By Joel Beall
The West Coast Swing is now kaput, meaning the Masters is in our sights. And though the early season was full of narratives and “Did you see that?!” moments, the build-up to Augusta National brings its own share of storylines and intrigue. With the Masters less than two months away, here are six things to watch:

Who can capture that all-important Masters momentum?

We often think golf events exist in a vacuum, that—thanks to variation in course layout and weather, constant travel or just the arbitrary nature of the game—week-to-week parallels don’t exist in the sport. But make no mistake, momentum for the Masters does matter: the last four victors have won at least one tournament in the months leading up to the tournament. Good news if you’re Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm or Jason Day; a bit of an incentive for Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler to get things going. (Perhaps it’s no surprise McIlroy has ramped up his pre-Masters schedule, hoping the extended play will correspond to his long-awaited Augusta triumph.)

Though failing to find the winner’s circle is far from a death sentence, a player rarely enjoys a green jacket run without showing moments of formidability in the tournament’s lead-up. If one of the sport’s marquee names doesn’t deliver in March, feel free to pass them up in your office Masters pool.

Can Jordan Spieth get right with the putter?

In one vein, take Spieth’s 161st ranking in strokes gained/putting with a grain of salt, as the 24-year-old has played just five times. In that same breath, his short-game woes are not confined to this winter, as he battled the flat stick for much of the first half of 2017, ultimately finishing 42nd in SGP for the season (a far cry from his ranks of second and ninth in the previous two campaigns).

There were signs of life at Riviera, finishing 17th in the field in SGP, and as colleague Luke Kerr-Dineen pointed out, Spieth has seen his share of troubles with the putter before. Nevertheless, his recent performances don’t exude the profile of one who’s played in the final two groups in the last four Masters. Spieth will again be a Masters favourite, but he desperately needs to find some consistency, and conviction, on the dance floor.

Stan Badz/PGA Tour

Can Tiger Woods stay healthy?

In terms of performance, the early returns from Tiger Woods have been mixed. The popular item to criticize is Woods’ driving, and it certainly has been erratic (35.71 driving accuracy percentage, -.301 strokes gained/off-the-tee). The irons haven’t been particularly sharp, either, hitting just 53.7 percent of greens in regulation, and a shaky putter at Riviera on Friday was the culprit for missing the cut.

However, the sample remains small, and in the embryonic stages of his latest comeback, progress is not marked by results but flashes of promise and continued good health. The latter is of chief concern, especially with Woods’ Honda Classic endeavour marking back-to-back weeks of action.

True, lumbering displays at the Honda and (theoretically) Bay Hill would deflate the hype surrounding his Augusta return. But given Woods has played in the Masters just once since 2013, remaining upright for the first week of April is Tiger’s biggest objective and obstacle.

What’s the status of Hideki Matsuyama and Brooks Koepka?

Matsuyama was in the running for Player of the Year honours last summer and had played relatively well this season before injuring his wrist in Phoenix. The Japanese star is expected to return at the WGC-Mexico Championship; alas, injuries of this nature tend to be fickle and persisting, matters. His ball-striking prowess will always circle Matsuyama as a major contender, and he’s placed inside the top 11 in his last three Masters starts. Nevertheless, if only for his own sanity and cognition, it’s imperative Matsuyama gets a few reps in, and pain-free ones at that, before making the drive down Magnolia Lane.

It’s unlikely Koepka, who’s dealing with a torn tendon in his wrist, will receive the same benefit. The reigning U.S. Open champ struggled mightily before going on the sidelines, finishing last at the Hero World Challenge and Tournament of Champions. Koepka announced a two-to-three month break at the end of January, meaning he could tee it up at the WGC-Match Play or Houston Open, but odds are the Masters would be his first tournament in return. Augusta National is no place to feel your game out; conversely, Koepka’s as talented as they come, and he’s finished inside the top 15 in eight of his last nine major outings. If anyone could shake off rust without rehearsal, it’s him.

Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Can Phil Mickelson sustain his success?

There was a veritable tenor at Liberty National that the 2017 Presidents Cup could be Phil Mickelson’s last appearance for the U.S. team. So much for that.

Turning 48 in June, Mickelson’s play has been unwaveringly solid, posting five top 15s (including three top fives) in seven outings this season. Mickelson is enjoying such success in spite of wildness off the tee (48.81 driving accuracy percentage, 206th on tour) thanks to a lights-out iron game (fourth in sg: approach) and sound putting stroke (first in overall putting).

The West Coast Swing allows for such reckless abandon with the driver; the upcoming slate, not so much. (ANGC, obviously, is a different animal.) But Mickelson has historically played well during the Masters run-up, and with the impetus of the Ryder Cup, don’t be surprised if Mickelson continues his spirited fight against Father Time.

Is Jon Rahm’s Sunday scoring a concern?

Let’s preface this as a nitpick; after all, Rahm is No. 2 in the world with a win and runner-up in 2018. However, one of these numbers is not like the others:

In the fledgeling stages of the season, one round can wreak havoc on averages, but that’s not the case with Rahm, posting four over-par scores in six Sunday tries. Worse, three of those rounds—Torrey Pines, TPC Scottsdale and Pebble Beach—have come while Rahm was in contention. That he struggled in the fourth round during the 2017 majors (73.33 average) doesn’t alleviate these worries.

