Fansided

5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 and 2 of the 2018 Masters

By Luke Norris

SAN DIEGO, CA - JANUARY 26: Rickie Fowler plays his shot from the 17th tee as Phil Mickelson looks on during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines North on January 26, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - JANUARY 26: Rickie Fowler plays his shot from the 17th tee as Phil Mickelson looks on during the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines North on January 26, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 6
Next

Here are five groups to watch during the first two rounds of the 2018 edition of The Masters.

The Masters is always one of the most talked-about sporting events of the year but this year is something bigger. It’s not just the return of Tiger Woods, although that’s a big part of what’s happening at Augusta National this week, but also the fact that so many of the top players in the world are playing well and seem ready for a run at the green jacket.

With a field of 87 players, the smallest Masters field in decades, the chances of winning are a little easier than normal…if you consider 49 of the top 50 players in the world easy anyway. The only one missing is world No. 10 and reigning U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka, who has been out since January with a wrist injury.

Sure, there are some guys here that have no chance of winning. One of the perks of winning The Masters is that you can come back and play for as long as you like. But does anyone see someone like Larry Mize or Sandy Lyle or Mark O’Meara taking this thing? Highly unlikely. There may be an instance of someone like Fred Couples or Bernhard Langer or Vijay Singh giving us a fun story for a round or two but that’s about it.

Then you’ve got the amateurs. The top-ranked amateur in the world, 19-year-old Joaquin Niemann, is in the field and he may make a little run like Bryson DeChambeau did a few years back but the likelihood of one of these six players sitting atop the leaderboard on Sunday night is slim to none. The winner of this year’s Masters is going to be one of the top players in the world and likely from the top 25…unless you count that Woods fella that’s ranked 103rd.

The tee times and groupings for the first two rounds were released on Tuesday and there’s a lot of fun groups in there. Two-time Masters champ Bubba Watson, who’s already won twice this year, is paired with major champions Jason Day and Henrik Stenson. It wouldn’t shock anyone if the winner came from that group. 2015 Masters winner Jordan Spieth is in a threesome with Louis Oosthuizen and Alex Noren, all of whom could make a run.

However, the winner of the 2018 Masters will likely come from one of these five groups. Let’s have a look.

Home/The Masters