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Here is who I predict to be the top 3... these are in order from 1st place to 3rd

1st- Tiger Woods, Honestly I think it all depends on his dad whether he wins
or not. With all the smiles you know he is trying not to lead on to his
feelings. But I still think he can win, I think he will be encouraged by his
father.

2nd- Vijay Singh, He played great at the players so I predict it will continue
at the masters.

3rd- Fred Funk, I am picking him for 3rd because although he didnt do great
at the players I have a lot of respect for the guy and I know he is
gonna pull away from the pack and win again this year, I just dont think
it will be the masters, but I do think he will play great and finish 3rd.

Please post on here who you think will be top 3 or top 5, whatever you want to post..... cause this thread is called "masters predictions" so post whatever prediction you have.

I like your 1st 2 picks, but Augusta is not Funk's cup of tee. I'd love to see him do well there, but he'll be lucky to make the cut.

1st - Tiger
2nd - Goosen
3rd - Donald

There are probably others that can make this top 3 list easily, but their play has been too erratic (Els, Mickelson, Singh, Olazabel) for me. I like Langer as my upset pick.

It's hard to predict the Masters this year b/c no really steps out as the favorite and who knows if Tiger's going to play. But I'll give it a shot:

1. Retief Goosen: He's due for another major, and has a good track record at Augusta. He was sorta the Greg Norman of majors last year. He had the chance to win 3 majors if he could have put up a good final round. His putting looks like it was back in the '04 US Open, and Goose loves the fast greens

2. Jose Maria-Olazabal: He's always in contention it seems at the Masters, and with him playing very solid so far this year, he should be up near the top of the leaderboard again. Don't see him winning it, but do see him high up on the leaderboard come Sunday

3. Tiger Woods: Dont know what his mental state will be like, and he's not playing very consistent right now. Tiger typically starts off slow in the Masters and he will do so again this year. He should rally back on the weekend a little bit, but I think it will be like '00 and '03 where his game just isn't all there right now to win a 5th jacket.

Others in contention: Mike Weir, Bernhard Langer, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk
Dark horse pick: Arron Oberholser

Tiger is always the front runner. I so glad he won last year and not DiMarco.
I want Ernie to win his Masters. He has come so close and really wants it ( probably to much ). But, I think this is his year. Looks like he is playing well and is one of the few that can handle the new length of Augusta National.

Goosen should play well. VJ isnt putting well enough right now
There will be the usual two round flash

Cannot wait

It's hard to choose anyone outside the "big five." They all have the length and finesse to do well at Augusta, and I think they all have the same level of frustration from the Players' Championship. That should fuel their preparation over the next 10 days.

I'd love to pick one, but it would be the kiss of death for him. oh well, what the heck

Sergio Garcia.
R.Goosen
E.Els

there ya have it. don't put any money on them though.

I dont think that tiger will win due to the problems with his father clouding his mind, yet they might motivate him and he might shoot a 59 or a 60 in the first round and get way ahead of the pack and shoot 3 more low 60's to win. A more educated guess for the winner would probably be retief or singh. Id love to see Phil win another too. David Toms seems to be in good contention because of his recent success and his 2nd place finish in Hawaii (was it the mercedes?? or did his mess up on the last two or three holes and place like 4th or something?)

I go along with the Big 5 probably supplying the winner. I would like to see the Big Easy, Els finally get a green jacket. Barring that, a Tiger win would be a great present for Earl.

My guesses:

Ernie Els will do very well, if he doesn't win it. He's recovered from the knee injury and his swing's getting back to normal. He's long off the tee, which Augusta definitely rewards, so as long as he can get it done on the greens he's definitely got a shot.

Tiger Woods isn't gonna repeat, unfortunately. He'll probably end up in the Top 10, but don't expect him to don another green jacket. His first 2 rounds will put him within a couple of shots of the cut line, his 3rd round will put him at about T-24 or something, and then he'll fire off an amazing Sunday finish that will fall just short of a win. Sad but likely true.

Vijay could be a force to be reckoned with. I see him playing solidly all 4 rounds, particularly with one round or 65 or 66 to break him apart from the pack. He'll be in the Top 3, but his putting will prevent him from winning.

Phil Mickelson's got a chance to win it if he gets some work done on the range. Augusta definitely doesn't favour lefties, so he's either gotta hit draws to make up for that weakness or just straighten out whatever troubles he's having. Any short game problems he may be experiencing had better be ironed out soon as well.

Retief Goosen might win it as well. I actually envision this year's Masters going to a South African, so either Els or Goosen. This guy's stepped up to the challenge more than once and proved his position. He proved that in the 2004 U.S. Open. At Augusta, he'll just have fun shooting his regular low scores.

A real treat for me would be to see Sergio win it, but I can't see it happening unless he overcomes all of his putting woes. He'd better hope he dials in his accuracy so he doesn't leave himself with 20-footers on Amen corner, etc.

I think when Mickelson won in 2004, he was consistently playing a cut off the tee. That helped him keep the ball in play.

I've got to go with one of the Big 5 + Garcia...even though not all are playing well right now, they all have a game suited well to Augusta and with the added length, their considerable length will be a huge benefit. Which one it is will all come down to putting...Vijay and Sergio always struggle with it, Tiger is struggling with it now, Phil's Achilles heel seems to be 5 footers under pressure...leaving me with Ernie and Retief. I'll go with one of the South African contingent to take their first Green Jacket.

Tiger's putting has been off the past couple of tournaments. With the greens at Augusta he REALLY needs to get that straightened out.

Vijay laid an egg in the final round of the Champions. Not exactly a confidence builder going into the first major of the year. And his putting has been suspect since his win last year at the Buick tournament last year in Michigan.

Does Fred REALLY have enough game to win a green jacket?

It's just a hunch but I am picking Vijay. Yeah, I know that he is not putting particularly well right now but he's been working on it over the winter. Something tells me that his putting stroke works itself out enough to win in Augusta. Sentiment tells me to root for Tiger. I'd like to see him win another one for his gravely ill old man. Me thinks that Tiger will not win this year as his mind will be on his old man. (Mine would.)

1- Ernie Els he's got the length and consistency to get the job done. The only question is does he have "The ******" to close the deal on Sunday afternoon.

2- Reteif Goosen - Same as Ernie but he really hasn't had a "Take Charge" final round in close to a year.

3 - Luke Donald - In a lot of ways it's been the year of the "Young Gun" and good ballstrikers has been more successful than "Bombers" in terms of tournament wins. He's a superb iron player which is key at Augusta.