5 most anticipated match-ups of the 2018 Masters

3. Dustin Johnson vs. Rory McIlroy

Augusta National is most known for its intricate greens and make-or-break putts that buckle the knees of even the greats come Sunday. While the short game is admittedly important, strokes gained from tee to green is an area where many Masters Champions have thrived in setting up their claim for a green jacket.

From 2004 to 2015, as presented by Todd Schneider for FiveThirtyEight, eight out of 12 Masters champions ranked in the top-ten during their respective season when it came to strokes gained from tee to green. Conversely, only three of the dozen winners placed top-ten in strokes gained in putting. In 2016, Danny Willett did not have enough PGA Tour appearances to make the stats sheet and last year’s winner, Sergio Garcia, finished 2017 ranked 12th in tee to green and 168th in putting.

In three of the last four seasons, the lone of which being 2015, both Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy have found themselves battling throughout the top-ten in strokes gained tee to green. Johnson’s seemingly video game style long drives have appeared in twitter feed and highlight reels across the globe. At the WGC Match Play event Johnson even hit the unofficial longest drive in the ShotLink era by 13 yards.

Number one in the Official World Golf Rankings and already a win under his belt this season, Johnson maybe poised to be fitted for his first green jacket this April. If there is one man who can turn up the heat on the tee its fellow long ball bomber, McIlroy. The Northern Ireland native is more than happy to step up, stripe his drive and put on a show Sunday at Augusta.

Three-quarters of the way to capturing the elusive Grand Slam of Golf, the only major left for McIlroy to win is none other than the Masters. In his nine appearances at Augusta, he has been knocking on that door since 2014. In those past four years, McIlroy has finished in the top-ten with his best performance coming in 2015 finishing fourth.

McIlroy’s recent success couldn’t have come at a better time. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, played just three weeks prior to the Masters, the 2016 FedEx Cup winner put together an impressive 8-under Sunday to find himself back in the winner’s circle. McIlroy’s last victory on the came on September 25, 2016, the same day the namesake of his latest tour victory, Arnold Palmer, passed away.

With both men already carding wins this season, could a win at Augusta be the next bucket list item to check off for Johnson or McIlroy? Regardless of how it plays out, a Sunday of these two competitors bombing the golf ball around the Pink Dogwood and down the Yellow Jasmine would be a pure delight for golf fans.