AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Can Phil Mickelson become the oldest Masters winner and slip on a fourth green jacket this weekend? Or maybe Fred Couples will one-up him as the oldest champion in any major?
Both have a realistic shot at making history this weekend at Augusta National, although Mickelson's chances appear much more likely considering he's used to playing 72-hole tournaments on the PGA Tour, while the 57-year-old Couples plays only 54-hole events on the PGA Tour Champions circuit and has battled a balky back for decades. On the leaderboard, however, Couples (T-6 at 1 under and 3 shots off the lead) has the edge for the moment on Mickelson (T-10, even par.)
If he could pull it off, Mickelson would be seven months older than Jack Nicklaus when the Golden Bear won his magical 18th and final major at the 1986 Masters, setting the benchmark for oldest green jacket winner. Lefty hasn't won anywhere since his 2013 Open win at Muirfield for his fifth major title.
Will Sergio Garcia dump the mantle of best player to have never won a major? Coming into this week, the Spaniard had played 73 majors without a victory, but has finished inside the top-10 at golf's biggest events a whopping 21 times.
Do the "golf gods" give the 37-year-old a mulligan?
The Masters loves to write stories that pull at the heart strings, maybe no more so than when Ben Crenshaw won his second green jacket at the 1995 Masters just days after his legendary teacher, Harvey Penick, died.
For Garcia, Sunday would have been compatriot and two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros' 60th birthday. Perfect symmetry has a way of happening at Augusta National.
In Round 1, only 10 players finished the day under par. After 36 holes, that number got trimmed to nine golfers in red figures halfway through the Masters.
Expect lower scores and bunches of birdies over the weekend with warmer weather conditions and significantly less wind. We're talking picture-perfect conditions expected at Augusta National on Saturday and Sunday.
The opening round saw a 74.97 scoring average, the highest for Round 1 since 2007. It was only slightly lower in Round 2 at 74.72. Look for Round 3 to be much closer to even par.
Which rookie has the best shot to break the 38-year jinx on first-time winners at the Masters this weekend?
Not since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 has a first-time participant at Augusta National won the green jacket, but several players are poised to end that run in 2017.
Belgium's Thomas Pieters showed his prowess at the Ryder Cup last year and is tied for the lead at 4 under, and 22-year-old Spaniard Jon Rahm -- currently T-6 -- won earlier this year at the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour. Both are long hitters who have the game to tackle Augusta National's par-5s, which will be crucial if they want to win their first major championship. And don't forget about William McGirt, who is 2 back of the four leaders and played Augusta National plenty of times in preparation for the year's first men's major.
Jordan Spieth made his second quadruple-bogey in two rounds at Augusta National on Thursday, but the 23-year-old former Masters winner didn't get too down on himself.
After bogeying the easy par-5 second hole on Friday in Round 2, Spieth credited his caddie, Michael Greller, for keeping him in the game.
The result? Don't count Spieth out during the final 36 holes at the Masters. The Texan followed up a 3-over 75 on Thursday with a 3-under 69 on Friday and sits T-10 halfway through the year's first major.
In three starts at the Masters, Spieth has finished second, first and second, with that demoralizing quadruple-bogey in the final round last year. Maybe he has just gotten the bad swings out of the way early this year?