2014 Preview Golf: The Masters

It is official, spring is here. Members of sport's most exclusive

club were all in green last night for the Champions Dinner. It kicked

off Masters week. The newest recruit is Adam Scott. The Australians

served up a barbecue menu, what else? And his men's Pavlova for

dessert. What a menu and what do you Adam has had since that historic

play-off 12 months ago. This to win. There it is. A life

changer. It rained during the play-offs last

year and it was lashing down a game this week. The gates were closed on

Monday for the first time since 2013 but normal service is resumed and it

has been a glorious Georgia today on the course. And soaking it all in

today and for the rest of the week, Peter Alliss and Ken Brown. It is a

Masters without Tiger Woods for the first time in 20 years so what are

your expectations? I think it is going to be very Open, it is going

to be very interesting. Tiger will be missed, which will be in joined

by a few, but a lot of the younger people, one or two of them have been

blowing the Bugle is very loud. They are setting out strong. I am

interested to see how they play, whether the bravado disappears when

they go to the first tee. It is 24, and that is 12 more than last year,

Rockies at the Masters. What impact do you think they might have? There

is 24 of them and there is a field of almost 70. We have got young

players coming through. It is difficult to get in the tournament

so they deserve to be year. I would not be at all surprised if one or

two of them came through. Matt Jones did well last week. They are going

to make a bid for certain. But winning here for the first time is

tricky. It is an Aussie in possession of the Green Jacket right

now. It is Adam Scott. So what has been his highlight of the year?

Probably going back to Australia and being able to share the Green Jacket

with everyone is probably the most rewarding. So many people have putt

a lot into my career, even people I do not know, so to be able to go

back and take the Green Jacket home was a real thrill for me. You won

three times on home soil. I wonder, how often did you wear the jacket

around the house? I managed to slip it on a fair bit. It felt good

making the copy in the morning. As you come back, there are so many

things to appreciate. Your mum and dad are with you this week. What

about Australian success? You ended a 77 year wait last year. To what

extent will that be a start for something Australian here? I hope it

is. I hope it broke the duck for us and now you only have to look at the

last few weeks on Tour to see there is plenty of talent out of Australia

and maybe some names people are not so familiar with winning on the

biggest Tour in the world that have earned their place here this week.

They legitimately have a chance to win. Jason Day has got a great

record here so I hope this is the one that starts a real run for

Australians at the Masters. You could even become the fourth person

to retain the title here. What sort of form do you bring to Augusta? I

like where my game is at. I have played well the last few weeks in

Florida and my preparation was very good at home over the last couple of

weeks. I have the confidence coming off the back of last year and feel

very comfortable with the golf course so I am quietly confident I

can move myself into a position similar to last year. He is trying

to do what only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have done in

regaining the title. What chance do you give him? The same chance as

everyone else. But I have listened to all the pundits here and they say

you have got to drive it 300 yard safe, have wonderful moves and putt

it all together. It is like the Grand National, who is going to win?

