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We like Poulter's chances at the Masters for two reasons. One, while he wasn’t won a tournament since the Houston Open in 2018 (a win that put him into the 2018 Masters), he’s in good form currently, having earned multiple top-three finishes since. He has not missed a cut so far in 2019. Two, he has a very strong history of play at the Masters. Poulter has three top-10 finishes at Augusta and has only missed one cut in 13 tries. If Poulter can make the cut and get his putter going, he has a strong chance to contend.
Li finished T32 at Augusta in 2018, which may not look like much on the surface. Fans need to remember a few things, though: It was his first Masters, and he was only 22. He hasn’t shown a great deal of week-in, week-out consistency early in his career. That said, he's a 23-year-old who already has six worldwide wins, five of which were by at least three strokes. If he’s firing on all cylinders, he can hang with any golfer in the world.
Holmes’ 2019 season has been a mixed bag, as he’s missed four cuts in seven events. But he also won the Genesis Open, which consisted of one of the stronger fields of the early season. What we really like about Holmes is his power, as Augusta plays favorably to long hitters. There have been exceptions (e.g.: Zach Johnson, Trevor Immelman and Jordan Spieth), but more often than not, the Masters is won by people who can shrink the course. If that trend continues, it will play right into Holmes’ strength.
Cameron Smith
Coming out of the 2018 PGA Championship, Smith was No. 49 in the world. Heading into 2019’s first major, he’s raised his ranking by more than 20 spots. Smith has had a string of strong finishes since last August, including a win at the Australian PGA Championship. Perhaps most impressively, he’s missed only one cut during that stretch. Smith also has a good (albeit brief) history at Augusta, going 2-for-2 in made cuts and finishing T5 in only his second trip to the Masters last year. With his power game, Smith can absolutely become the second Australian to win the Masters after Adam Scott did so six years ago.
There’s some good news and bad news with Howell. The good news is that he’s played in the tournament eight times. The bad news is that he hasn’t played the Masters since 2012. It's unlikely the course will catch him by surprise though, as he was born and raised in Augusta. Howell’s recent play is also encouraging, having made 10 straight cuts. In that time, he has a win, two other top-10s and has not finished below T35. He'll enter his hometown event on a nice roll.
Si Woo Kim
Kim is a roll of the dice. He's already missed three cuts this year and finished T24 last year in only his second trip to the Masters. He is capable of dominating play though. Kim has two PGA Tour victories, with one of his wins coming by five shots. The other, the 2017 PLAYERS Championship, was a three-shot victory. The 25-year-old has the upside to contend at Augusta.
Once one of golf’s most promising young players, Bradley’s game fell into a bit of a slump. He's been in good form over the last few years, however. Between 2018 and 2019, he’s missed only three combined cuts. He’s also posted a win and five other top-10 performances in that time. Inconsistency doomed Bradley before, but that looks like a thing of the past. Bradley definitely has the tools needed to compete at Augusta.
Bjerregaard will be playing Augusta for the first time, but that doesn't mean he can't win it. He recently defeated Tiger Woods at the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play en route to a fourth place finish. That performance really clued casual fans into something that’s been apparent for a long time — Bjerregaard is a really good player. Going back to the Czech Masters at the end of last August, Bjerregaard has six top-10 finishes, including a win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. That's a nice hot streak for Bjerregaard to be riding as he plays his first Masters.
Since missing the cut at 2018’s Open Championship, Snedeker has been on a run. He's missed only one cut since, won a tournament, finished second in another and played to a T5 at THE PLAYERS Championship. He'll need to play mistake-free golf, but the good news is that Snndeker has shown at Augusta in the past that he can do just that (he has three top-10s, including one as recent as 2016). Four rounds of smart, steady golf will definitely make him someone to watch during the second nine on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Matsuyama’s game has fallen off some recently, though not too long ago he was considered one of the best in the world. While Matsuyama hasn’t won since 2017, he has 14 career wins and seems to have rediscovered his old form. He missed the cut at last year’s Open Championship, but has played the weekend in every tournament since. That stretch included six top-10 finishes. Matsuyama has also finished in the top-20 in each of the last four Masters. He may not hold the same ranking he once had, but Matsuyama can certainly be in the mix this year.
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