Can Brooks Koepka buck a 78-year trend? (Getty Images)
Can Brooks Koepka buck a 35-year trend? (Getty Images)

The 2015 Masters rookie class runs pretty deep but it is not strong. As of the end of February, 19 first-timers will tee it up at Augusta National on April 9, but only a couple of them will have a legitimate chance to win.

Winning as a first-timer is an improbable proposition to begin with -- it hasn't happened since Fuzzy Zoeller did it in 1979 -- and this is an especially weak batch headlined by only one golfer in the top 30 in the world.

Here's a look at the first-time golfers I expect to show well in April.

Brooks Koepka

He's a murderer of the ball off the tee as we saw in his win at the Phoenix Open earlier in 2015. And we know how Augusta loves to reward risk-takers off the tee (I think this qualifies).

GIF via Adam Sarson

The problem for Koepka is going to be solving those Augusta greens in his first outing there.

It took his buddy Rory McIlroy six tries to subdue them and snag a top 10 at the Masters. I don't think it will take Koepka that long but it would be pretty crazy if he won.

Morgan Hoffmann

He's Koepka Lite but probably a little better putter. In fact, Hoffmann finished in the top 10 on the PGA Tour last season in strokes gained putting. 

He also got crazy hot at the end of last season and nearly won the BMW Championship with final rounds of 62 and 63. 

Hoffmann could go super low one day or shoot a 30 for a nine-hole stretch, but it's difficult for me to see him being consistent enough to actually make a legitimate run at this tournament.

Seung-Yul Noh

His swing and his putting will make you weep for different reasons. The swing being good and the putting not. He also doesn't hit it a long way. No surprises if he makes the cut here, but it would be truly stunning if he wins.

Brian Harman

If I said a left-hander who played college golf at Georgia was going to win the 2015 Masters, you would probably say "Bubba Watson, again?!" And you would probably be right.

But what about Brian Harman? It's true that he doesn't bomb it and isn't an exceptional putter, but as Martin Kaymer has famously pointed out over and over again, this has become a left-hander's course.

It's much easier to play the shots you need to into these greens as a lefty, which is pretty much the only reason I'm throwing Harman into this group.

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