By: Cameron Heath Walker (@camheathwalker, @1788sports)

Well it’s that time. Yes Masters Week, and this year is different from any other. The hype around this year is more than it has ever been in recent times. Yes it’s still the same great tournament at the same great course, but we get Tiger and a lot of the top players in the world playing really well headed into this week. Let’s take a look at the favorites to come home with the green jacket this year.

Bubba Watson is coming off of a dominant win at the WGC Match Play two weeks ago. The two time winner at Augusta (2012, 2014) has already won twice on tour this year. His 2017 season wasn’t the best and saw his world rank slip out of the top ten in the World Golf Rankings. Bubba has turned his game on of late and already knows how to play Augusta. He will be one to watch this week. Rory McIlroy is also playing better as of late. The big question of his game hasn’t been a question of late, and that’s the putter. Rory has been working with putting legend Brad Faxon lately, and it seems to be working with a win in the past month at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He has had four consecutive top ten finishes at Augusta and is hoping to break through and become the sixth man to complete the career grand slam. Justin Thomas has quietly become the most consistent player in the world right now, and could sneak into first place at the Masters . He is second in the world and first in the Fedex Cup Rankings. Thomas already has two wins this season and has been at the top of the leaderboard in almost every tournament. With Tiger coming back, and so many players playing well it has taken away the shine from Justin but expect to see him keeping the pace and at the top of the leaderboard for the week. Justin Rose finished second last year to Sergio Garcia; he also plays well every year at Augusta. He has never missed a cut in 12 appearances and has five top ten finishes. He is ranked fifth in the world currently. In 14 starts worldwide, Rose has eight top 5 finishes with three wins. Things are coming together for the Englishman. Tiger Woods is one name that will never go under the radar. This is the first year since 2010 maybe that Tiger is back and actually playing like the Tiger that has captured 14 majors. His game has been getting better each week he plays and seems to be coming to a head at the right time. His driving has got to be much better than it has been this season. To win at Augusta the driver has got to be working. Tiger seems to be in a great place right now emotionally, spiritually, and most of all physically. He hasn’t won a major in ten years, and winning a fifth green jacket would be a great break through. The last time Tiger won at Augusta was 2005, when most of the field was still in grade school. Tiger is different to say the least. He is a player we have never seen and will never see again.

This is my top five which was one of the hardest to pick from in recent time. So many great players are coming into this week playing really good golf. Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, and so many more guys have just as good of a chance to come out on top of the 82nd Masters. The excitement for this tournament has never been bigger and it’s shaping up for an exciting week.

Pictures courtesy of Masters.org