Things look wide open this year at Augusta

AUGUSTA -- In most of my years coming to Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters (this is my 11th time covering the event by the way), there was a pretty good idea who was going to be favored to win tournament.

Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. Mickelson or Woods.

That was usually the focus.

Woods is not expected by many to be in the hunt this year because his game has just not been strong recently. Although, there is certainly the chance he will be right in the hunt; he has finished in the top six the past six years, after all, and he has won the tournament four times.

And while Mickelson is this year’s favorite and appears to be in good shape after winning last week, he is by no means a runaway pick to win this week. Remember, before last week, his most recent win was at last year’s Masters.

That leaves a long list of names of players who could be right in the hunt Sunday when things really get interesting. Take a look at the top 10 in the World Golf Rankings (Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Mickelson, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey, Woods, Steve Stricker, Rory McIlroy and Matt Kuchar). Any one of them could be a pick to win it.

Some of them would be stronger picks, certainly, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if any one of them slipped into a green jacket Sunday. And there are many other players who could rise up and be in the hunt. See: Dustin Johnson, Nick Watney, Bubba Watson, etc.

Need more proof of how open the field is this year? Six different players (Kaymer, Westwood, Mickelson, Donald, McDowell and Woods) could leave this week as the No. 1 ranked player in the world. It’s crowded at the top, indeed.

But that’s what makes this year’s event even more interesting than usual.

Woods and Mickelson have dominated this event in recent years, combining to win seven times since 1997. But while they’re the two biggest names in golf, they aren’t necessarily the two best players in golf ... right now. There are just too many players who have come on the scene in the past couple of years and appear ready to challenge those two and make their own names in the game.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. Sports certainly need leading names, faces and teams, but sports are also always more interesting when more than a few teams or players have a chance to win.

And that’s just what we’ll have this week.

Contact Daniel Shirley at 744-4227 or dshirley@macon.com

This story was originally published April 7, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Things look wide open this year at Augusta."