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2017 Masters: Ranking First-Time Competitors’ Chances to Win

By Mike Randleman

Mar 4, 2017; Mexico City, MEX; Thomas Pieters lines up a putt on the 16th green during the third round of the WGC - Mexico Championship golf tournament at Club de Golf Chapultepec. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Mexico City, MEX; Thomas Pieters lines up a putt on the 16th green during the third round of the WGC - Mexico Championship golf tournament at Club de Golf Chapultepec. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /
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2017 Masters
Jan 22, 2017; La Quinta, CA, USA; Hudson Swafford tees off on the 18th hole during the final round of the CareerBuilder Challenge at PGA West – Stadium Course. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

No. 8 Hudson Swafford

A win at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January punched Hudson Swafford’s ticket to the 2017 Masters. It also put an exclamation point on sustained improvement from the 29-year-old Georgia Bulldog.

After a Web.com Tour stint in 2013, the current world No. 81 made 11 cuts in 2014, 18 in 2015 and 22 in 2016. His top-25s increased in that span from five to six to seven. Swafford doesn’t always go low, but he has shown consistency to avoid the big number, a key factor at Augusta, as demonstrated by 19 straight made cuts from May 2016 to February 2017.

Swafford’s weakness is his short game (No. 183 in strokes gained around the green in 2016), but with plenty of Bulldog fans at his back and solid stats off the tee (No. 31 in strokes gained off the tee) he could find himself in the mix in his third career major championship.

Odds to win: +20000

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