The first Major Championship of the year, the Masters Tournament, is just around the corner and we have taken a look at five things to know ahead of this year’s event.
New faces in the field
There will be five European Tour members teeing it up at Augusta National for the first time this year. Lucas Bjerregaard, Justin Harding Eddie Pepperell, Matt Wallace and affiliate member Aaron Wise will take their Masters bows this week by playing in the year’s opening Major for the first time.
Bjerregaard will tee it up with great confidence following his fourth-placed finish at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play which included wins against Justin Thomas, Wallace and 14-time Major winner Tiger Woods. Englishmen Pepperell and Wallace will drive down Magnolia Lane for the first time following their excellent 2018 seasons in which Pepperell won twice at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and the British Masters and his compatriot triumphed three times at the Hero Indian Open, the BMW International Open and Made In Denmark.
Harding has five worldwide victories over the last year, including a first European Tour title at the 2019 Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, while 22-year-old Wise is the youngest of the debutants, with his best European Tour finish being a tied sixth place at last year’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Green Jacket and World Number One?
There is an extra prize on offer for the top five players in the world, as they could all mathematically move to top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking by winning at Augusta. Justin Rose is the current incumbent of the World Number One Spot, but there is a pack of players hot on his heels and ready to take over by way of success at the Masters. Dustin Johnson, who was World Number One prior to this week, currently sits in the Number Two spot, and he’s followed by Rory McIlroy who has moved from eighth to third following an excellent start to 2019. American duo Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas currently occupy spots four and five in the Official World Golf Ranking and could both move to World Number One with success at Augusta.
Back-to-back wins
The 2018 Masters Champion, Patrick Reed, will bid to join an exclusive club as he attempts to defend his title this week. The 28-year-old held off final day challenges from Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth to win his maiden Major Championship last year. If he triumphs again in 2019, Reed will become the first man since Tiger Woods to win back-to-back Masters Tournaments after the 14-time Major Champion achieved the feat in 2001 and 2002. Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990) and Jack Nicklaus (1965 and 1966) are the only other two players to have successfully defended a Masters title.
Race to Dubai leaders
The top four players in the Race to Dubai Rankings Presented by Rolex will tee it up at Augusta National this week. Shane Lowry currently occupies top spot having won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship Presented by EGA, the first Rolex Series event of the year, in January and he will return to Augusta for his first visit since his debut since 2017, while Number Two Louis Oosthuizen will compete for the 11thsuccessive year. Justin Harding, who sits third in the Race to Dubai after his maiden European Tour win at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, will make his Masters debut, and Race to Dubai Number Four and 12-time European Tour winner Ian Poulter will bid to end his wait for his first Major Championship title this week.
Celebrating 25 years
The 2019 Masters Tournament marks the 25thanniversary of José María Olazábal’s first Green Jacket, which he won in 1994. The Spaniard posted a three over par opening round of 74 but bounced back with magnificent ensuing rounds of 67-69-69 to record a two-shot victory over American Tom Lehman, who finished on seven under par. After becoming the second Spanish player to win the Masters after the great Seve Ballesteros’ pair of triumphs in 1980 and 1983, Olazábal revealed a note from his countryman, friend and Ryder Cup teammate had given him the courage and confidence to go on to win the tournament. Olazábal subsequently won a second Green Jacket in 1999, again winning by two shots with a total of eight under par.
