Rory McIlroy returns to Augusta National this week as the defending Masters champion, finally free after more than a decade from the endless questions about completing the career Grand Slam.
Talk of McIlroy winning the Masters had long been an April tradition, but this year the Northern Irishman can enjoy a new sense of freedom as he drives down the iconic Magnolia Lane toward the clubhouse.
“I’d like to start this press conference with a question myself,” McIlroy said with a smile after his Masters triumph. “What are we all going to talk about next year?” Before 2025, McIlroy had endured heartbreak and near misses at Augusta, but last year he showed his resilience, birdieing the first playoff hole to claim his long-awaited victory.
Now 36, McIlroy, the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam and a runner-up at Riviera earlier this season, will aim for the rare feat of back-to-back Masters titles.
No player has won the Masters in consecutive years since Tiger Woods in 2001-02. Before that, only Nick Faldo (1989-90) and Jack Nicklaus (1965-66) pulled off the Augusta double.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, seeking a third Green Jacket in the last five years, has the shortest odds of any golfer in the field. Scheffler brought his career major tally to four with wins at the PGA Championship and British Open in 2025 and has never finished outside the top 20 in his six Masters starts.
Scheffler, who romped to a four-shot victory in his first event of the season, withdrew from his Masters tune-up in Houston, a decision not related to injury but prompted by the impending birth of his second child, who was born last week. Scheffler, who arrived at Augusta National on Sunday with his wife and two sons, last competed three weeks ago at the Players Championship, where he tied for 22nd place.
With no players able to complete the career Grand Slam this week, the pressure will shift to high-profile golfers still seeking an elusive Green Jacket. That group includes LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau, who briefly held the lead in the final round last year, Justin Rose, the man McIlroy beat in the playoff, and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele.
DeChambeau, a two-time U.S. Open champion who finished a career-best fifth at the Masters last year, is in solid form after winning the last two LIV events in Singapore and South Africa.
For DeChambeau, it was his short game that let him down at last year’s Masters, and he will need better distance control with his irons if he hopes to become the first golfer to win a Green Jacket while competing on LIV.
Rose, enjoying a late-career renaissance, carded 10 birdies in a final-round 66 to reach the playoff with McIlroy in 2025, becoming one of nine players to finish runner-up at least three times at Augusta National. The 45-year-old Englishman has 15 top-25 finishes in his 20 Masters starts and earlier this year secured his 13th PGA Tour win with a wire-to-wire triumph at Torrey Pines.
Woods to miss second consecutive Masters
Schauffele, who has finished inside the top 10 at Augusta National in five of the past seven years, is a year removed from a rib injury that hampered his 2025 season and remains one of the most complete players in the game.
Spaniard Jon Rahm, who won his second major at the 2023 Masters before joining LIV eight months later, will like his chances given his form this year. Rahm, who had top-15 finishes in three majors last year and represented Europe in his fourth Ryder Cup, has a win and three runner-up finishes on LIV this season and leads the circuit’s season-long individual standings.
For a second consecutive year, five-time champion Tiger Woods will not compete at the Masters. He announced last week he was stepping away to seek treatment after pleading not guilty in a DUI arrest stemming from a rollover crash.
