2026 Masters Preview: Players, Storylines to Watch at Augusta National

A Clean Championship Canvas

By Andy Johnson

The weather for the 2026 Masters is idyllic. I don’t want to jinx it, but for the first time in years, rain is not a part of the forecast, and the dry week will allow the green jackets to dial Augusta National up to their exact preference.

In recent years, we have seen the Masters favor a firm setup whenever the weather cooperates. Augusta National delivers supreme cinema under these conditions because it makes the golf course extremely exacting. A skill that comes to the forefront is the ability to hit towering iron shots. The precision required to find the small pockets and shelves on Augusta’s greens will be immense. Expect the cream to rise to the top and one of the PGA Tour’s top-tier iron players to separate from the pack this week.

Scottie vs. Uncertainty

By Joseph LaMagna

Scottie Scheffler enters this year’s Masters with more uncertainty surrounding the state of his game than in recent trips. “I don't know. I try not to look too far in the past, I try not to look too far in the future. For me to think about that, that would take a little bit of work, which I don't want to do right now,” Scheffler joked when asked how his form compares to previous Masters lead-ins. Quintessential Scheffler simplicity.

The world No. 1 has many strengths, but one of his biggest superpowers is maintaining as uncluttered a mind as one of the best golfers in the world can have. Well, that and club face control. But despite what Scheffler might say from behind a microphone, you’d have to imagine that his mind is a little more cluttered than it has been historically. The clubface control has been a little shakier, too.

His last three starts — T-22, T-24, T-12 — have shown less dominance than we’ve come to expect. In earlier starts this season he was uncharacteristically prone to mistakes. He also hasn’t played in competition in nearly a month and welcomed his second child during that time.

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And yet, it’s still Scottie Scheffler. A two-time Masters champion. A two-time major winner last season. The only player to record a top-10 finish in each of the last four Masters. Augusta National suits him perfectly, especially in forecasted firm, fast conditions that identify the best ball-strikers and short-game specialists. Perhaps by the time Sunday evening rolls around, he’ll have proven any skepticism foolish. But for a player we’ve grown accustomed to calling inevitable, the sense of inevitability doesn’t feel quite as strong this week as it has before.

And yet, it’s still Scottie Scheffler. A two-time Masters champion. A two-time major winner last season. The only player to record a top-10 finish in each of the last four Masters. Augusta National suits him perfectly, especially in forecasted firm, fast conditions that identify the best ball-strikers and short-game specialists. Perhaps by the time Sunday evening rolls around, he’ll have proven any skepticism foolish. But for a player we’ve grown accustomed to calling inevitable, the sense of inevitability doesn’t feel quite as strong this week as it has before.

LIV Golf, Present and Accounted For

By Brendan Porath

Speaking of his decision to leave LIV Golf, Patrick Reed said on Monday at the Masters that he “wanted to get back to the traditional way of golf,” and that he “wanted that adrenaline back, and those feelings.”

There is no more traditional way of golf than the Masters. There’s even a slogan about it on the broadcast. If LIV was not approximating that for Reed, that only makes the arrival of two of the league’s heavyweights, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, back to a main event stage all the more interesting.

With the Rory question resolved in 2025, the two most important case studies for this Masters center on players who aren’t even on the PGA Tour. A few years ago, the thought would have been enough to have many at the PGA Tour crying into the moat surrounding its HQ.

But what do we make of DeChambeau and Rahm, who smart money has coalesced around at the Masters? The recent injury to Rory and the recent un-Scottie-like (still very good, not great) run by Scheffler have opened up even slightly more room for these two elite talents. We have some data from their global jaunt so far on LIV, but it’s not much of a measuring stick against the majority of players in this field. These players are essentially off the stage, winning events in far-flung corners of the world that wow the crowds on the ground and their base on the internet. But it leaves us with little else, making these major weeks so critical and pressurized.

Rahm enters this week in much better form than last year, and maybe extra motivated by irritation from his spat with the DP World Tour. Bryson’s never-ending pursuit of perfect equipment notwithstanding, he seems to have cracked an Augusta code in recent years to at least be in contention as opposed to cut. But the last time we saw him at the Masters, he was a mess trying to control his distance to get across the line, and real questions about his short game, a must around Augusta, relative to his elite peers remain.

DeChambeau is the most recognized, and maybe even popular, possibility for a new green jacket winner. Rahm seems to be the most common pick to win, for very good reasons. It seems likely that one, if not both, will be present and accounted for late on Sunday.