The field for the 2023 Masters Tournament is officially set. Below you’ll find each player’s brief history at The Masters, as well as the latest injury news, notes, and other insights into each golfer competing this year at Augusta National. Additionally, you’ll see the average draft position of each golfer in The Albatross best ball contest on Underdog Fantasy, which closes on April 6th just prior to start of The Masters.
Masters History: Ancer played in the final group of the Fall-version of The Masters in 2020 but shot 76 in that final round and finished T13. He missed the cut in 2022.
Latest News: Ancer won the Saudi International–an Asian Tour event–at the beginning of February before finishing 17th and 28th in the two most recent LIV tournaments. Of all the LIV golfers in The Masters, Ancer feels like one of the most under-the-radar coming in but who could play well. He finished T9 at the 2022 PGA Championship, T11 at the 2022 Open Championship, and contended in his Masters debut in 2020. We know Ancer is a solid golfer who can hold his own in major championships, but a theme of this year's Masters is the relative uncertainty surrounding the incoming form of LIV players.
Albatross ADP: 43.8
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Bennett earned a spot in this year's Masters by winning the U.S. Amateur. He plays collegiate golf at Texas A&M where Bennett has earned First-Team All-American and All-SEC honors. His first PGA Tour start at the 2022 Valero Texas Open resulted in a missed cut, but Bennett bounced back with a T49 at the 2022 U.S. Open.
Albatross ADP: 60.0
Masters History: Bradley is making his 7th career start at The Masters where he's never finished better than T22 (2015). This will be Bradley's first appearance at Augusta since 2019.
Latest News: After winning the ZOZO Championship this past Fall, Bradley finished runner-up at Torrey Pines thanks to an impressive Sunday charge and then finished T10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. (He's currently 4th in the FedExCup Standings.)
The putter has often held Bradley back, but he ranks 60th (+0.25) in SG: PUTT this season and that doesn’t even include stats from the week he won. Bradley's ball-striking continues to be solid as well: 36th in SG: Approach (+0.45) and 41st in SG: Off-the-Tee (+0.31) this season on the PGA Tour.
Bradley recently withdrew before the start of the Valspar Championship due to an illness but returned to action the following week at the WGC-Dell Match Play.
Albatross ADP: 29.2
Masters History: Burns played in The Masters for the first time in 2022 but missed the cut after rounds of 75-74.
Latest News: Burns went through a mini-slump after his driver got deemed non-conforming by the USGA the week of The Genesis Invitational. It took a few weeks but Burns eventually found a new Callaway model he likes and feels comfortable with now.
For the second consecutive year, Burns will enter The Masters coming off a win. Last year it was the Valspar Championship, this year it’s the win at WGC-Dell Match Play. Burns has 5 PGA Tour victories over the last 3 seasons–only Scottie Scheffler (6) and Patrick Cantlay (6) have won more times over that span.
Burns' lack of early career success at majors is well-documented (his best finish is T20 at the 2022 PGA Championship), but for the 10th-ranked golfer in the world, it feels like it’s due time to really compete for a major championship.
Albatross ADP: 17.5
Masters History: Cantlay is making his 7th start at The Masters where he’s had mixed results so far. He finished T9 in 2019 and T17 in 2020, but Cantlay also missed the cut in 2018 and 2021.
Latest News: As you'd expect, Cantlay enters this year’s Masters in great form–he finished 3rd at Genesis, T4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, T19 at The Players Championship, and made it out of group play at WGC-Dell Match Play.
Cantlay became a free agent when it comes to equipment this year (in other words, he's not sponsored by a specific manufacturer), and so he spent time during the 'West Coast Swing' experimenting with different club setups. He said last month that he's really comfortable with what he's got in the bag now and that seems evident in Cantlay's recent results.
According to a report by Evin Priest of Golf Digest, Cantlay made a scouting trip to Augusta National earlier this week and played at least one practice round with Adam Scott.
Albatross ADP: 6.8
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Currently 21st in the PGA Tour University Rankings, Carr lost to Sam Bennett in the 2022 U.S. Amateur finals. This was a good enough result to earn the Georgia Southern University grad a spot in this year's Masters. Carr missed the cut at the 2023 Puerto Rico Open, which is his only PGA Tour start.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: While struggling at most PGA Tour venues, Champ has found surprising success at Augusta National in his three previous starts: T19 in 2020, T26 in 2021, and T10 in 2022.
Latest News: Despite ranking 194th in the world, Champ earned a spot in this year's Masters as a result of his T10 finish at Augusta in 2022. The 27-year-old has won three times on the PGA Tour (most recently at the 2021 3M Open) but has fallen in world rank due to inconsistent play. Champ has missed the cut in 8/10 starts this season.
Albatross ADP: 59.9
Masters History: The 1992 Masters champ returns for his 38th start at Augusta.
Latest News: Now 63-year-old and playing on the Champions Tour, Couples is likely just hoping to make the cut after missing it the past four years. For what it's worth, Couples has finished T15 or better in four of five Champions Tour starts in 2023.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Crowe earned a spot in this year's Masters by defeating Bo Jin by a single stroke in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship last October.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Day is making his 12th start at The Masters where he holds three top-5 finishes.
Latest News: Day enters this year’s Masters having made the cut in all seven of his starts in 2023. He's finished top-10 in five of those seven starts and top-20 in all of them.
It’s been a resurgent season for the Australian who has battled back issues in recent years. Day has mentioned to the media several times this season the hard work he's been putting in with his coach to reconfigure his swing in such a way as to avoid more back problems, and so far it's worked wonders. This season on the PGA Tour, Day ranks third in scoring average only behind Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler. Additionally, Day ranks 6th in Strokes Gained: Total (+1.90 avg.), behind only Rahm, Scheffler, Max Homa, Tony Finau, and Tyrrell Hatton. It appears that Day is poised to make a splash at Augusta this year.
Albatross ADP: 17.4
Masters History: Despite his confidence to be able to use distance to overpower Augusta National, DeChambeau has struggled to ever contend at The Masters. He's played The Masters six times with his best finish coming as an amateur in 2016 when he finished T21.
Latest News: DeChambeau earned a spot in this year's Masters via his U.S. Open win in 2020. Before moving to LIV Golf, DeChambeau was struggling last season on the PGA Tour due to a mid-season wrist injury that required surgery. He's healthy now (and also had surgery in December to remove a retention cyst to fix his issues with vertigo) but hasn't played well in 2023. In three starts this year, DeChambeau missed the cut at the Saudi International event, finished 24th at LIV Mayakoba, and finished 44th at LIV Tucson.
We know the upside and pedigree, but DeChambeau playing well at Augusta National this year would be a surprise.
