The Masters: Rating England's best chances to win the Green Jacket
Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton lead the line for a first English win at The Masters since 2016...
Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood spearhead a line of nine English stars looking to slip on the famous Green Jacket and win a first Masters for the country since Danny Willett's memorable triumph in 2016.
Fleetwood and Hatton would appear the strongest candidates for the win on recent evidence - and maiden major titles at that - as they seek inspiration from not just Willett but English great Sir Nick Faldo who won The Masters three times in 1989, 1990 and 1996.
Let's take a look at the full list of English runners and riders to see how their form stacks up heading to Augusta National this week:
TYRRELL HATTON
World Ranking: 9
Age: 29
Masters Form: MC-44-56
Recent Form: MC-1-3-28-7
Outright Price: 28/1 Top Englishman: 3/1
The form English horse ready to burst out the gate and gallop home for his maiden major title.
Hatton has been in imperious form of late, capturing the European Tour's flagship tournament of the season at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He has also backed that performance up with a tied third at The CJ Cup and a tie for seventh at last week's Houston Open.
We can't be certain Hatton will be sporting a hoodie on the final day at Augusta just as he did during all four days in Surrey last month, but we would certainly love to see it... with a Green Jacket going straight over the top!
Hatton has the best chance of an English victory at this year's Masters.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 8/10
TOMMY FLEETWOOD
World Ranking: 16
Age: 29
Masters Form: MC-17-36
Recent Form: MC-2-13-59-57
Outright Price: 40/1 Top Englishman: 9/2
Will major glory ever happen for Tommy Fleetwood?
The Englishman has been knocking on the door for a major win the past three years, going closest with a runner-up at the US Open in 2018 and again at The Open in 2019. He's also thrown in a fourth at the 2017 US Open.
Fleetwood's Masters form is a little sketchy with a tie for 17th his best showing in three previous appearances, and he is not considered one of the longest hitters in the game which could prove detrimental to his chances around here this week.
His runner-up finish at the Scottish Open last month will have given him some much-needed confidence heading to Augusta, despite a pair of indifferent performances at The CJ Cup and ZOZO Championship in his last two starts where he narrowly made the top 60.
Fleetwood's time will surely come, but it would surprise us if it was this week in all honesty. We are very confident, however, that Fleetwood will end his golf career with at least a couple of major wins. He has plenty of time on his side and he is too good a ball striker for him to go winless in the majors.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 6/10
MATTHEW FITZPATRICK
World Ranking: 20
Age: 26
Masters Form: DNP-7-32-38-21
Recent Form: MC-42-7-12-26
Outright Price: 66/1 Top Englishman: 6/1
Matthew Fitzpatrick has been going under the radar for quite some time with five career wins on the European Tour, albeit his last two years ago when defending the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.
Fitzpatrick has taken his game across the pond to test it against the world's best on the PGA Tour, and he has not let himself down with a number of impressive performances, notably a solo third at The Memorial during the summer, followed by a tie for sixth two weeks later at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.
It would be a huge shock if Fitzpatrick won The Masters this week, however, despite his steady rise to 20th in the world rankings. While Fitzpatrick is incredibly accurate from the tee, and typically solid with his irons and putter, we just feel his lack of distance will give him too much to do this week.
Fitzpatrick has certainly got major pedigree, but we feel his best chances will arrive at a US Open or Open Championship.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 3/10
PAUL CASEY
World Ranking: 22
Age: 43
Masters Form: 6-4-6-15-MC
Recent Form: 16-17-MC-69-35
Outright Price: 66/1 Top Englishman: 13/2
Paul Casey very nearly ended years of major hurt at the US PGA Championship earlier this year, only to be agonisingly pipped to the winning post by maiden major winner Collin Morikawa.
The Englishman has notched 10 top-10 finishes in the majors through the years and he also has plenty of experience of Augusta National, and with good results too.
Four of Casey's top-10 major finishes have come in this tournament, so you have to feel his 66/1 price tag is pretty decent each-way value if everything clicks for him this week.
Casey might be 43 years old now, but he still sends it out there off the tee. It would be some ask to win this week, especially arriving here without a top-10 finish since his runner-up at the US PGA in August, but he certainly deserves to win one of these.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 5/10
JUSTIN ROSE
World Ranking: 28
Age: 40
Masters Form: 2-10-2-12-MC
Recent Form: 25-MC-37-52-17
Outright Price: 66/1 Top Englishman: 6/1
Now back as a free agent and once again comfortable with his golf clubs, Justin Rose arrives at Augusta National with some scores to settle.
