It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Major Championship Season.
What better way to prepare for the Masters than by learning about each and every player in the field?
You’ve got plenty of reading to do so I’ll let you get started now.
Happy reading, and Happy Masters week.
One of the all-time best short games and still plays a pretty full schedule on the senior circuit.
A magical history at Augusta with the two victories but that was then and this is now.
The Masters is something every kids ever dreamed of, he said after the win.
Hes just really, really happy to be there.
He missed the cut in four straight before making it last year and finshing T50.
Hes gotta make it to 40, so at least one more year for sure.
Amateur is a fifth-year senior at Ohio State, where he transferred after starting his college career at JMU.
There, he studied quantitative finance and graduated in three years.
At Ohio State, hes got his masters in data analytics.
Told Golf Magazine hes already played 100 holes at Augusta this year.
Four missed cuts and a WD in his last five Masters appearances.
1 ranking in his prime.
23 in the college rankings.
Won his third U.S. Won the Azalea Invitational in his last start and enters as the No.
11 ranked amateur in the worldby far the highest-ranked mid-am.
Lost top-20 finish on the PGA Tour came in Feb. 2023.
He hasnt played a competitive round since September.
Won The Amateur Championship to get his spot in the field.
He swings it beautifully but has struggled throughout his career with the scoring clubs.
Won his first event after regaining PGA Tour status at the Sony Open to get to his first Masters.
No top-20 finishes in seven starts since.
No top-10 finishes since for the Alabama grad and hes 137th in strokes gained overall.
Making the cut would constitute a successful week for this debutant.
Stepped away from the game after brain surgery in September and returned in January.
Posted his best finish since that comeback with a T21 in Houston two week ago.
No top-10s in 11 career Masters appearances.
And, keep in mind, thats out of 50ish players each time.
His best Masters finish came 16 years ago and he doesnt have a top-10 major finish since 2009.
Hes a country boy from Hickory, N.C. and played his college ball at Western Carolin
68.
Best finish in 10 starts thus far this year is a T17 in Phoenix.
He has been very, very average since, and that might be too friendly.
For the season hes 171st in strokes gained off the tee and 146th in strokes gained approach.
Masters debut last week went solidly with a T23 finish.
Made just three cuts in seven starts this year with no finishes better than T35.
He hits it a long way but hes hit just 44% of his fairways.
Beat Rory McIlroy to win Bay Hill last year and has played solid if unspectacular golf this year.
Best finish in seven starts thus far on the PGA Tour is a T18 at Bay Hill.
A good showing in the Masters can go a long way toward that goal.
Hes won three times since May 2022 on the DP World Tour.
Hes also the reigning U.S.
Amateur champion and wouldve been in the Masters even if he hadnt won.
But he knew that going in.
He went 0-2-1 that week but gained a ton from the experience.
Not done much of note since then.
Ten years ago a player like him, a Frenchman, might never have made the jump.
An excellent, excellent putter.
Now working with Sean Foley and their relationship is part swing coach, part life coach.
Has three top-10 finishes this at the American Express, Genesis Invitational and Valspar Championship.
One top-10 finish in 22 career major starts.
Made the weekend in all three Masters starts.
But that was the case last year, too, and he conjured up a magical final-round 64.
Still hits it plenty far enough and has made a few tweaks recently to his game.
Jon Yarbrough, Mickelson said of his new caddie, is the best green reader Ive ever seen.
Im so excited to work with him and Ive already learned a lot.
Fast forward four months and hes played one round and eight holes total in competition in 2024.
Hes completed just two 72-hole official tournaments since the car accident 39 months ago.
So, why hasnt he played?
Has he been so busy with the new PGA Tour Enterprises stuff that he hasnt been able to practice?
Did he know once-a-month was overly ambitious but said it anyway to give the Tour some juice?
Hed set a new Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut.
Missed four of eight cuts this year and still searching for his first top 10 of the season.
A very solid and dependable ball striker but not much Masters success to speak of in four attempts.
Best finish in his last nine starts is a T18 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Sank a 72-foot eagle putt last summer to become the first Canadian to win the Canadian Open since 1959.
1 amateur is playing the best golf of his career.
Its a good formula that has him up to 7th in the FedEx Cup standings.
No major top 10s in 27 career attempts.
A T3 at Torrey Pines and in Mexico to go along with that victory already this year.
How amazing that drive up Magnolia Lane will feel given the grind he persisted through.
Thats a nice formula in major championships.
Now lives back in London and is spending tons of times on airplanes hopping the Atlantic.
Missed the cut at both the Players and the Valspar coming in as hes struggled with the putter.
A huge gap between his OWGR ranking (No.
- and his Data Golf ranking (No.
No top 20s in seven career Masters appearances.
Thats his stylelowkey, trusts his draw and doesnt get too high or low.
Played solidly (T23) last year in his first Masters start since 2016.
Hasnt really put himself in contention to win one and has actually squandered a few strong opening rounds.
A decent bet for a top 20 finish but he would be a stunning winner.
Tied for second in his last start in Houston and was T12 at the Valspar before that one.
Hasnt missed a cut since the Open Championship last year.
A player on the rise.
Made the cut in each of his last seven Masters starts.
Hes a value play in daily fantasy formats.
Hes not the straightest hitter in the world but thats okay at Augusta.
Has exceptional raw ability and he can overpower the par 5s.
Ive got a hunch hell play well this week.
