For the second time in five months, it’s Masters Week. This time, it’s a little more conventional as the historic tournament has returned to the spring. 

Not a whole lot has changed since the last tournament, but a handful of players have started to made a  jump. The most notable of these being the 2015 Masters champion, Jordan Spieth.

After coming off a historic two-year stretch in 2016-2017, Spieth’s game took a turn for the worst. His scores started to rise and with that comes missed cuts. However, after being in contention at multiple tournaments over the past month, Spieth earned his first victory since the 2017 Open Championship.

With Spieth’s recent success, many people have him as their pick to win this year’s tournament. The 28-year-old has had a lot of success at Augusta National with two runner-up finishes and a third place finish to go along with his win. Last month, Speith was showing signs of returning to his 2016 form that was dominating the PGA Tour just a few years ago. If Speith can continue to play like that, there is no reason why he can’t win this week.

Another person that sticks out this week is defending champion, Dustin Johnson. Since his victory in November 2020, Johnson has seen some success winning the Saudi International on the European Tour as well as making all four cuts on the PGA Tour. His best finish of the four cuts made is an eight-place finish at the Genesis Invitational.

Over the past couple of years, Johnson’s play on and around the green has improved greatly and it is what has led to his success. His putting mixed with his ability to overpower the rest of the field off the tee should make the world number one a clear favorite to win this week.

One person that we will not be seeing this week is the five-time Master’s champ, Tiger Woods. After undergoing a serious car accident in Los Angeles last month leaving Woods with a year’s worth of rehab, Woods will be sitting this tournament and many other ones out for the foreseeable future.

The weather this week is not looking good as Friday and Saturday are projected thunderstorms. Augusta is also gonna see a heavier breeze at about 10-15 mph over the course of the week which could lead to some higher scores than usual.

Like always, the Master’s tournament should be one to remember. With all of the craziness going on in the world right now, it should be a good opportunity for everyone to relax a little and enjoy a tradition unlike any other.