Albatross ADP: 40.0
Masters History: English is making his fourth start at The Masters. His best finish is a T21 in 2021.
Latest News: After having surgery for a torn labrum at the start of 2022 and being out for about five months, English has struggled to return to the form that earned him a spot on the 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup team. English has shown flashes of strong play this season–T2 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and T12 at Genesis, two of the strongest fields so far this year. That said, English was unconscious with the putter in those events and he’s missed the cut in more than half of his starts in 2023.
Albatross ADP: 56.8
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Fernandez de Oliveira earned a spot in this year's Masters by winning the Latin-American Amateur Championship in Puerto Rico. The 23-year-old is a senior at the University of Arkansas and is currently 14th in the PGA Tour University Rankings.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Finau has finished top-10 in three of five career starts at Augusta National. He's never missed the cut.
Latest News: Since last year’s Masters, Finau has been one of the absolute best golfers in the world. He won back-to-back weeks at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic towards the end of last Summer, and then Finau won the Cadence Bank Houston Open in his second start of the new season this past Fall.
If you look at Total True Strokes Gained on Data Golf over the past 12 months, Finau (+2.21) ranks just behind the big three of Rory McIlroy (+2.74), Scottie Scheffler (+2.58), and Jon Rahm (+2.46). Finau is coming into this year’s Masters a bit under the radar compared to those three who have contended and won a lot in 2023; but, it would be unwise to sleep on Finau who has finished T24 or better in all eight of his starts this calendar year.
Albatross ADP: 12.1
Masters History: Fitzpatrick is making his ninth career start at The Masters. He’s made the cut in each of the past seven years with his best finish being a T7 in 2016.
Latest News: Outside of a T7 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to start the year, Fitzpatrick has mostly struggled with his game in 2023. Some of it can likely be attributed to a neck injury that popped up just before the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.
Fitzpatrick enters this year’s Masters coming off missed cuts at The Players Championship and Valspar Championship, and then also not advancing out of the group stages of the WGC-Dell Match Play. Whether it’s the neck issue lingering or just a bad run of form, the 2022 U.S. Open champ does not carry a lot of optimism with his game heading into Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 18.7
Masters History: Fleetwood is making his seventh career start at The Masters. He’s missed the cut just one time (2017) and has finished in the top 20 three times.
Latest News: Still in search of his maiden victory on the PGA Tour, Fleetwood enters this year’s Masters in decent form. He very nearly won the Valspar Championship two weeks ago and also entered the final round of The Players Championship in contention before struggling on Sunday.
The Englishman ranks 12th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+1.23) and 24th in Strokes Gained: Approach (+0.58) on the PGA Tour this season.
Albatross ADP: 24.3
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: The New Zealand native has played excellent golf on the DP World Tour for more than a year now. He’s played so well that he’s risen to become the 36th-ranked golfer in the world, which is the highest of any non-PGA Tour and non-LIV Golf member in this year's Masters.
While Fox does not carry much of a track record in majors or PGA events, he did finish T27 at this year’s Players Championship and T14 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Fox is also playing in this week's Valero Texas Open–it's likely worth tracking how he plays at TPC San Antonio.
Albatross ADP: 50.3
Masters History: Garcia enters this year’s Masters as a past champion and will be making his 24th start at Augusta. After winning in 2017, Garcia missed the cut in each of the next three Masters he played in before bouncing back with a T23 finish in 2022.
Latest News: It’s hard to know what to expect out of the now 43-year-old Garcia who plays on the LIV tour. For what it’s worth, Garcia does have five top-10 finishes in nine starts in LIV events going back to last June. Most recently, Garcia finished 9th at LIV Tucson, 26th at LIV Mayakoba, T5 at International Series Oman, and T28 at the Saudi International.
Albatross ADP: 59.8
Masters History: Gooch finished T14 in his first-ever appearance at The Masters last year.
Latest News: Before heading to LIV Golf as part of the first wave of players who left the PGA Tour in the middle of last season, Gooch was an ascending golfer who won The RSM Classic in the Fall of 2021. He earned a spot in this year's Masters by ranking inside the top 50 in the OWGR at the end of 2022.
Gooch has made just three starts so far in 2023. He finished 14th at both LIV Mayakoba and LIV Tucson and also finished T12 at the Saudi International event. These seem like decent enough results though it's important to properly weigh the strength of those fields compared to PGA Tour events.
Albatross ADP: 58.7
Masters History: Harman has made the cut twice in four previous appearances at The Masters. His best finish is a T12 in 2021.
Latest News: Harman came out of the gates this season playing awesome golf in the Fall portion of the PGA Tour schedule, finishing runner-up at Mayakoba and also at The RSM Classic. However, since then it's been a not-so-great run for the Georgia Bulldog. Harman has missed the cut in four of seven full-field events he's played in 2023, and he's lost strokes on approach in seven of his last eight starts. Expectations shouldn't be particularly high for Harman at Augusta this year.
Albatross ADP: 38.5
Masters History: Outside of a T18 finish in 2021, Augusta National has not quite met the eye of Tyrrell Hatton. The Englishman has missed the cut twice in six previous appearances. Hatton's finished T44 or worse in his three other starts at The Masters.
Latest News: Hatton enters this year’s Masters in almost as good of form as anyone in the field. Hatton came dangerously close to winning twice in March, once at The Players Championship (runner-up) and once at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T4). Hatton’s ball striking has been excellent of late, ranking 2nd in SG: Approach at The Players and 7th in SG: Off-the-Tee at API.
A hand issue popped up for Hatton on the driving range at the beginning of the WGC-Dell Match Play and then he went 0-3 in his matches. It doesn’t appear to be a legit issue as Hatton said prior to the Valero Texas Open that he hasn't felt pain since that first match at Austin Country Club more than a week ago. Hatton also expressed that he felt he played well at Dell Match Play but just didn't make many putts. It'll be worth keeping an eye on how Hatton plays this week at Valero.
Additionally, Hatton recently added Brian "Bo" Martin (former caddie for Shane Lowry) onto the bag for him temporarily as Hatton's regular caddie recovers from knee surgery for the next 2-3 months.
Albatross ADP: 20.4
Masters History: Henley has made the cut in his last five trips to Augusta and finished T31 or better in each start. His best result is a T11 in 2017.
Latest News: After running away with the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba last November and winning by four shots, Henley has been almost completely out of sight. He did show signs of life with a T19 at The Players Championship in March. Henley can get scorching hot approaching the green with his wedges and irons, which is what happened when he won Mayakoba in the Fall. It feels like a bit of a guessing game at the moment trying to figure out which version of Henley will show up at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 46.7
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Higa is making his first career start at The Masters. He earned a spot in the field via the Japan Golf Tour's Order of Merit. Ranked 81st in the world, Higa won four times in Asia last year though missed the cut at the 2022 Open Championship.
