The 2013 Masters At a Glance

It's Time for Golf's Greatest Tournament

MastersThe Masters at a Glance
Augusta National Golf Club • Augusta, Ga.
April 11-14 • Defending Champion: Bubba Watson

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Brandt Snedeker's Best Golf Tips: Driving

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10 Best Golfers Never To Win a Major Championship

Adam Scott came painfully close to winning last year's British Open before an epic Sunday meltdown.

Most golfers would rather be the worst player ever to win a major championship than to be given the title of “best player never to win a major.”

Sure, the BPNTWAM post was most famously held by Phil Mickelson, who was a 33-year-old with 22 PGA Tour wins, 46 major appearances and 17 top-10 finishes in majors before finally breaking through at the 2004 Masters. Lefty is now a four-time major champion, and his days as BPNTWAM are a distant memory from another era.

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Top 20 Golfers for 2013 Majors: No. 2 Tiger Woods

Athlon Counts Down the 20 Golfers to Watch for Majors Season

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2013 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 20 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

No. 2: Tiger Woods

Born: Dec. 30, 1975, Cypress, Calif. | Career PGA Tour Wins: 77  | 2012 Wins (Worldwide): 3 | 2012 Earnings (PGA Tour): $6,133,158 (2nd) World Ranking: 1

 

Brandel Chamblee's Take

Tiger is still a threat to win every week, as he's shown with his three wins so far in 2013. And as he showed last year at the Memorial, when he pitched in on the 70th hole from behind the green en route to winning, he is still capable of producing mind-blowing magic. He is learning how to play a more conservative, less explosive and less versatile game, but that game was still good enough for three wins in 2012, and only Rory McIlroy was better. Still, he was plagued by inconsistencies on the weekend in the majors and with his short irons all year. The race for him to fully incorporate all the swing changes he and Sean Foley continue to work on before time runs out provide a sense of urgency to every round. That, combined with his quest to overtake Rory in the world rankings and win another major, makes it seem as if no one plays under more pressure than Tiger.

Major Championship Résumé
Starts: 66
Wins: 14

2012 Performance:
Masters - T40
U.S. Open - T21
British Open - T3
PGA Championship - T11

Best Career Finishes: 
Masters - 1 (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005)
U.S. Open - 1 (2000, 2002, 2008)
British Open - 1 (2000, 2005, 2006)
PGA Championship - 1 (1999, 2000, 2006, 2007)
Top-10 Finishes: 36
Top-25 Finishes: 52
Missed Cuts: 4

—Brandel Chamblee is lead analyst for the Golf Channel. Be sure to follow him @ChambleeBrandel on Twitter.


Athlon's 2013 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 20 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, reigning FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

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Worst and Weirdest Food of The Masters Champions Dinner

Golfers select haggis, wild boar and other foods we can't pronounce

It's one of the great traditions of Masters week: the Tuesday night Champions Dinner, where the defending champ gets to pick the menu for everyone. Defending champion Bubba Watson apparently served Caesar salad, grilled chicken, mac & cheese, green beans, cornbread and cake — a bit more down-to-earth than what's listed here. Giving golfers this much latitude can apparently result in some stomach-churning choices. Here's the proof.


Menu: Haggis, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips
Sandy Lyle, 1989

You know what they say about haggis — it looks the same coming out as it does going in. For the uninitiated, this Scottish dish is basically stuff fished out of the trash at the butcher shop: sheep's heart, liver and lungs cooked in the stomach, with a few bits of actual food (onions, oatmeal, spices) thrown in to confuse you. 
 


Menu: Elk, wild boar, Arctic char, Canadian beer
Mike Weir, 2004

Apparently they were fresh out of grizzly bear, so this had to do. Well, at least there was a little liquid bread to wash down all the animal flesh. Hey Mike, how about a salad?

 


Menu: Cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries, milkshakes
Tiger Woods, 1998

At first glance, this sounds fine. But when you have access to great chefs and an unlimited budget, do you really want to reproduce the drive-thru of the Augusta McDonald's?

 


Menu: Seafood tom kah, chicken panang curry, baked sea scallops with garlic sauce, rack of lamb with yellow kari sauce, baked filet Chilean sea bass with three flavor chili sauce, lychee sorbet
Vijay Singh, 2001

Surely this overly pretentious selection was part of some elaborate practical joke perpetrated by Vijay. We’re pretty sure Tiger and Phil hit the Augusta McDonald's drive-thru afterwards.


 
Menu: An Argentine asado, a multicourse barbecue featuring chorizo, blood sausage, short ribs, beef filets and mollejas (sweetbreads)
Angel Cabrera, 2010

Sampling another culture's cuisine can be a mixed bag. This menu is evidence. Short ribs and beef filets sound good, but anything with blood in the title doesn't. And sweetbreads? That's just a tasty-sounding name for the thymus gland of some animal. No. Just, no.
 


Menu: Bobotie (a spiced minced meat pie with an egg topping), sosaties (type of chicken skewer), spinach salad, milk tart and South African wines
Trevor Immelman, 2009

Rule of thumb: If I can't pronounce it, I ain't eating it. The wine sounds good, though.  

