2025 Masters Preview: Players, Storylines to Watch at Augusta National

The Fried Egg Golf preview of the 2025 Masters has a little something for everyone to get you ready for the first major of the year.

Setting the Scene

By Will Knights

The 89th Masters Tournament is upon us.

Last year, Scottie Scheffler slipped into his second green jacket to jumpstart a historic seven-win season that drew comparisons to Tiger Woods. Xander Schauffele got the major monkey off his back at the 2024 PGA Championship before adding a second in quick succession at the Open Championship. Both have missed time in 2025 due to injury, yet they both enter among the betting favorites:

Masters Odds (via ESPN Bet)

Scottie Scheffler +440
Rory McIlroy +600
Collin Morikawa +1400
Bryson DeChambeau +1400
Jon Rahm +1600
Ludvig Åberg +1700
Xander Schauffele +2000
Justin Thomas +2200
Joaquin Niemann +2500
Brooks Koepka +3000

The Scheffler- and Schauffele-shaped holes in 2025 have largely been filled by Rory McIlroy. With two wins and no finish worse than T-17 on the year, Data Golf says McIlroy has one of the strongest statistical profiles of his career. Other winners in 2025 are Hideki Matsuyama, Ludvig Aberg, and Viktor Hovland. Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas each have a pair of runner-up finishes this season.

A total of 12 LIV Golf players are in the field, including Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, and Jon Rahm. Joaquin Niemann has two LIV victories in 2025 and is still in search of his first career top-10 finish in a major. Former Masters champions Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, and Patrick Reed also enter the week riding some momentum.

Long story short, it’s anyone’s tournament this week.

Open for the Taking

By Joseph LaMagna

Each Masters Tournament takes on a different shape and texture in its leadup. Of course, there were the years of Tiger’s prime when he showed up to Augusta as an overwhelming favorite. In recent years, we’ve seen other strong favorites to varying degrees, like in 2017 when the only thing that stood between peak Dustin Johnson and a Masters triumph was a staircase.

The 2025 Masters has an interesting complexion. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enters in solid form, though his game has looked more vulnerable over the last couple of months than it did at virtually any point in 2024. He’s yet to win in 2025, and he’s been more error-prone and outwardly frustrated than we’re accustomed to seeing. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy is playing some of the best golf of his career; however, inconsistent historical performance at Augusta leaves open the distinct possibility he won’t deliver up to his typical elite standard. If either Scheffler or McIlroy plays four days with their A-game, it’s very unlikely anyone else in the field can keep up.

Should either falter, there’s a group of in-form contenders nipping at their heels. Jon Rahm has been sloppy over the past 14 months, uncharacteristically stumbling down closing stretches like at last summer’s Olympic games. But would it really surprise anyone if Rahm – who has finished in the top 10 at Augusta more often than he hasn’t – grabs a hold of this tournament entering the weekend and never looks back? It shouldn’t!

Or Bryson DeChambeau, another two-time major champion who nearly won the PGA last year in addition to his U.S. Open victory. Several more names could be reasonably included in this group of contenders, but the player I feel increasingly confident to see near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday is Justin Thomas.

JT enters this tournament with iron play reminiscent of his peak years on top of the best putting season of his career. When people describe the prototype for success at Augusta National – elite iron play and short game, power off the tee, creative shotmaking – they’re describing the essence of Justin Thomas, one of golf’s great shotmakers. To date, his results at Augusta are mixed, with two top 10s in nine appearances and two straight missed cuts in 2023 and 2024. Outside of a tendency to make mistakes off the tee on the 13th hole, there’s little in the way of Justin seizing an elusive green jacket on Sunday. That is, unless the world Nos. 1 or 2 have anything to say about it.

Tiptoeing into a Soliloquy

By Brendan Porath

Golf is hard enough. Then there’s golf at Augusta National in the Masters. Then there’s golf at Augusta National in the Masters having never won it before despite all indications you should. Then there’s golf at Augusta National in the Masters, a tournament suited to your best-in-a-generation talent, needing a win to complete the career slam.

This is all supposed to be a blast, a thrill show. It’s supposed to be fun, for the players and us. But you could see how it can get tedious talking about how this is the year to feel good about Rory McIlroy. It is, too. He’s the favorite. He should be. He’s been the best golfer in the world this year, with wins already at Pebble Beach and the Players. He’s been the most consistent performer in majors of the last few years. His golf brain and natural talents have never been more aligned. I can throw the stats at you. It’s hard not to start giggling each time a pundit (including this idiot author) tiptoes into a soliloquy about why they’re bullish on Rory to win the Masters. The vibes. The stats. The narrative. He IS a heavy favorite, along with Scottie Scheffler.

It’s the primary story going into this 2025 edition.

And yet. It provokes giggles and eye rolls because we’ve done this so many times! That’s not a critique of Rory nor the prognosticators or narrative setters. But how many other players in the field do we know about what show they’re watching (Bridgerton) or what book they’re reading (John Grisham’s “The Reckoning”)? These are the minute details of the Rory at Augusta appraisal in his 17th start at the Masters. No one is under this examination from the press, fans, and maybe even himself at this point, including the guy making his return fresh out of prison.

This is not scrutiny with a negative lens, it’s just the prominence of Rory, his accomplishments, and this tournament. Only one player has ever completed the slam at the Masters — Gene Sarazen back when we didn’t even know if the Masters would be a major. History is littered with generational talents who could not get over the line here. Golf is already hard, and then you add this mental weight to the physical demands of Augusta — dramatically sloping greens, the uneven lines, the temptation of going low with disasters readily available. It’s such a precise test of skill before you even get into the brain. It’s an incredibly brilliant, strained trend. This is why we love the Masters, and what has to make it extra daunting but fantasizing thinking about a Rory win. But how could he not be the pick this week?!

