Week 14 Approach Shots: The Masters

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Apr. 7, 2010

Angel Cabrera is attempting to become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2002 to successfully defend his title. In history, only Woods, Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) and Nick Faldo (1989-90) have won consecutive Masters titles.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: ESPN (Thu.-Fri., 4-7:30 p.m.) CBS (Sat. 3:30-7 p.m.; Sun. 2-7 p.m.)

RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sun. 2-7 p.m.)

Weather

The forecast calls for thunderstorms on Thursday, but otherwise the weather should be sunny for the rest of the week, with temperatures in the 70s. Winds should be between 5-15 mph.
Updated weather info

Key links

• Expert picks | Tee times

• Rankings | Fantasy Insider

• Inside the Field | Course

Last year's playoff with Cabrera, Chad Campbell and Kenny Perry marked the 14th playoff in Masters history and the eighth since the playoff format became sudden death. It is also the third sudden-death playoff that included three players (1979 and 1987 were the others).

Cabrera and Woods are the only active PGA TOUR members who have won both the U.S. Open and the Masters.

RETURN OF NO. 1: Woods will be making his 2010 debut this week. He tied for sixth in 2009 and has 10 top-10 finishes in 13 professional starts at the Masters. The four-time champion has not won the event since 2005.

WORLDLY WINNERS: International players (Trevor Immelman in 2008 and Cabrera in 2009) have claimed back-to-back Masters wins for the first time since Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal (1999) and Fiji's Vijay Singh (2000) won in back-to-back years. There is only one time when international players have won more than two consecutive Masters Tournaments. It occurred from 1988 to 1991, when England's Sandy Lyle won in 1988, followed by fellow countryman Faldo in 1989 and 1990, with Wales' Ian Woosnam winning in 1991.

ROOKIES: A year ago, 19 players made their first Masters appearances, with seven making the cut. The top finishers among the first-timers were John Merrick (tied for sixth), Ryuji Imada, Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy (all tied for 21st).

PHIL'S AUGUSTA RECORD: With his fifth-place finish in 2009 and tie for fifth in 2008, Phil Mickelson has 12 top-10s in 17 career professional starts at the Masters, including two wins and 10 top-10s in his last 12 trips. Mickelson has only missed one cut in 17 starts at Augusta.

With a final-round, front-nine, 6-under 30 last year, Mickelson tied three players for the low front nine in Masters history. The other 30s came from Johnny Miller (third round, 1975), Greg Norman (fourth round, 1988) and K.J. Choi (second round, 2004).

ITALIAN INVASION: For the first time, Italy will have three players in this week's field. Brothers Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari will be joined by amateur Matteo Manassero. The Molinaris are in the field by virtue of their Official World Golf Ranking, while Manassero is playing this week after winning the 2009 British Amateur.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament.
Group	Starters	Bench
Group A	Steve Stricker	Tiger Woods
Group B	Retief Goosen, Padraig Harrington	Jim Furyk, Lee Westwood
Group C	Matt Kuchar	Charl Schwartzel

Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for the Masters.
Columnist	Pick	Comment
Stan AWTREY		LEE WESTWOOD: A great player for many years, Westwood finally gets his first major championship at Augusta National.

Craig DOLCH		RETIEF GOOSEN: Yes, the South African missed the cut last year, but he has three top-five finishes at Augusta National in the last five years.
Melanie HAUSER		TIGER WOODS: After seeing him... after talking to the guys he played with... if anyone can win the first time back, it's him. He'll have to go through Lee Westwood, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els to do it, but...