Gavin Cooney
reports from Augusta National Golf Club
EVEN THE MASTERS cannot uphold every tradition.
And so we gather at Augusta National in 2026 no longer able to ask the question, Can Rory McIlroy get this thing done?
But no, Rory has got it done and is all of a sudden a grandee of this event. There is a further sense of starting afresh: this is the first edition of the Masters since 1994 not to feature either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson is dealing with a family matter, while Woods’ issues are, as ever, not private at all. Hence a number of players have expressed their sympathy for Woods this week, although Jason Day leavened his best wishes with a rebuke for his selfishness in driving and putting other people at risk.
Another difference to this year’s Masters has been the rather democratic competitive preamble. Across each of the last four years, there has been a clear leading player in the world coming into the tournament, and all four went on to win: Scottie Scheffler in 2022 and 2024, Jon Rahm in 2023 and, of course, McIlroy in 2025.
This time around things are rather different. (Statistically speaking, the two best golfers this year are Americans Jacob Bridgeman and Chris Gotterup, both of whom are Masters rookies.)
McIlroy hasn’t hit the heights of last year – which he has described as the best he has ever felt about his game – and has fewer competitive reps, having withdrawn from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury.
He is showing no lingering signs of discomfort this week, mind, having played a round on Sunday and three sets of nine holes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, only Aldrich Potgieter and Jake Knapp outdrove him on the range on Monday. McIlroy meanwhile insists that last year’s victory has not sated his appetite around here, and remains motivated to compete. This, combined with the fact that the only baggage he has around here now is carried by Harry Diamond, should make him dangerous.
This is a very difficult title to defend, however: only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have ever defended the green jacket, and only two past winners over the last decade – Jordan Spieth in 2016 and Scheffler last year – finished within the top 10 of their defence.
Scheffler tees off on seven during a practice round. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Scheffler is meanwhile in crisis, with his worst finish so far this year an, er, tie for 22d place at the Players Championship. Still, he has been struggling with a right miss in recent weeks – he usually misses left – and has looked notably narky and tetchy on the course.
Rahm has meanwhile been in fine form on LIV – finishing outside the top two in only one event so far this year – but this is like praising a shark for its bountiful feed in a swimming pool. Who knows how it will transfer to the Masters.
If Rahm has been feasting on what has been laid before him, Shane Lowry has had to earnestly subsist on thin gruel. No golfer on the planet can ever be said to win as often as they should, but this is particularly true of Lowry, who has painfully let slip golden opportunities to win on the DP World and PGA Tours already this year. He and McIlroy have filled some idle hours with imagining what it would be like for the pair to return here as former champions into their seventies, and Lowry expressed a kind of giddy terror at the prospect of McIlroy slipping the green jacket upon his shoulders on Sunday night. “Jeez”, he says, “that’s the dream, isn’t it?” If his putter catches fire, the only remaining question as to whether Lowry can win this event will be the mental challenge of holding his nerve down the final straight.
Tom McKibbin is the third Irish golfer in the field, making his Masters debut having won last year’s Hong Kong Open. McKibbin is a big-hitting talent who, at 23, has already made the cut at each of the other three majors: going four-from-four and making the weekend at Augusta would mark an impressive debut.
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While McIlroy has finally resolved our main plotline, several other B-stories now rise to prominence.
Can Bryson DeChambeau finally figure out this place, or is his rote-learned approach too rigid for the artistry demanded by this course?
Can Justin Rose quickly lose the Masters’ nearly-man mantle he has inherited from McIlroy?
Can Jordan Spieth leap from his encouraging uptick in form and win a second green jacket a decade after his infamous blow-up?
Can Ludvig Aberg codify his obvious talent with a first major title, or is his recent collapse at the Players Championship indicative of yet another talent to whom the game comes easily but winning does not?
Can Tommy Fleetwood follow his PGA Tour hoodoo-breaker with a maiden major title?
Can Matt Fitzpatrick or Cameron Young continue trending in the right direction?
Can Brooks Koepka or Patrick Reed’s respective exits from LIV ignite a Masters challenge and thus deal another blow to the Saudis’ renegade tour?
Or will we have a first rookie winner of this tournament since the late Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979?
A view of the famous 12th hole at Augusta National. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Whatever changes have been made to the course this year have been subtle, and with no rain in the forecast of Masters week for the first time in years, the course will be fast and firm and treacherous and utterly uncompromising toward any golfer not trading in laser-guided accuracy.
McIlroy may have left us fumbling about looking for our next Masters’ meta-narrative, but all has aligned for the most famous course in golf to deliver its usual fraught and high-stakes drama to its most open field in years.
Just don’t be surprised if we reassemble on Sunday night to agree that, sure, of course Scottie Scheffler was going to win it.
Tips
Give me the winner - Scottie Scheffler
Give me a reasonable outsider - Patrick Reed
Give me a wild, wild outsider worth an e/w bet - Zach Johnson
Selected Tee Times (all times Irish)
2.43pm on Thursday and 5.56pm on Friday: Shane Lowry, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day
3.31pm on Thursday and 6.44pm on Friday: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Young, Mason Howell
4.15pm on Thursday and 12.50pm on Friday: Tom McKibbin, Andrew Novak, Brian Campbell
6.08 pm on Thursday and 2.43pm on Friday: Jon Rahm, Chris Gotterup, and Ludvig Aberg
6.44pm on Thursday and 3.19pm on Friday: Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre, and Gary Woodland
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Stories and intrigues aplenty as Rory McIlroy gets set to defend his Masters title
EVEN THE MASTERS cannot uphold every tradition.
