The Masters on HooperstarGolfer.blogspot.co.uk April 11 Masters Thursday

As I walked through town yesterday morning I had the sun on my back and a cool breeze brushing my face, Spring has arrived. It doesn't matter where I am in the country and despite the fact I am thousands of miles from Augusta it as if The Masters heralds the start of Spring. In 2011 I arrived in St Andrews for my first season on Masters Saturday and in 2012 I arrived on the Sunday preceding the tournament, and next week I will be back in St Andrews again, each time I have been greeted by glorious sunshine and the world is a better place. The world is a better place when The Masters is on TV and the world's greatest golfers are competing for something more than world ranking points, FedEx Cup points, Race to Dubai points or millions of dollars in prize money. The world's greatest golfers are playing for history, tradition and glory on one of the truly great golf courses at one of the traditional golf clubs of the world. There is nothing quite like The Masters and Thursday is the day on which it all begins.

Masters tradition dictates that the tournament begins with the honorary starters and through the years many of the legends of the game have performed this ceremonial task, and the legendary figures do not get any bigger or legendary than Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus. The Big Three return in 2013 to officially begin The Masters Tournament today at 7.50am EDT evoking memories of the 1960's when the trio dominated The Masters and raised the profile of golf and the tournament to a level which now everyone takes for granted. The tournament proper will begin at 8am EDT and the first group will feature a golfer celebrating the 25^th anniversary of his Masters victory. Sandy Lyle was born in Shrewsbury, England but grew up in Scotland and represented Scotland at Amateur level, he was a prodigious talent in his youth and turned professional at the age of 19 in 1977, the same year in which Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus did battle for The Open Championship at Turnberry.

Lyle won 12 tournaments around the world before his major breakthrough at Royal St George's in the 1985 Open Championship, this victory gave the Scot the opportunity to go to America and compete full time and he won four PGA Tour events in 1986, 87 and 88 including the 1987 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. The winning score of 14-under-par over the Stadium course was the lowest achieved in the six editions of the tournament at TPC Sawgrass, he would also go on to win the Greater Greensboro Open, the week prior to The Masters of 1988. Following two high finishes at Augusta in '86 and '87 Lyle was ready to claim a second Major title and allied with the experience of knowing he could win in America on a regular basis the first Major of the year held no fears for the 29-year-old. Lyle began the 1988 Masters with a one-under-par 71 on a day when scoring was at a premium but bounced to a five-under-par 67 and 6-under for the first two rounds put him into the lead and he had as good a chance as any Brit since Peter Oosterhuis in 1973 to become the first from our islands to claim a green jacket.

What followed was perhaps the purest strike of a golf ball in a pressure situation ever seen, from the up-slope of the bunker and in an 'iffy' lie Lyle's 7-iron from the bunker sailed over the pin and rolled slowly but surely back down to the same level as the hole. The resulting 6-foot putt slipped into the side of the hole and Lyle performed the now infamous jig in celebration. The Scot joined Palmer and Player as a champion who birdied the final hole to win and made history as the first British winner of The Masters and first Brit to win a Major on American soil since Tony Jacklin. His win was the fourth European win at Augusta in 9 Masters and would launch an unprecedented era of British success at Augusta. One the men most hotly tipped to follow in the footsteps of Lyle is Lee Westwood and he begins his tournament an hour later alongside 2003 Champion Mike Weir and 2003 US Open Champion Jim Furyk as the marquee groupings of the morning make their way onto the hallowed turf.

Westwood's group is followed by Brandt Snedeker, Ryo Ishikawa and Justin Rose at 9.17am EDT. Brandt Snedeker was the low amateur at the 2004 Masters and is now the second highest ranked American on the world golf rankings following a consistent few years including wins at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach in the last 14 months. In 2008 a 27-year-old Snedeker was in contention for the title throughout the tournament and played in the final group on Sunday with the eventual champion Trevor Immelman; the Nashville, Tennessee man shot rounds of 69, 68 and 70 to put himself in position but a final round 77 saw him finish four strokes adrift of Immelman, but still in a respectable tie for third place. His start to the 2012 Open Championship was the best ever before fading to another third place finish with rounds of 73 and 74 over the weekend. His season has somewhat stalled with an injury but he still has the game to contend at Augusta and he may actually have benefited from the time off before The Masters.

