US Masters / Paul Krishnamurty / 23 March 2010 /

Paul Krishnamurty looks at a quintet of US golfers who can have an impact at Augusta

Steve Stricker
Last five Masters form: 6/mc/mc/mc/10

Stricker's remarkable journey back from the wilderness continues to scale even greater heights. Four wins in the last ten months have propelled him to the world number two ranking, leading many to predict an imminent first major title. Given his excellence around the greens, it seems strange that he's never challenged at Augusta, but he does have a couple of top-10s here to his name.

Verdict: Bound to be there or thereabouts

Jim Furyk
Last five Masters attempts: 10/33/13/22/28

Furyk stormed into the Masters picture with victory at the Transitions Championship, driving his odds down from [75.0] to [36.0]. Augusta will present a very different test to Copperhead though, and while he has made the Masters top-six three times, he's only ever contended seriously once. The suspicion remains that Jim's lack of driving distance is too much of a handicap at Augusta.

Verdict: Will probably make the top-20 again without frightening the leaders

Dustin Johnson
Last five Masters attempts: 30/-/-/-/-

Given the importance of driving distance at Augusta, Johnson could be a contender one day at Augusta. Anyone who can win three titles, twice at no less of a venue than Pebble Beach, in his first three PGA Tour campaigns deserves respect, and 30th place last year was a fair debut performance. I doubt whether he has developed the short game skills required to win here just yet though.

Verdict: Probably needs another year

Sean O'Hair
Last five Masters attempts: 10/14/mc/-/-

Such are the complexities of Augusta, most players take a few attempts to fully learn the course. That must bode well for O'Hair, who has already twice made the top-15 on his first three visits. He's clearly a player on an upward curve, and has already shown a liking for playing tough golf courses, with his two most recent PGA Tour titles coming at Copperhead and plausible major venue Quail Hollow.

Verdict: Good value at around [100.0]

Kenny Perry
Last five Masters attempts: 2/29/mc/39/mc

Victory for Perry would be something of a fairytale, after the 49 year-old's very near miss last year. He earned many friends with his mature response to that career-defining disaster, but its hard not to conclude that Perry will go down in history as a man who twice bottled glorious opportunities to become a major champion. He's not in quite the same form as 12 months ago, and had never previously thrived in several visits to Augusta.

Verdict: Might be worth a bet to miss the cut

Selection

Sean O'Hair @ [100.0]

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