The Masters Begins
The greatest golf tournament in the world begins today in Augusta , Georgia. It’s not often we talk about another state in this blog but we always make an exception for The Masters.
It is, beyond doubt, the tournament all players want to win more than any other, perhaps with the exception for the British players who may value the British Open a hair thickness more.
This year sees 93 players tee it off on Thursday morning while the Par 3 Contest begins this afternoon and you can see it on ESPN at 3pm.
As always, a large contingent of Orlando based players will be playing including the current Masters champion Bubba Watson – pictured above.
With his win at the Valero Texas Open last weekend, Martin Laird became the first player since Johnson Wagner, who won the 2008 Shell Houston Open, to earn the final spot into the Masters by virtue of a win the week prior. Twelve of the 13 different winners on TOUR in 2013 through the Shell Houston Open are in the field.
All the players will be hoping to be in the Sunday final pairing as the eventual Masters champion has come out of that pairing 19 out of the last 22 years, with Zach Johnson (2007), Charl Schwartzel (2011) and Bubba Watson (2012) the exceptions.
A lot of eyes will be on Tianlang Guan (pictured above) when he tees off as he will become the youngest player to compete in a major championship.
Below are the youngest players to compete in a PGA TOUR event:
11 years, 11 months, 10 days Don Dunkelberger, 1937 Chicago Open (103, withdrew)
14 years, 2 months, 29 days Michelle Wie, 2004 Sony Open in Hawaii (72-68—140, missed cut)
14 years, 5 months, 11 days Marshall Springer, 1937 Chicago Open (missed cut)
14 years, 5 months, 17 days Tianlang Guan, 2013 Masters Tournament
14 years, 6 months Andy Zhang, 2012 U.S. Open (79-78—157, missed cut)
14 years, 8 months Marshall Springer, 1937 Western Open (84-90—174, missed cut)
14 years, 9 months, 7 days George Burtoft, 1937 Utah Open (88-91-80-93—352, finish N/A
Seventeen players are making their Masters debut this week:
George Coetzee, Nicolas Colsaerts, Jamie Donaldson, Alan Dunbar, Steven Fox, Branden Grace, Tianlang Guan, Russell Henley, John Huh, David Lynn, Thorbjørn Olesen, John Peterson, Scott Piercy, Ted Potter Jr., T.J. Vogel, Michael Weaver and Thaworn Wiratchant.
Here are the tee times for the 1st and 2nd Rounds:
Round 1 Round 2 Group
8 a.m. 10:56 a.m. Sandy Lyle John Peterson Nathan Smith-a
8:11 a.m. 11:07 a.m. Larry Mize Brian Gay Russell Henley
8:22 a.m. 11:18 a.m. Ian Woosnam David Lynn Kevin Na
8:33 a.m. 11:29 a.m. David Toms Richard Sterne Ted Potter Jr.
8:44 a.m. 11:40 a.m. Tom Watson Ryan Moore Kevin Streelman
8:55 a.m. 11:51 a.m. Robert Garrigus Carl Pettersson Tim Clark
9:06 a.m. 12:13 p.m. Mike Weir Lee Westwood Jim Furyk
9:17 a.m. 12:24 p.m. Brandt Snedeker Ryo Ishikawa Justin Rose
9:28 a.m. 12:35 p.m. Jose Maria Olazabal Marc Leishman T.J. Vogel-a
9:39 a.m. 12:46 p.m. Charl Schwartzel Webb SimpsonPeter Hanson
9:50 a.m. 12:57 p.m. Zach Johnson K.J. Choi Graeme McDowell
10:12 a.m. 1:08 p.m. Michael Thompson John Huh John Senden
10:23 a.m. 1:18 p.m. Stewart Cink Nicolas Colsaerts Thaworn Wiratchant
10:34 a.m. 1:30 p.m. Bubba Watson Ian Poulter Steven Fox-a
10:45 a.m. 1:41 p.m. Tiger Woods Luke Donald Scott Piercy
10:56 a.m. 1:52 p.m. Jason Day Rickie Fowler Padraig Harrington
11:07 a.m. 8 a.m. John Merrick Thorbjorn Olesen D.A. Points
11:18 a.m. 8:11 a.m. Craig Stadler Ben Curtis Michael Weaver-a
11:29 a.m. 8:22 a.m. Mark O’Meara Martin Laird Jamie Donaldson
11:40 a.m. 8:33 a.m. Paul Lawrie Thomas Bjorn Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
11:51 a.m. 8:44 a.m. Trevor Immelman George Coetzee Alan Dunbar-a
12:13 p.m. 8:55 a.m. Ernie Els Steve Stricker Nick Watney
12:24 p.m. 9:06 a.m. Ben Crenshaw Matteo Manassero Tianlang Guan-a
12:35 p.m. 9:17 a.m. Bernhard Langer Lucas Glover Henrik Stenson
12:46 p.m. 9:28 a.m. Vijay Singh Bo Van Pelt Y.E. Yang
12:57 p.m. 9:39 a.m. Angel Cabrera Sergio Garcia Adam Scott
1:08 p.m. 9:50 a.m. Fred Couples Dustin Johnson Branden Grace
1:19 p.m. 10:12 a.m. Hunter Mahan Kiroyuki Fujita Francesco Molinari
1:30 p.m. 10:23 a.m. Phil Mickelson Louis Oosthuizen Martin Kaymer
1:41 p.m. 10:34 a.m. Rory McIlroy Keegan Bradley Fredrik Jacobson
1:52 p.m. 10:45 a.m. Jason Dufner Matt Kuchar Bill Haas