To be fair, even for one of Rahm’s aptitude, these toils are expected from a 23-year-old. Likewise, correlating these Sunday problems to Rahm’s temperament, or lack thereof, can be a slippery slope. And it’s worth noting that Rahm ranked 10th in final round scoring during last year’s breakout season.

At the moment, this oddity does not cast a cloud over Rahm’s bright horizon. But if it rears its head in March, proceed with caution once April arrives.

The post Six things to watch in golf’s build up to the Masters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

It makes as much sense to me as the fact that winning a major championship is worth 600 FedEx Cup points but winning the first playoff event, the Northern Trust Open, is worth 2,000 points. Of course it is.

What I’m more willing to accept is the tour’s West Coast swing finished on Sunday with Bubba Watson proving yet again that he is the ultimate horses-for-courses player, winning at Riviera Country Club for the third time in five years in what used to be the Northern Trust Open but is now the Genesis Open. Don’t try to figure that one out.

Watson now has 10 PGA Tour wins and seven of them have come on three courses: he’s won twice at Riviera; twice at the TPC River Highlands outside Hartford and twice at Augusta National—which, let’s face it, is a pretty good place to play some of your best golf.

Related: How Riviera helped Bubba Watson find his creative side again

Watson’s return to the land of the golf living makes him one of 43 players now favored to win the Masters. If you don’t believe me, just watch TV for a while. Every time a player makes back-to-back birdies, someone with a microphone says he’s ready to win the Masters. Unless the player is Tiger Woods. In that case, it only takes one birdie.  

So, what did we learn from the seven-event West Coast odyssey that began with Dustin Johnson destroying the Plantation Course on Maui and ended with Watson’s Hollywood finish?

A few thoughts:

• It isn’t that mere mortals can’t win on the PGA Tour anymore, but being able to hit the ball into outer space is becoming more and more of an advantage. The West Coast winners included Dustin Johnson, Watson, Jon Rahm, Jason Day and Gary Woodland—all bombers. Ted Potter Jr. and Patton Kizzire (who looks like he can hit the ball miles) were the only guys who came out on top who don’t hit the ball from one county to another on a regular basis.

Warren Little/Getty Images

• Slow play remains a huge issue, and the tour needs to stop trying to deny it. This has become an emperor’s new clothes type of deal: Commissioner Jay Monahan insists slow play isn’t an issue, so it’s not an issue. Even if you claim that J.B. Holmes appearing hypnotized for more than four minutes in the 18th fairway at Torrey Pines is an outlier, watching players prepare to play has become torture. Heck, even baseball has recognized the need to speed up play; does golf have to be even slower to get its act together? There’s only one way to do it: Penalize players strokes when they dilly-dally and give rules officials the authority to say, “You’re too slow, add one to your score.” NO APPEALS unless you can prove that an act of God was the reason why your threesome was playing at a six-hour pace.

• Tiger Woods, the official touring pro of the Golf Channel, has come a long way back after essentially not playing for more than two years. But he also still has a long way to go. Remember he made the cut on the number in San Diego and putted like a madman to finish T-23. Last week at Riviera, he putted well enough Thursday (25 putts) to give himself a chance to make the weekend, then fell apart Friday and missed the cut comfortably. The good news? He feels healthy enough to try to play in back-to-back events, teeing it up this week at the Honda Classic. But it’s a long way from here to the back nine on Sunday at Augusta.    

Michael Reaves/Getty Images

• Phil Mickelson can still play. He still hasn’t won since the 2013 Open Championship, but there’s clearly some magic in those lefty clubs even as he closes in on birthday number 48. (I can already hear the crowds at Shinnecock Hills singing Happy Birthday to him off-key on every tee during the third round of the U.S. Open). Mickelson had three straight top-six finishes out west where he always seems to play well: T-5 in Phoenix; T-2 at Pebble Beach and T-6 in L.A. He never seriously challenged to win, but played well enough each Sunday to give his fans legitimate hope that there’s one last moment of glory left in Lefty.

Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

• The two best stories out west had nothing to do with all the glamour boys who came out to play. Ted Potter Jr., who looks like he’d fit right in with most Saturday foursomes, held off the likes of Johnson, Jason Day and Mickelson to win at Pebble Beach, reminded us that you don’t have to look like you’re heading for a GQ shoot once you hole out on 18 to win on the tour. His win at Pebble wasn’t quite as unlikely as Vaughn Taylor coming out of golf purgatory there to hold off Mickelson two years ago, but it was pretty remarkable. And Woodland’s win at TPC Scottsdale had to tug at your heartstrings: He and his wife, Gabby, lost one of the twins she was carrying last March and their son, Jaxson, was born 10 weeks prematurely in June—but is doing fine now. When Woodland holed his final putt to beat Chez Reavie in a playoff he signaled to the sky to let his unborn daughter know he still loved her. That was the sweetest moment of the year to date.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

• And the best news for golf? No, it wasn’t the non-stop analysis of all things Woods or even Rory McIlroy coming back to play well twice in the desert (Dubai, Abu Dhabi) and reasonably well (T-20) in Los Angeles. It was the return of Day (above), who was the best player in the world not named Jordan Spieth in 2015, but also went through a rough 2017 that included dealing with his mother’s cancer, his wife Ellie suffering a miscarriage and more injury woes. Day won in San Diego, beating Alex Noren in a two-day, six-hole playoff, and then finished T-2 at Pebble Beach. Add him to the list of favorites at Augusta. That makes 44.

Now comes the Florida-Mexico-Texas-Dominican Republic swing. You have to love golf’s traditions.

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