No clear Masters golf favourite

Press, 12 April 1984, Page 40

No clear Masters golf favourite

NZPA-AFP Augusta. Georgia For the first time in many years, golfs most exclusive grand slam event, the United States Masters, will start in Augusta tomorrow without a recognised favourite.

Among the 87 players who will tee off at the start of the fiftieth Masters at the National course in Augusta, several could lay claim to the position of favourite, but with all 13 of the tournaments played on the United States circuit so far this year having been won by different players, no-one has a clear advantage in the chase for the winner's coveted “green jacket.” Last year’s winner, Severiano Ballesteros, of Spain, who in 1980 became only the second non-American after Gary Player to have won the tournament, realistically has only a slim chance of retaining the title, having had an unimpressive season so far.

Among the names which spring to mind as leading contenders are the evergreen five-times winner. Jack Nicklaus, who at 44 admits to having problems with his swing and his putting, but, despite the fact he has not won a tournament for nearly two years, he still claims that the season never really comes alive for him until the Masters. Of the rest of the field, 66 professionals and 11 amateurs come from the United States plus ten other overseas professionals and one amateur. Among the top contenders are the likes of Nicklaus’s fellow-Ameri-cans, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw, Ray Floyd, Tom Kite, Johnny Miller and the 1982 winner, Craig Stadler.

But of the men in form, the year’s leading money winner so far, Fred Couples, is a name to watch out for, as are other tournament winners this season: Hal Sutton, Bruce Lietzke, Gary Koch, Jack Renner, Gil Morgan and Andy Bean, the winner of last week’s greater Greensboro Open, his first victory for two years.