A Little Personality Goes a Long Way

By Andy Johnson

One of the highlights of a rain-soaked Monday was Xander Schauffele. The current holder of two major championships put together a wonderful press conference, mixing humor, honesty, and substance into his 25-minute session. The 31-year-old has struggled through injury in 2025, but a brilliant iron performance at the Valspar has sparked hope for a strong performance at Augusta National.

Schauffele is rounding into one of the more compelling players in the game, not just because of his world-class play but because of his blossoming personality. Earlier in his career, he could be described as dull and monotone, but in recent months, his personality has jumped off the page. On Monday, he spoke of his close calls in great depth, saying, “I had the rope in my hands, and it was just slipping and I couldn’t get a hold of it. And before I knew it, the front nine was done, and I shot like 44. And it was like, ‘Holy smokes.’

“Then there’s been other times where I’ve been in there and I was aware of that one moment, and I completely lost the grip. And I tried to slow things down, and I was almost playing so slow that I was throwing myself off. There’s a peaceful – if you can find it, there’s a serene part of it if you allow yourself to enjoy it almost.”

It was a press conference that made you believe that Xander could move from just a great golfer to one of the sport’s bigger superstars, thanks to his personality. Golf has skewed younger over the past decade, and one of the pitfalls of the youth movement is that personalities need time to develop. Golf, being an individual sport, is dependent on extraordinary players with engaging personalities and on-course personas. It’s hard to expect players in their early 20s to deliver. Confidence in being yourself in front of a camera or microphone develops over time, and it’s nice to see Xander taking steps to become one of the game’s more engaging players.

The LIV Tariff

By Brendan Porath

The fascination with golf’s fracture and the idea of LIV continues to outpace the interest in any of the actual golf. The latest ratings from a premier LIV event last week, when they were set up for a favorable challenge to the PGA Tour, reinforce that tepid interest. But these majors, especially the first one of the year, amplify that larger story of the split and these momentary one-week reunifications. While the golf diehards may be over it and simply not care, the Masters is golf’s ultimate mainstream event. The larger sports and pop culture world turn its eyes to golf, and these casual observers want to know 1) what the deal is with Tiger 2) the odds and favorites and 3) what’s the latest with that LIV civil war thing.

It’s a prominent subject again this week, and I am personally interested in it. How could you not be?! I am excited to see and expecting contributions from Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and others. Can Joaquin Niemann finally do anything of note at a major? It’s one of the most interesting side quizzes concurrent to the actual chase for the green jacket.

And just like the lack of clarity on a reunification agreement, there remains uncertainty with where the LIV players fall in the lineup. The LIV boys absolutely sort into this field. Their players have claimed a major in each of the last two seasons, and they added Cameron Smith and Rahm shortly after claiming majors. But how do we calibrate their descent into major weeks?

“It’s hard to tell nowadays,” said Rahm of where he might sort in some larger ranking, while clarifying he still considers himself undoubtedly a top-10 player in the world. That’s hard to argue, same for DeChambeau. Should Rahm be in some sort of big three discussion? The oddsmakers don’t seem to think so, putting Scottie and Rory clearly ahead of everyone else. Data Golf rankings put him fourth. But we simply have not seen Rahm in the heat of a larger field, 72-hole tournament. Three years on now, and we still don’t fully know how to gauge these fields when they combine for majors. “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,” Rahm added about the emphasis of these weeks for assessing the state of LIV defectors. “While I understand why, I don’t think it was the most fair state of my game.” Of course, their own decisions to flee created the state of OWGR disarray and that continued “unfair” judgment or emphasis on the major weeks when we do see them under full examination. Should he still be classed with Rory and Scottie?

The split is a mainstream subject of interest, but as a real golf story, some of them (Sergio) have been playing exceptionally well while others (DJ?) continue to wander. Watching Sergio, Rahm, Bryson, Brooks, and Co. this week remains the non-Rory story of most interest.

The Course: Same Same … but Different

By Garrett Morrison

Over the past several years, Augusta National has undertaken a series of big, newsy course renovations. Before the 2019 Masters, the fifth hole was lengthened by 40 yards, a project that required the rerouting of Old Berckmans Road. Three years later, the club unveiled major alterations to Nos. 11 and 15. At the 2023 Masters, a new 13th tee, occupying a plot acquired from neighboring Augusta Country Club, saw action for the first time. Finally, last year brought a new second tee, which gave the par 5 some additional length and a sharper dogleg.

This year? Well, a few greens have been rebuilt, but that’s customary at Augusta National. For the time being, the club seems to have pressed pause on design tweaks. Perhaps Fred Ridley and company finally feel good about how the course matches up with today’s pro game, especially given that a rolled-back ball is scheduled to arrive in 2028.

Augusta National’s main offseason change was not voluntary. Last September, Hurricane Helene took down hundreds of trees across the property. According to reports from my colleagues on site this week, the difference is palpable. Around the 16th hole in particular, the tree canopy is markedly lighter. This could mean that the approach to the par-5 15th will be even scarier-looking: rather than being framed by dense stands of pines, the shallow, pushed-up green may seem to float in the air, and players will likely have fewer aiming references.

Hurricane Helene was obviously a tragic catastrophe, and I wouldn’t suggest that such an event could produce a meaningful silver lining. But I’ll be keen to find out whether Augusta National’s decision-makers see benefits from the reduced tree population (increased air and light flow for more efficient turf maintenance, better views across the property, fewer barriers to score-inflating winds, etc.), and whether some intentional tree removal might be in the club’s future.

This piece originally appeared in the Fried Egg Golf newsletter. Subscribe for free and receive golf news and insight every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.