Punch Shot: Who will win the 82nd Masters Tournament?

As Jason Day prepared for the Masters that begins on Thursday (US time), the 30-year-old Australian reminisced on how his stint at Augusta National 7 years ago became a fork in the road for him. “They’ve got to try and be the person that’s going to slip on that green jacket on Sunday”.

Others may disagree, but Woods said victory on Sunday would not constitute the greatest comeback in golf, an honor he bestowed on Ben Hogan, who recovered from a near-fatal auto crash to win three consecutive majors in 1953. “He is the needle”, said 1998 champion Mark O’Meara.

Nevertheless, Johnson says his confidence level remains high, a 9 1/2, perhaps, compared to 10 on a scale of 10 a year ago.

But as many contenders as there are, there has to be a favourite and depending upon who you ask, it will be one of Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy.

It would be one of the most sensational returns to the top in the history of any sport, let alone golf, given all of the bad injuries that the 42-year-old has been hit with. Woods has a tie for second and tie for fifth in this last two starts.

The 14-time major victor has called himself a “walking miracle” having recovered from spinal fusion surgery last April – his fourth back operation in three years. Mickelson is 47, Woods 42.

Seventeen years on, Woods returns to Augusta as a self-proclaimed “walking miracle” following spinal fusion surgery last April, shortly after he reportedly told Jack Nicklaus “I’m done” after struggling to sit through the Champions Dinner due to the pain from his back shooting down his leg. After going through the aforementioned process, I’ve changed my mind. He has struggled on the putting greens recently, but that is something he should be able to fix.

Rory McIlroy’s Masters destiny seems intrinsically linked to attitude. Since then, he’s won every other major championship and stands on the cusp of becoming only the sixth player in history and the first European ever to complete the career Grand Slam. Thomas is creeping up on Dustin Johnson for the top spot in the World Golf Rankings after winning the PGA Tour Player of the Year award, and yet few are picking him to prevail in his second straight major.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, who is marginally ahead of Thomas on the most recent ranking, will be looking to make amends for previous year when he fell down the stairs during tournament week and had to withdraw.

This year, Johnson quipped in his deadpan style, his plan for Wednesday was to “take it really easy”. And which long shots stun the golfing world?

Last year, Spain’s Sergio Garcia beat Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to shed the label of “best player to never win a major”. “Hopefully, I’ll be back here for many years to come”.

Looking for a reliable determining factor to figure out who wins?

“That’s just you got to have that self-belief”. His last three finishes include a 12th place finish at the Honda Classic, a T-2 finish at the Valspar Championship, and a T-5 finish at Bay Hill. He’ll likely won’t make a similar mistake again.

“It’s great that he’s back playing and playing well”, said 2013 champion, Adam Scott.

“The Augusta National Women’s Amateur Championship embodies that principle, and we believe this event will have a significant and lasting impact on the future of the women’s game”.

But what the Masters has in spades is hard to quantify.