Players to Watch

Steve Elkington: His bandwagon might have a flat, so many people are jumping on it. He’s certainly playing well enough, isn’t he? His wire-to-wire $630,000 victory in the Players Championship was his second win this year, tying Mark O’Meara for the most so far. He has had two top-five finishes at the Masters but missed the cut last year.

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Nick Faldo: Anybody for a fourth? He already has won three times at Augusta, including last year. He won at Riviera. Forget his tie for 24th in the Players Championship, the Masters is more up Faldo’s alley.

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Tom Lehman: Sixth at the Players, the stocky Minnesotan has a proven track record at Augusta, where he tied for third in 1993 and was runner-up to Jose Maria Olazabal in 1994. Proved he could win a big one with his victory in the British Open last year.

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Jose Maria Olazabal: Last fall, he thought he might be through because of constant foot pain. It turned out to be from a herniated disk in his back, and two weeks ago he served notice he still can play--he won the European PGA Tour event in the Canary Islands, the Turespana Masters, for his first win in nearly three years.

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Greg Norman: Forget his collapse last year when his six-shot lead on the final day got blown through the Georgia pines. Anybody want to say he’s not capable of winning? He said his problem last year was mechanical, not mental, but either way, he’s always a highly entertaining figure at Augusta.

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Phil Mickelson: Sooner or later, he has to win a major, so it might as well be at Augusta. No left-hander has won the Masters, but Mickelson has been close--third last year and tied for seventh in 1995.

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Tiger Woods: No list of potential winners at Augusta--or anywhere else for that matter--would be complete without him. If he figures out how to keep the ball on the green with his irons, which was a problem last year when he didn’t make the cut, he has a chance because nobody is going to drive it any longer.

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Mark O’Meara: In 12 previous appearances at Augusta, he has one top-10 finish, but he is off to the best start of his career and is one of the game’s best putters--he ranked No. 2 in the PGA Tour’s putting statistics last year.

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Ernie Els: Few are stronger and few have more upside to them at this stage, except maybe for Woods and Mickelson, so he is due for a run at another major title to go along with his 1994 U.S. Open victory. He tied for 12th last year at Augusta and missed the cut the year before, but he tied for eighth in his Masters debut the year he won the Open at Oakmont.

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Davis Love III: He was disqualified at the Players when he signed an incorrect scorecard after giving himself a one-stroke penalty instead of a two-stroke penalty, but Love played well--he would have finished tied for seventh--even if he couldn’t count. He was second to Ben Crenshaw in 1995 at Augusta and tied for seventh last year.