Strong British contingent aims to stake major claim

It's been two decades since Nick Faldo won his second of three Masters, but no less than half-a-dozen Brits have a very real chance of contending this week at Augusta National.

By Stan Awtrey, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent

This year is a significant historical marker in terms of the Masters and the participation of its English players.

First of all, it's been 20 years since Nick Faldo won his second of three Green Jackets. Faldo also won in 1996 when he shot 67 as Greg Norman collapsed. He has has since been knighted and become a hit on American golf telecasts.

It also marks the return to prominence for English golfers with three ranked among the top 10 in the world and five among the top 25. So for the first time in years the Brits are drawing as much attention going into the Masters as the Americans or South Africans or anyone else.

There are eight true Englishmen in the field and six have legitimate chances to be counted among the contenders: Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Ross Fisher, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson.

* Westwood is ranked No. 4 and has won 20 times on the European Tour. Despite his outstanding record in the Ryder Cup matches, Westwood has never won a major. That may be getting ready to change; he tied for third in the Open Championship and the PGA Championship in 2009 and was one shot out of the playoff at the U.S. Open the previous year. His best finish at Augusta was a tie for sixth in 1999.

* Casey is ranked No. 6 and has won 10 times in Europe and once on the PGA TOUR. (His buddy Poulter beat him in the final of the Accenture Match Play Championship.) His record at the Masters is stellar. He tied for 10th there in 2007, tied for 11th in 2008 and tied for 20th in 2009.

* Poulter is ranked No. 8 and served notice of his intentions to make this a great season when he won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, his first victory on the PGA TOUR. Never shy about his own abilities, Poulter has been 25th or better the last three years at Augusta.

* Donald is ranked No. 20 and appears finally recovered from the 2008 wrist injury and subsequent season-ending surgery. Donald has fared well at Augusta, with a tie for third in 2005 and tie for 10th in 2007.

* Fisher is ranked No. 25 and has three wins on the European Tour in 2009. Fisher  seemed to hang around the lead group at every major championship except for the Masters last year. He tied for 30th at Augusta, then was fifth at the U.S. Open, tied for 13th at the Open Championship, and tied for 19th at the PGA Championship.

* Wilson is ranked No. 39 in the world and is making his second appearance at Augusta; he missed the cut last year. The former Augusta State standout gets a bad rap for failing to win on the European Tour, but he was a successful Ryder Cup player in 2008 and was among the top 25 in the three other major championships held in 2009.

* The final two Brits -- No. 56-ranked Simon Dyson and No. 76 Chris Wood -- probably don't deserve much consideration. Dyson has won four times on the European Tour, including the 2009 Dunhill Links Championship, but is making his first appearance in the Masters. Wood, who is only 22, has starred at the last two Open Championships, but hasn't played at Augusta National. It would be most unlikely for a first timer to win the Masters.

Casey and Westwood have taken different approaches to their preparation. For the first time in his career, Westwood went to Augusta National for a couple days of advance work, while Casey opted against following that plan.

"You can certainly get a lot of really good practice in," Casey said. "The first couple of trips to Augusta was certainly great preparation, gave me lots of time and you can just wander around the golf course and take your time and learn it very, very well, but now I've learned it. There are no drastic changes this year. I haven't felt that it's been a necessity."

Casey was going to defend his title at the Shell Houston Open this week, but ended up pulling a muscle in his shoulder during the pro-am and had to withdraw.

Westwood, who turns 37 later this month, knows he's probably running out of legitimate chances.  He relished a chance to get some extra work at Augusta National and get a feel of what it's like without the crowds.

"It was good to get out there with nobody there, no crowds there and just be able to wander around and I never thought about doing that before," Westwood said. "It really is a big advantage to be able to get out there and do your work with nobody sort of watching you."

The anonymity ceases this week. And if any of these British players win this week, their days of a semblance of obscurity will be over. But that's probably a switch that any of them are willing to make.