2009 Masters Staff Predictions

The 2009 Masters is about to begin, and as we’ve done in the past, we’re here with our staff predictions.

This year we’re changing things up a little bit. We’ll still predict the winner and the winning score, but beyond that, we’re looking at Greg Norman, the younger contingent, and the course setup, as well as a few other things.

Check our predictions, post your own in the comments, and come back for bragging rights – or to eat a little humble pie – when the Masters concludes this year.

P.S. Check back Sunday for our live blog of the final round of the 2009 Masters!

Winner and Score

Erik J. Barzeski
Tiger Woods, 278 (-10). Eldrick has yet to put together a round yet this year with good driving, ball-striking, and putting, but he’s displayed flashes of each and won on putting alone at Bay Hill. His short game has been phenomenal, and that’s held Tiger’s rounds together. If he puts them all together, he could win by four or more. Note: I’m banking on better weather this year with the score prediction. Let’s hope we can avoid the cold and rain this time around, eh?

George Promenschenkel
Tiger Woods, 283 (-5). After Bay Hill, it’s hard to pick anyone else. I thought I’d be taking a flyer on Steve Stricker or even Nick Watney (since I never feel confident picking Mickelson… what will Phil do next?), but then Tiger proved he’s all the way back. He hasn’t won at Augusta since 2005, so he’s hungry, he’s ready, and he’s due.

Dave Koster
Tiger Woods, 284 (-4). Duh.

Alan Olson
Tiger Woods, 278 (-10). I’m pathetic and I know it with my no-guts pick. Tiger Woods wins another green jacket.

Danny Ottmann
Tiger Woods, 279 (-9). He is the man to beat everytime he tees it up. This will be no different. He is back, Bay Hill proved that. What better way to put an exclamation point on his comeback than to win at Augusta?

T.M. O’Connell
Stewart Cink, 277 (-11). I think he is a dark horse without really being one. He always plays well at Augusta. All the attention is going to be on Tiger, Phil, Sergio, and the young guns which could allow him to sneak in under the radar.

Ben Alberstadt
Tiger Woods, 282 (-6). Perhaps not surprisingly, I’m going with Tiger to win. It’s difficult for me to give the nod to anyone else, save for perhaps Phil, should he put together a great showing this week.

Best Showing by a Player Under 30

Erik J. Barzeski
Anthony Kim has been too busy chasing the IMG money train. Camilo hasn’t yet shown up on the radar in 2009. Danny Lee may have the game to win in some places, but Augusta ain’t one of them – yet. Rory is in over his head (hey, I’ve been wrong before!). So in a surprise move, I’m picking Nick Watney to have a good week, with a top-15 finish.

George Promenschenkel
Danny Lee. Oops! He’ll be the best player under 20. Lee will take the top amateur honors easily and finish around 30th or so. But Camilo Villegas will notch a top 20 finish and take the under-30 cup. Spiderman is emerging as a well rounded player. His hard swing can be both a strength and a curse. But when his timing is on, he can compete with anyone.

Dave Koster
Rory McIlroy. I think he’ll post a top 15. For a teenager the kid seems
very cool under pressure… almost to a point that he’s a bit boring. Boring works sometimes though.

Alan Olson
Camilo Villegas gets a top-five finish to add to his resume. He hasn’t played well to date at Augusta but seems to be maturing as a player.

Danny Ottmann
I am going with Anthony Kim. He has all the tools and having to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to illness, he will be hungry. I see him in contention on Sunday and finishing top five.

T.M. O’Connell
Hunter Mahan. Played terrible last year but he continues to improve. I
don’t think that Villegas or Kim will be far behind.

Ben Alberstadt
I think Rory McIlroy has a shot at a top 20. He’s only 19, so I think he should have the “best player under 20” wrapped up. I think he has the intangibles to be the best player under 30 as well.

Greg Norman’s Chances

Erik J. Barzeski
None. The only way Greg Norman plays golf on Saturday at Augusta is if there’s a long weather delay and the second round carries over to the weekend.

George Promenschenkel
I hope there are Great White Shark sightings on the leaderboard over the weekend, but I don’t expect it to happen. Norman is certainly capable of making the cut. At last summer’s Open Championship, Norman played great. He used his experience and great short game play to rise to the top over the first three days. Much of the field succumbed to the conditions. The weather in Augusta is not likely to be anything like what it was in Scotland last summer, so more of the field will be playing well. Alas, Norman just misses the cut.

Dave Koster
Zilch. Won’t make the cut and won’t be in contention. I think this version of Augusta will swallow the shark whole.

Alan Olson
The feel-good story of the 2008 Open Championship won’t be the feel-good story here at Augusta. Plenty of press and TV time during the week but the probability of seeing the Shark even making the cut is low. I give him 10% chance of making the cut and zero chance of being in contention.

