2012 Masters Preview

This is the most excited I've been for a golf tournament in years. I'll give you four good reasons: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, and Luke Donald.

For a ten year period Tiger Woods was the greatest golfer of all time. He dominated the game in a way like no one ever had. He didn't just win majors he won everything. Every tournament he entered you expected Tiger to win, and then it all came tumbling down. His injuries, his personal problems, all of it. But Tiger has never said he's done, he's made it clear he plans on fighting his way back and now he seems to be at a place where people can believe that just maybe he can win this Masters. He won two weeks ago at a PGA event and he won in the Tiger way. He went into the final round with the lead and put everyone else away with his solid putting and nerves of steel. Now the question is can he do it at a major and can he do it with tough competition.

Of all of Tiger's contemporary rivals only one really remains a factor, Phil Mickelson. Mickelson has also won this year on the Tour, back in February. In fact he won with a phenomenal final round when he was paired with Tiger. Phil has also been dealing the last couple of years with his own personal issues and I have heard golf reporters talking about the fact that Phil just isn't that driven to win anymore, but one thing everyone believes is that he's still driven to beat Tiger. The Masters suits Mickelson well and so if he's fully motivated and ready to go watch out. He's already shown that he's back to form and so now we all anticipate that final round pairing with Tiger. Two guys who really don't seem to like each other at all.

Of course the other pairing we want to see with Tiger on the final day is the guy who has been tagged as his successor, Rory McIlroy. McIlroy famously blew up at last year's Masters, but he responded to that by destroying the field at the US Open. He too has won this year on the tour and like Mickelson beat Tiger in that one, holding on to a fourth round charge from Tiger. The big question now for McIlroy is whether or not he is really ready to be not only the number 1 golfer in the world, but also the successor to Tiger Woods. I think Tiger fans would love to see this match up on the final day.

I also throw in the mix Luke Donald. He's currently the number 1 player in the world, a winner on this year's tour, and he is a great contrast to the other three. With Mickelson, Woods, and McIlroy you have not only great players and players who have won majors, but most importantly aggressive players. Guys who can attack a course and beat it and crush their competition. In Luke Donald you have the consummate pro. He's no youngster, he's 34 and he's been a solid player on the world tour for quite a while. But unlike the other guys Donald is not overly aggressive or brash. He's consistent, controlled, and very dangerous. A lot of people believe he simply doesn't have what it takes to win a major, and so we'll see just how good he is I believe in this Masters. If Donald is the best player in the world then he'll be in the running going into the final round. If he's not, well then time to move on to the next guy.

I told my brother recently that the pairings I would love to see on the final day are as follows. Tiger, Mickelson in the second to last group, McIlroy, Donald in the final group. Tiger and Mickelson would be going at the course and at each other holding nothing back, especially if they were starting the day behind McIlroy and Donald. You would expect at least one of them to get a hot hand and put pressure on McIlroy. This would of course put pressure on McIlroy to be aggressive, but he's paired with Mr. Consistency. If you get too aggressive and slip back suddenly Mr. Consistency can steal everything away. If McIlroy could win under those circumstances I don't think anyone would have any doubt that he is the best player in the world, and I think the same could be said for Donald if he won.

Of course you never really know how things will turn out. None of these guys could be in the running at all going into the weekend. After all Hunter Mahan has won twice already this year and so who knows maybe he'll end up being the guy to beat. Still because of these four players and the fact that they have all won this season on the Tour, I'm very excited for this Masters.