5 names you need to know before The Masters 2018

Here are five players you might not know and may want to keep an eye on heading into the 2018 Masters.

The Masters is always full of big names and big stories. This year is no exception. There’s obviously the return of Tiger Woods. That’s pretty much going to dominate the headlines leading into Thursday morning. But there are other ones out there as well.

Can 47-year-old Phil Mickelson become the oldest winner in Masters history? Can world No. 1 Dustin Johnson get a green jacket after that unfortunate slip last year just before the tournament got going? Can world No. 2 Justin Thomas win a second consecutive major championship and get to that top spot? Can Rory McIlroy finally complete the career Grand Slam? Can Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose or Jason Day get back to winning majors? With two wins in a season for the first time in four years, is two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson back to form? Can Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler or Hideki Matsuyama finally break through and get that elusive first major? The list goes on and on and on.

Most of the people reading this know these big names and there’s no sense in going through their chances here. We know these guys and we know what they’re capable of. So here are the other guys — and not even the dark horses — that you’re likely going to hear about as Masters coverage gets underway. These are a few good stories floating around Augusta National this week that may not get as much press as they should.

Matt Parziale

I’m going to start with one of my favorite stories of the week. It’s likely that most people haven’t heard the name Matt Parziale before, or at least until a few weeks ago. While the majority of the players in this field will talk about Masters pressure, they haven’t faced anything like what Parziale deals with on a daily basis. You see, this 30-year-old amateur, the reigning winner of the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, has a day job at the Brockton (Massachusetts) Fire Department and faces pressure every day. After watching Tiger Woods as a kid, he wanted to be a golfer and ended up becoming a three-time All-American at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, even winning a national championship. He spent a few years on the mini-tours before deciding to become a firefighter. His father, Vic, spent 32 years as the captain of the Brockton Dept. and will be on the bag this week. That’s a Masters story right there and you’ll definitely be hearing about it.

Joaquin Niemann

Let’s talk about one more amateur before getting to a few pros. That said, this is no ordinary amateur. Joaquin Niemann earned his invitation to The Masters by winning the Latin America Amateur Championship and he did so in style, with a closing 8-under round of 63 at the Prince of Wales Country Club in Santiago, Chile. The 19-year-old, who is the top-ranked amateur in the world, plans to turn pro immediately after The Masters, which means he’ll forfeit his exemptions to the final qualifying stages for the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, and likely would have done so had he not qualified for Augusta. The best finish for an amateur in the 2000s was in 2004 when Casey Wittenberg finished at even par to finish in a tie for 13th. Don’t be shocked if this kid jumps into the top 20 this week.

Tommy Fleetwood

It’s crazy to think that the 12th-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking needs to be included on this list but there are still plenty of people out there that aren’t familiar with him. He does spend the majority of his time on the European Tour but American audiences need to start paying attention to this guy. He’s got a ton of talent and has been in the top 20 in the world for about 10 months now. Okay, he missed the cut at The Masters last year but he’s certainly not the same player he was a year ago. The Englishman hasn’t missed a cut in his last 15 events and in that stretch, he has a win and has only finished out of the top 25 twice. He made some noise at the U.S. Open last year, eventually finishing fourth after Brooks Koepka just lapped everyone. He’ll be a major championship winner at some point. And trust me, you’ll get plenty of time to know him over the first two days. He’s paired with Marc Leishman (another name to watch) and Tiger Woods in the first two rounds.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat

28-year-old Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who was born in Thailand, has actually been a professional for a decade. Although in that time he’s played in just 10 major championships (and missed the cut in half of them), “Asia’s John Daly” — seriously, that’s one of his nicknames — is finally making a name for himself as has jumped to 30th in the world rankings, up from 160th from last September, with some impressive play on the European and Asian tours. He has two wins in 2018 and tied for fifth at both the WGC-Mexico and the Match Play. He’s played The Masters just once and tied for 15th, finishing eight strokes behind winner Danny Willett.

Kevin Kisner

The winner of the 2018 Masters is going to be someone from the top 25 in the world and American Kevin Kisner is currently sitting right on that number. He’s certainly not the biggest name in the field by any stretch of the imagination but you don’t crack the world top 25 without having some game. He hasn’t had the greatest luck in stroke play events recently, making just one cut in his last four outings. However, prior to that stretch, he played the weekend in 19 straight appearances, which included a win and three other top-10 finishes. He also just straightened some things out and had a dynamite showing at the Match Play event, making it all the way to the finals before losing to Bubba Watson. Finding your game just before The Masters is always a good thing.

Next: Top 10 shots in Masters history

So there you have it, a few names you might not have known going into the week but names that you’ll likely hear from time to time as this tournament moves along. Who’s your pick for the 2018 Masters? Please feel free to join in the conversation in the comments section below.

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