Rose may have won the US Open in 2013 but you could argue he has played his best golf in the majors at The Masters, with five of his 17 career top-10 finishes in the majors coming in Georgia.
The one that stands out most - and no doubt stings the most - was his runner-up to Sergio Garcia when losing a playoff to the Spaniard in 2017.
Rose also finished tied second here in 2015, and between the years of 2011 and 2018, Rose did not finish outside the top 25.
The 10-time PGA Tour winner could look a huge price at 66/1 come Sunday evening. The recent form is not quite vintage Rose, so it would be some sort of surprise if he did slip on the Green Jacket, but he adores this place so you cannot write him off.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 5/10
LEE WESTWOOD
World Ranking: 47
Age: 47
Masters Form: 46-2-18-DNP-DNP
Recent Form: 19-18-14-30-MC
Outright Price: 100/1 Top Englishman: 10/1
Lee Westwood is one of the best golfers in the world to have never won a major championship. In fact, many would argue he is the best golfer to have never won a major.
So often the bridesmaid when it comes to the majors, Westwood has enjoyed his best performances at The Masters with a pair of runner-up finishes here in 2010 and 2016. Between those seven years at Augusta National, Westwood finished inside the top 10 on five occasions.
Westwood, a 25-time European Tour winner, will be hungry to put in another good show this week, especially having missed the past two Masters tournaments. His recent form has been steady without being spectacular on the European Tour, but he did finish tied 13th at the US Open in September to prove he can still mix it with the very best.
Nobody could begrudge Westwood a major title, but at 47 years old now, it would be a huge shock. He will need the best putting week of his career if he is to contend.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 5/10
IAN POULTER
World Ranking: 49
Age: 44
Masters Form: 6-49-DNP-44-12
Recent Form: 39-MC-6-5-12
Outright Price: 125/1 Top Englishman: 11/1
Ian Poulter has been playing some decent stuff of late, and arrives at Augusta National off the back of three solid consecutive performances on both the European Tour and PGA Tour.
The Englishman tied for sixth at the Scottish Open, then claimed a tie for fifth at the BMW PGA (marking his best ever finish at Wentworth), and he then flew back over to the United States to finish tied 12th against a host of big names at The CJ Cup.
Poulter has enjoyed a very steady record at The Masters through the years, with three top-10 finishes coming between 2010 and 2015, and he even finished tied 12th here last year when his game was nowhere near where it is right now.
We would love to see Poulter win a major championship for the first time in his career, but at odds of 125/1, the bookies certainly don't think it will be this week.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 5/10
MATT WALLACE
World Ranking: 52
Age: 30
Masters Form: MC
Recent Form: 43-30-24-2-48
Outright Price: 150/1 Top Englishman: 14/1
Matt Wallace might not be playing his best golf right now, but there have been signs in recent weeks that the game is coming back around.
Wallace raced onto the European Tour scene with four victories in the space of 16 months, but his last win came in September 2018.
The 30-year-old has only had one taste of Augusta and that resulted in a missed cut last April, but as we say, the game looks to be boiling up nicely for Wallace, who finished second at the Scottish Championship just two stars on the European Tour.
Wallace certainly has the makings of a major champion in the future, but we would be amazed if it happened this week. Then again, few expected Danny Willett to spoil the American party in 2016.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 5/10
DANNY WILLETT
World Ranking: 57
Age: 33
Masters Form: 38-1-MC-MC-MC
Recent Form: MC-MC-32-55-WD
Outright Price: 200/1 Top Englishman: 16/1
Nobody expected 150/1-shot Danny Willett to win The Masters in 2016, and it's fair to say nobody expects him to win again this year, at even bigger odds of 200/1.
The less said about Willett's recent form arriving here the better. It's pretty poor indeed.
Then again, Willett's recent career victories have sort of come out of nowhere. When he won the European Tour's season-ending DP World Tour Championship in 2018, he finished 50th the week before. When he won the BMW PGA last year, he missed the cut the week before.
We therefore probably shouldn't read too much into the fact Willett withdrew from the Houston Open last week.
GOLFMAGIC CHANCE RATING: 4/10
VERDICT
Of all nine English players competing in The Masters this week, GolfMagic believes Hatton represents the best chance of an English win at 28/1, especially given how he has been playing of late. The 3/1 on offer for top Englishman isn't the greatest price in the world, but we certainly think he will land that market.
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