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Top 20 Golfers for 2013 Majors: No. 3 Brandt Snedeker

Athlon Counts Down the 20 Golfers to Watch for Majors Season

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2013 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 20 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

No. 3: Brandt Snedeker

Born: Dec. 8, 1980, Nashville, Tenn. | Career PGA Tour Wins: | 2012 Wins (Worldwide): 2 | 2012 Earnings (PGA Tour): $4,989,739 (3rd) World Ranking: 5

 

Brandel Chamblee's Take

Snedeker was the best putter on the PGA tour in 2012 and as a result won twice, most notably at the Tour Championship, which resulted in him winning the FedExCup. The 2007 Rookie of the Year has improved his spot on the money list every year since 2008 — vaulting from 59th that season to 3rd in 2012. That trend showed no signs of slowing during the 2013 West Coast Swing, where Snedeker posted a win, two seconds and a third. Snedeker has added yardage and improved his ball-striking; in 2012, the Tour Championship was the only event he finished in the top 10 in both fairways and greens in regulation. If that ball-striking carries forward throughout 2013, he could challenge for Player of the Year and be the first FedExCup champion to defend his title successfully. More importantly, he could win his first major. Clearly, he will be one of the biggest newsmakers of the year in golf.

Major Championship Résumé
Starts: 21
Wins: 0

2012 Performance:
Masters - T19
U.S. Open - DNP
British Open - T3
PGA Championship - Cut

Best Career Finishes: 
Masters - T3 (2008)
U.S. Open - T8 (2010)
British Open - T3 (2012)
PGA Championship - T18 (2007)
Top-10 Finishes: 4
Top-25 Finishes: 10
Missed Cuts: 9

—Brandel Chamblee is lead analyst for the Golf Channel. Be sure to follow him @ChambleeBrandel on Twitter.


Athlon's 2013 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 20 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, reigning FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

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Masters 2013 Hole-By-Hole Preview: Augusta National

We break down all 18 holes of the Masters.

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PGA Tour Players Talk Anonymously About Tiger, Phil and More

PGA Tour Player Survey

Ever wonder what the members of the world’s golfing elite really think about some of the game’s hot-button issues? Sick of the clichéd answers they sometimes trot out in the effort to not make any waves? You’re in luck.

We took the occasion of the 2012 Tour Championship to pose an anonymous survey to 10 of the PGA Tour’s elite players, making sure to get a mixture from around the world, to find the unvarnished truth. Do guys prefer the company of Tiger or Phil? Is it truly time to ban the anchored putter? What, if anything, intimidates the best in the world?

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Top 20 Golfers for 2013 Majors: No. 4 Luke Donald

Athlon Counts Down the 20 Golfers to Watch for Majors Season

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2013 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 20 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

No. 4: Luke Donald

Born: Dec. 7, 1977, Hemel Hempstead, England | Career PGA Tour Wins: 5 (7 on European Tour)  | 2012 Wins (Worldwide): 2 | 2012 Earnings (PGA Tour): $3,512,024 (14th) World Ranking: 4

 

Brandel Chamblee's Take

Donald is a paradox. In 2010 he led the world money list. In the last two years, he has won six times, and in 2011 he took the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking and became the first person to lead both the European and PGA tour money lists in the same year. For most of 2012, he battled Rory McIlroy for the top spot in the world. And yet, no player ever to ascend to the number 1 spot on the globe has ever had less success in the majors. Through 2012 he has played in 38 of the game’s biggest events, and only twice has he gotten closer than five shots to the winning score, and never closer than two shots. Buoyed by a shockingly consistent wedge and putter, he is hampered somewhat by an inconsistent tee to green game and is at a disadvantage when it comes to the power-oriented setups of most Tour courses. At 35, though, he still has plenty of time and game for a big one to fall his way.

Major Championship Résumé
Starts: 38
Wins: 0

2012 Performance:
Masters - T32
U.S. Open - Cut
British Open - T5
PGA Championship - T32

Best Career Finishes: 
Masters - T3 (2005)
U.S. Open - T12 (2006)
British Open - T5 (2009, 2012)
PGA Championship - T3 (2006)
Top-10 Finishes: 7
Top-25 Finishes: 13
Missed Cuts: 12

—Brandel Chamblee is lead analyst for the Golf Channel. Be sure to follow him @ChambleeBrandel on Twitter.


Athlon's 2013 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 20 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, reigning FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

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Top 20 Golfers for 2013 Majors: No. 5 Louis Oosthuizen

Athlon Counts Down the 20 Golfers to Watch for Majors Season

They’re the cream of the major championship crop, circa 2013 — the Athlon Major Championship Dream Team. Leading up to The Masters, we'll be unveiling Athlon Sports’ 20 players to watch for majors season, with commentary on each from the Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee.

No. 5: Louis Oosthuizen

Born: Oct. 19, 1982, Mossel Bay, South Africa | Career PGA Tour Wins: 1 (6 on European Tour)  | 2012 Wins (Worldwide): 2 | 2012 Earnings (PGA Tour): $3,460,995 (15th) World Ranking: 6

 

Brandel Chamblee's Take

Oosthuizen could be the surprise of 2013; he has all the talent to win multiple times and become a multiple major champion, something he very nearly did in 2012 before losing a playoff to Bubba Watson at the Masters. Possessing what many call the best swing in golf, he (like Rory McIlroy) has effortless power and has shown an ability to win by wide margins, most notably in the Open Championship where he won in 2010 by seven shots, and also at an event in Africa where he won by 14. If he stays motivated, this will be Louis’ year.

Major Championship Résumé
Starts: 18
Wins: 1

2012 Performance:
Masters - 2
U.S. Open - Cut
British Open - T19
PGA Championship - T21

Best Career Finishes: 
Masters - 2 (2012)
U.S. Open - T9 (2011)
British Open - 1 (2010)
PGA Championship - T21 (2012)
Top-10 Finishes: 3
Top-25 Finishes: 5
Missed Cuts: 11

—Brandel Chamblee is lead analyst for the Golf Channel. Be sure to follow him @ChambleeBrandel on Twitter.


Athlon's 2013 Golf annual provides in-depth previews of this year's four majors, including the top 20 players to watch this season. One of these elite players, reigning FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker, also takes you tee to green with full-swing instruction and short game essentials. BUY IT NOW.

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