Virginia Golfer Voices
by SCOTT MICHAUX
A
fter 35 years, the timing might be
right for another Fuzzy Zoeller
at Augusta National.
Conventional wisdom and
80 years of evidence suggests
that it typically requires experience to win
the Masters Tournament. Excluding the
inaugural Masters in 1934, when Horton
Smith beat 71 other rookies, only Gene
Sarazen in 1935 and Zoeller in 1979 defied
the odds and donned a green jacket with
zero prior experience at Augusta National.
It is a demanding golf course and charged
atmosphere that takes some getting used to.
“It’s not written in stone that first-time
players don’t have a chance to win,” twotime winner T
om Watson once said, “but
anyone who’s playing it for the first time has
a difficult chance.”
Jason Day nearly pulled off the rare feat
with a runner-up performance in his Masters
debut in 2011, which could be motivation to
a promising 2014 freshman class.
Arguably the most talented rookie crop in
Masters history will be converging on the old
course in April with as good a chance as any
to pull a Fuzzy.
As of the end of February, there were 20
first-time qualifiers for the 2014 Masters—
six of them amateurs whose realistic goal is
to make the cut and capture the low amateur
medallion. Of the 14 pros, 10 are ranked
among the top 50 in the world, and most
have already made a name for themselves.
Jimmy Walker, 35, already has three
victories this PGA T season.
our
Georgia-bred 20-somethings Harris
English, Chris Kirk and Patrick Reed each
have two career PGA T victories.
our
Sweden’s Jonas Blixt, 29, owns a pair of
PGA T
our wins and finished fourth in last
year’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Billy Horschel, 27, triumphed in New
Orleans last season and tied for fourth at the
2013 U.S. Open at Merion.
Kevin Stadler, 34, won in Phoenix earlier
this year to become the first son of a Masters
champion to join his father, Craig, at Augusta.
Dutchman Joost Luiten, 28, has claimed
a pair of titles on the European T within
our
the past nine months.
Canadian Graham DeLaet, 31, was the
breakout star of the 2013 Presidents Cup,
40
an event that launched fellow Canadian
Mike Weir to prominence three years before
he won the Masters in 2003. International
captain Nick Price said of DeLaet: “He’s
definitely major championship material.”
Then there are perhaps the two biggest
rising stars of the crop, 20-year-old phenom
Jordan Spieth and 23-year-old Frenchman
Victor Dubuisson.
Spieth has proven to be the real deal as he
continues to build off his impressive rookie
of the year season in 2013 that included a
playoff victory over Zach Johnson in the John
Deere Classic. Already No. 12 in the world,
Spieth has produced a win, four runner-ups
and seven other top-10 showings in his first
30 PGA T
our starts before he’s even legally
allowed to drink.
“I played Augusta for the first time
a couple months ago and I think it’s an
awesome course for me,” Spieth said in
January. “That’s a tournament I’ve always
dreamt about winning.”
Dubuisson is a former European Amateur
champion who beat Tiger Woods, Justin
Rose and Henrik Stenson among others at
the 2013 Turkish Airlines Open. He was
inspired to play golf by Woods’ 1997 victory
at Augusta and claims to have played golf
every day since, quitting school at age 10 to
concentrate on the game.
He made himself a household name
with his performance in February’s World
Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play
Phenoms like Jordan Spieth have
proven themselves capable of
winning on the big stage, but must
show the ability to handle the
pressure of Sunday at Augusta if
they’re to wear the green jacket.
V IRGINIA G OLFER | M ARCH/A PRIL 2014
Master_VSGA_MarApr14.indd 40
Championship, where he took Day to extra
holes in a thrilling final match that illustrated
his short-game prowess.
“Haven’t seen short-game magic like that
since the great Seve!” tweeted Rory McIlroy.
With so many of these rookies exhibiting
both great form and fearlessness, it’s possible
one of them could prevail over the usual
suspects already sporting green jackets. But
that requires learning the golf course quickly
and handling the most intense pressure of
their careers against guys who’ve proven
annually that they can thrive every time they
show up at Augusta.
That six of those former champions—
Woods, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott,
Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson and Charl
Schwartzel—are ranked among the top 16
in the world gives them that much more
confidence. That 16 players have combined
to win 43 of the 77 previous Masters shows
how much Augusta favors a chosen few.
Yet there are plenty of other dues-paying
stars who may finally be ready to strike
their own green jacket poses. Youngsters
Day and McIlroy seem destined to win a
Masters eventually. Henrik Stenson, Justin
Rose, Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar, Lee
Westwood and Luke Donald have each
shown promise in repeated starts. Bombers
like Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley
seem like logical choices to reduce Augusta
National to a size they can eventually handle.
Sometimes experience, however, means
collecting scars. Scott had to overcome his
past failures and play the best golf of his
career to edge out a confident Angel Cabrera,
who had comfort in knowing a green jacket
with his name stitched inside was already
hanging in the champions locker room.
There are eight victors from the last
decade who will show up at the Masters
secure in the knowledge that they still have
what it takes to win at Augusta National.
There are at least 14 gifted rookies,
however, who will arrive not knowing that
they can’t. And not knowing any better might
be just what it takes to be the next Fuzzy.
Columnist Scott Michaux is an award-winning
columnist for The Augusta Chronicle in
Augusta, Ga., and a regular contributor to
Virginia Golfer.
TOP: FILE PHOTO; DONALD MIRALLE/GETTY IMAGES
Rising Young Players Face Major
Readiness Test at the Masters
w w w. v s g a . o r g
2/27/14 11:36 AM