Lee Westwood believes two LIV Golf stars have the ability to cause an upset at Augusta this year. The 51-year-old Brit, who currently plays in the Saudi-backed competition, reckons Sergio Garcia and Charl Schwartzel are among the contenders ready to cause a Masters upset.
The historic tournament is set to get underway on Thursday with 12 players from LIV ready to challenge in Georgia and 2023 winner John Rahm among the favourites for the win, behind Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. The Spaniard only managed 45th last year however and will need to show some improvement to earn another green jacket.
LIV’s representatives have an array of former winners among their ranks however and Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson will also be hoping to repeat their success over the next four days. A repeat winner could be in the offing according to Westwood.
The former world no.1 believes that Augusta can be particularly suited to certain players and that Schwartzel’s victory in 2011 will stand him in good stead to cause an upset. Westwood has also claimed that Garcia’s recent form could see him cause the field some trouble too as he attempts to claim a second Masters title after coming through a play-off in 2017.
“I don’t think you can discount Sergio [Garcia], the way he’s been playing at the moment,” Westwood told talkSPORT, “He’s in an incredible vein of form.
“And Charl Schwartzel finished second in the LIV event last week, he’s a former Masters champion. I think it’s very much horses for courses around Augusta and that’s why you get so many repeat winners.
“You’ve really got to know the golf course well, so any previous Masters champion that is playing well and carrying a bit of form, I think he’s got a chance.”
The two-time runner-up at Augusta believes that form does not always count in golf’s first major of the year however. Avoiding the course’s pitfalls will prove crucial to anyone hoping to earn success in the coming days.
Westwood added: “I’ve always felt like Augusta is the kind of place, where you don’t need to have your A game, but you need to know where your misses are going to be because it’s very much a golf course where you’ve got to miss it in the right place.
“You’re going to hit a few good golf shots close to the hole, but it’s really keeping away from the big numbers, and playing it into areas strategically, where you know you can get it up and down from.”
Despite the pressure from contenders in the breakaway tournament, McIlroy still has hopes of completing his career grand slam at Augusta. Though he will need to win a first major since 2014 to do so.
“Only five other people have done it in golf,” said McIlroy. “I think when you go back – when I was eight years old – there is a video somewhere. I was asked: ‘What do you want to do when you are older?
“I said: I want to be the best golfer in the world, and win all the Majors. Now I have done all that except win here. I will try to fulfil the boyhood dream and make that eight or nine year old proud of what I have achieved and what I have got out of the game of golf.”
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