The waiting is over for the first Major Championship of the season as the sporting world turns its focus on one of golf’s great cathedrals, Augusta National, for the 2010 Masters Tournament.
The scene is set for another thrilling chapter in the tournament’s illustrious history. Can Tiger Woods mark his return to golf with a fifth Masters title? Will in-form Ernie Els finally make his Masters breakthrough? Can the Europeans in the field repeat the feats of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, José Maria Olazábal and Ian Woosnam or will we see the birth of a new golfing superstar over the coming week?
All of those questions will be answered on Sunday evening after what is sure to be another compelling week in Georgia.
World Number One Woods has not struck a competitive shot since his victory in the JBWere Masters in Australia last season, but that has not stopped the 34 year old being made an overwhelming favourite to land a fifth Green Jacket.
Els is quite simply the best player in the world on current form with the South African winning two of his last three events, the WGC – CA Championship and then the Arnold Palmer Invitational over two golf courses – the Blue Monster at Doral and Bay Hill – that can be every bit as ferocious as the famed Augusta National. A 44th place finish last week in Houston enabled Els to keep his game in good shape before he made his way to Augusta.
Els finished second in the Masters Tournament in 2000 and 2004 and will hope to add the Green Jacket to the 2002 Open Championship title and the two US Open crowns he has already amassed in his distinguished career.
Such is the strength of The European Tour contingent at this year’s Masters Tournament that, currently, 19 of the top 30 players on the Official World Golf Ranking are European Tour Members, while the man in 31st position, Angel Cabrera, returns to Augusta National to defend the Green Jacket he won 12 months ago, defeating Americans Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry in a play-off.
It was Cabrera’s second Major Championship crown, following his victory in the 2007 US Open Championship, and he will hope to match Padraig Harrington’s record as the last European Tour Member to successfully defend a Major Championship.
Harrington achieved that feat when he retained the Claret Jug at The 2008 Open Championship and his subsequent victory in that year’s US PGA Championship means he will tee it up at Augusta National targeting a fourth Major Championship in 11 appearances.
Other leading Europeans in the field are last season’s European Number One Lee Westwood, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson alongside other talented players all bidding to bring the Green Jacket back to the continent for the first time since José Maria Olazábal in 1999.
Westwood recorded his best Masters finish that year, sharing sixth place behind Olazábal but the Englishman is as ready as he will ever be to win a Major having returned to the very top of the game by winning last year’s inaugural Race to Dubai and recording third place finishes in the last two Majors in 2009, The Open Championship at Turnberry and the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine National.
Casey, Garcia, McIlroy and Stenson are four players who have the game to win at Augusta, while Poulter is among the most confident golfers on the planet after his victory over Casey in the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship and rise to number seven on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Other European Tour Members likely to catch the eye this week are the in-form South Africans Retief Goosen, Louis Oosthuizen and current Race to Dubai leader Charl Schwartzel, while the Italian trio of the Molinari brothers Edoardo and Francesco, along with amateur Matteo Manassero – who, at 16 years and 354 days will be the youngest player in history to play in the Masters Tournament – will certainly be worth watching.
In total, 44 European Tour Members will tee up at Augusta this week, all hoping to triumph at one of the most iconic venues in world sport.
