5 biggest questions heading into the Masters

5. Who could become a first-time Masters champion?

Here’s a trivia question: Who was the last player other than Tiger Woods to hold the outright lead at the Masters in 2019?

It wasn’t Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka or Francesco Molinari, all of whom came up just short of Woods on the final leaderboard. No, it was Patrick Cantlay who took the lead on the back-nine on Sunday with an eagle at the par-five 15th.

After barely making the cut, Cantlay shot 64-68 on the weekend. And though he eventually fell back to ninth place, the momentum of that final round is still sticking with him all these months later.

“I would say this is a place that we get to come back to every year, so having a lot of momentum or feeling like you have a lot of good vibes around this place is of the ultimate importance,” he said on Monday. “So I’m going to take, hopefully, that momentum from Saturday and Sunday into this year and really try to feed off those good vibes and all the birdies I made on the weekend.”

Cantlay is coming off a win in his last start, holding off Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas at the Zozo Championship. The 28-year-old former top-ranked amateur is entering his prime and has the game to be a major champion. He ranked in the top-20 on tour last season in approach shots, tee to green, and total strokes gained. He doesn’t attract the headlines of other young guns, but don’t be surprised if Cantlay is wearing the Green Jacket on Sunday.

He’s not alone in players capable of winning their first Masters title this year. Tony Finau played in the final group with Woods and Molinari last year, finishing tied for fifth after being one of four contenders on Sunday to find the water on the par-3 12th. Over the last two years, Finau is fourth in total strokes gained at Augusta National and has been in the top-10 each of the last two years.

Xander Schauffele came agonizingly close to winning last year, finishing a shot behind Woods. The 27-year-old is proving to be a significant threat on golf’s biggest stages, with seven top-10s in 13 career major championship appearances, including five top-fives. He ranked third on tour last year in total strokes gained behind Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas and is third again this year. And he’s hot, shooting the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship before finishing fifth at the U.S. Open and runner-up at the CJ Cup.

Rahm, like Finau, has been in the top-10 at Augusta National the last two years and leads all players over the last decade in scoring average on both the par-fours and par-fives. But he’s still chasing his first Green Jacket and major championship. Dustin Johnson also doesn’t have a Masters title despite four straight top-10s dating back to 2015 (he didn’t play in 2017), including a runner-up finish last year. Johnson, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, has been either first or second in five of his last six starts, including on the weekend at the Houston Open.

If there is going to be a rookie winner this year, look no further than Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa. Wolff, with his unique swing and long drives, has played only two majors in his career: He was fourth at the PGA Championship and runner-up to DeChambeau at the U.S. Open, the first player since the 19th century to begin his career with consecutive top-five finishes in a major. Morikawa won the PGA Championship in his first appearance and is one of the best iron players on tour, always an advantage at Augusta National. But they are going up against history: Only two players since the inaugural Masters, Gene Sarazen in 1935 and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, won the Masters in their first attempt.