The living legend of CBS Sports commentary, the syrupy-toned yet highly respected Jim Nantz, said it best recently when he predicted what’s in store here over the next few days as being " the most anticipated week in the Masters any of us has seen in our lifetime".
Nantz has been commentating here for the last 32 years and his famous one-liner back in 1997 in describing Tiger Woods’ record-breaking success as a ‘win for the ages’, was more prescient than even he could have expected.
If the Las Vegas bookmakers are to be believed, it’s conceivable that Nantz may have to dream up an even pithier one-liner if one of the potential sports stories of the century – a fifth success for Woods at Augusta National – unfolds here over the next four days.
Everyone loves a tale of redemption, especially in this part of the world, and so some sentiment, rooted in wishful thinking perhaps, has contributed to the fact that Woods comes here as one of the top three on every bookmaker's list in the USA.
The truth is that he really believes he’s a serious player again after a runner-up finish last month in the Valspar Championship and a top five at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but does he really have what it takes?
Even in 2013 when he won five times on the PGA Tour and ascended to World No 1 again, he didn’t really figure in the hunt for a title on the Sunday of any major championship.
It still, of course, could happen here and if it does, it will be his greatest Masters triumph and arguably an even more tumultuous success than his winning of the US Open with a stress fracture and a busted ACL almost ten years ago for his 14th and last Major victory.
This time last year, we were on the cusp of anointing Dustin Johnson as the dominant player in the game but a particularly untimely slip on a step in his Augusta rental house 12 months ago halted his acceleration from the pack and he has been slightly off the boil this year since dominating the first event of the season in Hawaii, while then finishing joint runner-up in Pebble Beach.
Meanwhile, Justin Thomas has vaulted into second place in the world rankings with seven wins in his last 33 tournaments. He possesses enough of the cocktail of power and subtly in his slight but athletic frame to suggest he has every skill required to challenge this week.
He is just one of a bundle of the world’s best who have a victory to their name this year. Defending champion Sergio Garcia won in the Singapore Open in January and has been a top seven finisher in his last two PGA Tour strokeplay events.
His compatriot John Rahm is ranked number three in the world and while he has yet to register a top 20 finish in a major in six attempts, there’s evidence that he has the required power, ball flight and short game skills to excel here.
The runner-up in a play-off last year, Justin Rose, has two top five finishes in his last two starts on the PGA Tour and has been second twice in his last three Masters appearances. He also leads a whole raft of Masters statistical categories since 2012, including most birdies and eagles and best scoring on the par fours and par fives.
There’s also the return to form of one-time World No 1 Jason Day in winning recently on the PGA Tour in San Diego. He has twice seriously contended here, finishing in the top three in 2011 and 2013.
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There’s a school of thought that the unique shaping of holes around Augusta is perfectly suited who those who like to work the ball from right to left. Most right-handed players who do so, have to to employ a ‘draw’ but the spin profile to achieve that arc of a shot, is one which can easily get out of control.
So there’s an extension to that theory that the more controllable right to left ‘fade-spin’ of lefties like Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson is as ideal as it gets around here.
The simple statistic of five green jackets between them since 2004 is quite compelling evidence that the theory has a basis in serious fact.
Mickelson won for the first time in more than four years recently in Mexico while Watson hauled himself from outside the top 100 in the world rankings in February to a place inside the top 20 coming here this week.
Both look primed for a shot at winning the Masters come Sunday afternoon.
But as many contenders as there are, there has to be a favourite and depending upon who you ask, it will be one of Jordan Spieth, Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy.
All three are on redemption missions this week. Woods hasn’t won at Augusta since his dramatic 2005 triumph – the one with the inadvertent commercial as his birdie chip on the 16th paused on the edge of the cup with the Nike logo in full view, before dropping.
Spieth set extraordinary records in winning in 2015 and equalled the lowest winning total that year making an astonishing 28 birdies along the way but then the ink ran dry on his ‘burgeoning Masters legend story’ with his 2016 collapse after he had led by five strokes entering the back nine.
And then there’s Rory with the burden of legacy weighing heavily on him since his staggering back-nine meltdown in 2011. Since then, he’s won every other major championship and stands on the cusp of becoming only the sixth player in history and the first European ever to complete the career Grand Slam.
What he brings here this week is more precious than his stellar career CV in majors. He has real form evidenced by his five birdies in the last six holes to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational three weeks ago.
He described the last 13 holes of his final round 64 as ‘perfect golf’. He probably won’t need to be perfect this week but he certainly needs to be patient and maybe take some of Paul McGinley’s latest advice on how to play Augusta (by way of Kenny Rogers) and "know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em."
Follow all the action from Augusta with our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the News Now App, from 3pm on Thursday.
