Written by Adam Stanley
The season’s first major has arrived, with reigning FedExCup champion Scottie Scheffler seeking his third Masters title in four years at iconic Augusta National Golf Club.
Scheffler is joined on the short list of pre-tournament favorites by Rory McIlroy, who has done mostly everything in professional golf aside from completing the career Grand Slam, with the Masters representing the only major title that eludes him. McIlroy is a two-time TOUR winner this season and arrives at Augusta National in good form, as does Scheffler after a strong finish to the Texas Children’s Houston Open two weeks ago.
Xander Schauffele seeks his third win in the last four major championships, and an esteemed crop of players hungry for a first major includes Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland and Georgia native Russell Henley. This week also marks the 10-year anniversary of Jordan Spieth’s 2015 Masters title as a 21-year-old wunderkind; Spieth has flashed at times this spring after rehabbing a wrist injury for five months late last year.
As players get ready to traverse the historic grounds of Augusta National, here’s everything you need to know for the 89th edition of the Masters Tournament.
FIELD NOTES: Scottie Scheffler returns to Augusta National having won the green jacket in two of his last three attempts. Scheffler, who won by four shots in 2024, looks to become the first player to successfully defend his title at the Masters since Tiger Woods in 2001-02. Scheffler had a delayed start to his 2025 campaign after a Christmastime hand injury, but while he hasn’t found the winner’s circle yet, he has notched three top-10 finishes so far in 2025, including a T2 in his last start at the Texas Children’s Houston Open … Rory McIlroy arrives at Augusta National in search of the career Grand Slam, again. This year, however, McIlroy comes into the Masters with two TOUR wins already in 2025: the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and THE PLAYERS Championship. He also leads the TOUR in Strokes Gained: Total and Scoring Average so far this season. McIlroy has seven career top-10 finishes in the Masters, highlighted by a runner-up in 2022 … Twenty-one players will make their Masters debut in 2025, including first-time TOUR winners this year Joe Highsmith, Brian Campbell and Thomas Detry … Ludvig Åberg returns to Augusta National with another full year of experience on golf’s biggest stage under his belt and a win at The Genesis Invitational (a Signature Event) to boot. Åberg made his Masters debut last year and finished second, the best result by a debutant since Fuzzy Zoeller won the green jacket in 1979 … Collin Morikawa is hoping to continue his fine play at Augusta National as he has notched three straight top-10 finishes at the Masters (Scheffler is the only other to do it). Morikawa is first in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green this season and second to McIlroy in Strokes Gained: Total. He has two runner-up finishes so far this season and notched a T10 at THE PLAYERS … This year marks the 10th anniversary of Jordan Spieth’s coming-of-age Masters victory in 2015. He returns to Augusta National this year with some form, but it’s been a bit feast-or-famine for Spieth at the Masters having gone T3-MC-T4-MC in his last four starts … Xander Schauffele, the winner of two of the last three major championships, is looking to get back to form after suffering a rib injury earlier in 2025. Schauffele comes into the Masters after his best finish of the season, a T12 at the Valspar Championship where he led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green.
| HIGHEST-RANKED PLAYERS IN THE FIELD | |
| World Ranking | FedExCup |
| 1. Scottie Scheffler | 1. Rory McIlroy |
| 2. Rory McIlroy | 2. Sepp Straka |
| 3. Xander Schauffele | 3. Russell Henley |
| 4. Collin Morikawa | 4. Collin Morikawa |
| 5. Ludvig Åberg | 5. J.J. Spaun |
| 6. Hideki Matsuyama | 6. Corey Conners |
| 7. Russell Henley | 7. Ludvig Åberg |
| 8. Justin Thomas | 8. Hideki Matsuyama |
| 9. Viktor Hovland | 9. Justin Thomas |
| 10. Maverick McNealy | 10. Scottie Scheffler |
SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: The next Signature Event on the schedule is the RBC Heritage … The top 10 FedExCup points earners through the Masters will earn spots in the RBC Heritage … Following the Valero Texas Open, the top five players on the Aon Swing 5 are Ryan Gerard, Karl Vilips, Gary Woodland, Ryo Hisatsune and Sami Valimaki (the list is comprised of FedExCup points across the Puerto Rico Open, Valspar Championship, Texas Children’s Houston Open and Valero Texas Open; movement in the Aon Next 10 at the Masters could potentially influence the Aon Swing 5 for the RBC Heritage) … Gerard had a spectacular two-week stretch in Texas, finishing ninth at Texas Children’s and second at Valero … After the RBC Heritage, the next Signature Event is the Truist Championship in early May.
COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 UPDATES: All of the players inside the TOUR TOP 10 last week remained as such this week, with one minor swap – Corey Conners, after his T18 at the Valero Texas Open, now sits No. 6 in the standings, switching spots with Åberg … McIlroy still leads the way by more than 300 points over No. 2 Sepp Straka … Hideki Matsuyama, at No. 8, remains the only player to be inside the TOUR TOP 10 every week this season.
FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 750 FedExCup points.
COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, par 72, 7,555 yards. While there were no yardage or other overarching changes for 2025, the golf course went through some recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene last year. McIlroy, at Texas Children’s, said there were four greens that had been redone (he did not specify which ones) and said the “loss of a few trees” was definitely “noticeable.” At the 2025 Latin America Amateur Championship, Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley confirmed the course lost some trees but will otherwise be its usual stern test for the world’s best players.
“I think we had minor damage to the course, the playing surfaces themselves, but we were able to get that back in shape, but I don't think you're going to see any difference in the condition for the Masters this year,” Ridley said.
Hurricane Helene caused an estimated $78.7 billion in damage throughout the southeastern United States when it hit in late September last year.
72-HOLE RECORD: 268, Dustin Johnson (2020)
18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Nick Price (Round 3, 1986), Greg Norman (Round 1, 1996)
LAST TIME: Scheffler captured his second green jacket, winning for the third time in 2024 en route to four more titles and a PGA TOUR Player of the Year campaign. Scheffler finished at 11-under 277, topping Åberg – who was making his first start at a major championship – by four shots. There was a four-way co-lead late on the front nine before Scheffler made six birdies in a 10-hole stretch around the turn to win his second Masters in a runaway. Max Homa, Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood finished tied for third, seven shots back of Scheffler. It was Scheffler’s second Masters title in three years.
How to follow (all times ET):
Click here for full coverage from Masters.com. (Note: All live coverage simulcast on Masters.com/Masters app.)THURSDAY-FRIDAY
- Masters.com/Masters app:
- Honorary starters: 7:30 a.m.
- Featured groups: 9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
- Nos. 4, 5 and 6 live: 8:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
- Amen Corner live: 10:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Nos. 15 and 16 live: 11:45 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Live TV coverage: 3-7:30 p.m., ESPN
- Radio coverage: 7 a.m.-10 p.m., SiriusXM
- Masters.com/Masters app:
- Featured groups: 10:15 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Nos. 4, 5 and 6 live: 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
- Amen Corner live: 11:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Nos. 15 and 16 live: 12:30-6:30 p.m.
- Live TV coverage: noon-2 p.m., Paramount+; 2-7 p.m., CBS
- Radio coverage: 8 a.m.-10 p.m., SiriusXM
Additional coverage
Before the Masters Tournament officially begins, a variety of additional programming will be available, allowing viewers to take in all the happenings around Augusta National."Mornings at the Masters," on Masters YouTube:
- Wednesday-Sunday: 9-9:45 a.m.
- Monday: noon-2 p.m.
- Tuesday-Wednesday: 9-11 a.m.
- Thursday-Friday: 8:30-10:30 a.m.
- Saturday-Sunday: 10 a.m.-noon
- Live TV coverage: 2-4 p.m., ESPN
- Live streaming coverage: noon-4 p.m., ESPN+ and Disney+
- Tuesday: noon-2 p.m., ESPN+
- Wednesday: 10 a.m.-noon, ESPN+
- Wednesday: noon-1 p.m., 4-5 p.m.; ESPN
- Wednesday: 1-2 p.m., ESPN
- Thursday: 1-3 p.m., ESPN
- Friday: 1-3 p.m., ESPN
Congratulations again to last week's winner @Bobcat07
@seminoleed still leads as we head to Augusta
Enjoy The Masters this week and good luck to everyone
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