And so we gather at Augusta National in 2026 no longer able to ask the question, Can Rory McIlroy get this thing done?
But no, Rory has got it done and is all of a sudden a grandee of this event. There is a further sense of starting afresh: this is the first edition of the Masters since 1994 not to feature either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.
Mickelson is dealing with a family matter, while Woods’ issues are, as ever, not private at all. Hence a number of players have expressed their sympathy for Woods this week, although Jason Day leavened his best wishes with a rebuke for his selfishness in driving and putting other people at risk.
Another difference to this year’s Masters has been the rather democratic competitive preamble. Across each of the last four years, there has been a clear leading player in the world coming into the tournament, and all four went on to win: Scottie Scheffler in 2022 and 2024, Jon Rahm in 2023 and, of course, McIlroy in 2025.
This time around things are rather different. (Statistically speaking, the two best golfers this year are Americans Jacob Bridgeman and Chris Gotterup, both of whom are Masters rookies.)
McIlroy hasn’t hit the heights of last year – which he has described as the best he has ever felt about his game – and has fewer competitive reps, having withdrawn from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury.
He is showing no lingering signs of discomfort this week, mind, having played a round on Sunday and three sets of nine holes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, only Aldrich Potgieter and Jake Knapp outdrove him on the range on Monday. McIlroy meanwhile insists that last year’s victory has not sated his appetite around here, and remains motivated to compete. This, combined with the fact that the only baggage he has around here now is carried by Harry Diamond, should make him dangerous.
This is a very difficult title to defend, however: only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have ever defended the green jacket, and only two past winners over the last decade – Jordan Spieth in 2016 and Scheffler last year – finished within the top 10 of their defence.
Scheffler is meanwhile in crisis, with his worst finish so far this year an, er, tie for 22d place at the Players Championship. Still, he has been struggling with a right miss in recent weeks – he usually misses left – and has looked notably narky and tetchy on the course.
Rahm has meanwhile been in fine form on LIV – finishing outside the top two in only one event so far this year – but this is like praising a shark for its bountiful feed in a swimming pool. Who knows how it will transfer to the Masters.
If Rahm has been feasting on what has been laid before him, Shane Lowry has had to earnestly subsist on thin gruel. No golfer on the planet can ever be said to win as often as they should, but this is particularly true of Lowry, who has painfully let slip golden opportunities to win on the DP World and PGA Tours already this year. He and McIlroy have filled some idle hours with imagining what it would be like for the pair to return here as former champions into their seventies, and Lowry expressed a kind of giddy terror at the prospect of McIlroy slipping the green jacket upon his shoulders on Sunday night. “Jeez”, he says, “that’s the dream, isn’t it?” If his putter catches fire, the only remaining question as to whether Lowry can win this event will be the mental challenge of holding his nerve down the final straight.
Tom McKibbin is the third Irish golfer in the field, making his Masters debut having won last year’s Hong Kong Open. McKibbin is a big-hitting talent who, at 23, has already made the cut at each of the other three majors: going four-from-four and making the weekend at Augusta would mark an impressive debut.
While McIlroy has finally resolved our main plotline, several other B-stories now rise to prominence.
Can Bryson DeChambeau finally figure out this place, or is his rote-learned approach too rigid for the artistry demanded by this course?
Can Justin Rose quickly lose the Masters’ nearly-man mantle he has inherited from McIlroy?
Can Jordan Spieth leap from his encouraging uptick in form and win a second green jacket a decade after his infamous blow-up?
Can Ludvig Aberg codify his obvious talent with a first major title, or is his recent collapse at the Players Championship indicative of yet another talent to whom the game comes easily but winning does not?
Can Tommy Fleetwood follow his PGA Tour hoodoo-breaker with a maiden major title?
Can Matt Fitzpatrick or Cameron Young continue trending in the right direction?
Can Brooks Koepka or Patrick Reed’s respective exits from LIV ignite a Masters challenge and thus deal another blow to the Saudis’ renegade tour?
Or will we have a first rookie winner of this tournament since the late Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979?
Whatever changes have been made to the course this year have been subtle, and with no rain in the forecast of Masters week for the first time in years, the course will be fast and firm and treacherous and utterly uncompromising toward any golfer not trading in laser-guided accuracy.
McIlroy may have left us fumbling about looking for our next Masters’ meta-narrative, but all has aligned for the most famous course in golf to deliver its usual fraught and high-stakes drama to its most open field in years.
Just don’t be surprised if we reassemble on Sunday night to agree that, sure, of course Scottie Scheffler was going to win it.
Tips
Give me the winner - Scottie Scheffler
Give me a reasonable outsider - Patrick Reed
Give me a wild, wild outsider worth an e/w bet - Zach Johnson
Selected Tee Times (all times Irish)
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2026 Masters Golf tee-up the big preview