Five players to watch at the 2012 Masters

He is ready to seize the Day

The best tournament in golf is less than 24 hours from teeing off, and while the casual golf fans might be tuning in just for Tiger Woods, there are plenty of other guys worth watching. Whether you want to watch some veterans like Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood or Luke Donald battle to get their first major or if you want to watch some up and comers like Ryo Ishikawa, Patrick Cantaly or Corbin Mills there are plenty of names outside of Woods to track. While personally I still will be rooting for a Tiger Woods victory at Augusta, these are the five other guys who I will be keeping a close eye on. Hopefully none of them win the par 3 contest...



1. Hunter Mahan -- USA
Thursday Tee Time: 1:53 p.m. ET      Thursday/Friday Pairing: Phil Mickelson and Peter Hanson
FedEx Cup rank: 1

After following Hunter Mahan around in 2009 at the AT&T National tournament at Congressional I became a big fan. While the rest of the crowd was busy following around Tiger Woods and Anthony Kim--yeah Anthony Kim used to be a pretty good golfer--on the final day, my friends and I decided to walk with Mahan who was busy tying the course record with a 62. Tiger still won the tournament, but Mahan's 62 was the most impressive golf feat I have ever seen in person. This year Hunter has been lighting up the tour. He has played in seven PGA Tour events, made seven cuts, six top 25's, three top 10's and two wins and is currently in first in the race for the FedEx Cup. After the win last weekend at the Shell Houston Open Mahan will come into Augusta as one of the favorites.

2. Jason Day -- Australia
Thursday Tee Time: 9:18 a.m. ET      Thursday/Friday Pairing: Kyle Stanley and Bill Haas
FedEx Cup rank: 108

Jason Day is one of my very favorite players on tour. Last year Day finished tied for second at the Masters and he finished outright in second at the US Open, which nobody probably knows because Rory McIlroy was about a billion strokes ahead of Day. The 24-year-old turned pro back in 2006 so he has plenty of experience on tour and also has the talent to take multiple majors in one year. So the question with Jason Day is not if he is going to win a major, but rather when is he going to win a major. I'll bet that it is sometime this year.

3. Rickie Fowler -- USA
Thursday Tee Time: 9:29 a.m. ET      Thursday/Friday Pairing: Trevor Immelman and Justin Rose
FedEx Cup rank: 67

Fowler has somewhat revolutionized the game of golf, at least for the golfing youth. While Fowler might be more known for his hats and his orange at this point, he will soon be known for his game. Fowler was the top ranked amateur back in 2007 and 2008 and was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2010. Last year Fowler had his best major result at the Open Championship, where he finished tied for fifth. The Justin Bieber of golf hasn't had the best 2012 campaign so far, his best finish was seventh at the Honda Classic in early March and outside of that tournament he only has one other finish inside the top 25. US golf could use a guy like Fowler, who has so much character and personality, at the top of the leaderboards, and there is no better way to make a splash than at the Masters.

4. Bubba Watson -- USA
Thursday Tee Time: 1:42 p.m. ET     Thursday/Friday Pairing: Angel Cabrera and Rory McIlroy
FedEx Cup rank: 12

Bubba rounds out the members of the Golf Boys I have on this list--sorry Ben Crane. Like Fowler, Bubba is a crowd favorite at tournaments, probably because his name is Bubba, or because he is currently first in driving distance in the PGA, averaging 316.9 yards per drive. Watson is also currently in first place in GIR% hitting 73.61% of his greens in regulation. Bubba is playing some of the best golf of his career so far in 2012. He has played in seven PGA events and has seven top 25 finishes, pretty incredible. After shooting a second-round 62 Cadillac Championship in March it seemed the Watson was destined to get his first win of the season, but a disappointing 74 on Sunday left him with a second place finish. The major's didn't do Watson any favors last year and his best finish was a tied for 26th at PGA Championship. I expect him to continue his streak of incredible play though this season, and think he will be right there with the leaders come Sunday.



5. Patrick Cantlay -- USA
Thursday Tee Time: 11:52 a.m. ET   Thursday/Friday Pairing: Zach Johnson and Ian Poulter
FedEx Cup rank: N/A

The 20-year-old sophomore from UCLA made his PGA debut last year at the US Open, he finished tied for 21st. He played in four tournaments after that, made all four cuts finished inside the top 25 in three of them and also had one top ten finish. Cantlay gained some recognition by shooting a second-round 60 at the Travelers Championship last summer. He is the current #1 ranked amateur in the world and finished second at the 2011 US Amateur, which earned him a spot in the Masters' field. I don't really expect Cantlay to be anywhere near contention in this tournament, but I do figure that he will be a perennial contender starting a few years from now. So if you are at Augusta this week I recommend you watch him now when you still can.

Also if you haven't seen this shot from Martin Kaymer you are missing out.



Image courtesy of Getty Images

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