The Masters Preview

This week at the Houston Open, players had their last chance to prepare for The Masters. Phil Mickelson, defending champion at Augusta, was able to hold off Scott Verplank to win his first tournament since last years Masters Tournament.

Mickelson (-20) carded a final round 65 (-7), finishing three ahead of Verplank and Chris Kirk (-17). Lefty lost his third-round lead early in the day to Verplank after he bogeyed two of his first three holes. Mickelson started to heat up late in the front nine which ignited a stretch of five straight birdies from the 9th to the 13th hole. After another birdie for Lefty he was able to hold his lead and win by three shots.

Going into next week Woods has now been dropped all the way to 7th in the World Golf Rankings. Tiger has shown improvement in his game this season although he has been somewhat inconsistant on the weekends.

Players like Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood, who have recently earned the top two spots in the rankings, are determined to prove their ranking and stay on top. Kaymer may struggle at Augusta because the course does not always reward long hitters and often favors finesse players like Westood and Luke Donald.

Augusta is a tight course that has a high risk-reward aspect in every hole. Typically the player who remains strategically agressive will win as shown in the past winners like Mickelson, Angel Cabrera, Trevor Immelman, and Tiger Woods.

Tiger and Phil are looking to get back to the top of the rankings and take home another major but will have to face an amazing field of talent. Both should be on the hunt come Sunday but I feel someone like Westwood, Donald, or Paul Casey may be able to win.