With two months until the Masters, here is my early list to win the 2022 Masters.
Collin Morikawa (TaylorMade TP5) is currently second on the Official World Golf Rankings. He won his first major in 2020 with the PGA Championship and followed that up with his second major with a victory in The Open Championship. He’s had a light schedule so far, but he always seems to come ready to play in the big events.
Some would say the obvious choice is Jon Rahm (Callaway Chrome Soft X), who is ranked number one on the OWGR. Since his win last year in the U.S. Open, he just seems so dialed in. Yes, he hasn’t won so far this season, but he’s been close. When he gets hot, watch out.
Next I’d be looking at world number three Viktor Hovland (Titleist Pro V1), whom I’ve been saying for weeks will win a major, perhaps as early as this year, maybe even the Masters. He won the Dubai Desert Classic last week in a playoff. In his last four tournaments, he’s won three. I like everything about his game.
Patrick Cantlay (Titleist Pro V1x), fourth on the official world golf rankings, heads into this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as the tournament favorite. It will be interesting to see how he plays. Purely based on talent, which he demonstrated consistently last year on route to winning the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, he should win.
Justin Thomas (Titleist Pro V1x) is seventh in the OWGR. He has only won one major so far, the PGA Championship in 2017. That was the same year he was the FedEx Cup champion, PGA Tour leading money winner, Player of the Year and PGA Tour Player Of The Year. I keep waiting for him to flash that form again, or at least start off strongly in a tournament and keep it going until the end. Last September he hired broadcaster Jim (Bones) Mackay to be his full-time caddie, parting ways with Jimmy Johnson, who had been with him since he turned pro in 2015.
Hideki Matsuyama (Srixon Z-Star XV) won the Masters last year and he’s been a force since then. Like a lot of people who had following his game, I had been wondering when he would take his game to the next level. Well, he did it last year and recently won the Sony Open with power and precision. It’s tough to win the Masters two years in a row, but he has confidence and that’s a huge factor.
Jordan Spieth (Titleist Pro V1x) was one of the feel-good stories of 2021, winning the Texas Open, ending a drought that went back to when he won the Masters in 2017. He missed the cut last week in the Farmers Insurance Open, but he was battling a bacteria infection. He’s playing in the AT& T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week and said he is still not 100% healthy. If will be interesting to see how he does.
