Anybody's game as Masters opens

The preliminaries are over, and the stage is set for what is expected to be a four-round battle of the ages.

The 78th Masters Tour­na­ment begins Thursday with a young guard led by 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, 23-year-old Patrick Reed and 24-year-old Harris English squaring off against the thirtysomethings who normally win the first major championship of the season.

Some of the contenders in their 30s who are ranked in the world’s top 10 are defending champion Adam Scott (second), Henrik Sten­son (third), Sergio Garcia (sixth), Matt Kuchar (seventh), Justin Rose (eighth) and Zach Johnson (10th).

A few in their 40s, such as former champions Phil Mickelson (fifth in the ranking) and Angel Cabrera, along with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els, should also have a say.

Spieth, Reed and English are making their Masters debuts and have combined for six wins in the past 10 months.

They seem unfazed by the fact that only three of the past 10 winners have been in their 20s.

The 13th-ranked Spieth, who became the youngest PGA Tour winner in 82 years when he won last season at 19, leads the youth movement. The Texan is thought to have the game to become the youngest Masters champion, beating Woods’ mark of 21 years, 3 months set in 1997.

Reed, a former Augusta State golfer, has three wins in his past 15 starts, and English, a former University of Georgia golfer, has two in the past 10 months.

If one of the record 24 first-timers wins, it would be only the third time that has happened since the inaugural Masters, and first in 35 years.

“As good as our young talent is now, and as competitive and as many tournaments they win, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes here and wins for the first time,” said Jim Furyk, who will be playing in his 18th Masters.

“You catch a guy like Jor­dan Spieth where he’s got a solid game, he’s really young, he’s real competitive,” Furyk said. “I see this golf course suiting his style of game. Not that he can’t play anywhere, but he’s got plenty of power, turning the ball over, the short game, the competitive fire. I could see him getting very comfortable quickly.”

Not all the first-timers are young. Jimmy Walker is 35 and has been the top player on the PGA Tour this season with three wins after going winless in his first 187 tour starts.

“I don’t think it’s out of the question,” Walker said of a first-timer winning. He leads the tour money list and the FedEx Cup standings, and also fits the profile of a Masters champion (in his 30s and a long hitter).

Other established stars in their 20s who could make a run at the green jacket are 24-year-old Rory McIlroy (a two-time major champion who is ranked ninth in the world), 26-year-old Jason Day, 24-year-old Russell Henley, 23-year-old Victor Dubuis­son and 25-year-old Rickie Fowler.

McIlroy, Spieth and Reed are grouped together Thursday, going off at 10:52 a.m.

“It feels funny that they are going to be playing their first Masters and I’m playing my sixth,” McIlroy said. “I feel like the veteran in the group.”

Fifty-three of the top 54 players in the World Ranking are in the 97-player field. The missing player, of course, is the one who normally takes top billing on the marquee: four-time champion Tiger Woods, who withdrew April 1, a day after having a microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve in his back.

It could be a painful week for the recuperating Woods in more ways than one. In addition to missing a major, he could lose his No. 1 ranking.

Scott, Stenson or Day could pass Woods. Scott needs to finish at least tied for third with no more than one player, Stenson needs to tie for second with no more than one player and Day needs to win.

Woods last won here in 2005 and is off to the worst start of his career, but that probably wouldn’t have mattered – he has finished out of the top six at Augusta only once in the past nine years.

“The tournament, I’m sure, is going to miss him,” Steve Stricker said. “Players, to some extent, will miss him but they are like, ‘Hey, he’s not here,’ so it’s one less guy you have to beat, too.”

But his absence will definitely be felt, 1998 champ Mark O’Meara said.

“I love when the guy plays,” O’Meara said. “It creates more of a buzz when Tiger’s here. But saying that, he’s not here, and it’s still going to have a great buzz. This event is still one of the premier events in all of golf. It is our first major and it is at Augusta Na­tional. We had a dramatic finish last year, and I’m sure we’ll have a dramatic finish this year.”

Thrilling finishes are commonplace at Augusta National. There have been sudden-death playoffs the past two years. Before that, Charl Schwartzel capped off a wild final round with birdies on the last four holes to win by two in 2011.

There is a talented group of seven Aussies, headed by Scott, who is seeking to become the first repeat winner since Woods in 2001-02. If not Scott, it could be Day, who has already won this year and finished tied for second and solo third in the two Masters he’s completed (he withdrew with an ankle injury after a first-round 76 in 2012).

Other Australians are in top form: Three of the past four PGA Tour winners (John Senden, Ste­ven Bowditch and Matt Jones) come from Down Under.

“The last few weeks on tour have been incredible watching all the guys win and pick up spots here,” said Scott, who nearly won at Bay Hill in late March. “So the Australian contingent is strong.”

With temperatures expected in the mid-70s Thurs­day, the field will face a course that has dried out after Monday’s heavy rain. Even on Tuesday, Mickelson said the greens were getting back to “Masters speed,” which is code for “lightning fast.”

“It’s starting to get a little bit firmer,” Garcia said after playing Wednes­day. “At first, everything was soft and it still has a little moisture, but I’m sure with the good weather and a little bit of work on the course, they’ll firm it up for tomorrow.”

Mickelson, who can tie Woods and Arnold Palmer with his fourth green jacket this week, said he is more uncertain about his chances than usual entering his 22nd Masters.

Last year, Mickelson came to Augusta after winning earlier in the season at Phoenix, where he shot the third-lowest 72-hole score in tour history, highlighted by a first-round 60. This season, he’s withdrawn twice with injuries and his best finish came last week in Houston, where he tied for 12th.

“I haven’t experienced the pressure to feel comfortable in that environment, and so I’m certainly nervous because this is the week I care about the most,” Mickelson said.

“This is the most special tournament, and I have to rely on kind of past performances and past successes and past memories to build that confidence,” he said.

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224