Higa's last four starts all came in February. He finished T4 at the Hero Indian Open, T11 in the Thailand Classic, T13 at International Series Oman, and T36 at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship. He received a sponsor exemption into this week's Valero Texas Open on the PGA Tour, so it'll be worth keeping an eye on how Higa plays in that event.
Albatross ADP: 60.0
Masters History: Hoge played in his first Masters a year ago in which he finished T39.
Latest News: The 33-year-old has just one career PGA Tour victory, which came at the 2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Hoge is amongst the best approach and iron players in the world. In fact, he leads the TOUR this season in SG: Approach (+1.255 avg.).
Hoge displayed his upside and ability to score at The Players Championship where he finished T3 after breaking the TPC Sawgrass course scoring record in the third round. He will need other parts of his game to click, particularly around the green, if he hopes to get in the mix at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 31.4
Masters History: Homa missed the cut at The Masters in 2020 and 2021 before finishing T48 in his third appearance last year.
Latest News: When you think of golfers who’ve ascended to another level in the past few years, Max Homa’s name should immediately come to mind. Homa has already won twice this season (Fortinet Championship and Farmers Insurance Open), and when he’s not winning he seems to find himself in contention.
Also worth shouting out is that Homa went 4-0-0 for the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup last Fall and appears to be a lock to make his first Ryder Cup team this year.
After the big three of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Jon Rahm, you could certainly make the argument that Homa (OWGR 6th) enters this year's Masters as the next biggest contender. Homa ranks 4th in scoring average on the PGA Tour this season, 3rd in Strokes Gained: Total, 7th in SG: Tee-to-Green. While Homa's track record at Augusta leaves a lot to be desired, he arrives at the 2023 Masters as a much-improved and more confident golfer.
Albatross ADP: 8.0
Masters History: Horschel has made the cut in six of eight previous appearances at The Masters, though his best finish is a T17 in 2016.
Latest News: When Horschel won the Memorial Tournament last Summer, it was clear that his next career goal was to add a major championship to his resume. With lots of middling results thus far at Augusta National, I’m not sure The Masters is the major I envision Horschel ever winning. Additionally, Horschel enters this year’s Masters in questionable form having missed the cut in four of his last six starts in stroke play events.
At the start of 2023, Horschel said that he was working with his coach on some swing changes. While Horschel has shot some good rounds this year, based on the full results it appears Horschel is not totally comfortable with those changes yet.
Albatross ADP: 36.1
Masters History: Hovland is making his fourth start at The Masters. He finished T32 as an amateur in 2019, T21 in 2021, and then T27 in 2022.
Latest News: The 25-year-old Norwegian already has 3 PGA Tour wins, 2 European Tour wins, and 2 “other” wins at the Hero World Challenge, but is still in search of that marquee victory.
Despite squandering his opportunity for a great win with an ill-timed water ball at Bay Hill, Hovland did see a return to his excellent ball-striking stats at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It carried over to The Players Championship where Hovland finished in a tie for 3rd.
Hovland’s around-the-green play has shown improvements at times though continues to be a problem (164th in SG: ARG this season) and could hold him back from achieving a major victory. Navigating tricky around-the-ground shots at Augusta National will be important, so Hovland will need that part of his game to at least be decent if he wants to contend.
Albatross ADP: 13.1
Masters History: Hughes is making his fourth start at The Masters. He’s finished T50 and T40 in each of the past two years and missed the cut in 2017.
Latest News: The Canadian earned a spot in this year's Masters after winning in his second start of the season at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Since then, Hughes has gone on to post a handful of OK finishes and a few missed cuts. Expectations shouldn’t be high for Hughes at Augusta this year, though occasionally he displays an immaculate short game which could carry Hughes to a decent finish.
Albatross ADP: 58.5
Masters History: Im finished T2 in his first ever appearance at The Masters in 2020, missed the cut in 2021, and then finished T8 in 2022.
Latest News: Course history tends to be fairly consistent at Augusta and clearly this is a comfortable venue for Sungjae. While it doesn’t feel like Sungjae’s really been in contention much this year, the iron man of golf has made a ton of starts already in 2023 and produced a number of strong finishes–T6 at The Players, T6 at WM Phoenix Open, T4 at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Albatross ADP: 15.7
Masters History: DJ carries a pretty excellent track record at Augusta. From 2015-2020, Johnson produced five top-10 finishes in five starts (including his win in 2020). He missed the cut in 2021 before bouncing back with a T12 in 2022. This will be DJ’s 13th start at The Masters.
Latest News: Johnson pulled out of the Saudi International event in February due to a back injury though seems to be fine now. He's played very little competitive golf in 2023–37th at LIV Mayakoba and 13th at LIV Tucson–and so it's a bit challenging to know exactly where DJ's game is at going into this year's Masters.
When people think of the LIV golfers who will play well and potentially contend at this year’s Masters, naturally Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith come to mind with their combination of great talent while also possessing great history at Augusta. A strong result at this week's LIV Orlando event would be an encouraging sign for DJ.
It's also worth noting that Patrick Reed said he played practice rounds at Augusta National last week alongside Dustin Johnson and Harold Varner III.
Albatross ADP: 16.3
Masters History: The 2007 Masters champ is making his 19th start at Augusta National.
Latest News: The 47-year-old is clearly past his prime but occasionally shows up in a PGA Tour event for a top-20 finish. There shouldn’t be many expectations for Johnson at this year's Masters.
(ZJ might have his mind on figuring out which players he wants most as captain's selections for the 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup team.)
Albatross ADP: 59.9
Masters History: Kim has made the cut in each of the last five Masters tournaments. His best finish is a T12 in 2021.
Latest News: The 27-year-old won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January and has produced a handful of top-30 finishes on the PGA Tour since then. Kim has just been consistent this year, only missing the cut once in 12 starts this season.
Si Woo Kim’s putter was a big issue for him at the end of last season, which he has since figured out after making an equipment change. He ranks 94th this season in SG: PUTT–which is right around the TOUR average–with the ability to have major gains on the greens some weeks. Kim ranks 22nd this season in SG: Approach (+0.60) which has been the strength of his game.
It’s not inconceivable to think that the winner of the 2017 Players Championship could show up and get into contention at Augusta. Si Woo broke his putter during the middle of a round at The Masters a few years ago; let's just not do that again.
Albatross ADP: 27.5
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: The 20-year-old burst onto the scene last Summer at the Genesis Scottish Open where he finished solo-3rd. Kim went on to win the Wyndham Championship at the end of the 2021-22 season, becoming the second youngest player since World War II to win on the PGA Tour.