Some have a better chance than others. He has been a great champion

for August because he has carried himself with such modesty. He is a

very popular champion. Extremely popular because he has been a nice

guy. He did it in foil style. He had did in glorious fashion. It is been

a good year for Australian golf. Jason Day has a great opportunity to

win the Masters. Greg Norman came close but finally the Green Jacket

went to Australia. Even in the last eight weeks or so, for Victor Ruiz

for Aussies. What extraordinary victories they work too. A monster

putt last Sunday. They can't happen. But rather like watching Dynamo

doing his magic, it happens. And there are seven Australians in the

field, including Oliver Goss, Matt Jones, Marc Leishman as well. So

many who could spring a surprise. Matt Jones had that fantastic win in

Houston. And he had a hole in one today. Matt Jones comes in today

with a real buzz. But it is Adam Scott who comes in as the top ranked

player in the tournament in the absence of Tiger Woods who has just

undergone surgery to fix a nerve in his back. He is going to be out of

action until the summer at least. He has not won a major for six years

and he remains for behind the record of 18. But it means he could lose

his top spot in the rankings as Scott can finish at least in third

place. Jason Day also have a chance to leap up to the top of the

rankings. Justin Rose is the highest placed of the UK golfers but the

favourite with the bookmakers is the man one place below Justin Rose,

Rory McIlroy. My goodness, Rory McIlroy is

bleeding. He has gone. It is moments like this that the

game becomes very cruel. Do you feel you have got some

unfinished business because of what happened three years ago? Not

really, because I have moved on and I have one some Majors since. If I

get myself in that position again I will be able to handle it much

better than I did a few years ago. Installed as the favourite, how

difficult is it to manage those expectations? I have been favourite

for a lot of tournaments before so that is nothing new. It is not

really matter. It is what you feel yourself. I feel I have got as good

a chance as anyone going into this week. Watching how golf has unfolded

this season, there have been so many first-time winners. Do you think

you'd someone could win here on the debut? I can't see someone winning

on their debut. Experience counts too much. Guys like myself, Matt

Kuchar, Adam Scott, who have had tournaments and have not quite been

able to finish the job. We are all coming here with experience of being

in contention this year and knowing not what to do and hopefully being

able to correct the mistakes that we may coming down the stretch of this

tournament. Northern Ireland golfers have won three of the Majors. What

would it mean to you to finish that Grand Slam this week and slip on

that Green Jacket? It would mean an awful lot. For a person from

Northern Ireland to win all four Majors would be a very good feet for

a small country so it would be a great thing to achieve and I am one

of three guys who could maybe do it this week.

Rory does seem to be in a more settled frame of mind can pay to

this time last year. Do you share the bookmakers' faith? He is a

wonderful player to watch, he has won two Majors, it is down to the

luck of the draw, how you play, how you get to certain situations. Your

bit of good fortune, his bit of bad luck. I rather get tired of things.

You don't go a bit here, what happens, happens. You try and get it

all in place, you try to get this right and this right, and then it

happens. Hand on heart, nobody can tell you why. You can feel like $1

million and the first shot goes out of bounds or you can get a record

score. There are things you can improve and what could be improved

for Rory at Augusta? He has got the perfect game for August and he knows

it. He has got to putt reasonably well, he has spoken about his

strategy at the par fives, he has had this relentless urge to go for

them and sometimes you have just got to play the percentage. Getting the

tactics right on this golf course. He has definitely got the game.

Sometimes he has got to say, I am going to hold back, pitcher and walk

on. If he can get that right, he comes here as a justifiable

favourite. Darren Clarke is here as well so they have got a real chance

of doing something special. We spoke about Graeme McDowell and we talk

about this Northern Ireland Grand Slam, and this man has been a little

underrated this season. He has had a brilliant time of it. He leads the

batting stats. That is crucial around the Augusta National. --

patting. The only thing you would say about Graeme McDowell, he is not

the longest. He will not be able to reach all the par fives. But he has

got that quiet confidence so you would not count him out. We would

have got to talk about Darren Clarke and he will tear in his 500 event

tomorrow. He is very lean, he has lost a lot of weight, and we wish

Darren very well. While Rory McIlroy gets ready for his sixth Masters,

one youngster from Sheffield is all set for his first. Matthew

Fitzpatrick announced himself to the world last year by winning the US

amateur title. The first Englishman for almost a century to do it.

Eubank a silver medal as well. Tellez your impressions of what you

see at Augusta. The place is amazing, it is so green everywhere

and there is nothing out of place. It is everything I expected. You had

a chance to take a spin around the course with Rory McIlroy. That was

pretty special. He invited me out so that was great. I really appreciated

that. What about the nitty-gritty of being at the Masters, the Crow's

Nest. What is that like? I stayed there last night and it was fun. The

history is really special. I am staying with the family for the rest

of the week. I understand there is a large contingent of family out here.

I have got my mum and dad, brother, girlfriend and a couple of friends.

Adam Scott, Jason Dufner, alongside them, what kind of expectations do

you have in that kind of company? It is something I am looking forward

to. It would be made -- great to make the cut in that company.

