Contenders abound with Masters set to start

Everywhere you turn, someone has a different favorite to win the 80th Masters Tournament, starting with the power trio of Jason Day, defending champion Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.

Zach Johnson, the 2007 Masters champion, has narrowed the favorites at Augusta National Golf Club down to two players, and it’s not any of those three. He never names them, but he doesn’t have to – they are left-handers Bubba Watson and Phil Mickel­son.

“I’ll tell you this: that golf course really favors a right-to-left shot,” said Johnson, the current British Open champion, who might thrive this week in the expected cooler and windier conditions that will be slightly reminiscent of his victory year at Augusta. “It really favors a right-to-left shot that is long, and it really favors a right-to-left shot that is a fade (for a lefty). So I’ve narrowed it down to two people who have won five since 2004. I’m not a rocket scientist, but I’m pretty good at looking at things. And they’ve got great short games.”

The timing is right for another Watson victory. This is an even-numbered year, and his victories came in 2012 and 2014.

“Bubba’s probably a bit miffed that he’s not considered one of the Big Three (of Day, Spieth and Mc­Il­roy),” said three-time Masters champ Nick Faldo, the CBS golf analyst who won six majors.

“Look at Bubba Watson, he’s not in the group you’re talking about and yet he’s a two-time champion and difficult to beat around here,” said Justin Rose, who tied for second place last year with Mickelson.

As for Mickelson, he’s playing some of the best golf of his career at age 45. The five-time major champion is leading the PGA Tour in scoring average at 69.170 and has three top-five finishes, including a runner-up spot at Pebble Beach.

“Well, my expectations don’t really change year to year,” Mick­el­son said. “But this year, I feel a little bit more relaxed heading into this event because I’m not trying to find anything. I feel like it’s a lot more stress-free golf because I’m driving the ball in play and now we come to the Masters where the corridors are much wider than, say, Doral, where the fairways are angling off and kicking off into the rough. I feel I’ll able to put the ball in play a lot easier. And as I’m doing that, my iron play, which I feel is the strength of my game, will be an advantage.”

The contenders are well spaced out for today’s first round. Spieth starts at 9:48 a.m., Mick­el­son is off at 10:43 a.m., Watson starts at 12:44 p.m., Day goes at 1:06 p.m. and McIlroy is in the last group at 2:01 p.m.

“We’ve got a good half a dozen guys who are really good and another half a dozen or more good-good,” Faldo said. “I think golf is in a good colorful spot.”

Six-time Masters champ Jack Nicklaus had similar sentiments.

“You’ve got more good players right now than you’ve had in a while,” he said.

And Faldo’s pick?

“My Big Four are from south of the equator,” he said, listing Australians Day and Adam Scott along with South Afri­cans Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.

Watson, Scott (2013) and Schwart­zel (2011) have already won green jackets. And they are in top form, with Scott having won twice this year and Watson and Schwart­zel once each on the PGA Tour.

Spieth isn’t coming in on the roll he was last year when he was the runner-up in the two previous events. He did win the Tour­­na­ment of Champions in early January, but his best finish since has been a tie for ninth.

“I’ve had a fantastic couple days thus far preparing and game feels great,” said Spieth, who set numerous tournament scoring records last year at the Masters. He was runner-up in 2014.

“I’m going to try and just use last year as momentum. We know we’re capable of playing this place. We have proven it to ourselves the last two years,” said Spieth, who is seeking to join Nicklaus (1965-66), Faldo (1989-90) and Tiger Woods (2001-02) as the only champions to successfully defend their titles.

While the 22-year-old Speith has won two major championships, the 28-year-old Day has one and McIlroy, 26, has four. This is the second year McIlroy has had a chance to become the sixth player to win the career Grand Slam with a Masters victory. McIlroy is not known as a great wind player, which could hurt him today, when winds are expected to be between 15-20 mph with gusts of 25-30 mph.

Two-time champion Tom Wat­son said McIlroy stands out from the rest of the crowd right now.

“He’s the guy,” Watson said. “He’s just got a tremendous talent. He hits the ball high. I think it’s always been an advantage to hit the ball high on this golf course. … Rory, he can emasculate a golf course, he flat can. He hits the ball high and so far.”

At the start of the season, McIlroy said he hoped to be back at No. 1 in the ranking and have a victory before the Masters. Neither happened, but he has finished tied for third and fourth in two of his past three starts.

“My game feels good,” he said. “It’s all about going out there over the next four days and executing the shots the way I need to and being mentally strong. But I feel good. I probably feel a little bit more subdued going in this time because I maybe haven’t had the win this year. But I feel like my game is right there, so I feel good.”

With so many strong contenders, getting off to a slow start could prove fatal to hopes of putting on a green jacket Sunday. There likely won’t be a 64 today like Spieth shot in last year’s opening round because of the expected windy weather.

Tom Watson is among those who have noticed the course is playing tougher than last year. He would know – this is his 43rd and final Masters.

“The golf course is different this year than it was last year,” he said. “The greens are faster than they were last year. They sped them up. They seem just a little bit harder. (On Tuesday) they had a real sheen to them. No. 5 was like a mirror. They are out there syringing the greens, so I think you’re seeing a little bit different setup this year. I think it’s going to be a tougher setup.”

Day predicts the winning score will be in the 13-under neighborhood instead of around the record-tying 18-under Spieth shot last year. Mickelson and Rose finished second at 14-under.

Asked whether he’d be satisfied with that score of 14-under this year, Rose said he’d take it “for the next 10 years.”