Handicapping Augusta: The Heavy Hitters

For golf fans, this week is March Madness, a really good shoe sale, the NFL playoffs, your birthday, Christmas morning and the day "Star Wars" comes out on DVD, all wrapped into one. It's Masters week, and with it comes tradition, beauty and the first major championship of the year. As a preview of this year's Masters, FanHouse will be giving you three groups of golfers to watch at Augusta; the Heavy Hitters, the Regular Joes (Tuesday) and the Sleepers (Wednesday). Here are the Heavy Hitters.

Tiger Woods -- Best Masters Finish: Won (4 times) -- Maybe the craziest part of Woods' domination in the major championship is the fact that when asked, "Who would you take, Tiger or the field," you'd actually have a second or two to think about it before you took the other hundred or so professional golfers. In Las Vegas, Tiger is a 2-to-1 bet to win his first major championship since that epic triumph at Torrey Pines. What can you say about Woods? He has all the shots it takes, he might be the best clutch putter in the history of the game and he has been thinking about these four days since he shook Rocco Mediate's hand. Will he win the Masters? It's hard to say. Would I bet against him with real money? Hell and no.

Phil Mickelson -- Won (2) -- If I've said it once I've said it a million times -- Augusta National is a golf course set up for left-handers. Since 2003, a south-paw has donned the green jacket 50 percent of the time, and if Mickelson can go back to just playing the reliable cut instead of trying to turn the ball over, he would be a great pick to take home his third Masters title. What scares me about picking Phil this week at Augusta? He missed the cut in ridiculous fashion last week at the Shell Houston Open, shooting 77-76 to finish t-134. In his two previous Masters victories, Phil won the week before in '06 and finished 10th the week before his win in '04. Momentum is his game, and right now, it is somewhere near the Blue Monster, hundreds of miles from the Augusta practice green.

Sergio Garcia -- t-4 -- Speaking of momentum, here is Sergio, heading to the Masters with a promotion from his major club sponsor, TaylorMade, that has regular hackers hoping he can somehow make this his first major championship victory so they get a free driver. The problem is, in his last round, Sunday in Houston, Garcia shot 81 with a triple-bogey and a quadruple. He has missed the cut each of the last two years at the Masters and hasn't finished in the top-10 since '04. I truly believe that Garcia will break through this year in major championships and his best chances are this week or at Bethpage Black. He hasn't missed a cut this season, but his best finish to date is 13th.

Padraig Harrington -- t-5 -- Come Sunday afternoon, the thing that wins the Masters is the flat-stick, and when Padraig has it going, he could be the second best in the world behind Tiger at willing the ball into the hole. He has had success at Augusta, finishing in the top seven three times including the last two years, so don't count out the three-time major champion. So is there anything to watch out for with Padraig if you're going to pick him to be victorious in his third straight major? Well, he mentioned getting extremely frustrated on Sunday in Houston and was seen with a new driver, the TaylorMade r9, on the course this past week.

Geoff Ogilvy -- t-16 -- Ball-striking? Check. Machine-like putting stroke? Yep. Calm demeanor? Sure. Major champion? Heck yeah. Ogilvy has quietly become the second best non-American golfer in the world behind Padraig and has won two big tournaments this year at the Mercedes Championship and the Accenture Match Play. He finished t-6 at the Shell, so momentum and good play aren't going to be problems for Ogilvy at Augusta. While he has never had a top-10 at the Masters, it seems that Ogilvy's new approach to golf will work just about anywhere. You know someone is becoming a huge deal when uttering the phrase, "Geoff Ogilvy, 2009 Masters champion," seems completely plausible. Could Ogilvy do what Greg Norman never could and become the first Australian to be covered in green? There isn't a better option from Down Under.