THE MASTERS TEES OFF
Two Canadians in hunt at Augusta
It’s Masters week. Always the highlight of the golfing year, it marks the arrival of the first major of the year and also is the first real sign that spring is on its way — really.
First up is the fact there are two Canadians in the field — Mike Weir, the 2003 winner of the Masters, and Adam Hadwin, who is quickly establishing himself as Canada’s top professional golfer. Weir, 47, tees off at 8:52 a.m. today with American Brendan Steele and American amateur Matt Parziale. Hadwin, 30, is out at 11:52 alongside Americans Patrick Reed and Charley Hoffman. Hadwin finished T36 last year in his first time at Augusta, but has played solidly this year, sitting in 37th place in the FedEx Cup standings thus far this season. Wouldn’t it be cool for another Canadian to win, especially since this is the 15th anniversary of Weir’s historic win? Weir’s fellow lefty, Phil Mickelson, is seen as an honest contender this year after a win a couple of weeks ago at the world golf championships in Mexico. Mickelson, also 47, has already had a handful of Top 10s this year and has seemingly got his game in order. Mickelson does enjoy the Masters, so it will be interesting to see if his game stacks up.
Can Sergio Garcia repeat? The fiery Spaniard has three Top 10s this year in just five PGA Tour tournaments, so his game has not vanished after his stellar play last year. Sergio has always played well at the majors, including the Masters. In fact, this is the 19th year Garcia has teed it up at the Masters and he has only missed the cut five times.
The elephant in the room —or should we say the Tiger in the room — is whether Tiger Woods will play well. If his start to the PGA season is something to go by, there is little to suggest he can’t win here again for the fifth time. He will be THE story this week, win or lose. Wasn’t it interesting to see Mickelson and Woods play a practice round together on Tuesday? They were out there joking around and laughing like they were best pals out for a friendly round. It’s hard to believe it wasn’t long ago when they were not exactly best buddies and barely could tolerate being in the same room. With the Ryder Cup coming up later this year, perhaps they might even be paired together.
So who will win this year? Tiger? Phil? Rory? Jordan or Justin? Maybe Tommy? Who? Yes, Tommy Fleetwood. Keep your eye on him this week.