Tom Kim then won just four starts later at the Shriners Children’s Open, becoming the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice on the PGA Tour before turning 21.
Kim has slowed down a bit, finishing no better than T34 over his last four-stroke play events. And as one of the shorter-hitting players on the PGA Tour, Kim's game doesn't necessarily expect to translate perfectly to Augusta National. All that said, a player who shares historical stats with Tiger Woods should never be counted out to pull off a big win.
Albatross ADP: 22.5
Masters History: Kirk will be making his first start at The Masters since 2016. He missed the cut then but finished T33 in 2015 and T20 in 2014.
Latest News: The 37-year-old won The Honda Classic in February, ending a winless drought on the PGA Tour of almost eight years. Kirk also notched 3rd place finishes at both The American Express and the Sony Open in Hawaii. Kirk ranks 32nd in SG: Tee-to-Green this season and 28th in birdie-or-better percentage. Augusta National is quite different from the courses Kirk has played well at this year; nonetheless, it wouldn't be super surprising to see him play well.
Albatross ADP: 40.5
Masters History: Kisner is making his eighth appearance at The Masters. His best finish is a T21 in 2019.
Latest News: The 39-year-old has struggled mightily this season on the PGA Tour. He’s really not produced a single great finish and appears to be in the midst of some swing changes as he was recently seen chipping cross-handed. Expectations should be low for Kisner who is not in great form and has not historically played amazing at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 59.5
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Kitayama broke through for his first PGA Tour win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the beginning of March, simultaneously proving that lesser-known names can still come through in these big-time events. He leaned on Bryson DeChambeau's former caddie Tim Tucker, who Kitayama linked up with just prior to API.
One could argue that the 30-year-old forecasted his big win at API by finishing runner-up to Rory McIlroy at The CJ Cup in South Carolina last Fall and runner-up to Xander Schauffele at the Genesis Scottish Open last Summer.
While Kitayama is certainly capable of mixing in a bad missed cut, he's proven over the last year that when he does have his game in order and making cuts he can hang with the best golfers in the world. The same resilience Kitayama displayed on the back nine at Bay Hill will be needed at Augusta National.
Albatross ADP: 36.4
Masters History: Koepka is playing in his eighth Masters tournament. His best finishes are T2 in 2019 and T7 in 2020.
Latest News: The four-time major champion has fallen to 111th in the world rankings, in part a result of his move to LIV but also the number of injuries and surgeries that have piled up in recent years. Koepka appears to be back to full health now, though it's yet to show up in his 2023 results. In four starts this year, Koepka has finished T46 at the Saudi International, missed the cut at International Series Oman, 31st at LIV Mayakoba, and 29th at LIV Tucson.
Brooks' game has always been built to succeed at the major championships and so he shouldn't be counted out at Augusta this year. That said, it's hard to feel super encouraged by the recent results.
Albatross ADP: 33.7
Masters History: Kokrak finished T14 at the 2022 Masters, which is his best finish in three appearances.
Latest News: Prior to his departure to LIV, Kokrak had turned into a very good player on the PGA Tour as he saw dramatic improvements in his putting. Those improvements resulted in two wins during the 2020-21 season and another win during the early parts of the 2021-22 season.
While Kokrak's T14 finish at Augusta in 2022 shows that he's a capable dark horse to get in the mix, his four starts in 2023 don't offer much to get excited about. Kokrak finished T18 at the Saudi International, T13 at International Series Oman, 19th at LIV Mayakoba, and 38th at LIV Tucson.
Albatross ADP: 59.8
Masters History: Winner of the 1985 and 1993 Masters, Langer will compete at Augusta for the 40th time this year.
Latest News: The 65-year-old continues to play on the Champions Tour, where he won as recently as mid-February at the Chubb Classic. Langer has missed the cut in each of the past two Masters tournaments but did finish T29 in 2020.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Lee missed the cut in his first appearance at The Masters last year after shooting rounds of 74-75.
Latest News: After a 3rd place finish at The CJ Cup in South Carolina last October, it’s been an underwhelming season for Lee. He’s made four of seven cuts in full-field events in 2023, with Lee’s best finish a T19 at the Valspar Championship. Lee ranks 40th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green this season on the PGA Tour. Expectations aren't particularly high for Lee, but it also wouldn't be shocking to see a 2022 Presidents Cup participant make the cut at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 45.1
Masters History: Lee finished T14 in his Masters debut last year.
Latest News: The 24-year-old Aussie played alongside Scottie Scheffler in the final group at The Players Championship a few weeks ago. Though he struggled in that last round and finished T6, Lee proved that he’s one of the most exciting up-and-coming talents and personalities to watch compete. Lee plays primarily on the DP World Tour in Europe, but he’s getting very very close to earning Special Temporary Membership on the PGA Tour.
Min Woo Lee earned his spot in the 2023 Masters by ranking just inside the OWGR top-50 following WGC-Dell Match Play. If a T14 in his debut is any indication, Lee certainly can get in the mix once again this year at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 38.2
Masters History: Lowry posted a T3 at last year’s Masters, his best career finish in seven starts. He missed the cut in three of his first four appearances at Augusta, though has now finished T25 or better in each of the last three years.
Latest News: After parting ways with his long-time caddie Bo Martin at the end of January followed by an ugly missed cut at the WM Phoenix Open, the alarm bells were going off for Shane Lowry fans. But Lowry bounced back with a T14 at Genesis and a T5 at The Honda Classic. The Irishman then struggled to a 67th place finish at API (a place he’s never played well), T35 at The Players Championship due to losing 4+ strokes putting, and then failed to advance out of group stages at WGC-Dell Match Play.
Lowry said that he was heading to Augusta after Dell Match Play for a second scouting trip, per his social media. And after The Players, he said he was really looking to improve his putting. It’s clear that Lowry is very focused on having his entire game sharp at the 2023 Masters, we’ll see if the results match.
Albatross ADP: 23.5
Masters History: The 1988 Masters Champion will be making his 42nd start at Augusta National. He’s missed the cut in each of the last eight years.
Latest News: The 65-year-old Scottish golfer plays sparingly on the Champions Tour. Lyle is clearly showing up to have some fun for a few days in Georgia. Expect him to be leading after 45 minutes of the tournament when Lyle birdies the first two holes.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: The 2021 Masters Champion will be making his 12th start at Augusta National. Matsuyama has made the cut eight years in a row and also finished top-20 in seven of those eight years.
Latest News: The same neck issue that plagued Matsuayama around this time last year is effecting him again this year. Matsuyama has reportedly withdrawn from Wednesday pro-ams a couple of times this season because of the neck injury. Most recently, Matsuyama conceded his final match at Dell Match Play after feeling stiffness while warming up on the driving range. Matsuayama said he withdrew as a precaution, and as of now he's competing in this week's Valero Texas Open.