Danny Ottmann
Norman really seems to have his eye on the ball. Augusta is definately Greg’s white whale and he would like nothing more than to make a good showing. I predict if there is good weather Norman will make the cut and finish in the top 20. Sorry Shark, but that’s the best you can hope for. Guys over 50 don’t win the Masters.

T.M. O’Connell
He’ll miss the cut. Would be a nice story but the field is as deep as it has ever been.

Ben Alberstadt
I think Norman will spray it all over the place and make some pretty big numbers. He’s not making the cut.

Biggest Disappointment

Erik J. Barzeski
Trevor Immelman hasn’t been playing great golf lately. That trend will continue, and he might be hitching an early flight out of Georgia with his countryman Gary Player. But the bigger disappointment to some will be Padraig Harrington’s absence on weekend leaderboards.

George Promenschenkel
Padraig Harrington misses the cut. Harrington just isn’t playing well enough this year so far. On any given weekend any player can break out, but I think the Paddy Slam will end Friday with Harrington slamming his trunk.

Dave Koster
Sergio Garcia. I think the greens are going to eat him up… again. He hasn’t made a cut the last two years and it might be a third this year.

Alan Olson
After much buzz about the #2 player chalking up a couple of wins thus far for 2009 and being the “rival” for Tiger (don’t we hear this every year?), Phil plays poorly on Thursday and Friday and spends the weekend watching the Masters in HD.

Danny Ottmann
Last Year’s champion, Trevor Immelman, having not found his game since will not even come close to making the cut.

T.M. O’Connell
Vijay. Guy just can’t buy a putt these days.

Ben Alberstadt
It could be Sergio Garcia, since he should probably be winning this tournament eventually and shows no signs he’s on track to do so this year.

Biggest Surprise

Erik J. Barzeski
Someone goes for a par five in two! Okay, I kid, I kid… I’m going to predict that we finally get to see a little Phil/Tiger action on Sunday. They won’t be in the same group, but they’ll both be in contention come the back nine.

George Promenschenkel
We actually get the Sunday Woods-Mickelson duel this year that we’ve been teased with for years. Just for fun let’s say that Tiger makes a 15-footer on eighteen for birdie to win (he never does anything like that). With the propensity these two have to unleash the occasional errant drive, we can look forward to seeing parts of Augusta National that have rarely been televised before. We’ll see some great par saves from utter jail, and it will be close deep into the back nine, but Tiger will prevail.

Dave Koster
Retif Goosen. I think he’s ready to put his name back into the major contender hat. He’s been missing for a couple years and has been very close at Augusta with four top-threes. I think he’ll be there in the end.

Alan Olson
Ernie Els plays himself into the final pairing and gives Tiger a run for his money before losing by one shot on hole 18 on Sunday.

Danny Ottmann
U.S. Amateur Champion Danny Lee will make a great showing and will be in contention until Sunday. I see him making a top-20 finish as he already won a European Tour event earlier this year.

T.M. O’Connell
Fred Couples pops up on the leaderboard and has a chance to win.

Ben Alberstadt
The “19th hole” streaker strikes again. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Google it.

Course Chatter

Erik J. Barzeski
Billy Payne has made some improvements, but he can’t just reverse 10 years of changes in one year or they’ll kick him out of the club. So, slowly but surely I expect the course to revert back until a happy medium is found. I just hope the weather holds out this year.

George Promenschenkel
The roars are back, at least a little. There will be some let up in the severity of Augusta National this year, enabling at least a handful of players to finish the championship under par for a change. Even if we don’t quite get a back-nine charge this year, at least the field shouldn’t be in full reverse mode this year on Sunday. That will be a nice change. I hope it happens.

Dave Koster
Other than the fact that I’ll be there on Tuesday, not much. Seriously, I think that the lack of Saturday and Sunday roars will still be the talk of the course. I’m hoping they soften the course up a bit but I still think that in the end it will be a winning score just under par with less than 10 breaking par in the end.

Alan Olson
The biggest course chatter so far this year has been the lack of course chatter. Subtle changes will give the tournament committee some good options should the weather rear it’s ugly head. If the weather’s nice, there won’t be too many complaints and perhaps some compliments. Bad weather on the other hand…

Danny Ottmann
Hopefully the folks at Augusta National will make the greens lightning fast and leave the rest of the course alone. I look forward to hearing the old Augusta course chatter consisting of nothing but how beautiful the course is. I would also love to hear excited chatter along with the crowd roars on Sunday as someone mounts a back nine comeback that Augusta used to be famous for.

T.M. O’Connell
I am hoping the weather down in Georgia is nice. If it is, the talk should once again go back to the greens.

Ben Alberstadt
I agree with the other guys in hoping, and somewhat expecting, it will be very little. Hopefully the faithful will be saying Augusta played as expected — no longer as a second shot course, but one which places a premium on distance control and putting.