Look beyond the revived Tiger Woods for a homegrown Masters champion | Bryan Armen Graham

The four-times winner is in his best form for years after back surgery but there are plenty of other Americans with a chance

The US Masters has never been a more international affair than in recent years. When the season’s first major championship tees off on Thursday morning amid the flowering dogwoods and blooming azaleas at Augusta National Golf Club it will mark the 12th straight year the Americans in the field will be outnumbered by players from outside the country – with six of the last 10 winners hailing from foreign soil.

A global contingent including Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, England’s Justin Rose, Australia’s Jason Day and the defending champion, Sergio Garcia of Spain, are the prime contenders to keep the Green Jacket off a homegrown player’s back for a third straight year, which would represent the lengthiest American drought at Augusta in nearly three decades, when Scotland’s Sandy Lyle (1988) and Ian Woosnam of Wales (1991) sandwiched Nick Faldo’s decade-bridging double.

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