In 2022, Matsuyama withdrew the week prior to The Masters and then went on to finish T14 in his title defense. It truly seems to be a day-to-day injury that Matsuyama is trying to manage, which makes it difficult to project how well he might play at Augusta. When healthy for a full week, Matsuyama clearly still has the game to win any tournament. His best results in 2023 are a solo-5th at The Players Championship in March and a T9 at Torrey Pines back in January.
Albatross ADP: 20.8
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: McClean will make his Masters debut after winning the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: McIlroy has finished top-10 at Augusta in seven of the last nine years, including his runner-up finish in 2022.
Latest News: McIlroy made some key equipment changes before the WGC-Dell Match Play, which seemed to have paid off right away as he finished 3rd in the event. After struggling off-the-tee at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy changed the shaft of his driver. He also changed to a new putter, which is a replica of the one he used to win his first two majors. McIlroy said he played 54 holes at Augusta over a two-day scouting trip the week after The Players. He also planned to make another trip to Augusta this week for additional practice.
Although McIlroy backdoored his runner-up finish a year ago as Scottie Scheffler ran away with the green jacket, it seems clear that the World No. 2 is close to winning The Masters and completing the career grand slam. In the last 12 months, McIlroy has won four times worldwide and probably should have won the 2022 Open Championship as well.
Albatross ADP: 2.8
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Meronk earned his spot in this year’s Masters by ranking 48th in the world at the end of 2022. He’s played great golf for a while now on the DP World Tour in Europe, winning last Summer at the Horizon Irish Open and then again last December at the ISPS Handa Australian Open.
Meronk was given sponsor exemptions into PGA Tour events the past several weeks. He finished T45 at Genesis, T14 at The Honda Classic, MC at API, and then lost in the group stages of the WGC-Dell Match Play. He’s played in just two majors in his career.
Albatross ADP: 59.5
Masters History: The 2004, 2006, and 2010 Masters champ is back for his 30th start at Augusta after deciding to skip the event in 2022 amidst controversial comments.
Latest News: Controversy has not ended for Mickelson who continues to be one of the faces of the LIV tour and often appears antagonistic towards the PGA Tour on social media. The 52-year-old missed the cut at the U.S. Open and Open Championship in 2022, and he has not played particularly well in recent LIV events.
Albatross ADP: 59.8
Masters History: Mitchell played in his first Masters tournament in 2019 (T43). He’ll be making his second start at Augusta this year.
Latest News: Cashmere Keith’s consistent play in 2023 earned him a late spot in this year’s Masters as he ranked inside the OWGR top 50 following Dell Match Play.
Mitchell contended at both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (finished T4) and The Genesis Invitational (finished 5th). He’s one of the best drivers of the golf ball on the PGA Tour, ranking 7th in SG: OTT and 1st in Total Driving (a stat that combines distance and accuracy). When the rest of his game follows, which it has this year, Mitchell becomes a very dangerous player.
Winning feels unrealistic but I don’t think it’d be a surprise to see Mitchell play well at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 34.8
Masters History: The 1987 Masters champion will make his 40th start at Augusta National. He’s missed the cut in each of the last five years.
Latest News: The 64-year-old Mize plays sparingly on the Champions Tour. His last event is The Ally Challenge last August.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Molinari finished T5 at the 2019 Masters, otherwise he’s produced a number of middling finishes. He will make his 12th start at Augusta in 2023.
Latest News: Molinari earned an invite to this year's Masters thanks to his win at the 2018 Open Championship. Outside of a recent T14 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Molinari has not really featured on any PGA Tour leaderboards this season. The 40-year-old ranks 99th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+0.05) and 183rd in scoring average this season on TOUR.
Albatross ADP: 59.1
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Moore just recently earned his way into The Masters by winning the Valspar Championship in March for his first PGA Tour victory. The 29-year-old appears to be finding his footing in his second full season on the PGA Tour. Moore has made the cut in six of his last seven starts going into this year's Masters tournament.
At the same time, Moore's win at Valspar is his only top-10 finish this season. Moore ranks 37th in scoring average and 63rd in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green on the PGA Tour. Expectations should be kept in check for Moore's Masters debut.
Albatross ADP: 52.1
Masters History: Morikawa will make his fourth appearance at The Masters. He posted a solo-5th in 2022 for his best-ever finish.
Latest News: Morikawa’s 2023 so far has been filled with highs and lows. The Lows: He squandered a huge lead in the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, played poorly on an historically easy Saturday at The Players Championship in terms of scoring conditions when he was in contention, and missed the cut at Phoenix and API.
The Highs: It’s taken some excellent play and low rounds for Morikawa to finish runner-up at Sentry, 3rd at Farmers, T6 at Genesis, and T13 at The Players. The form is there, and if Morikawa has a good week putting on the greens at Augusta there’s no doubt he’ll be contending on Sunday.
Morikawa started working with short-game guru Parker McLachlin over the past few months and also started working with putting coach Stephen Sweeney back in the Fall. He ranks 60th in SG: Around-the-Green (+0.17) and 120th in SG: Putting (-0.10) so far this season, so the result of adding those coaches to his team have been mixed.
Albatross ADP: 6.6
Masters History: Na will make his 12th start at The Masters. His best finish is a T12, which he did in 2012, 2015, and 2021.
Latest News: Na earned a spot in this year's Masters tournament by ranking 49th in the OWGR at the end of 2022. Now ranked 92nd in the world and a member of LIV Golf, Na has made just three starts in 2023. He missed the cut at the Saudi International, finished 20th at LIV Mayakoba and 8th at LIV Tucson.
Albatross ADP: 60.0
Masters History: Niemann will play in his fourth career Masters. He’s yet to find much success, missing the cut in 2018, finishing T40 in 2021 and T35 in 2022.
Latest News: The 24-year-old Chilean made the jump to LIV Golf following the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. Niemann finished T11 at the TOUR Championship at East Lake, and then he found immediate success on LIV with top-5 finishes in three of his first four starts last Fall.
In four starts worldwide in 2023, Niemann has posted a T10 at the Saudi International event, T5 at International Series Oman, 11th at LIV Mayakoba, and 37th at LIV Tucson.
I wrote about my optimistic outlook for Niemann in Navigating LIV Golfers in The Albatross. Niemann's wire-to-wire victory at the 2022 Genesis Invitational was extremely impressive, and he ultimately ranked 10th last season on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green. Additionally, Niemann showed pretty drastic improvements last year in his one weakness which was around-the-green play.
Niemann has yet to do much at The Masters or any major championship in his career, but if he plays as well as he did on the PGA Tour last season then he expects to get in the mix at some point.