Justin Rose has become a force at the very top of golf and having won a European Tour Order of Merit, a PGA Tour Play-off tournament, Jack Nicklaus's Memorial Tournament and a World Golf Championship the next step is clearly to claim one of golf's great titles. In 2004 and 2007 Rose made great starts to The Masters, posting rounds of 67 and 71 to hold the 18 and 36 hole lead before fading in 2004 and again in 2007 held the first round lead with a 69 and went into the final round in the final group just one off the lead before trouble at 17 ended his challenge. The Englishman is fancied as a contender by many good judges this week. They will be joined by new, young hope from the east who has yet to fulfil his potential on the biggest stage. Ryo Ishikawa is playing in his fifth Masters Tournament at the age of 21, so far he has missed two cuts and finished 20^th in 2011 at Augusta but it is time to deliver for a golfer who has shown immense promise on the Japan Golf Tour but no form at all in America or Europe so far.

2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel plays with the 2012 US Open Champion Webb Simpson and 2012 Masters contender Peter Hanson at 9.39am EDT. Schwartzel has shown perhaps the best recent form of this trio with two wins by 11 and 12 shot margins as well as a string of top five finishes either side of Christmas. They are followed by the group of 2007 Masters Champion Zach Johnson, KJ Choi and 2010 US Open Champion Graeme McDowell at 9.50am EDT. The defending champion Bubba Watson begins his defence alongside the US Amateur Champion Stephen Fox and European Ryder Cup hero Ian Poulter at 10.34am EDT. Watson is renowned for being quite an emotional character and a question in the news conference on Tuesday about his memories of the win in 2012 saw him break up midway through answering. The significance of a Masters win or defeat cannot be underestimated. For Poulter it is all about contending for a first Major title and recreating his Ryder Cup frame of mind in a Major and adding to the 12 titles he has won worldwide including 2 World Golf Championships.

The premier groups of the morning conclude with the favourite, four-time champion and World Number One Tiger Woods, former World Number One Luke Donald and the outsider Scott Piercy. For Tiger Woods Thursday has been a day on which he has traditionally got off to a slow start, failing to shoot any round under 70 when going on to claim any of his four green jackets. 2013 marks the 16^th anniversary of his astounding 12-shot victory which began with a 40 on the front nine and a 30 on the back nine on Thursday, Thursday is also the day on which he returned to golfing action at the 2010 Masters following his self-imposed exile from the game.

The afternoon comes to a close with three massive groups beginning with Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen and Martin Kaymer at 1.30pm EDT. Martin Kaymer changed his swing a couple of years ago in a bid to be more competitive at Augusta, but it didn't work and has since returned to his natural fading flight and seen success at both the Ryder Cup and Nedbank Golf Challenge in the autumn of 2012 and comes to Augusta somewhat under the radar but nevertheless a serious contender. Louis Oosthuizen returns to the sight of his dramatic play-off loss 12 months on after winning the Volvo Golf Champions in January and will be looking to continue to South African's streak of success in Georgia. If Tiger Woods is the favourite for many then just behind him is Phil Mickelson. The three-time Masters champion enjoyed a stunning victory at the Phoenix Open earlier this year breaking or tying numerous records as he blew the field away and will always be a contender around a course seemingly built for the left-hander.

All of the talk in the golf world all year has been about two men, the 3-time PGA Tour winner and new World Number One Tiger Woods and the man he deposed, 23-year-old PGA Champion Rory McIlroy. It would be easy for the golfing public to forget which member of the field at Augusta is the most recent major champion and that should this person win The Masters he will have won two consecutive majors and three legs of the Grand Slam at the age of 23. Talk of struggles with new equipment, loss of form or personal problems have surrounded this individual ever since he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, but for this individual golf is all about four tournaments – the Majors, beginning this week at Augusta National Golf Club with The Masters Tournament.

