bubba Watson out of the discussion. The 36-year-old has been on a tear at Augusta recently, winning two of the last three Masters. He cruised to his second Masters win last year, finishing with a three-under 69, to beat Jordan Spieth and Jonas Blixt by three shots.
Watson is off to a hot start this year, finishing in the top 10 in three of the four events that he has entered. That includes a tie for second at the Phoenix Open and a third-place finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. With the form that he is in right now and his massive experience in this event, it won’t be a total surprise if Watson is in the hunt once again for his third green jacket.
Dustin Johnson
If there’s one player primed to break his major duck at the Masters this year, it’s got to be Dustin Johnson. The 30-year-old has been superb in his return to the PGA Tour this year, finishing in the top 5 in three of his five starts. That includes his win at the WGC-Cadillac Championship earlier this month where he rallied from five shots down to win by a solitary stroke over J.B. Holmes.
Johnson, however, has struggled at Augusta in the past. He missed the cut in this event last year and his best finish here was only a tie for 13th back in 2013. Still, he figures to be one of the main contenders because of his excellent driving.
He leads the tour in driving distance this season with an incredible 317.3 yards per drive. That length will prove crucial in handling Augusta National’s long 7,435-yard, par-72 course.
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Phil Mickelson
We’ve got to be honest here, it hasn’t been the greatest of seasons for Phil Mickelson. Through five PGA Tour events this year, Mickelson has already missed the cut two times with his 17th-place finish at the Honda Classic, his best performance thus far.
With that being said, you can never discount Lefty from making a charge at Augusta next month. He has already won this event three times with his last Masters victory coming in 2010. In 22 career appearances at Augusta, he has finished in the top-10 an incredible 14 times and in the top-5 a whopping 10 times.
That experience will prove vital in handling the tough conditions at Augusta. Look for Mickelson to be in contention come the back nine on Sunday.
Tiger Woods
Rory McIlroy might hold the title of being the world’s best golfer right now but in terms of popularity and mass appeal, no one can dethrone Tiger Woods. That’s why the entire golf world is waiting with bated breath to see if Woods will make his grand return at Augusta next month.
The 14-time major champion hasn’t teed off in a PGA Tour event since missing the cut in Phoenix and withdrawing from the Farmers Insurance Open last February. He struggled mightily with his short game in those two events, forcing him to take some time off to fix his golfing mechanics.
The question now is: Will he be ready for Augusta? There’s no question he loves playing in this golf course as evidenced by his four previous wins here but a problematic short game will be brutally exposed by a tough Augusta set-up. We’ll just have to wait and see if Tiger resumes his quest for a 15th major crown at the Masters next month.
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