Who will win the Masters?

Editor's note: Follow Salem News Sports Editor B.J. Lisko after each round of the 2011 Masters right here in his blog "Covering the Spread."

Fresh off a win at the Houston Open where he said he didn’t care about his result, only how he played, Phil Mickelson has to enter the 2011 Masters as the favorite. Not caring last week led to a 20-under finish. While scores won’t go that low this week, here’s a quick rundown of five to watch this weekend. 1. Phil Mickelson — Need I say more than the intro? Phil lives to win the Masters. He’s nearly always in the hunt and this week should be no different. 2. Lee Westwood — The Englishman has a tendency to cruise for three rounds in big tournaments only to falter on the final day. Regardless, one of these times he’s going to put together 72 holes and win one. This could be the year. 3. Tiger Woods — Tiger needs work. A lot of work. He’ll look brilliant one hole then absolutely awful the next. His head is still no place close to where it needs to be to contend regularly. Spectators at Augusta should beware of wayward shots. That being said though, he’s still Tiger. And if he gets hot in the first few rounds and stays that way it could be the comeback he’s looking for. 4. Fred Couples — Couples will be near the top of the leaderboard under one condition — his back doesn’t give out. For Freddie, four rounds isn’t easy anymore. It won’t be his game that gives out. If he feels healthy, he’ll be on the leaderboard come Sunday. 5. Miguel Angel-Jiminez — “The Mechanic” is due for a breakthrough in the states. He’s another guy that casually flirts around the leaderboard through the first few days and really just needs one big round to vault him to the front of the pack. If he’s puffing away on his trademark cigars in record fashion, you’ll know he’s playing well. Thoughts? E-mail B.J. Lisko at bjlisko@salemnews.net