Grading 2025 Masters Performances

Though Masters week is officially behind us, this week feels much more like a post-Masters week than RBC Heritage week. Accordingly, today’s weekly update will focus on assessing players’ Masters performances relative to expectations. Every player who finished in the top 10 received a grade, as did some notables. Plus, a couple of thoughts on Rory McIlroy’s momentous decision.

Masters Grades

In my view, Justin Rose deserves the same grade as Rory McIlroy. You could make a good-faith argument that, given Rory’s abilities and his four double bogeys, he didn’t play to his A+ standard. But to overcome the ups-and-downs he experienced over four days to break a decade-long major championship drought, that’s an A+ performance as far as I’m concerned. Rose, on the other hand, played just about as well as he could have. Both get an A+.

On the heels of a solo third-place finish at the best test in golf, Patrick Reed has played his way into Ryder Cup consideration. Are there 12 American names you trust more than Reed to perform in the heat of the battle in September? For sure? Reed needs to continue performing well in majors this year, but he should absolutely be considered for a spot.

I nearly graded Xander Schauffele as an A. Finishing T-8 after returning from injury with limited competitive reps is ridiculously impressive. Schauffele’s major championship consistency is remarkable, and he’s only going to get stronger and sharper over the next couple of months as he enters the heart of major championship season. Strong display from Xander.

History will not remember how much of a factor Shane Lowry was in the 2025 Masters. He bogeyed his last two holes on Saturday evening and still had one of the final four tee times. Then, a Sunday 81(!) dropped him all the way to T-42. This grade probably seems generous, but sometimes leaderboards don’t tell the full story. Lowry played three days of A-golf and then a day of D-golf. I’m netting it out to a B.

I have no time for anyone who wants to argue that my grades for either Jon Rahm or Collin Morikawa are too harsh. Both guys were considered top contenders leading into the tournament, and both guys came out of the gates playing uninspired golf. Morikawa factored more than Rahm, but neither player had a legitimate chance to win for much – or any – of this tournament. This exercise is relative to expectations, and both golfers fell way short of expectations.

I’m giving myself a B+ for last week’s Masters Contenders Tiering Exercise.

In response to the post, I received a bunch of “Where is (Joaquin Niemann, Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Smith)?” blowback. Omitting all of those players aged very nicely. My favorite response said that any list with Reed ranked over Maverick McNealy, Henley, and Sepp Straka goes “straight into the garbage.” Well, well, well.

In terms of my mistakes, I wish I’d stuck more to my admiration for Aberg’s game and positioned him one row higher. The best correction I could have made, though, would have been swapping Justin Thomas and Bryson DeChambeau. I gave JT a little bit too much respect and not enough to Bryson. I’ve recalibrated moving forward.

Before we fully move on, I’d be remiss not to shoutout Nick Dunlap for exhibiting a tremendous amount of class and integrity last week. His game is completely lost right now, which is extremely intimidating when showing up at Augusta National. He shot 90 in the first round, and later said he’s never teed it up without finishing – a source of pride for him. Lesser players would have withdrawn. The next day, Dunlap showed up, posted a 1-under 71, and stuck around to answer more than 20 questions from media, revealing that he’d hit a bunch of balls into the woods the night before in the backyard of his AirBnB. The 21-year-old showed a lot of character by rebounding on Friday when others would’ve been embarrassed and quit. No matter what his future looks like, I’ll always remember his maturity this past week. A+.

Reader-Submitted Question

Reader: What are your thoughts on Rory McIlroy’s layup on No. 13 on Sunday? Was that a mistake?

Answer: Ok, this question was submitted a few times. Here’s my thought process:

First, I try to avoid second-guessing players too much without being privy to seeing and feeling their lie (i.e. anything that isn’t on a tee). For example, I’m not going to be too critical of Tommy Fleetwood’s layup on the 72nd hole at the 2023 RBC Canadian Open from the rough, even if you should generally be aggressive in that spot.

Secondly, if a player isn’t committed to a shot, it won’t go well. That is particularly true at Augusta National, where you’re hitting off tight lies from side-slopes under a significant amount of pressure. If Rory wasn’t comfortable hitting a 240-yard shot into a small target with the ball well above his feet, he shouldn’t attempt it.

All of that being said, this was a very strong “Go for It” situation. It felt a little bit like Rory thought the only way he could lose the tournament was if he made a big mistake. That premise isn’t true, though, when you’re on the 13th hole with a three-shot lead in calm conditions. You cannot get complacent. If you want to get conservative with a three or four-shot lead on the 71st or 72nd hole of a tournament, ok. Not sooner, though.

Piecing all of that together, I believe if you simulated the end of that tournament 10,000 times, Rory wins more often when he goes for the green in two on No. 13. I didn’t view it as a massive mistake, either in the moment or now, but I am confident that going for the green in two would produce a better outcome more often than not.

However, as always, none of that matters unless Rory is committed to the shot. An uncommitted swing there would invariably lead to a bad result. Was it a small strategic mistake? Probably. We weren’t the ones standing over the ball, though, feeling the weight of a decade-long major championship drought.

Ok, that’s all for this week. If you have a question you’d like me to answer next week, email me at joseph@thefriedegg.com. Thanks for reading!