Golf’s Top Players Seek Masters Touch

Pay no attention to those two cuts Greg Norman missed in Florida. Erase from memory Nick Faldo’s flop at The Players Championship.

Heed well the fine form shown at the TPC Stadium Course by Colin Montgomerie, Ernie Els, Fred Couples and John Daly. Somewhere in there could be the winner of the 60th Masters.

Augusta National Golf Club demands a certain kind of winner, and that will be no different when the tournament starts Thursday.

Experience on the course helps. A strong short game is a must. Then there is that Sunday pressure when the gentle hills back at Amen Corner resound with the roars from the huge galleries that greet each birdie by contenders.

Norman, Faldo, Els, Couples and Daly click on all counts. They know the course. They’ve won major championships and they have solid short games, although Couples can lose the putting touch at times.

Daly has the added bonus of being able to hit short irons into all of the par-5s.

Montgomerie deserves consideration because he has almost won two majors - losing both the 1994 U.S. Open and the PGA last year in playoffs - and because he is playing brilliantly.

The Scotsman took three months off to shed 30 pounds, and in his first eight competitive rounds of the year broke par every time, winning Dubai and finishing second at The Players Championship.

Among the contenders, his game is least suited to Augusta, but he’s good enough to overcome that.

“I’m not saying I can’t win at Augusta,” Montgomerie said. “If I felt that way I wouldn’t enter. But I do better on a U.S. Open or PGA-type course where the premium is more on accuracy.

“I just have to step on some putts to win. It’s just a matter of getting some early putts in and keep going.”

Couples re-entered the picture when he won The Players Championship, ending a 20-month drought on the PGA Tour.

“I really think I am back and I think I am slowly proving myself,” Couples said. “I feel good. I can beat everybody.”

Faldo and Norman are clearly at the stage in their careers when what matters most to them is major championships. Two more and Faldo has as many as Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen. Norman needs a couple more - especially one in the United States - to remove the ambiguity of his accomplishments.

“Anytime Nick tees it up he has a chance of winning,” defending champion Ben Crenshaw said about Faldo. “He is a danger anywhere and having won two green jackets, he has all the experience in the world.”

Crenshaw, who won last year by never three-putting in 72 holes, knows the course as well as anyone.

“It does place a premium on the greens, unlike a lot of other venues for the major championships,” Crenshaw said. “The greens and the areas around the greens are Augusta’s major defense.”

Faldo seems to be enjoying golf more than ever and is working as hard as ever.

“I’ve had a nice week working with Lead,” he said about a session with teacher David Leadbetter before The Players Championship. “A few little tweaks here and there. I’m waiting for it all to blossom.”

Norman already has a win this year, showing a magnificent short game in winning at Doral.

“Those would be the two guys that you’d have to favor,” said Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite. “They have great putting touches.”