Grading 2026 Masters Performances

The 2026 Masters is officially in the books. After a couple of days to reflect on the tournament, today I’m grading Masters performances. 

A Few Notes: 

Rory McIlroy probably played to about a B+, but he got the job done. Every major counts the same. The goal is to put yourself in contention as often as possible. Rory did that this past week and despite not having his best stuff — especially throughout much of the weekend — he managed his way around the course intelligently and crossed the finish line. I still believe the winner, Rory or otherwise, should have finished 14 or 15 under, but that doesn’t matter now. McIlroy won the tournament, which is the only thing that actually matters, and gets an A. 

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I’m giving Scottie Scheffler a B+ because while a solo second-place finish is impressive, this was a big missed opportunity. He shot 74 on Friday, yet he had a chance to win on Sunday as his putt on No. 17 grazed the edge of the cup. Scheffler didn’t have his A-game this week and still almost won the tournament. He and McIlroy are the only players right now who can actively struggle through a tournament and still beat a full field of the best players in the world. Scheffler should come away from this year’s Masters both disappointed with a narrowly missed opportunity and encouraged about where his B-game places him on leaderboards. 

Xander Schauffele is the third-best player in the world right now with a third place at the Players Championship, a T-4 at the Valspar, and a T-9 at the Masters in his last three starts. As he gets further removed from his intercostal muscle strain, Schauffele seems to be getting closer to his 2024 form. I expect him to start winning big tournaments soon. 

Robert MacIntyre is a very good player. Coming off two straight top-five finishes entering the Masters, he had a strong opportunity at Augusta to make a statement that he’s a top-10 player in the world. He didn’t do that. He blew up on No. 15 on Thursday, making a quadruple-bogey nine that effectively ended his tournament. His on-course frustration didn’t really bother me — a middle finger isn’t damaging the golf course — but if MacIntyre wants to be taken seriously as one of the best golfers in the world, he needs to be making cuts at Augusta while he’s in form. 

Both Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau entered the Masters as two of the top favorites in the betting markets. Neither was a threat at any point during the tournament. Rahm tied his worst score in a major championship with an opening round 78, and DeChambeau posted 76-74 to miss his third cut at Augusta in his last five Masters starts. Of all golfers in the field, my opinion of these two shifted most. Both were in form and complete non-factors in a tournament they should have contended in. 

Sergio Garcia disgraced himself, as he is prone to do, at the 2026 Masters. Damaging the second tee box and breaking his driver against a cooler while completely out of contention on Sunday was completely inexcusable, but his post-round comments were somehow even more distasteful. Smug, insincere, and petulant. It wasn’t a great week on the course for Garcia, but it was even worse in the PR department.