The Waterboy
Jeff Yoder | Sports Co-Editor
This is not a column titled after the 1998 comedy with Adam Sandler. It's a place to take a break from the action, step over to the sideline and let me refresh you with a cold cup of sports knowledge. Every other week, I'll give a response to the professional and college sports worlds' latest controversy.
I told you so. If you're a regular reader of this column then you witnessed Louisville march to a national title after hearing it here first. Maybe you heard it somewhere else first because, afterall, Louisville was No. 1 overall.I'm not a gambling man, but after picking the Ravens to win the superbowl before playoffs started, and now Louisville, it feels like I'm on a hot streak. Hopefully missing a prediction here will knock me off my pedestal and bring me back to Earth. Maybe I'll get lucky again and you'll see my ego get even bigger by my next column.
To test some of this newfound predictability, I'm going to explain who will bring home the green jacket in this weekend's Masters.
First, I'm going to tell you who won't win this year's tournament and hopefully you don't have a Master's bracket that can be busted with this information.
Originally, Bubba Watson was my favorite to repeat in 2013, but history is against him. Only three players, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, have won back-to-back Masters. I don't think Bubba has it in him.
Rory McIlroy may give a solid showing but a year ago he was sitting in prime position heading into Sunday. After suffering a collapse that plummeted Rory to 15th in 2012, he might feel some pressure on Sunday.
I don't think he'll win, but watch out for Louis Oosthuizen. The South African native has never won a Masters but fell just short to Watson in playoff holes in 2012. He's hyped for another shot and I expect him to play well, just not well enough.
The same goes for Adam Scott and Lee Westwood. Scott finished second in 2011 and Westwood was runner-up in 2010. Scott also finished third behind Westwood in 2010. Both could be lingering in the shadows come Sunday but watch for Scott to be in contention until the very end.
Last on my list of contenders is Lefty, or Phil Mickelson, and Rickie Fowler. Fowler finished 27th last year but has the talent to make a run at it this weekend. Mickelson scares me in this tournament because he could have the poise to outlast my champion.
Tiger Woods, the only man in the field with more Masters wins than Mickelson, will make room in his closet for one more green jacket. He hasn't done it since 2005 but Woods is hungry. He's playing the best golf we've seen from him in awhile and he's due for a victory on a big stage.He may not pull it off, but it benefits the sport if he does. It's been eight years since Tiger won his last Masters, but he's in better shape than anybody to do it.
In his last win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Woods tied for 71st in fairways hit. So how did he pull off the win? He did it the same way he will this weekend: putting. Woods led the field in putting percentage in his last tournament making 30 of his last 31 putts inside ten feet.
ESPN analyst Skip Bayless picked against Tiger in a column this week.
"There's no way Tiger's putter can remain this magic of a wand," Bayless said.
I say you're wrong Skip. If Tiger puts it all together, and I think he will, he'll be sliding his arms into those green sleeves for the first time since 2005. Welcome back, Tiger.