Hopefully my game is in decent shape but we will have to see come

Thursday. I am really excited to get going. What a prospect, what would

you say to him before tomorrow? It is important to get this in the

right place and I would say, try to enjoy this. This is a cauldron, I

came here only twice to play and I was totally overwhelmed by this.

Just hopeless. That is the great fear, tell him to try to enjoy this

and you either favourite, your favourite golf course, try to get

that picture, go through a series of mental pic shares, playing a course

very well and then enjoy it. You never know what will happen. One of

six amateurs and the results of another Englishman, the British

amateur champion, Garrick Porteous. He will turn professional next week.

Young Englishman starting their careers, they were not even born

when Nick Faldo won the first of his Greenjackets 25 years ago. Forcing

the third round, Faldo is struggling with his putting. He made the

crucial decision. I went out and parted like I could not believe.

Wonderful part. Some of the greatest I have ever had. The American had

one to win. I thought, I could still there the -- I could still win this

but it does not look very good. I tell you! The 11th and Faldo made

him pay. That was the sweetest putt I have ever had in my life. What a

way to do it! Follow would win again in 1990 and 1996, the last Brett to

win the green jacket. -- Brit. The Golden age at Augusta Agana Sandy

Lyle imagine idiot and ended with Nick Faldo in 1996 and we must go

back to 1999 for the last European victory and that was Jose Maria

Olazabal. Who is in the best position to put this right? Justin

Rose? He is coming in under the radar, considering he is a reigning

champion? Under the radar! They have injured themselves in the gymnasium.

I lived in a different time, but I cannot remember anyone other than a

player having burst appendicitis but nobody was ever injured. All these

fellows, in an effort to be Mr universe, they have pulled muscles

or they go skiing and break a leg. That is the way it is in these

modern times but I do not understand it. Tendinitis. Shoulder problems.

He seems to be convinced that he is over that but that has hampered him

over the past few months. He missed a couple of tournaments, but I

watched him on the range and he was swinging very nicely. If you have an

injury, you don't quite throw yourself at this quite so hard and

that does help your timing. He would not be playing if he did not think

he didn't have a great chance. One man desperate to win a major is Lee

Westwood, top 38 times over the years. He is still searching for

answers. Is he likely to find them? I am a fan and I have watched him

since he was a young man laying amateur things and I like him

enormously. Maybe the chance has gone? Very few people over 40, Vijay

Singh, Miguel Jimenez, but it does not happen to many. I do not

understand all of the changes that people make today, Luke Donald,

Padraig Harrington, they don't seem, in my opinion, to get better, you

can become more consistent. You don't need 1 million balls to do

that. You learn how to head and then play. That is the great key about

golf. In any sport. You learn how to hit and then play. When striving for

perfection, they go backwards, they all have. You talk about Luke

Donald, and he has made some swing changes, new coach, hearing things

to try to win a major, get some extra length. This is a place that

seems to have inspired him. He has a nice record. He is one of the

greatest putters. In his day, no one like him. He played with rose last

year at the U.S. Open in the final round. And we could see him pulling

off those shots and he could not. -- Justin Rose. He tends to rule his

wrists. That is what he is trying to eliminate. At least that is what he

thinks he has to do. We have Ian Poulter, Jamie Donaldson, current

European number one, Stephen Gallacher, 38 years old, making his

debut for Scotland. Who do you like from that trio? Who do you feel has

the game? There is a wonderful mixed bag. Ken talks a lot of sense but

many short hitters have been running around here. I would say at least 15

or 20%. You must wait, when the ground was dry, Ken would win three

tournaments every year. I know they have lengthened it but if you chip

and putt, you do the right things. You just put them all in a hat and

some appear to have more experience and knowledge and game plan and this

and that, they seem to have more the Chancellor others, but the

bookmakers usually get it right! -- more of a chance than others. But

somebody might come out of the woodwork. Bookmakers fancied Garcia

and Henrik Stenson. That is look at some of the key groups going out in

round number one tomorrow. Adam Scott, defending champion, with

Jason Dufner. And