Thursday 2 April 2015 19:49, UK
Throughout the early part of the 21st century, an enigmatic left-hander by the name of Phil Mickelson proved the man to beat whenever he teed it up at Augusta National.
Perhaps now the batton has been passed to another lefty with incredible flair as Bubba Watson arrives having won two of the last three renewals, latterly in taking fashion as he overpowered both the course and Jordan Spieth on the back-nine 12 months ago.
Clearly, the course suits Bubba down to the ground. His ability to work the ball both ways gives him options around the winding corridors of Augusta National and while his putting stroke never looks much more than tentative, somehow he's found great comfort on arguably the slickest surfaces of them all.
So far this season, Watson has continued where he left off in 2014. Where once was a golfer considered unpredictable, Bubba is now the exact opposite, producing Furyk-like levels of consistency which means he arrives here on the back of 12 consecutive top-25 finishes.
His failure to win when presented with a golden opportunity in Phoenix serves as a reminder that Bubba is so often on the edge of disaster, but again that just doesn't seem to apply in this unique event. A fragile sort everywhere else, within these walls he's simply a different character.
To win the Masters for a third time in four years, however, Watson will have to produce the performance of his life.
Only Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo have defended this title, and with the greatest of respect it's unlikely that Bubba will be put alongside those great names when time is called on his career.
Other mere mortals have tried and failed while the likes of Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Phil Mickelson, Jose Maria Olazabal, Tom Watson and Gary Player all won the event more than once, but never twice in succession.
So far in the 2015 season, three players have defended their titles including Matt Every at Bay Hill, a player who arrived in no form whatsoever. But defending at Augusta is a role of great responsibility and on the balance of more than eight decades worth of evidence, it will prove too steep a task for Bubba.
