The Loop

Why Watson, Spieth, Kuchar and Blixt can win on Sunday. ... Or not.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- As you prepare to marinate on your couch and watch the final round of the Masters, here's a statistical glance of what you need to know before Jim Nantz says "Hello, Friends."

__1. Stay focused on the final groups.

__As much as Augusta National is lauded for lending itself to thrilling charges, it's rare that anybody playing outside the final two groups actually wins on Sunday. No winner has been worse than T-4 entering the final round since Nick Faldo was T-9 in 1989. (Only five times in the history of the tournament has a winner been worse than T-5 entering the final round.)

Meanwhile, only three winners in the last 20 years have been worse than second entering the final day (Zach Johnson, T-4, 2007; Bubba Watson, solo 4, 2012; Adam Scott, solo 3, 2013).

__2. Repeat, stay focused on the final groups.

__Since Nick Faldo's victory over Greg Norman in 1996, when he came back after starting the day six off the lead, only once has the winner been more than three off the lead with 18 holes to play; Charl Schwartzel was four back in 2011.

__3. Can Bubba Watson or Jordan Spieth hold on to the lead? It's a about a coin flip.

__In the tournament's 77 previous playings, 88 individuals have led or shared the lead after 54 holes of play. Of those men, 41 have gone on to win the Masters and 47, well, haven't.

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__4. The power of 17 might lift Spieth to the title.

__Spieth (above) has already set the record for the youngest 54-hole leader in Masters history, but he has his eye on something bigger. A tip of the cap to Justin Ray at ESPN for uncovering this interesting statistical trend that might suggest it will be Jordan's day:

Kind of creepy, no?!?

__5. Nobody tell Matt Kuchar it's Sunday.

__Five times in the 2013-14 PGA Tour season Kuchar has posted a top-10 finish and his overall scoring average is an impressive 69.74. However, Kuchar ranks 64th in this season in final-round scoring average (70.57).

__6. Where you are on the World Ranking doesn't matter much, although Thomas Bjorn might be liking his spot.

__The average ranking of the winners at Augusta since 2007 has been 29.9. Here's where the leaders stand:

__Position__ __Player__ __World Ranking

__ T-1 Jordan Spieth

13 T-1 Bubba Watson

12 T-3 Matt Kuchar

7 T-3 Jonas Blixt 56 T-5 Miguel Angel Jimenez

40

T-5 Rickie Fowler

39 T-7 Lee Westwood

37 T-7 Jim Furyk

22 T-7 Thomas Bjorn 29