Golf's first major championship of 2017 tees off in 24 hours, as things get underway in Augusta for the Masters Tournament.For the third time in four years, the field will not feature Tiger Woods. As for golfers who have actually been relevant in the last 36 months, just about all of them will be in the field.World No. 1 Dustin Johnson leads a field that also includes Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Hideki Matsyuama and Henrik Stenson, perhaps the world's most underappreciated great golfers, will also be in the field. Last year's Masters champion Danny Willett, the world's No. 17 golfer, will look to become the first back-to-back winner at Augusta since Woods won two straight in 2001 and 2002.How do the oddsmakers see this one shaking out' Let's take a look at the field, courtesy of OddsShark.Dustin Johnson (+550)Johnson is the prohibitive favoriteand for good reason. He became the first player in history to win all four World Golf Championships last week at the Match Play event and has won his last three tournaments. The 32-year-old has finished no worse than third since January and has been sixth or better in all but two starts this season.Johnsontold reporters:Golf is a funny game. It doesn't matter how good you're playing, you can still not win. The same goes for this week. If I want to win here, everything's going to have to go well for me. Everything's going to have to be really good. I've got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I've been playing the last few tournaments, but anything can happen.I mean, if you want to win around here, you're going to have to putt it well. That's something that I feel like if I putt very well, I'm going to have a chance to win on Sunday.After years of inconsistency at Augusta, Johnson has been trending upward in recent years. His tie for fourth place was his best-ever finish in the major, besting his sixth-place finish from a year prior. He's not shot a round higher than 73 in his last eight at the course.Given the way he's playing, Johnson's in the best position of his career to earn his first Masters title.Rory McIlroy (+700)Still winless in four PGA events this season, McIlroy has nonetheless been stellar. He's finished no worse than seventh in any of the stroke-play events he has played this season, though he was ousted early at the Match Play event.McIlroy's history at Augusta is well-documented. He hasn't finished any worse than 10th since 2013, but he seems to have a round where things fall off the rails every year. His green jacket went up in flames with a second-round 77 in 2014, and he matched that score in Round 3 a year ago.McIlroy toldGolfDigest'sBrian Wacker:The more comfortable you can feel around Augusta the better. For me, that's what it's all about. Going up for trips with my dad and friends and just messing around up there, that makes it feel way easier for me because I always associate Augusta with stressful situations and shots.If you can get up there and make it feel as if you're just playing another round of golf at another golf course ... like I was up there and I'm just messing around playing different shots and thinking why couldn't I do this during the tournament'Is Augusta in McIlroy's head' It's hard to tell. The Masters is his lone remaining major before completing the career Grand Slam, but it's quietly been nearly three years since his last major.Jordan Spieth (+800)There may be no golfer in history with a better start to their Masters career. There are also only a select few with more recent painful memories. Spieth's horrific No. 12 a year ago likely cost him his second straight Masters championship, a win that would have put him in rarified air at age 22.Instead, he wound up in a tie for second. It was his fifth straight top-five finish in a major. He hasn't had one since, finishing in a tie for 37th at the U.S. Open, 30th at The Open Championship and 13th at the PGA Championship. Seemingly ready to take over the golf world heading into the 2016 Masters, Spieth enters this year ranked sixth in the world."No matter what happens at this year's Masters, whether I can grab the jacket back or I miss the cut or I finish 30th, it will be nice having this Masters go by," Spieth told reporters. "The Masters lives on for a year. It brings a non-golf audience into golf. And it will be nice once, this year's finished, to be brutally honest with you."Having never finished worse than a tie for second at Augusta, it's hard to count Spieth out. But he's a clear third-place here behind Johnson and McIlroy, given recent on-course performance.
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