Who are the outsider picks to challenge at the Masters?

There is something special about the week of Augusta National which is hard to explain to someone who is not a golf fan.

As annual tradition dictates, a legend of the sport tees off the first shot of the tournament every year. It is a truly unique tradition which dates back to 1941. It is moments like this that make Augusta so special. After all the talk about potential candidates to claim the famous Green Jacket - there is a moment of silence and tranquillity as a great of the game prepares for a brief return to the limelight. 

It is a tournament ingrained in tradition as you feel the weight of history on Sunday evening when the winner, now part of an elite group, gives a speech in their iconic Green Jacket. All the past winners sat behind them, beaming with joy, understanding the enormity of the achievement. They surely also remember their moment of glory - a moment that this special tournament will never let people forget. 

And it isn't solely tradition that makes the Masters so great. It is a stunning golf course, the luscious greens are full of colour from the beautiful magnolias. It is also one of the hardest golf courses to master and many of the world's best have failed to conquer it.

One slightly wayward shot and you are punished. Suddenly you find yourself scrambling to make a bogey and all sense and calmness goes out of the window. It is a course that breaks many and makes only the very best. 

Every year the big names are talked up and the same storylines hog the headlines. 'Will Rory McIlroy finally break his Masters curse?' and 'How will Woods fare having not played all year?'

And there is often a heavy favourite. This year that man is Scheffler and for good reason. His form coming into Augusta is dominant. But predicting this week's winner is almost like predicting the lottery winner. It is a tournament which has kick-started some careers and been a false dawn for others but it is rare for the man at the top to win it.

So instead of focusing on who should and could win it, I would prefer to zone in on some players who could make a name for themselves and with it unsettle the big boys. 

Pick One - Tony Finau

Finau has long been seen as a player capable of winning a major championship. His game possesses everything needed for doing so and he has shown incredible perseverance in the face of adversity throughout his career and life in general. Importantly, Finau has also come close before, having previously finished in the top five of all four major championships. 

The American also has incredible precision and power in his ball striking which makes him one of the best in the world with a driver and gives him a slight edge when he arrives on the greens. And if his long game is his strength then his short game is by no means his weakness. He has shown countless times his ability with a putter. 

His challenge (like many players on the tour) is to go from a good and highly respected player to one of the greats of the modern game and that will come by being clutch in the big moments. I am talking about the back nine on Sunday when he is in contention to win - that is when he needs composure and a calm mind.

It is the hardest challenge in sport to deliver when it matters and in individual sports like golf, there is a constant mental battle with yourself. If Finau can win that battle, there will be little stopping him.

Pick Two - Hideki Matsuyama

The 2021 winner of the famous Green Jacket may not sound like a wildcard pick but his form since winning the Masters has been inconsistent and he hasn't regularly been competitive at Majors. He is also rarely mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Mcllroy, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark and the imperious Scottie Scheffler. Still, his recent form coming into this year's tournament gives reason for encouragement.

And most importantly he is one of a special group who know how to take on this treacherous golf course and come out victorious. It would be unwise to write off the 2021 winner who is high on confidence after winning the Genesis Invitational in February and finishing sixth in last week's Texas Open.

Pick Three - Sahith Theegala

Theegala's rise from someone who spoke on Netflix's 'Full Swing' in awe of the Mcllroys and Spieths of the tour and dreaming of one day being on their level, to today where he is one of the world's best golfers, is inspiring. His ninth-place finish on his Masters debut last year is proof that he can handle a course very few can and his form coming into this week is further reason for why Theegala is quietly fancied this week. 

The American has already finished inside the top 10 four times in 2024 after eight top 10 finishes in 2023. One such tournament was a second-place finish at The Sentry in January where he finished above Spieth and Scheffler and was just one shot off the winner Chris Kirk.

Theegala's short and long games have improved over the last 12 months since his memorable Masters debut and his all-round game is extremely strong. Don't be surprised come Sunday to see Theegala's name somewhere near the top of the leaderboard. 

Pick Four - Joaquin Niemann

Niemann is another star of Netflix's 'Full Swing' and he has also risen up the rankings and become an emerging talent in recent times. It has been his move to LIV in 2022 where his stocks have really grown.

Niemann was one of a long list of big-name players who made the switch to Saudi Arabia's controversial new tour. But whatever you think of LIV's new format which has divided the sport like never before, you can't argue Niemann has been the star of the breakaway league. 

In his five LIV appearances in 2024, Niemann has won three and finished inside the top five of the other two. His form is as dominant and impressive as Scottie Scheffler on the PGA Tour but with far less media attention being given to LIV, it isn't been talked about anywhere near as much. 

But for all his dominance this year, Niemann has still yet to challenge at a major, with his best finish coming at last year's Masters where he finished T16. Breaking the major duck is the biggest challenge for any elite golfer - just ask Sergio Garcia. However, if Niemann can translate his LIV performances to the Masters, then there is every reason to believe he will be in the mix come Sunday. 

Pick Five - Russell Henley

Henley is finding form at just the right time and will go into this Thursday's tournament with even more confidence after his fourth-place finish in Texas last week. Henley looked in sharp form, hitting just one bogey on a final day 69. His performance in Texas however wasn't an anomaly, he has been one of the stronger performers on the PGA Tour this year. 

His fourth-place finish last week was his third in 2024, his most impressive performance coming at the Arnold Palmer Invitational where he was on course to compete with Scheffler before falling off the pace over the weekend. He may be the least fancied out of the five players I have mentioned but consistency is so important in golf and he has produced just that since his fourth-place finish at Augusta 12 months ago.

Henley may have not mastered the art of getting over the finish line but to be in with a chance you need to first put yourself in the mix and Henley is more than capable of that. And once you are in the mix on Sunday, then anything can happen. After all, mental demons can do funny things to even the very best.