Albatross ADP: 25.2
Masters History: Noren will make his fourth appearance at The Masters. He missed the cut in 2017 and 2018, and then finished T62 in 2019.
Latest News: Following a T5 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the DP World Tour, Noren has had a very quiet run this year on the PGA Tour. Noren's missed the cut in three of four stroke play events he's played in, and he also failed to advance out of the group stages of WGC-Dell Match Play. He's never played well at Augusta and it's hard to imagine that changes this year.
Albatross ADP: 57.5
Masters History: The 1994 and 1999 Masters Champion returns for his 34th start at Augusta National. He’s missed the cut in six of the last seven appearances.
Latest News: The 56-year-old has made starts here and there on the Champions Tour (just three times in 2023).
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Oosthuizen’s best finish is a runner-up in 2012, though he has no other top-10s at Augusta. He will be making his 15th start at The Masters and looking to bounce back after withdrawing after the first round in 2022.
Latest News: Oosthuizen recently revealed to SI Golf’s Alex Miceli that he’s been playing through a tendon tear in his elbow this year on the LIV tour. According to Miceli’s report, Oosthuizen has dealt with this elbow issue for the past three years but managed the pain well with cortisone shots. Before LIV’s new season, Oosthuizen sent his MRI results to Dr. Keith Meister, head physician for the Texas Rangers, who told him that he can play through the pain without making it any worse. While surgery would mean being out for 3-5 months, it appears Oosthuizen is going to continue to manage the issue this year and play through it.
The recent results have been mixed for the one-time major champion from South Africa. He lost in a playoff at LIV Tucson after nearly pulling out before the event due to elbow pain. He finished 42nd at LIV Mayakoba and missed the cut at International Series Oman. Very tough to know what to expect out of Oosthuizen.
Albatross ADP: 57.5
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Pereira was one of the mid-season defectors to the LIV tour a few months ago and unsurprisingly we haven’t heard much from him since then.
The Chilean immediately made his presence known when he earned his PGA Tour card toward the end of the 2021 season, ripping off a number of strong finishes, and Pereira almost certainly should have won the 2022 PGA Championship if not for an ill-timed errant tee shot on the 72nd hole.
Like most LIV players, it’s difficult to gauge where Pereira’s game is currently at. In four starts this year, Pereira posted a T6 at the Saudi International, T11 at International Series Oman, 16th at LIV Mayakoba, and 6th at LIV Tucson. These seem like decent enough finishes to suggest Pereira’s game hasn’t dropped off too much, if at all.
Albatross ADP: 55.3
Masters History: Pieters finished T4 in his very first Masters appearance in 2017, though he’s missed the cut in his other two starts at Augusta in 2018 and 2022.
Latest News: Pieters is one of the most recent signees to the LIV Golf circuit. Ranked 43rd in the world, Pieters has made his hay primarily on the DP World Tour. It hasn’t been great of late for Pieters though as he finished 32nd at LIV Mayakoba and 34th at LIV Tucson in his two most recent starts.
Albatross ADP: 59.0
Masters History: Poston missed the cut in his only previous start at the 2020 Masters.
Latest News: Poston got hot at the end of last season, finishing T2 at Travelers and then winning the next week at the John Deere Classic. He carried that momentum into the FedExCup Playoffs where Poston finished 20th at at the St. Jude Championship and T15 at the TOUR Championship at East Lake.
Ranked 49th in the OWGR, Poston is an above average PGA Tour player. He's hovered around 20th place in a lot of tournaments this season, though does have a T6 at The American Express and a T10 at the Valspar Championship in 2023. Expectations likely shouldn't be too high for Poston at Augusta this year.
Albatross ADP: 48.2
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Potgieter earned in his spot into this year’s Masters by winning the 2022 Amateur Championship at Roy Lytham and St. Annes. He played in the 2022 Open Championship but missed the cut.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Power finished T27 in his Masters debut in 2022.
Latest News: Power went on a tear at the end of the Fall, winning the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, then finishing T3 at Mayakoba and T5 at The RSM Classic. Currently ranked 35th in the world, Power continues to just play solid golf and put himself on the radar for the European Ryder Cup team. Outside of the T27 at last year’s Masters, Power posted a T9 at the 2022 PGA Championship and a T12 at the 2022 U.S. Open, proving that he can hold his own in these major events.
A 72nd-place finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a missed cut at The Players, and failure to advance out of the group stage of Dell Match Play aren’t the most encouraging recent results. Nonetheless, Power can be considered a dark horse candidate to play well at Augusta. It's also worth mentioning that Power made a scouting trip to Augusta alongside Shane Lowry the week after The Players Championship.
Albatross ADP: 38.3
Masters History: Rahm produced four consecutive top-10 finishes at The Masters from 2018-2021 with his best finish a solo-4th in 2018. It will be Rahm’s seventh start at Augusta.
Latest News: The World No. 3 enters this year’s Masters as one of the clear favorites to win. Rahm has gotten off to an unbelievable start in 2023, winning three times in his first six starts on the PGA Tour (the fastest anyone’s won 3x on the PGA Tour in a calendar year since Johnny Miller in 1975). An unexpected illness at The Players Championship forced Rahm to withdraw before the second round. His only start since then was at the WGC-Dell Match Play where Rahm failed to advance out of group play.
It’s definitely possible that the WD from The Players hurt Rahm’s momentum a little bit, as he looked like he was going to win any time he teed it up in January and February. More likely than not though, Rahm will be dialed in when he steps foot on the first tee box at Augusta National.
Albatross ADP: 2.0
Masters History: The 2018 Masters Champion returns for his 10th start at Augusta.
Latest News: Reed earned an honorable mention shoutout in Navigating LIV Golfers in "The Albatross" after he finished 2nd in the Hero Dubai Dessert Classic and battled throughout the week with Rory McIlroy. It was that battle with Rory that reminded me that Patrick Reed is going to show up to major championships in 2023 with something to prove and not backing down from the PGA Tour's stars.
After that runner-up in Dubai, Reed has gone on to finish T25 at the Saudi International, 38th at LIV Mayakoba, and 18th at LIV Tucson.
Reed has a very strong history at The Masters–a win and two other top-10 finishes. And just a few days ago, Reed mentioned that he made a scouting trip to Augusta National last week and played practice rounds alongside Dustin Johnson and Harold Varner III. Altogether, Reed is a very intriguing sleeper pick at this year's Masters.
Albatross ADP: 51.5
Masters History: Rose has a very strong record at The Masters for someone who has yet to win it. He finished runner-up twice (2015, 2017) and has posted seven other top-15 finishes. This year will mark Rose’s 18th start at The Masters.
