There comes a time every year in March when I drop everything that I am doing and say "Holy Shit, The Masters is in 15 days, 3 hours, 12 minutes, and 42 seconds." Sure enough, its my biological golf clock kicking into gear for the season. After some brief homework and careful consideration, I present my selections for the 2017 Masters.
- Bubba Watson - These days, I make my picks for Bubba based on the color of ball he plays. This one is tough as we won't know if Bubba's pink and white swirl order will be delivered by Thursday. Projection: Ehh
- Phil Mickelson - With Phil's trending performance this year on and around the greens, he will play nicely at The National. Phil will stand a chance to win if he can find the fairway with consistency. Either way, Phil will deliver a riveting Sunday post round interview in which he mentions being inspired by this very pjkoenig blog post. Projection: T-3rd
- Ricky Fowler - While trying to escape tree trouble on 10, Ricky suffers an unfortunate injury to the groin on a White Dogwood ricochet. Fortunately, State Farm is on site to turn his misfortune into a series of highly entertaining advertisements. Projection: Solo 16th
- Dustin Johnson - With DJ's ascension up the OWGR golf ladder complete, he reaches another high with a course record 62 on Friday. Unable to maintain his mojo, we watch DJ's lead slowly slip away over the weekend only to be overtaken on the 72nd hole. Distraught by the events, Paulina Gretzky posts bikini photo on Instagram. Projection: 25.6k likes / Runner Up.
- Rory Mcilroy - Still looking to banish his 2011 Masters' demons, McIlroy and Spieth hold a demon seance on the 10th green at midnight on Wednesday. Rosemary's Baby is in attendance along with that demon girl from The Ring. Projection: 60% demon reduction / T2.
- Tiger Woods: A recent twitter poll found that the opening of Jurassic Park was more likely than a Tiger start at the 2017 Masters. Projection: DNP
- Jimmy Walker - Jimmy Walker misses the cut, meets up with Johnny Walker immediately afterwards. BAC Projection: .15%
- Stewart Hagestad - With Vegas giving Hagestad 2000/1 odds, the most likely scenario is that Stewart hires Fred Couples to wear a Stewart Hagestad mask and play the tournament in alternate disguises. After the scandal is uncovered Saturday morning, everyone still loves Fred Couples. Hagestad and Couples are permitted to finish under the little known "Hilarious Masters Pranks Clause" Projection: Hagestad: T52 Couples: T32.
- Hideki Matsuyama - After hitting a perfect 3 iron into 15, Hideki holes out for double eagle on Saturday. Disgusted with the shot, he throws his entire golf bag into the lake and is unable to finish. Projection: DQ
- Andrew "Beef" Johnston - After a sluggish start, Beef gains momentum by putting his curly fry headcover and Arby's hat into play on the weekend. Although he has the beef, Beef doesn't have the birdies to seriously contend. Projection: Delicious
- Jordan Spieth - With one win under his belt and fresh off his Wednesday night demon seance, Ole Spiethy is one of the favorites coming into Augusta this year. If that putter gets hot, not even the 12th hole can stop this man. Jordan's Scotty Cameron explodes into flames as he holes the winning putt on Sunday and the golf demons are released into the sky. Projection: Masters Champion
- Justin Thomas - This kid is no longer on Spring Break and he is here to seriously contend in this year's Masters. Even though JT fades on his Sunday back nine, Justin and Ricky build a 2 man shirtless pyramid on the 18th green to honor their spring break bretheren's Masters' victory. Projection: T4
