PGATOUR.COM
It might be easier for a first-year patron to score face-value tickets to the Masters on Washington Road than it is for a rookie to win the Green Jacket.
This is not only a perception, it is the truth: There have been only three rookies to win the Masters, and the first two shouldn’t count—Horton Smith in 1934 and Gene Sarazen in 1935—because they came in the first two championships.
That means only one player in the last 75 years—Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979—has left Augusta National with a Green Jacket on his first try.
This year’s crop of 19 rookies has to do more than learn to read these devilish greens; they need to study so much more of the history of these hallowed grounds.
There are sight lines to be learned on tee shots. There are pins to be aimed at, and pins never to be challenged. There are places where you can miss and places to avoid.
There is that first time, when a local caddie instructs a rookie to play “oh, about 8 feet of break” on a putt, when the first-timer just shakes his head and wonders if he has a chance.
History shows us he probably doesn’t. But what place had produced more unlikely golf history than Augusta National? Maybe this is the year when a rookie forgets he’s a rookie and stays in contention until late Sunday.
Certainly there are players among the 19 neophytes who believe they belong. After all, three of them have won multiple PGA TOUR events (Mark Wilson, who still leads the FedExCup standings, Charley Hoffman and Martin Laird). Moreover, there are five other players who stamped their ticket to the Masters by winning a PGA TOUR event in the last year—Arjun Atwal, Jason Day, D.A. Points, Jhonattan Vegas and Gary Woodland.
But I’m picking a guy who has yet to win on the PGA TOUR as the first-year player most likely to contend in his inaugural Masters. Hint: He would become the first winner to have the Green Jacket placed on his all-orange ensemble.
Or can we just call him Rickie these days?
Fowler promises to be just as fearless on the hills of Augusta National as he was when he was racing his dirt bike over mounds in Southern California.
Fowler certainly didn’t sound concerned when he wrote a diary this weekend for www.Masters.org, when he said: “Playing in the Masters, it’s not going to overwhelm me … It’s something I dreamed about.”
Fowler pointed out he wasn’t overwhelmed when he spent his first season on the PGA TOUR last year, winning Rookie of the Year honors. He also wasn’t overwhelmed playing in his first Ryder Cup, finishing with four consecutive birdies to pull out an important half-point with Europe’s Edoardo Molinari. Nor was he overwhelmed when he tied for 14th in his first British Open last year.
“I played in two U.S. Opens as an amateur and the Ryder Cup, and there are not many places you’re going to get a bigger crowd or more nerves than that,” Fowler wrote. “So I feel like I’m pretty prepared.”
Fowler turned 22 in December, so he would be cutting into a trend where the average age of the Masters winners is 31.66. There have been exceptions—Tiger Woods was 2 1/2 weeks older than Fowler when he won the 1997 Masters by a record 15 shots. And the Big Three all won in their 20s—Jack Nicklaus was 23 when he won the first of his six Masters in 1963; Gary Player was 25 when he won first Masters 50 years ago this week; and Arnold Palmer was 28 when he won his first Green Jacket in 1958.
At least one Las Vegas oddsmaker agrees. The Tropicana lists Fowler as he 12th-lowest Masters odds (35-1), ahead of former winners Zach Johnson (80-1), Angel Cabrera (100-1) and Trevor Immelman (100-1).
I also like the chances of another former Ryder Cupper who has yet to win on the PGA TOUR. Jeff Overton showed a level of spunk at last year’s Ryder Cup—”boom, baby!”—while going 2-2 in the pressure-packed competition. But after tying for sixth at the Honda Classic, Overton was last at the WGC-Cadillac Championship and missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He needs to regain some momentum, and fast.
I also think Woodland might surprise in his first Masters showing. The Transitions Championship winner hits it long and putts it well—perfect combinations at Augusta—but he still has a learning curve after giving up college basketball just eight years ago.
Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Laird also hits it a long way, so he could contend for a while. Jason Day is another rookie who may play well this week, but he has another piece of history going against him besides his first-year status: No Australian has ever won the Masters.
Expecting a rookie to do so this year would be a little naive.
Read the article:
First time, right time? (PGATOUR.com)