The Golf Blog Masters preview: Charles Howell III

Charles Howell III was born in Augusta, Georgia, 27 years ago. It would be a storybook Masters if the local boy could win.

This year is the best chance Charles Howell III has in winning the Masters, since turning pro. In 9 events this year, CHowell III has won 1 event (playoff victory over Mickelson at the Nissan Open), 2 second place finishes, and 2 other Top 10 finishes. He's 3rd on the Money List.

His raw stats are even more impressive. The rail-thin Howell averages 300.7 yards driving--7th on the PGA tour. He's 14th in greens in regulation (68.52%) and 7th in scoring average (69.28). He's second on the tour in playing the par 4s and the par 5s. Driving accuracy is his worst category (53.61%, 167th).

Why I like Howell? The guy has practiced really hard this offseason to rebound and live up to the huge early expectations he faced. In all of last year, Charles had only 3 Top 10s; he's already beaten that in 1/3 of the 2007 season. Charles missed 9 cuts last year; this year, none so far.

He missed the cut at the Masters in 2005 and 2006, but had a T13 in 2004, T28 in 2003, and T29 in 2002. He must know Augusta pretty well, so that's a huge plus. As long as he can block out the "local boy" pressures, he should be around on Sunday.