With March Madness still very much in the air, one of my first semester classmates is doing a Masters Tournament pool. There are a total of seven categories or brackets. The winner of the pool will be determined by the total money earned by the players picked. My Golf Fundamentals class thinks four players have the best chance to win: Jordan Spieth (5 votes to win), Jimmy Walker (3), Jason Day (2), Dustin Johnson (2), and Tiger Woods (1/2 a vote in a real show of disrespect for the four-time Masters Champion). My picks from each bracket (in bold) are highlighted in italics with each player’s best Masters finish in parenthesis and a note about their play so far this year.
Top 10 (Pick two)
Rory McIlroy (T8:2014; Just 3 PGA Tour events played in 2015; One Top 10)
Henrick Stenson
Bubba Watson
Jordan Spieth (T2:2014; One win, two 2nds in last 3 events)
Jason Day
Adam Scott
Dustin Johnson
Sergio Garcia
Jim Furyk
Jimmy Walker
Americans (Pick two)
Rickie Fowler
Matt Kuchar
Patrick Reed (MC:2014; Three Top 10s in 2015)
Billy Horschel
Brandt Snedeker
J.B. Holmes (T25:2008; Finally won last week by dialing in his wedges)
Phil Mickelson
Kevin Na
Chris Kirk
Zach Johnson
Europeans (Pick two)
Justin Rose
Martin Kaymer
Victor Dubuisson (MC:2014; Coming of T17 in Houston)
Jamie Donaldson
Graeme McDowell
Lee Westwood
Ian Poulter
Paul Casey (T6:2004; Three Top 10s in 2015)
Luke Donald
Stephen Gallacher
Young Guns (Pick two)
Hunter Mahan (T8:2010; Made cut in all 9 PGA Tour events played in 2015)
Bill Haas
Ryan Moore
Brooks Koepka
Matt Every (MC:2014; One win, 8 cuts made in 2015)
Webb Simpson
Jason Dufner
Russell Henley
Brendon Todd
Morgan Hoffmann
Foreigners (Pick two)
Hideka Matsuyama
Louis Oosthuizen (2nd:2012; Two Top 10s in 2015)
Charl Schwartzel
Branden Grace
Sangmoon Bae
Jonas Blixt
Ernie Els (2nd:2000, 2004; One Top 25 in 2015)
James Hahn
Anirban Lahiri
Thomas Bjorn
Veterans (Pick two)
Angel Cabrera (Won:2009; Always seems to show up on Sundays at Augusta)
Erik Compton
Fred Couples
Padraig Harrington (T5:2002, 2008; Won for 1st time on PGA Tour since 2008)
Miguel Angel Jimenez
Bernard Langer
Vijay Singh
Steve Stricker
Ben Crane
Kevin Streelman
Bombers (Pick two)
Ryan Palmer
Keegan Bradley (T27:2012; Made 8 of 9 cuts in 2015; Two Top 10s)
Gary Woodland
Camillo Villegas
John Senden
Marc Leishman
Kevin Stadler
Robert Streb
Charley Hoffman
Tiger Woods (Won:1997,2001, 2002, 2005; Sentimental pick)