Latest News: After missing the first few months of the 2022-23 season due to a minor back injury, Rose has experienced a resurgent year on the PGA Tour. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and more recently finished T6 at The Players Championship. Rose’s approach play has been solid, ranking 38th in SG: Approach on the PGA Tour this year. He’s also been very good on the greens, ranking 31st in SG: Putting.
After winning at Pebble Beach earlier this year, Rose expressed wanting to make the European Ryder Cup team and also get back to the consistently great play needed to contend at major championships. Augusta National seems as likely a venue as any for Rose to pull that off, and it certainly helps that his form has been somewhat steady in 2023.
Albatross ADP: 31.4
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Sargent earned a spot in this year’s Masters by winning the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Individual Championship. He still plays collegiately at Vanderbilt University.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Schauffele came dangerously close to winning both the 2019 and 2021 Masters, finishing T2 and T3 in those years. This will be Xander’s sixth appearance at Augusta.
Latest News: Although he dealt with a strange back injury at the start of 2023 that forced him to WD from the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Schauffele did not end up missing any time and never really saw a dip in his usual steady play. Schauffele is entering this year's Masters coming off a great showing at the WGC-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club. Although Schauffele lost in the quarterfinals, it came at the hands of Rory McIlroy draining a walk-off birdie putt on the 18th hole...in a match where both players piled up a ton of birdies.
Schauffele added two solid PGA Tour victories to his resume towards the end of last Summer, as well as a 4th place finish at the TOUR Championship. In general, Schauffele has been awesome at major championships. PGA titles are nice, but Schauffele's at a point in his career where he's definitely looking to get over the hump and win a major. It wouldn't be a surprise whatsoever for Xander to get the job done at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 4.5
Masters History: The 2022 Masters Champion will be making his fourth start at Augusta.
Latest News: It almost feels like deja vu for Scheffler coming into this year’s Masters, except for the fact that he’s probably playing even better than he was a year ago. Scheffler won the WM Phoenix Open in February, contended at Bay Hill where he finished T4, won The Players Championship in March, and then made another deep run last week at the WGC-Dell Match Play.
It hardly needs to be stated how good the World No. 1 golfer has been once again this season, ranking only behind Jon Rahm in Strokes Gained: Total (+2.28) and scoring average (69.11) on the PGA Tour. Anything can happen given the volatility of golf, but it would be almost a shocker if Scottie didn’t contend at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 1.2
Masters History: The 2011 Masters champ will make his 14th start at Augusta National.
Latest News: Schwartzel enters this year's Masters tournament coming off a 35th-place finish at LIV Mayakoba and 46th-place finish at LIV Tucson. He did finish T12 in January at the Saudi International and T13 at International Series Qatar.
After missing six consecutive cuts leading up to the 2022 Masters, Schwartzel came out of absolutely nowhere to finish T10. The 38-year-old South African golfer seems to pop up at random times and occasionally play good golf at this point in his career (much like he did winning the very first LIV event in London last Summer).
Albatross ADP: 60.0
Masters History: The 2013 Masters champ will make his 22nd start at Augusta National. He has one top-10 finish at Augusta since winning in 2013.
Latest News: Scott went on a nice run during the FedExCup Playoffs at the end of last season, finishing T5 at the St. Jude Championship and T5 at the BMW Championship to earn himself a spot at East Lake. However, that momentum has not really carried over into 2023. Scott's best finish is a T21 against a relatively weak Sony Open field.
The big thing to note with Scott though is that he's reunited this season with Steve Williams (former long-time caddie for Tiger Woods). While Williams has not been on the bag for Scott at every single event this year, you've got to imagine he'll be there at Augusta. Between the two of them, there's obviously a ton of great experience at The Masters, so I don't think it would be too surprising to see Scott produce a strong finish this year.
Additionally, Scott spent time practicing at Augusta National with Patrick Cantlay earlier this week. Scott made a hole-in-one at the par-3 6th during one of these practice rounds.
Albatross ADP: 32.1
Masters History: The 2000 Masters champ will be making his 30th appearance at Augusta.
Latest News: The 60-year-old plays sparingly on the Champions Tour. Singh has made the cut once in his last seven trips to The Masters.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: Smith holds three top-5 finishes in six previous starts at The Masters. He finished T3 in 2022, T2 in 2020, and T5 in 2018.
Latest News: As the 2022 Players Champion, 2022 Open Champion, and still a top-5 ranked player in the world, Smith is expected to carry the torch for LIV Golf at this year's Masters tournament. Smith has been awesome at Augusta National so far in his career and it feels like a place he's due to win at eventually. With this could come quite a bit of pressure for Smith, but of course narratives are difficult to quantify.
Smith has made just three starts worldwide in 2023. He missed the cut at the Saudi International, finished 6th at LIV Mayakoba, and finished 26th at LIV Tucson. One of the biggest storylines will undoubtedly be whether Smith's game has remained sharp on the LIV tour.
Additionally, it's worth noting that Smith is the only LIV golfer who will take part in a pre-event press conference for The Masters next week.
Albatross ADP: 9.7
Masters History: The 2015 Masters Champion is making his 10th start at Augusta National. In addition to his victory, Spieth holds four other top-3 finishes at The Masters (Runner-up in 2014, Runner-up in 2016, T3 in 2018, and T3 in 2021).
Latest News: Spieth enters this year's Masters Tournament in great form having come very close to winning the Valspar Championship (T3) a few weeks ago. He also contended at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T4) in early March and the WM Phoenix Open (T6) in February. Since that Phoenix event, Spieth has ranked as the 3rd best player in the world in Strokes Gained: Approach and 2nd best in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (per DataGolf).
Spieth's course history at Augusta National is about as strong as anyone's in the field not named Tiger Woods. An in-form Spieth heading to a venue he thrives at expects to be a dangerous combination.
Albatross ADP: 9.2
Masters History: Straka finished T30 in his Masters debut in 2022.
Latest News: Straka is a boom-bust type of golfer on the PGA Tour. Last season, Straka won and added four other top-10 finishes, including a T7 at the TOUR Championship at East Lake. In between those great finishes, Straka also missed 14 cuts. It's been much of the same this season for Straka who lost in a playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship in the Fall and then finished T5 at The Honda Classic in February.
Albatross ADP: 54.8
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Svensson earned his way into this year's Masters by winning The RSM Classic last Fall. It was the 29-year-old Canadian's first career victory on the PGA Tour. Svensson led after 36 holes at this year's Players Championship, though ultimately finished T13. He also added a T9 at Genesis and T24 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2023.
Known for his ball striking, Svensson has actually seen improvements in his putting this season. He ranks 44th in SG: PUTT (+0.40), which is a huge jump from the 2019 season in which Svensson ranked 183rd in SG: PUTT (-0.60) and lost his TOUR card at the end of the year. Svensson is one of the debutantes who could make some noise at Augusta.
