The Masters Tournament - Ten to follow

The anticipation is building to the first Major Championship of year with the Masters Tournament getting under way later this week.

Storylines always swirl around the hallowed fairways of Augusta National, from the debutants getting their first taste of the event, to the all-time greats returning to the scene of their triumph.

Here, we take a look at ten DP World Tour members looking to write their name in the history books and win the Green Jacket.

Rory McIlroy

Where else to start but with the reigning DP World Tour Number One and FedEx Cup champion, and leader in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. Talk always turns to the career grand slam when McIlroy drives down Magnolia Lane and this year he has every reason to feel he can join golf's most exclusive club. The Northern Irishman has won four times since last year's Masters, taking him back to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking for a spell and has 12 top fives in his last ten DP World Tour starts - including a run to the semi-finals at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play last time out. Nobody can forget his incredible hole out from a bunker on the 72nd hole last year to secure a closing 64 and second-placed finish - could 2023 see him go one better?

Jon Rahm

There are few players in the world right now with the form to match Rahm. Following a tie for 27th that matched his worst Augusta result last season, he won his next start at the Mexico Open at Vidanta and after a quiet summer by his high standards, claimed another victory at the Acciona Open de España presented by Madrid. That was the start of a run of five wins in nine events that catapulted him back to the top of the World Rankings and the 28-year-old will be arriving at a happy hunting ground next week, with four top tens sandwiched between that pair of ties for 27th in six Masters appearances.

Will Zalatoris

Another man with an impressive record at Augusta is Zalatoris, who finished second on debut in 2021 and then sixth last season. His Major Championship record is exemplary, with six top tens in ten starts, including runner-up finishes at last season's U.S. Open and U.S. PGA Championship and he broke his duck for a PGA TOUR victory when he lifted the trophy at last season's FedEx St Jude Championship. He had to shut his 2022 campaign down early due to a back injury but has played seven events since his return with just one missed cut and one top ten.

Kurt Kitayama

At the start of last year's Masters, Kitayama was outside the top 200 on the Official World Golf Ranking - he arrives at Augusta for his debut as the 20th best player on the planet. He became the fastest player in DP World Tour history to claim two wins in the 2019 season as he lifted trophies in Mauritius and Oman within his first 11 starts but it is his recent form that gets him on this list. A tie for second at last year's Mexico Open got him back in the top 200 and he claimed further runner-up finishes at the Genesis Scottish Open and CJ Cup before making his PGA TOUR breakthrough in spectacular style by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

Justin Rose

There are some players who just love Augusta National and Rose fits firmly into that category. When he missed the cut last season it was just the second time in 17 trips down Magnolia Lane he had not made the weekend, with a remarkable 13 top-25s including two runner-up finishes on his CV. He did not enjoy his best form throughout the rest of 2022 but claimed a first worldwide win for four years at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. A top ten at THE PLAYERS Championship followed and he arrives in Georgia well rested having not played since the Valspar Championship.

Ryan Fox

The Kiwi's incredible rise through the golfing ranks continues as he makes his debut at Augusta National this week. While last year's Masters was being played, Fox was back home after his win at the Ras Al Khaimah Classic the previous February, with Covid rules on entry to New Zealand still making it awkward to juggle golf and family life. But Fox's returm to the DP World Tour in April was spectacular as he recorded three runner-up finishes and three further top tens in nine starts before heading back to the winner's circle at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He had the chance to be the first New Zealander to lift the Harry Vardon Trophy at the season finale in Dubai but finished second in the season-ending Rankings, comfortably cementing a place in the world's top 50 and an invite this week.

Min Woo Lee

Another Antipodean in fine form is Lee, who received his invite last week and will be making his second appearance at the Masters. He enjoyed an impressive tie for 14th last season and while he went off the boil by his high standards over the summer, the autumn and winter brought a thrilling return to prominence. He finished third in back-to-back events in Spain to start a run of five top-fives in seven DP World Tour starts, with three of those coming in the 2023 season. He went out in the final group at THE PLAYERS before finishing sixth and currently sits third in the Race to Dubai Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

Adrian Meronk

Already a winner in the 2023 season, Meronk will be making history this week as the first Polish player to tee it up the Masters Tournament. Around the time of last year's event, he had back-to-back third-placed finishes on the DP World Tour in Qatar and Spain before sealing further top tens in Belgium and the Netherlands. A maiden victory then came at the Horizon Irish Open as the first Pole to hold full playing privileges on the DP World Tour became his country's first winner. Another victory at the ISPS Handa Australian Open helped him earn his Augusta bow and top tens in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah and a top 15 at the Honda Classic means he will drive down Magnolia Lane full of confidence.

Kazuki Higa

Higa is one of just two players in the field this week to receive a special invitation as he continues to fly the flag for Japanese golf. The week after last year's Masters, Higa won the Kansai Open Golf Championship and did not look back, claiming a further three wins and finishing second in his home open to finish top of the Japan Golf Tour Money List and earn his place on the DP World Tour. Since then he has registered an 11th in Thailand and fourth in India with no missed cuts, and is making his second Major appearance this week after playing at last season's Open Championship.

Danny Willett

The 2016 champion will never have to worry about his invite to this event and he is starting to once again show glimpses of the form that earned him his Green Jacket. His fall after that victory was well documented as he got as low as 462nd in the Official World Golf Rankings but he has a remarkable taste for the big occasions, winning the DP World Tour Championship, BMW PGA Championship and Alfred Dunhill Links Championship since then. His tie for 12th last year was his best finish at Augusta since his victory and he had two worldwide top tens before his three-putt heartbreak at the last at the Fortinet Championship in September. He has once again bounced back, making his last five cuts, and we all know Willett finds that extra gear when the biggest prizes are on the line.