Whilst he may have lost his world number one ranking to a resurgent Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy is still the number one golfer in Europe and is by far the outstanding golfer in a crop of players which represent the best chance of a European winner since the 1980's. There can be little doubt that Rory has had a strange start to the year at best, missing the cut in Abu Dhabi following the lavish announcement as a Nike Athlete and then crashing out in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship before a controversial withdrawal at The Honda Classic. But at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral Rory showed signs of coming back to the standard he set in 2012 with a final round 65 to finish in the top ten, all-be-it several shots off Tiger's winning score, following an inconsistent first couple of days at the Shell Houston Open his caddie, JP Fitzgerald, convinced him to add another tournament prior to The Masters and the Valero Texas Open would welcome the world number two.

Four birdies and four bogeys on Thursday had McIlroy sitting four strokes off the lead but once again with one eye on the cut mark, in the second round however he birdied the final three holes to post a 67 and move into contention. Following a 1-under-par 71 the Ulsterman was positioned four strokes behind leader Billy Horschel, the two had locked horns in the 2007 Walker Cup as amateurs and with a place in The Masters at stake for Horschel the young American certainly had a target on his back. Four birdies and a bogey on the front nine put him into the thick of the battle but the surging Martin Laird knew it was win or bust if he wanted to drive down Magnolia Lane and in a flawless round of 63 setting a new course record the Scot edged the PGA Champion by 2 strokes to claim a third PGA Tour title. For Rory it wasn't the dramatic headline grabbing victory but it was another week of improved golf and he looks more than ready to go to Augusta for a serious crack at history.

No European Golfer has ever won three different Major Championships even the likes of Seve and Faldo specialized in The Masters and Open, and most recently Padraig Harrington has won three majors but only in two different tournaments, for Rory there is a real chance of joining the legends of golf this week in Europe and around the world, at the tender age of 23. Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh have all won 3 or more major titles but for Els it has been two US Opens and two Opens, Mickelson has claimed 3 Masters and a PGA and the Fijian Vijay Singh has won two PGA Championships and one green jacket. Rory can become the first European golfer in the era of the four majors to win the last and first majors of each season and only the second after Harrington to win back-to-back major titles; he can also become the first golfer other than Tiger Woods to win three of the four major championships since Tom Watson when he won the 1982 US Open at Pebble Beach.

Make no mistake Augusta and Rory fit like a glove. Both Nicklaus and Seve won The Masters at the age of 23 and there is no question that despite the shaky first four tournaments of 2013 Rory has found some confidence and must be one of the favourites for the title at Augusta, especially with much more focus on the World Number One Tiger Woods. Just because Rory is our leading candidate though should not overshadow the wealth of talent we have at our disposal this week in Georgia, with one man continuing his annual quest at breaking through in the Majors. McIlroy tees off with Keegan Bradley and Fredrik Jacobson at 1.41pm EDT and will feature prominently in the first day live television coverage of the 2013 Masters Tournament. 

This year's coverage is more extensive than ever with ESPN and CBS providing a total of nearly 50 hours live coverage via various routes including On the Range (Masters.com), Masters Extra (Masters.com), Amen Corner (Masters.com), 15^th and 16^th holes (Masters.com) and live tournament coverage in the afternoon on ESPN Thursday and Friday and CBS on Saturday and Sunday. Sky Sports carry all of this on Sky Sports 1 and 2 throughout the week in addition to Official Masters Movies and other features, along with dedicated news coverage on Sky Sports News, bringing more Masters coverage than ever before to an audience in the United Kingdom.

It has been 7 long months since Rory McIlroy brushed the best players in the world aside at Kiawah Island and the season so far has been dominated by Tiger Woods, the anticipation of a duel between the two has grown and grown and the expectation of the world's greatest golfers competing at Augusta is that we will be treated to another thrilling edition of Golf's First Major. The season so far has built towards Magnolia Lane, The Masters Tournament builds towards the second nine on Sunday and it all begins today at Augusta National Golf Club, I for one cannot wait.