The top golf names to watch this week at Masters tournament in Augusta
One of the pre-Masters questions for a decade — perhaps the top question — centered on Rory McIlroy and his quest to complete golf’s grand slam.
When would he join the exclusive club of the winners who have won all four major championships by prevailing at the Masters? What would be his legacy if he didn’t win in Augusta to complete the slam? Were opportunities dwindling? Was the pressure too much?
Well, McIlroy took that off the table with his Master triumph last April and immediately zinged the media by opening his post-victory press conference with a question: What are we going to talk about next year?
Now that next year is at hand, there will be no shortage of topics worthy of debate before the first tee shots are struck Thursday morning in the 2026 Masters.
One will center on a man who will not be in Augusta. Another will concern the state of the No. 1 player in the world’s game. For that matter, what about Rory?
Other subjects call for consideration. Whether they’re cogent does not matter; they will provide fodder for discussion during the practice rounds.
What is the future of the PGA Tour under the leadership of Brain Rolapp? Fred Ridley, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters, will surely be asked about the debate of limiting the distance a golf ball can carry and the pace of play? Can a golfer competing in his first Masters defy history and don the green jacket on Sunday? The possibilities are endless.
Look at a few from the 2026 Masters field who will be in the spotlight at Augusta National:
Tiger Woods
He is either the best or second-best player ever to play the game, and his on-course exploits should be the topic of conversation. Always a juicy debate: Is he No. 1, or does that spot belong to Jack Nicklaus?
Indeed, until Woods’ recent traffic accident and arrest, the 2026 Tiger question centered on whether his health would permit him to compete this year at Augusta. After his injuries and surgeries and at age 50, no one expected him to be competitive — just teeing off would be important. After all, he not only moves the needle in golf, he is the needle.
Now this. His fourth accident. His decision to “step away” and enter rehabilitation strike the right chords, and he’s come back from personal problems before. But he’s the chairman of the committee looking into the PGA Tour’s future. Is he the one who should be the tour’s face of tomorrow?
Scottie Scheffler
The world’s current No. 1 player will be seeking his third Masters title in five years, a feat so rare that only by Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer have reached that plateau. And the oddsmakers name Scheffler an overwhelming choice to win again.
Yet, there are reasons to doubt. Or, at least, wonder.
First, he has only been extremely good — not out-of-this-world good — this season. Second, his wife giving birth to the couple’s second child altered his preparation, and he’s not played competitively since March 15.
Most players would take his 2026 record without a second thought. He won his first start, then finished third and fourth. He has placed 12th, 24th and 22nd since. A disturbing trend: he has not broken 70 in the first round in his last five starts.
But who would dare pick against him?
Rory McIlroy
Unlike 2025, when he arrived at Augusta with a pair of high-profile wins under his belt, he has contended only once in four Tour starts this season (T2 at the Genesis). Plus, he withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with back issues.
McIlroy returned to The Players Championship, made the game-time decision to compete and finished T46. Nevertheless, he said afterward that he played well enough that he would not add another start prior to the Masters. So, he, like Scheffler, has not played competitively since mid-March.
Will that matter? Adam Scott, in 2013, is the last player to win the Masters with more than two weeks off from competition prior to the tournament.
Maybe a bigger question: Will McIlroy’s victory in 2025 ease the pressure and eliminate some of the demons of doubt that plagued him in previous Masters?
Jon Rahm
Augusta National loves its champions, and Rahm took a place among the most popular with this triumph in the 2023 Masters. That will never change, but he mostly disappeared from the spotlight after his move to LIV Golf in 2024. He has played extremely well on that circuit, but his performances in his two Masters since have been T45 and T14.
He arrives at Augusta this week sizzling in his LIV events. In five starts, Rahm won in Hong Kong and has finished in the second three times. He lost in a playoff to Bryson DeChambeau in South Africa, lost to Anthony Kim in Adelaide and lost to Elvis Smylie in Riyadh.
Rahm’s pre-LIV performances at Augusta illustrate that he can play well there. In the five Masters prior to his 2023 victory, he posted four top-10 finishes.
With question marks surrounding Scheffler and McIlroy, is Rahm the favorite?
The Freshmen
Players competing in their first Masters almost always are an afterthought for one reason: Experience is foremost at Augusta National. Only three players — Horton Smith in the inaugural Masters in 1934, Gene Sarazen a year later and Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 — have triumphed on their first visit to Augusta National.
There will be 20 tournament newcomers who hope to defy tradition. Ludvig Aberg came close in 2024, placing second. Seven others — including Jason Day in 2011 and Jordan Spieth in 2014 — have done the same through the years.
The freshman class this year looks more formidable than usual. Chris Gotterup has won three tournaments in the past year and ranks No. 9 in the world. Jacob Bridgeman is 17th in the world ranking and won the Genesis in February. Ben Griffin has three wins since the last Masters and is 16th in the world.
Are there others?
More Masters questions
Can Bryson DeChambeau overcome what Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee calls “his big miss”? By the way, DeChambeau has won his last two LIV tournaments. ... What is the most important stretch of holes — 1-5 or Amen Corner or the entire back nine? Early struggles usually prove decisive, but the back nine offers multiple opportunities to rally. ... The so-called short hitters have won the Masters, but are those days over with so many bombers in the field? ... Is there a real explanation of what makes the par-3 12th, the shortest hole on the course, is so difficult.
Questions keep coming and subjects for discussion are plentiful. But what are the answers?
How to watch the Masters
In addition to daily streaming on Masters.com and the Masters app
Thursday, Round 1
Amazon Prime: 1-3 pm
ESPN: 3-7:30 pm
Friday, Round 2
Amazon Prime: 1-3 pm
ESPN: 3-7:30 pm
Saturday, Round 3
Paramount Plus: Noon-2 pm
CBS and Paramount Plus: 2-7 pm
Sunday, Round 4
Paramount Plus: Noon-2 pm
CBS and Paramount Plus: 2-7 pm
This story was originally published April 6, 2026 at 6:32 AM.