The Masters, the first major of the golfing year, is considered by many professionals to be the tournament with which the season properly starts.
Whatever happens until the second week of April can easily be brushed under the carpet under the guise of lack of match practice as players emerge from the off-season.
Rory McIlroy can blame it on not playing much golf since the DP World Tour Championship, while Jordan Spieth can go the other way and say he has been bone-tired because of all the travelling he has done.
New father Jason Day has had more important things to think about over the past few weeks than golf. But the real build-up of the Masters begins with the first World Golf Championship event of the year – the Cadillac Championship at Trump National Doral.
From now on, there can be no excuses.
At this point, world No. 1 Spieth and No. 3 McIlroy hardly look to be in the kind of form that can win majors.
Spieth started the year in brilliant fashion with his thumping win in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but has struggled to make an impact since. The missed cut in Riviera at the Northern Trust Open was a considerable surprise.
McIlroy also made a bright start to his season in the UAE in finishing third and sixth in Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively, but Riviera was hardly inspiring and that was followed by two mediocre 72s that caused led to the missed cut at The Honda Classic.
World No. 2 Jason Day has played only three tournaments so far, and he missed one cut and finished 10th and 11th in the other two.
All three have entered the WGC Cadillac Championship and will have to display better golf to ensure a more prominent mention in the pre-Masters chatter.
Obviously, you cannot keep defending champion Spieth out of the hype, nor McIlroy, because he is going for a career grand slam.
Australian Day is always a factor in major championships. But there are other players who have stolen a march over the top three, at least on recent form.
Right now, the Masters spotlight is on Adam Scott, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen and Rickie Fowler, all of whom have good records at Augusta National.
Scott is a past champion and is red-hot right now, having followed a second place finish at Riviera with a win at The Honda Classic. Watson is proving to be the new master of Masters with his two wins, and having claimed the Northern Trust Open, his game is also in good shape.
Mickelson has an envious record in Georgia, and two top-three finishes prove he is ready to make some noise again.
Oosthuizen and Fowler haven’t won yet in Augusta, but have had some very good results there lately. The South African was in exquisite ball-striking form in winning in Perth last week, while Fowler had a great start to the season with his win in Abu Dhabi and second place in Phoenix.
Five weeks is a long time in golf and there are bound to be others who will get themselves in the mix. However, nothing would be better for golf fans than the top-three getting back into winning form. That will surely make the 2016 Masters extra special.
