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When you talk about the contenders for the green jacket, the names Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods immediately come up.
Not long after those two titans of the sport, Bubba Watson's name is one floated around. While Watson hasn't had a ton of success at major championships, he is coming off of a second place finish at the 2010 PGA Championship.
In his only two appearances at Augusta National, he finished tied for 20th and 42nd in 2008 and 2009. Watson did not play in 2010.
If you talk to the people that have played against Watson, the American is a major contender for the green jacket.
"Several players dropped Watson’s name this week when discussing competitors to watch at Augusta National," writes David Ching on OnlineAthens.com
"Take it from world No. 1 Martin Kaymer, who said of Watson, “you should always watch out for him because he’s, I think, underrated.”
"Or three-time Masters champ and fellow southpaw Phil Mickelson.
'“One thing that he does extremely well, better than most players, is he has very creative shot-making. I think that’s going to lead well,” Mickelson said. “If he pulls some of the shots that he sees, he’s going to be able to capitalize and make a lot of birdies on the par 4s, as well as the par 5s.
'“I think he’s going to be a factor; he’s been playing such good golf that his creativity and golf skills should get him into contention, not just this week, but at multiple Masters.”'
Watson doesn't tee off until 1:15 p.m. EST, but when he does, I think we're going to see a course that is going to play well for the American.
It's great golfing weather out there and he's going to get plenty of chances to drill it in the fairway and use those shot-making skills that Mickelson talked about to get himself in position for easy putts.
Watson has shown he can contend at majors, with two top-five finishes to his credit. It's a wide-open field and a lot of players are putting low scores on the board. Everything is lining up nicely for Watson, and he certainly a player to watch in today's later action.
You know that he wants to erase the memory of his playoff loss to Martin Kaymer in last year's PGA Championship. I'm sure that slipping that green jacket on Sunday evening would erase that tough loss for a long, long time.
Expect Watson to be a name that's near the top of the leaderboard all weekend long.
Sources: http://bleacherreport.com
