Media picks at the Masters

Members of the Masters media were asked to name the winner and why, then answered yes or no to the question: Will Tiger Woods surpass Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major wins?

MORRIS NEWS SERVICE

David Westin, The Augusta Chronicle
Lee Westwood Overlooked this week but ready for first major No

Scott Michaux, The Augusta Chronicle
Charl Schwartzel Defending champ is grossly overlooked Yes

John Boyette, The Augusta Chronicle
Tiger Woods The major drought ends here Yes

Alan English, The Augusta Chronicle
K.J. Choi Focus is laser-like, and his game is ready Yes

Mike Wynn, The Augusta Chronicle
Rory McIlroy This year he’ll visit the right (Butler) cabin Yes

Chris Gay, The Augusta Chronicle
Bubba Watson Can’t wait for Twitpic of green jacket in the General Lee No

Billy Byler, The Augusta Chronicle
K.J. Choi Spikey hair now better than Ian Poulter’s No

Wayne Staats, The Augusta Chronicle
Hunter Mahan Win means half of Mahan’s six career wins in 2012 No

Chris White, Athens Banner-Herald
Tiger Woods Call it the easy way out or the cliché pick, but that’s fine Yes

Brent Maycock, Topeka Capital-Journal
Rory McIlroy Atonement for my pick of him last year No

Lance Lahnert, Amarillo Globe-News
Phil Mickelson Rory vs. Tiger? Not yet says Lefty Yes

Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union
Tiger Woods Hitting more fairways than ever Yes

UNITED STATES

Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
Ryan Palmer Haven’t had a Palmer win in 50 years Yes

Greg Stoda, Palm Beach Post
Phil Mickelson Rivalry grows by matching Tiger’s fourth green jacket No

Geoff Shackelford, Golf World
Tiger Woods Early/late tee time gives him the edge No

Michael Whitmer, Boston Globe
Luke Donald World No. 1 deserves more love No

Joe Posnanski, Sports Illustrated
Fred Couples You never forget your first winner No

Jeff Schultz, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rory McIlroy What are the odds of hitting those cabins again? No

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune
Justin Rose Anybody can pick Tiger, Rory or Phil No

Ron Green Jr., The Charlotte Observer
Bill Haas Best water player in the field Yes

Ron Green Sr., The Charlotte Observer
K.J. Choi He’s overdue No

Steve DiMeglio, USA Today
Tiger Woods Because Sean Foley is on fire Yes

Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN.com
Hunter Mahan Mental game now matches golf game Yes

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
Tiger Woods He top-fived when he wasn’t good No

Karen Crouse, The New York Times
Hunter Mahan Only two-time winner this year No

Jeff Shain, The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel
Rory McIlroy No need for GPS this year No

Dave Kindred, Golf Digest
Hunter Mahan Playing great and has played great here No

Barry Svurluga, The Washington Post
Tiger Woods Tiger’s Chapter 2 begins here Yes

Steve Elling, CBSSports.com
Rory McIlroy Kid led for 7.5 of first 8 rounds in ’11 majors No

Gary D’Amato, Milwaukee (Wis.) Journal Sentinel
Phil Mickelson Soft conditions favor his aggressive pin-seeking No

Jeff Rude, Golfweek
Rory McIlroy His era now, though revved Tiger says otherwise No

Mike Buteau, Bloomberg News
Jason Day Been on verge of major win and overdue No

Jonathan Heeter, Macon Telegraph
Phil Mickelson He’s playing pretty well this year Yes

Jeff Babineau, Golfweek
Tiger Woods Confidence bolstered; if putts well he wins by 5 No

John Paul Newport, Wall Street Journal
Rory McIlroy Each day makes him happier than the day before Yes

Tod Leonard, San Diego Union Tribune
Hunter Mahan Best American player at the moment No

Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle
Rory McIlroy Hit 10th fairway in Wednesday practice round No

Mark Hermann, Newsday
Rory McIlroy Even Hank Haney says Rory’s played best this year Yes

John Dell, Winston-Salem Journal
Bill Haas His time has come Yes

Wright Thompson, ESPN the Magazine
Tiger Woods He’s still Tiger and they’re not No

INTERNATIONAL

Ben Everill, Australian AP
Adam Scott It’s time for an Aussie to finally win Yes

Derek Lawrenson, Daily Mail UK
Rory McIlroy Keen to show what he learned last year No

Dermot Gilleece, Sunday Independent, South Africa
Rory McIlroy Current form best player in the field No

Neil Squires, Daily Express, London
Phil Mickelson He’s very good at golf No

Bernie McGuire, Scottish Herald
Adam Scott 76 Masters is too darn long No

Mark Garrod, PA Sport, United Kingdom
Phil Mickelson Doesn’t have attention; still has talent No

Andy Farrell, Independent on Sunday, United Kingdom
Luke Donald Wedge, short game and putting best around No

Lawrence Donegan, Guardian, United Kingdom
Rory McIlroy If you believe in redemption, believe in Rory No

Brian Keogh, The Irish Sun
Phil Mickelson Because I bet on McIlroy No

Karl MacGinty, Irish Independent
Phil Mickelson Incredible that three-time champ can come in under radar Yes

Paul Hayward, The Daily Telegraph, United Kingdom
Luke Donald Cometh the hour, cometh the overshadowed world No. 1 No

Philip Reid, Irish Times
Bubba Watson A lefty, long, straight and hopefully no jitters Yes

John Huggan, New Zealand Golf Magazine
Geoff Ogilvy Next year you can put down Ogilvy, too No

James Corrigan, The Independent, London
Phil Mickelson Augusta in April means Phil in green No

Dave Perkins, Toronto Star
Angel Cabrera I bet Schwartzel 80/1 last year, too Yes

Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun
Phil Mickelson It’ll irritate the Tiger fans No

Peter Dixon, The Times (London)
Luke Donald Short game will let him cross the finish line No

Neil McLeman, Daily Mirror
Rory McIlroy Sentimental and emotion best winner story No

Paul Mahoney, Golf.com, Europe
Luke Donald Afetr chip-in at 18 last year, he’s coming back for more No

Oliver Brown, Daily Telegraph
Rory McIlroy 11 top fives in last 12 worldwide events purged 2011 Yes

Isabel Trillo Amores, Marca.com (Spain)
Luke Donald No. 1, playing well and Europe needs a winner Yes

Julian Linden, Reuters
Rory McIlroy Best player in the world and a fast learner No

David Facey, The Sun (London)
Luke Donald Hugely impressed with winning Disney when he had to No

Simon Evans, Reuters
Justin Rose Consistency, all-around limited error game No

M. Syed, The Times (London)
Tiger Woods He loves this place Yes