If it’s supposed to be hard to win the Masters Tournament, no one told Scottie Scheffler.
The World No. 1 claimed his second Masters at age 27 last year, at the outset of a thoroughly dominant season. He has yet to win a tournament of any kind in 2025, but Scheffler could join Jack Nicklaus as the only players to win three green jackets in four years when the first major of the season tees off in Augusta, Ga.
“At the end of the day, when I tee it up on Thursday, I start the tournament even par just like everybody else,” Scheffler said. “… Let’s say I get off to a bad start on Thursday, and I can use some stuff that I’ve done here the past few years as confidence to kind of turn things around. But at the end of the day, when I step on there on Thursday, we’re at even par, and it’s a totally new golf tournament.”
Scheffler’s chief competitor, whether you base it on the betting markets, talent on paper or recent form, is Rory McIlroy. The Northern Irishman is off to something of a dream start this season, winning both the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Players Championship.
Once again, McIlroy arrives at Augusta National Golf Club aiming to both end his 11-year major championship drought and complete the career Grand Slam, something only Tiger Woods, Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen accomplished.
McIlroy is known to tinker with how he prepares for the Masters year to year. This season, he tied for fifth at the Houston Open before taking last week off.
“Definitely you’re going to face particular shots on this golf course that you don’t really face any other week of the year,” McIlroy said of Augusta, a par-72 that was lengthened to 7,555 yards last year. “So coming up here a couple of times, doing a little bit more preparation on some of those shots on the golf course I think is important.”
Statistically, the best golfer on tour this season not named Scheffler or McIlroy has been Collin Morikawa, though he doesn’t have a win to show for it yet. He played in the final Sunday pairing with Scheffler last year and stumbled to a final-round 74.
Morikawa also lost the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month a few holes after Russell Henley overtook him with a chip-in eagle.
“You keep knocking at the door,” the two-time major champion said this week. “Look, I’m not giving up tomorrow. I hope to play a long, long time. You’ve got to learn how to lose and you’ve got to learn how to win. It’s just part of it.”
Twelve members of LIV Golf are in the field, led by 2023 Masters champ Jon Rahm. The Spaniard had a disappointing major season in 2024, something he’s eager to prove was a fluke and not related to his $350 million move to LIV.
“I think last year the state of my game was being unfairly judged based on how I played here and at the PGA compared to how I really played throughout the whole year,” said Rahm, who has top-10 finishes in every LIV event this year. “While I understand why, I don’t think it was the most fair state of my game.”
The field of 95 has no shortage of recognizable names, including recent major champs Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Kopeka, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama plus a host of top players vying for their first major.
Bernhard Langer of Germany (1985, 1993 champion) will make his 41st and final Masters start at age 67. Angel Cabrera (2009 champion) will compete for the first time since 2019 after serving two years in prison in his native Argentina for assault on two ex-girlfriends.
Augusta National took some damage during Hurricane Helene last September, mainly in the form of downed trees that could cause certain shots to look less familiar. But the course is otherwise expected to be in its usual peak condition.
–Field Level Media
