The patrons are in, the azaleas are doing their thing, and as the Par 3 Contest winds down on Wednesday afternoon, Augusta National begins the slow exhale before Thursday morning. The 2026 Masters tees off at first light, and for the first time in a long time, the tournament feels properly wide open. There is a defending champion still riding the high of last year’s career-defining week, a world number one playing as well as anyone on the planet, and a small group of contenders any of whom could plausibly slip on a green jacket on Sunday evening.
Rory’s return as champion
It is hard to overstate what last April meant. Rory McIlroy ended an eleven-year wait for a second Masters and, in the same swing, completed the career Grand Slam in a play-off against Justin Rose. There were tears on the 18th green and a long, quiet walk back to the clubhouse that felt like the closing scene of a film a decade in the making.
The question this week is whether any of that energy can be rebottled. McIlroy has not won since, but his ball-striking statistics across the early-season swing have been among the best on Tour, and he arrives at Augusta with the look of a man who has stopped trying to prove anything. That tends to suit this golf course. No player has won back-to-back Masters since Tiger Woods in 2002, which is the kind of statistic that gets quoted into the ground all week. McIlroy has the talent. The harder thing is doing it without the burden of a story.
Scheffler, still
Scottie Scheffler is the +500 favourite, and not unreasonably. He has already won this season, his iron play remains the best in the field by some distance, and he owns two green jackets in the last four years. There is a quiet confidence about Scheffler that travels well to Augusta. He hits his stock fade off the tee, he leaves himself the right side of the hole on approach, and his short game has tightened up since the back end of last year. If you were drawing up a player to win the Masters from a blank sheet of paper, you would probably end up with something close to him.
The slight reservation is the putter. The greens at Augusta will not forgive a hesitant stroke, and Scheffler’s putting has been the one swing in his game over the last twelve months. If he holes the medium-range ones this week, the rest of the field will be playing for second.
Bryson, in form
The third name everyone is mentioning is Bryson DeChambeau, who arrives in Georgia having won back-to-back tournaments and looking every bit the player who pushed McIlroy to the wire at Pinehurst two years ago. DeChambeau has finished in the top ten at Augusta in each of the last two years, which surprises people who still think of him as a one-trick power player. He can shape the ball both ways, his speed off the tee opens up the par 5s, and he has clearly studied this course harder than most.
The LIV question follows him around, but on the grounds at Augusta it tends to fade quickly. The members do not particularly care which tour anyone plays for, and neither do the patrons lining the ropes.
A field without Tiger and Phil
For the first time in 32 years, the field will not include either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson. Woods continues his recovery and decided this spring to step away while he addresses the lingering effects of his Florida car crash. Mickelson has withdrawn for personal family reasons. Their absence is felt even by patrons who only ever caught them in the practice rounds. Augusta in April has, for the better part of three decades, meant Tiger and Phil somewhere on the property. This year it does not, and the tournament will simply have to write a new story without them.
There are 91 players in the field. The bracket of contenders below the top three is deep and unsettled, which is part of what makes this year feel different. Ludvig Aberg arrives with another quietly excellent season under his belt. Xander Schauffele knows what it is to win majors. Collin Morikawa has the iron play this place rewards. Tommy Fleetwood is overdue. The list goes on.
What to watch for on Thursday
Wind is forecast to pick up by Friday afternoon, which makes the early-late draw a meaningful factor for the second time in three years. Pin positions on the opening day are usually generous by Masters standards, so anyone wanting to make a move should be doing it before the weekend, when the hole locations get serious and the greens dry out.
Watch the 13th. Augusta has lengthened the tee box again, and the decision-making on that hole has shifted from automatic eagle attempt to a genuine risk-reward question for players who cannot reach the new layout in two without a perfect drive. It is the most interesting strategic change the course has seen in years, and Sunday afternoon is going to be all the better for it.
The Par 3 Contest is good fun, the children carry the bags, the past champions wave to the patrons, and then on Thursday morning the real thing begins. It should be a cracking week.