He hasnt been very good in the majors recently with no top 10s since the 2019 U.S. Open.
Thats 16 straight without a top 10.
Hes top-10d in each of the past two Masters but has not had a good season thus far.
This doesnt seem like one of his best ones.
Hes a fiery competitor and that will sting but he should take tons of positives from that week.
Watching him roll the rock on the purest greens in the world should be a treat.
He hits the ball fast, too.
Hes been one of the best drivers of the ball during his rookie season on the PGA Tour.
He loves the big moment and views himself as an entertainer as well as a golfer.
A T2 at the Honda Classic is by far his best finish thus far this year.
No real major championship success to speak of.
Its still early, but hes got just one top 25 finish in 14 major starts.
Loves everything about Augusta National and tends to putt very well on the slippery Bentgrass greens.
Hes very consistent, hardly ever misses a cut and has historically been a very good iron player.
Yet another Georgia Bulldog in the field.
Theres also this: he really, really doesnt like Augusta National.
Hes a fiery character and it doesnt take much to set him off.
A course like Augusta, with its mumps and bounds, tests his patience.
Perhaps thats a reason he doesnt have a top 10 in his last 15 major starts.
His last three Masters have yielded two missed cuts and a T39.
Akshay BhatiaAge: 22Data Golf Ranking: 73Masters appearances: Rookie
What a journey to the Masters its been.
Lets hope his 22-year-old tendons and muscles are elastic.
Now hes a young, upcoming lefty playing Augusta National for the first time.
An extremely high, top-5-in-world upside and Im pumped to watch him play the Masters for the first time.
Hell have Matt Minister, who used to caddie for Patrick Cantlay, on the bag.
Yet to break 70 in 12 career rounds at Augusta National.
Hes lost ground with his approach play in three of his last four starts.
Record at the Masters is the worst of the four majors with nary a top 10 in seven attempts.
No surprise, then, that hes got a T2 and a T3 at Augusta in his back pocket.
Was the world No.
He said he wanted to play less, and hes playing less.
Born in Georgia, went to Georgia, lives in Georgia.
Gets his first crack at Augusta with Joe LaCava on the bag.
Hes had some success around that course.
LaCava, that is.
Itll come down to how he putts.
Comes in off a T2 in Houston and has three top-19 finishes in six Masters starts.
Flying very much under the radar.
Bubba, I hear, has done just fine at Augusta.
He says hes close, and he played solid last week.
Its just enough reason to believe again.
Hes at the point of his career where the only thing really missing is a major championship.
Hell get it done, but the game is not where it needs to be at the minute.
The question, as always, is how well the putter will hold up on Augustas ski-slope greens.
As such, Data Golf is still quite high on him.
Complicated history at the Mastershis debut as the reigning U.S.
Amateur champion couldnt have gone much better, finishing T21 and winning low amateur honors.
Ludvig AbergAge: 24Data Golf Ranking: 6Masters appearances: Rookie
The no.
9 player in the much-maligned Official World Golf Ranking and the No.
6 player in Data Golf has to be one of the best and most accomplished major championship rookies ever.
No real holes in his game as hes comfortably in the positive in every key strokes gained category.
Wyndham ClarkAge: 30Data Golf Ranking: 10Masters appearances: Rookie
Its an uncommon career path.
A lifelong rank-and-file guy with all the tools that finally gets his mind under control, thats one thing.
But they dont usually blossom into a top-five player in the world, and certainly not so quickly.
Its not just that his top-gear is now good enough; its the week-to-week consistency that he never had.
Data Golf is not as high on him as the World Rankings (hes No.
He expects a ton out of himself every week now, and it wont be different.
1 amateur has been steadily progressing and the next step is to contend in major championships.
Never been more confident than he is in this moment.
Hes hungry, hes got the opportunity that he asked for, and I expect a very good showing.
Finished outside the top 20 at the Masters just once in his last nine starts at Augusta.
Absolutely has a shot to win another one and a virtual lock to post a solid finish.
Shane LowryAge: 37Data Golf Ranking: 27Masters appearances: 8Best Masters finish: T3, 2022
Dark Horse.
He started the year in the unfortunate spot of not being into the signature events.
The week before Bay Hill he took T4 at the Honda Classic.
A hot putter is the last ingredient.
All in on Shane this week.
Hes won a bunch of PGA Tour events.
Hes won FedEx Cups.
Hes starred at Ryder Cups.
Hes contended in so, so many majors.
Those missed cuts, naturally, are split by a solo second finish.
Hes gone with a different strategy this year and has played a ton of golf early.
Patience will be the key this week.
He wants this so, so badly.
Itll happen eventually, and he might be a bit undervalued by betting markets.
He was testing a new driver and I wouldnt be surprised if he goes back to ol trusty.
Hes an all-time great, hes fully healthy and hes going to find his way to contention.
Thats what Brooks Koepka does at major championships.
Forget the stats, forget the form coming in.
Focus instead on the 17 finishes of T7 or better in major championships.
Oh, and the five victories.
The thinking: this simply isnt sustainable if LIV is going to keep poaching A-1 talent like Rahm.
We dont seem to be that much closer to that happening, but thats a discussion for another time.
His finish in those three events: WIN, WIN, T2.
Seems wholly comfortable in his own skin and has kept his circle around him tight to keep him grounded.
Top 10s in eight of his last 11 major championship starts.
To say all systems are firing would be an understatement.
