The 2020 Virtual Masters: The Potential Longshots Who could Surprise
By Bill Felber
In today’s virtual Masters preview, we take a look at the credentials belonging to some of the longshots in this week’s event.
Of the 52 Masters champions in this week’s 2020 Virtual Masters, about two dozen have the best chances to win. The remainder of the field, while having conquered Augusta National at least once, probably doesn’t have the career resume to enable them to compete against the tournament’s best ever over a four-round grind.
Still, those longshots can’t be ruled out entirely. Strange things occur in golf tournaments – both real and virtual – and each of these men has the Green Jacket required to gain admittance to the field. So it’s worth at least briefly considering their championship prospects.
What follows is a one-paragraph introduction for each of these longshots including their Masters Championship season(s), their 10-season peak in parenthesis, and the average of the standard deviation of their Masters performance during that peak.
For all 52 players in the field, the average peak performance standard deviation at Augusta National is -0.49 strokes.
Craig Wood, 1941 (1934-1943), -0.71.
Wood was one of the best pros of the 1930s, but he became most famous for his near-misses. He lost the 1935 Masters in a playoff to Gene Sarazen, and that was the first of five solo runner-up finishes in majors prior to his 1941 Masters and U.S. Open victories. Virtual Masters projection: T-23
Ralph Guldahl, 1939 (1937-1946), -0.64.
Guldahl is one of a minority of players in this field whose peak is not based on 10 Masters performances. World War II, which occurred during Guldahl’s peak period, forced cancellation of the 1943 through 1945 events. In addition to his 1939 victory –by one stroke over Sam Snead — Guldahl finished second in 1937 and tied for second in 1938. Virtual Masters projection: T-23
Gene Sarazen, 1935 (1935-1944), -0.63.
Sarazen was one of the game’s immortals, so it may seem strange to see him ranked among the longshots. Unfortunately, the Masters was not created until 1934 and Sarazen did not play in it until 1935, when he was already nearing the end of his prime seasons. Still, Sarazen had a decent run at the Masters, following his 1935 victory with a third-place finish in 1936 and a fifth in 1939. Virtual Masters projection: 25th.