Johnson tipped for green jacket

WORLD NO 1: AMERICAN ON FORM WITH THREE WINS

Support too for McIlroy as he chases career Grand Slam.

Augusta

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson is the favourite to capture the 81st Masters but plenty of golfers see Rory McIlroy as a threat when the year’s first Major championship begins today.

A showdown of global greats at the 7 435-yard Augusta National sees Johnson arrive on a three-tournament win streak and second-ranked McIlroy, a fourtime Major champion, seeking a Masters crown to complete a career Grand Slam.

“I’ve done all the preparation I can. It’s just about going out on the course and getting it done,” said McIlroy, mindful of 2011 when a back-nine Sunday collapse saw him squander the Masters lead.

Third-ranked Jason Day makes an emotional start two weeks after withdrawing from an event to be with his mother as she battled lung cancer while Jordan Spieth tries to bounce back from a backnine horror show in last year’s final round when on the verge of a second consecutive Masters title.

And five-time Major winner Phil Mickelson, two months shy of his 47th birthday, will try to replace Jack Nicklaus as the oldest champion in Masters history.

“If it’s soft, obviously it will definitely help,” long-driving Johnson said. “With the forecast, wind on Thursday and Friday, the course will play very difficult.

“It’s going to be tough to hit the greens. You’re going to really have to be careful where you hit it.”

Johnson enters Augusta after wins at Riviera in February to jump atop the rankings and last month at WGC Mexico and MatchPlay events.

“Obviously this year, with Dustin winning three times, he’s the form player,” McIlroy said.

Johnson won his first Major title at last year’s US Open while McIlroy followed his 2011 Masters heartache by winning the US Open two months later.

“It’s never over,” McIlroy said. “If I’m four or five behind going into the back nine, it’s never over. You can never give up, because it takes either a lapse of concentration from someone else or a moment of brilliance from yourself to turn things around.” –

Picture: Reuters TRICK SHOT. World No 1 Dustin Johnson skips a ball off the water on the 16th hole during a practice round for the 2017 Masters at Augusta.