Masters 2012: Dark Horses Adam Scott, Hunter Mahan Confident

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are golf’s two biggest names and the two favorites at Augusta National this weekend, but the field at the 2012 Masters is filled with potential dark horses who have won big before and who look primed to have a great weekend. Two of those players are Hunter Mahan, who won the Shell Houston Open on Sunday, and Adam Scott, who has purposely played a low number of pre-Masters competitive tournaments.

Scott played sparingly heading into last year’s Masters and played very well, finishing tied for second. He’s only played a total of nine competitive rounds this year, but he’s been practicing plenty and he went through a full practice round on Sunday at Augusta.

Said Scott:

“You don’t have to compete to be ready to compete, you have to practice. I feel like I have to do enough that my game will hold up for four days of a major. I think I have to put in more work in the past to do that.”

Mahan is also full of confidence after winning in Houston one week before the Masters. That victory was his second of the season; his first win came at the Accenture Match Play Championship. He’s being pegged as a dark horse favorite because of his current form, and along with Scott, he’ll be expected to challenge the likes of McIlroy and Woods all week.

For more, be sure to stay tuned to our 2012 Masters StoryStream. For more on Golf in general check out SB Nation’s golf blog Waggle Room and SB Nation’s dedicated golf hub.