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The Masters is right around the corner, so it’s time to dust
off the ol’ thinking cap and try and figure out who will earn the right to wear
the ugliest blazer in sports not owned by Craig Sager. I’ve organized a tiny little Masters pool
with some avid golf fans (see the scoring rules posted below) and now have the
responsibility of explaining my picks so that I don’t feel as bad when I’m
completely wrong
.
To study up on my Masters (not that I don’t watch all 4
rounds, it’s just a refresher) I took a look at the Final Top 10 in each of the
past 3 years. I only used 3 because I
did not under any circumstances want to include 2009 in my data when Kenny
Perry, Chad Campbell, and Angel Cabrera played in a three way playoff that was
as underwhelming as any Masters ever (seriously, shame on the rest of the field
in 2009). Anyways, here are my
observations.
The top 2 scorers from the previous year have been
struggling in the following Masters. In
2010, nobody from the Kenny Perry/Chad Campbell/Angel Cabrera playoff made any
noise; In 2011, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood finished outside the top 10;
And in 2012 Charl Schwartzel and Jason Day were nowhere to be found. Thus, in 2013 Bubba Watson and Louis
Oosthuizen won’t be contending.
Judging by the past 3 champions (Mickelson, Schwartzel, and
Watson), you need to be in the Top 10 after round 1. So historically slow starters won’t be on my
team (Luke Donald, Ian Poulter to name a couple).
No player has come from outside the Top 10 after 3 rounds to
finish in the Top 5 in the past three years.
Not going to affect my team, but just an observation that if you’re
trying to get the Top 5 right, you need them all to be in the Top 10 after 3.
Over the past three years, the only players with rounds
finished in the Top 5 on the leaderboard in multiple years are Phil Mickelson
with 6 total rounds, Tiger Woods with 5, Fred Couples with 3, and, of course,
the two leaders in this department, K.J. Choi and Lee Westwood, with 7 each.
Every year, a few players come out of nowhere to contend at
the Masters. So while it’s important to
take the old guard and ride the percentages, a dark horse or two can’t hurt.
With all that in mind, my 5 man lineup for my Masters pool
is:
K.J. Choi
Nicolas Colsaerts
Phil Mickelson
Lee Westwood
Tiger Woods
Contest Rules: Pick 5 Golfers- That's Your "Team"
Scoring System:
Eagle= 1 point
Round in 60s= 1 point
Make the Cut= 1 point
Double Bogey or Worse= -2 points
Win Masters= 7 points
Runner Up= 4 points
Top 5= 2 points
Top 10= 1 point
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