Albatross ADP: 58.0
Masters History: Debutante.
Latest News: Theegala made it all the way to the TOUR Championship at East Lake in his first full season on the PGA Tour last year. He's come fairly close to winning a couple of times, particularly at the 2022 Travelers Championship.
This season, Theegala has five top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour–which is less than only Scottie Scheffler (7), Jason Day (6), Max Homa (6), and Jon Rahm (6). Theegala is not quite as consistent as those guys at this point in his young career, but he certainly has the high-end talent to get into contention at any tournament.
Albatross ADP: 28.1
Masters History: Thomas is making his eighth career start at The Masters this year. He's made the cut in each of his previous appearances, with his best finishes being a T8 in 2022 and a solo-4th in 2020.
Latest News: Last week, Justin Thomas moved outside of the OWGR top 10 for the first time since 2017. While JT's game has been good this year, it hasn't quite been up to the elite standard we've come to expect out of the two-time major winner. He finished solo-4th at the WM Phoenix Open, but otherwise, JT hasn't really contended anywhere else.
Normally one of the best approach players in the world, Thomas ranks just 51st this season in SG: APP (+0.34). He's never been known for his putting, but JT ranks 146th on TOUR in SG: PUTT (-0.22) this season–not great.
The good news for JT is that he leads the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green (+0.63) and ranks 11th in SG: Tee-to-Green. We know Justin Thomas has the game to win at Augusta (as well as the insights from his good friend Tiger Woods), but he'll need to find some confidence on the greens.
Albatross ADP: 5.5
Masters History: Varner finished T23 in his first-ever appearance at The Masters in 2022.
Latest News: Varner earned a spot in this year's Masters tournament by ranking inside the top 50 in the OWGR at the end of 2022. Now a member of LIV Golf, Varner has been off the radar over the last few months. In 2023, he's made just three starts worldwide: T46 at the Saudi International, 28th at LIV Mayakoba, and 27th at LIV Tucson.
Albatross ADP: 60.0
Masters History: The 2012 and 2014 Masters champ will be making his 15th start at Augusta National.
Latest News: Watson was sidelined for about eight months after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus last May. He returned to action at the Saudi International event in February where he missed the cut. In Watson's two starts on LIV, he's finished 40th at Mayakoba and 23rd at Tucson.
Albatross ADP: 60.0
Masters History: The 2003 Masters champ is making his 24th start at Augusta National.
Latest News: The 53-year-old Canadian plays a decent amount on the Champions tour now. Weir's missed the cut in seven of his last eight trips to The Masters.
Albatross ADP: --
Masters History: The 2016 Masters champ will make his 9th start at Augusta National.
Latest News: After nearly winning the Fortinet Championship to start the season, Willett dealt with a shoulder injury in the Fall which forced him to WD from both the Houston Open and RSM Classic.
So far in 2023, Willett has quietly been playing decent golf. He's made his last five cuts on the PGA Tour, with his best finish a T18 at Genesis. There's not a ton to get excited about over Willett's game heading into this year's Masters, but the Englishman clearly knows his way around Augusta and another solid performance wouldn't be totally unexpected.
Albatross ADP: 59.9
Announced on Friday (3/31) that he withdrew from The Masters and is stepping away from golf to focus on his mental health.
Masters History: Woodland is making his 11th appearance at The Masters where he's missed the cut five times and never finished better than T24 (2011).
Latest News: Ranked 99th in the world, Woodland is exempt into this year's Masters thanks to his U.S. Open win in 2019.
Woodland's ball striking has been quite good at times this season, leading to a T9 at the Houston Open in November and a T9 at the Genesis Invitational in February. That said, Woodland's putting has been disastrous. He ranks 196th on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Putting (-0.72) and has lost strokes on the greens in nearly every event he's played. Woodland could certainly make the cut at Augusta but it's hard to expect much more than that.
Albatross ADP: 48.6
Masters History: The 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2019 Masters champion will be making his 25th start at Augusta National.
Latest News: Woods surprised many when he decided to play The Genesis Invitational in February. At this point in his career, Woods has made clear that he's focused on playing the major championships, and any other tournaments added to his schedule would be an unexpected bonus. While managing his surgically-repaired ankle and plantar fasciitis, Woods played some great golf at Riviera and showed improvements in his durability. In 2022, Woods shot 78-78-79 in three weekend rounds. But over the weekend at Riv, Woods shot 67 and 73. (His swing speed was surprisingly great too, hitting some tee shots past Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas during the opening rounds.)
At home, Woods is able to practice enough to keep his game reasonably sharp. The big hurdle for him in championship competition is walking 18 holes four days in a row (plus practice rounds in the days leading up). The Masters will be demanding physically for Woods, but from a pure golf perspective, Augusta National is the place where he can get around in his sleep. In part, Woods' performance at this year's Masters will depend on how his body holds up throughout the week.
Albatross ADP: 49.8
Masters History: Young missed the cut in his first trip to Augusta in 2022.
Latest News: Young enters this week's Masters coming off an awesome performance at the WGC-Dell Match Play. He finished runner-up to Sam Burns but arguably played better than anyone across the entire week at Austin Country Club. It was Young's first week with Paul Tesori (former long-time caddie for Webb Simpson) on the bag for him, and this new relationship immediately started paying dividends for the 2022 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
Young is an incredible rising talent on TOUR–he has eight top-3 finishes in his first 37 career starts. The first victory is coming, and with Tesori now caddying for Young the win truly feels imminent.
Could it be at The Masters? Despite missing the cut there in 2022, Young absolutely can win at Augusta this year. He very nearly got his first victory at the 2022 PGA Championship (T3) and the 2022 Open Championship (Runner-up).
Albatross ADP: 12.9
Masters History: Zalatoris finished runner-up in 2021 and T6 in 2022. This will be his third appearance at The Masters.
Latest News: After suffering two herniated discs in his back in late August at the BMW Championship, Zalatoris missed the remainder of 2022 to rest and recover. He returned to action at the Sentry Tournament of Champions at the beginning of 2023, where Zalatoris noted that he was working on a swing change so as to avoid any future lower back problems.
Outside of a 4th place finish at Genesis, Zalatoris hasn't quite returned to the form we're used to seeing out of the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. Zalatoris led the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach last season but is 77th so far this season. Putting has never been Zalatoris' strength but he ranks all the way down at 137th in SG: PUTT this season and has really struggled on the greens of late.
Most recently, Zalatoris conceded his final match at WGC-Dell Match Play due to an illness. While Zalatoris' first two trips to Augusta were about as good as you could ask for without winning, there seem to be too many red flags to feel super confident in Zalatoris' chances at donning the green jacket this year.
Albatross ADP: 12.0