Masters: Top five groups to watch on Thursday at Augusta National

Group 1:

Group 15, 11:15 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith

The two biggest storylines headed into this week, other than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s swan songs are, will Rory complete the career major grand slam? Or will Rickie Fowler get the monkey off of his back and win his first Masters and first major championship? That is why this group (that also includes the young and talented golfer Cameron Smith) ranks at the top of this list heading into day one of the tournament.

One year removed from coming up just short against last year’s Masters champion Patrick Reed, Fowler will once again face the daunting task of being the world’s best golfer without a major win and will have to answer all of the questions and play with the pressure that comes along with that title. Fowler has the game to make all those troubles disappear and why he has had decent success at this tournament in the past. It was already mentioned that he was the runner up last year and in the past decade he has three other top 15 finishes including a top 5 finish in 2014, so he has had the success he just needs to finish the job this time around.

McIlroy has had his fair share of disappointments at the Masters as well. Everyone remembers his meltdown on the back nine on Sunday in 2011, when he entered the final day leading by four strokes and shot a brutal 80 to finish tied for 18th. He has yet to redeem himself from that disastrous blunder at the start of his career, but he has had top 10 finishes in the last three Masters Tournaments.

Like Rickie, Rory needs to capitalize on his early round success and finish the job on Sunday. In last years Masters he had a chance to do just that but shot a disappointing 74, so we will see if he can get past his late round sorrows and take home his first green jacket this weekend.