The Masters Begins Under Blue Skies and with a Deep Field

Honorary starters Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus ceremoniously opened the 2014 Masters Tournament on Thursday morning, signaling the start of the world's best golf tournament. 

The weather will be perfect over the next four days as the game's best players compete for the first major of the year. Of course, most of the talk thus far has centered on the absence of Tiger Woods, who had to withdraw due to a back injury. But now it's time to move on and focus on who will be playing this weekend.

We haven't had a field at Augusta without Tiger since 1995, but golf fans will have a great opportunity to see just how strong the game is from top to bottom. Just look at who's waiting in the wings to potentially take over the world's #1 ranking with a strong enough finish this week: Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, and Jason Day.

How many casual golf fans could have named all three, or even two of three? Even with a few mulligans, probably not many.But it's a great example of how much talent you'll find on the PGA Tour every week.

Jason Dufner has been as good as anyone over the past year, but he only sits 16th in the Official World Golf Rankings. Do you know who's three spots ahead of him? Try Jordan Speith.

The 20-year-old American golfer hasn't even competed in a Masters tournament and has already risen to 13th in the world. He's the youngest player to ever reach that ranking. Compare that to Tiger, who was 20 and an amateur when he played his first Masters in 1996. When that calendar year ended, Tiger was only ranked 33rd in the world.

Now, that's not to say that Speith will become the next legend in golf, but he's sure gotten off to a great start and likely deserves more attention than he's received. But that's what this weekend will offer fans who don't spend much time watching the sport outside of the four majors each year.

Tiger's place in the sport is far from over, but the world will get a glimpse at just how strong the game will be with him not competing. You can bet this year will be as good or better than any we've seen and Sunday will provide plenty of drama.