I used to think that Bubba Watson should be the annual favorite to win every Masters. Between his left-handed prowess, his two green jackets and this aura that seemed to settle over him every April, it felt like the Masters ran through him. After what happened last year at Augusta National, though, I now know that’s wrong.
The Masters rolls through Jordan Spieth.
The 23-year-old Texan already has one green jacket to his name and should probably have another. He has played in three Masters and never seen what third place (or worse) looks like. His average finish at Augusta is an astonishing 1.7. He has shot nine of his 12 rounds there at par or better. He has led or been tied for the lead after eight (!) of those 12 rounds.
In short, Spieth owns Augusta.
But there are others who have played well there, too. I went back and looked at the data for the last five Masters dating back to 2012 to see who had made at least three cuts and where that golfer finished on average.
| Golfer | Made cut | Average finish |
|---|---|---|
Jordan Spieth | 3 | 1.7 |
Dustin Johnson | 3 | 7.7 |
Justin Rose | 5 | 11.8 |
Lee Westwood | 5 | 13.2 |
Fred Couples | 3 | 15.0 |
Jason Day | 4 | 15.3 |
Louis Oosthuizen | 4 | 15.3 |
Jim Furyk | 3 | 16.7 |
Matt Kuchar | 5 | 17.2 |
Rory McIlroy | 5 | 17.4 |
Sergio Garcia | 4 | 17.8 |
Brandt Snedeker | 4 | 18.0 |
Bernhard Langer | 3 | 19.0 |
Phil Mickelson | 3 | 19.7 |
Angel Cabrera | 4 | 20.0 |
If you’re looking at golfers who have had a lot of recent success here, this is the list. Additionally, these golfers don’t really miss cuts. Spieth, Rose, Westwood, Kuchar and McIlroy have missed zero. Langer and Mickelson have each missed two. Everybody else has missed just one.
If these golfers make the field at Augusta National, they generally play quite well.
Westwood is the one who fascinates me most. He finished T2 last season along with Spieth and has three other top 10s in the last five years. Yes, Westwood has four top 10s at the Masters since 2012. He is currently 100-1 to win this event.
Also, if you’re wondering, Tiger Woods finished just outside the cut here with an average finish of 20.3.
Will all of the guys on this list play tremendously this year? No, but you can bet that a large handful of them will be in the mix to win. This is not surprising as there are several of the top 20 golfers in the world listed here, but more importantly, everyone here loves playing Augusta National, and it shows.
Spieth is the headliner, and he should be. To put what he’s done into perspective, Woods’ career average finish is 8.6. Spieth has him by seven spots. The Masters runs through the No. 6 golfer in the world, but don’t be surprised when Johnson or McIlroy or Garcia takes him down a peg next week and dons their first green jacket.