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PLAYERS TO WATCH
2 0 17 M A S T E R S • A U G U S TA Jason Day
Jordan Spieth
FACTS & FIGURES The 81st Masters April 6-9 Augusta National Golf Club Length: 7,435 yards DUSTIN JOHNSON Age: 32 Country: United States World ranking: 1 Masters appearances: 7 Best finish: Tie for 4th in 2016. Masters memory: Making two double bogeys in the final round of 2016 for a 71. He finished four shots behind.
Par: 36-36_72 Field: 94 (89 professionals, five amateurs) Prize money: To be determined ($10 million in 2016) Winner’s share: $1.89 million Defending champion: Danny Willett
JUSTIN ROSE Age: 36 Country: England World ranking: 13 Masters appearances: 11 Best finish: Runner-up in 2015. Masters memory: A two-shot lead going into the weekend in 2004 and shooting 81 in the third round.
Rory McIlroy
T HIDEKI MATSUYAMA Age: 24 Country: Japan World ranking: 4 Masters Appearances: 5 Best finish: 5th in 2015. Masters memory: Making the cut twice as an amateur.
JASON DAY Age: 29 Country: Australia World ranking: 3 Masters appearances: 6 Best finish: tied for 2nd in 2011. Masters memory: losing a two-shot lead with three holes to play in 2013.
JORDAN SPIETH Age: 23 Country: United States World ranking: 6 Masters appearances: 3 Best finish: won. Masters memory: His wire-to-wire victory and tying the 72-hole scoring record at 270 in 2015.
Major Force Dustin Johnson
Hideki Matsuyama
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson leads a strong field into the Masters hoping to continue his recent tour dominace
he Masters, golf’s greatest theater, awaits its biggest star. Anticipation is higher than usual to see whether the dominant force in the game, the player now expected to win whenever and wherever he plays, can handle Augusta National. Tiger Woods? He might not even show up except for dinner Tuesday night for past Masters champions. The new force _ the latest, anyway _ is Dustin Johnson. For years known as golf's most athletic figure, Johnson in recent months has been referred to as something just short of a machine. Whether he has a pulse is up for debate. "He's just a perfect, complete player," Spanish rookie Jon Rahm said. Johnson finally got that major burden off his back when he won the U.S. Open last summer at Oakmont. While he did not feature in the next two majors, he now looms as the prohibitive favorite when the Masters begins on April 6. These days, that's saying something. Jack Nicklaus says he has never seen so much depth at the top of golf in all his years. A year ago at the Masters, the talk was about a modern version of the "Big Three" with Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Johnson wasn't even part of that conversation. Now, the 32-year-old American not only heads to the Masters at No. 1 in the world, it will have been nearly two months since someone beat him. Johnson rose to the top of the world ranking with a five-shot victory at Riviera, where he would have shattered the oldest 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour if he had known what it or even cared, instead of just coasting home. He won in the high altitude of Mexico City. And then he became the first players to capture all four of the World Golf Championships by winning the Match Play. In the 112 holes he played over seven matches, Johnson never trailed once. "It's as good as anybody has ever played in the last month," Zach Johnson said. "There's just not a flaw. And his confidence adds to that." Scripts are not always predictable at Augusta National, however. Think back to 2000, when Tiger Woods was at his
peak. Leading into that Masters, Woods either had won or finished second in 10 out of 11 tournaments. And then he made a double bogey and triple bogey in a span of three holes in the opening round at Augusta and wound up in a tie for fifth. Look no further than last year. Spieth, coming off a wire-to-wire victory in which he tied the scoring record set by Woods in 1997, took a five-shot lead to the back nine on Sunday. Three holes later, he was three shots behind and never caught back up. The moment that stands out was his tee shot and a wedge into the water on No. 12 for a quadruple bogey. Day last year had won two straight tournaments when he got to the Masters and he was on the verge of leading the opening round until he dropped five shots over the last four holes, including a triple bogey on No. 16. He never caught up from the opening round. So that modern "Big Three" is closer to a "Big Six" by adding Johnson, Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama and British Open champion Henrik Stenson. It has been 10 years since so many top players were winning the first few months of the year going into the Masters. The winner that year? Zach Johnson, who described himself as a normal guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. TIGER AT 20 Woods figures to get plenty of attention, at least for what he did. It was 20 years ago this week that Woods annihilated a shorter Augusta National and became the youngest Masters champion at age 21. He won by 12 shots, one of 20 records he set or tied that year, and one that remains. He was the first player of black heritage in a green jacket. And his victory gave the sport its biggest injection of enthusiasm since Arnold Palmer.
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BID FOR A SLAM, TAKE THREE McIlroy had a four-shot lead going into the final round in 2011 and shot 80, his best chance at a green jacket. He might come to rue that day. The Masters now is the only major keeping him from becoming the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam. This will be his third shot at the fourth and final piece of the slam. He tied for fourth (six shots behind Spieth) in 2015. A year ago, he was one shot out of the lead and paired with Spieth in the third round when McIlroy shot 77. THE ROOKIE The last player to win the Masters in his debut was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979. Jon Rahm of Spain has done enough in nine months to at least raise the possibility. In his first tournament as a pro, he had the 36-hole lead. He earned a PGA Tour in four starts. He won at Torrey Pines by shooting 65 on the last day. And in two World Golf Championships over the next month, he was a fraction away from beating Dustin Johnson. Tiger Woods at the Masters in 1997
Last year: Danny Willett won the Masters with a 67 in the final round. Jordan Spieth had a five-shot lead until starting the back nine Sunday with two bogeys and making 7 on the par-3 12th. He never caught up. Willett became the first player from England to win the green jacket since 1996. Television (all times EDT): Thursday and Friday, 3-7:30 p.m., ESPN; Saturday, 3-7 p.m. and Sunday, 2-7 p.m., CBS
MASTERS ANNIVERSARIES 75 YEARS AGO 1942 Ben Hogan made up an eight-shot deficit against Byron Nelson over the final two rounds with scores of 67-70 to force an 18-hole playoff. Nelson shot 69 to beat Hogan by one and win his second Masters. 50 YEARS AGO 1967 Gay Brewer wins his only major at Augusta, he remains the only player to follow a playoff loss at the Masters with a victory the following year. 25 YEARS AGO 1992 During the final round, a blade of grass holds a chip by Fred Couples out of the water on the 12th hole and he saves par. Couples wins the tournament by 2 shots. 20 YEARS AGO 1997 Tiger Woods closed with a 69 to set the 72-hole scoring record (270) with a 12-shot victory. Adding to this historic occasion was Woods becoming the first player of black heritage to win a green jacket. 10 YEARS AGO 2007 Zach Johnson closed with a 69 for a two-shot victory. He finished at 289, matching the Masters record last set in 1956 for the highest winning score.