PHOTO: GEOFF CUNNINGHAM PHOTO: MICHAEL WEINSTEIN
XANDER SCHAUFFELE
Augusta without putting lights out. The second reason is in two Masters appearances he has one missed cut and a tie for 27th so his record is not encouraging. Fresno native Kevin Chappell, who attended UCLA, doesn’t get the nod even though he has two top-tens both coincidentally in state at the AT&T Pebble Beach and the CareerBuilder Challenge in 2017-2018. Also positive is his record of making cuts, having only missed one so far and he is very good off the tee, important but not vital at Augusta. But (there’s always a but) putting is also Chappell’s weakness at 106th in overall putting average. Not a good bet at the Masters.
Bryson DeChambeau, born in Modesto, has the looks of a winner and indeed has a Tour win, the 2017 John Deere Classic. But it’s the same story as with Steele and Chappell, he does not putt well enough to be a contender over Augusta National. None of his putting stats rank DeChambeau in the top 115 of Tour players …what else can be said? San Diego’s Charley Hoffman had been playing some of the best golf of his career and was picked for the Presidents Cup team last fall, but this season he is at best in the middle of the pack without a win and his highest finish was a tie for 18th at the Shriners. No realistic way can Hoffman be picked to take the Masters.
So, moving on to those Californians who can win the first major of the year and the first category is: PLAYERS UNDER 30: Patrick Cantlay from Long Beach (though he lives now in Florida) after a slow start to his career on Tour got his first win at the Shriners in November. His only Masters appearance was in 2012 where he finished 17 strokes back in a tie for 47th behind Bubba Watson. Cantlay is not D.J. or Bubba long but long enough and hits a lot of greens. Like others though his lack of experience and poor 3-putt avoidance rank plus a low ranking in total putting just about rule him out.
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