This article is part of our Golf Barometer series.
The stage is set at Augusta National Golf Club for what projects to be yet another historic week at the esteemed venue, which will play host to an 87-entrant field highlighted by nearly all of the Official World Golf Ranking's top-50 along with a handful of past champions. We'll take a look at several players who are either rounding into form or slumping heading into the grandest phenomenon in golf, along with a fresh injury update for a notable name. The countdown is on as Jim Nantz awaits to calmly serenade viewers with his usual "hello friends" introduction at the Masters.
VALUE RISING
Justin Thomas
Thomas' maiden major victory at the 2017 PGA Championship sparked an extraordinary ongoing stretch that has included four wins in his last 15 starts and a quartet of consecutive top-10 finishes heading into the Masters. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson is in danger of losing the top spot to Thomas, who currently leads the Tour in both FedExCup points and official earnings. The 24-year-old will be one of the favorites to win at Augusta, as he ranks fifth in SG: Approach, sixth in SG: Tee-to-Green and eighth in driving distance.
Sergio Garcia
The defending Masters champion will have positive karma on his side at Augusta after recently naming his newborn daughter "Azalea" in honor of the life-changing performance he put on display last April. Garcia's recent form is also inspiring, placing T9-4-T7 in his last three starts at the Match Play, Valspar, and WGC-Mexico Championship. Through 12 measured rounds during his 2017-18 PGA Tour campaign, the Spaniard is ranked first in both SG: Approach and SG: T2G.
Jordan Spieth
A missed cut at the Valspar Championship in early March really advertised Spieth's blatant issues with the putter, but he found his groove on the greens throughout a portion of last week's Houston Open en route to a T3 finish. He remains in the upper echelon on Tour in terms of ball striking, so he should continue his imposing run of comfortability and prosperity at Augusta National. The world's fourth-ranked player finished T2-1-T2 in his first three career appearances at The Masters before placing T11 in 2017.
Ian Poulter
Poulter will be fired up and ready to let loose at Augusta after winning the Houston Open in bizarre fashion, dropping a bomb on the 18th to force a playoff and eventually defeat fellow Masters hopeful Beau Hossler for the final spot in this week's field. The Englishman is top-25 on Tour in SG: Approach, driving accuracy and GIR percentage.
VALUE FALLING
Martin Kaymer
A minor wrist injury has been obnoxious enough to ruin Kaymer's past three starts stateside, posting results of MC-WD-T53 from the Genesis Open through the Houston Open. He's also missed the cut in half of his 10 appearances at the Masters, while failing to post a single top-15 in the process. His outlook is far from promising for the near future as he continues to inch toward falling outside of the top-100 in the OWGR.
Wesley Bryan
Bryan took the entire month of March off from tournament golf after missing his third straight cut at the Honda Classic. He's fallen to 150th in the FedExCup standings after finishing 41st during his rookie campaign last year, while he remains without a single top-25 since July's John Deere Classic.
INJURY UPDATE
Tony Finau
Finau twisted his ankle while celebrating an ace during Wednesday's Par 3 Contest, but the 6-foot-4 28-year-old appeared to have avoided any type of serious injury that could keep him from teeing it up Thursday. From the looks of it, however, there's a decent chance that he'll be experiencing at least minor soreness Thursday morning.
