Rory McIlroy has seven Masters top 10s, but he’s still looking for his first green jacket.
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Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we preview the 2025 Masters and break down the finish of the 2025 Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Welcome to Masters week, where there’s no shortage of storylines: Rory McIlroy will (yet again) try to finish off the career grand slam; stars like JT and Xander will try to win their first green jacket; Scottie Scheffler will try to win his third; and two-time champ Bernhard Langer will say goodbye. Although until Rory wins this tournament, will his quest for the slam always be the main storyline? Does he need a Masters win the most?
Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): Until Scottie or some future star is looking to win something like a third straight — or until a Tiger Woods Masters sendoff — Rory going for the grand slam is always going to be the obvious main storyline at Augusta. But that’s just because of the layers to it — the haunting way he lost the 2011 Masters and the major drought that’s now reached a decade. He has several good years left though and he’s going to win one. He’s too good not to.
Josh Schrock, associate editor (@Schrock_And_Awe): Agree with Berhow. Rory will be the lead storyline of the Masters until he either wins one or there’s a golf eclipse-type storyline for everyone else to focus on. Augusta National is tailor-made for Rory’s game and the different ways he has come up short — from the blowup in 2011 to not pushing Patrick Reed in the final group in 2018 to a blistering backdoor runner-up in 2022 — make him storyline 1A and 1B unless Tiger is in the field.
Jack Hirsh, associate equipment editor (@JR_HIRSHey): I have nothing to argue with those two answers. Add to it the fact that Rory has perhaps the best lead-in to the Masters of his entire career, and there’s going to be immense pressure on this week. I subscribe to the rumor mill on social media that he mentioned his elbow was bothering him last week so some of the expectations could be lifted, but I think most have forgotten about that.
Berhow: Why will he? Because he’s playing some of the best golf of his career. He’s won twice this year and already came out of a high-stress situation (the Players Championship playoff) on top. No, he hasn’t won the Masters, but he has finished top 10 seven times. He’s likely to be in contention at some point, and if you get enough at-bats one of them is bound to work out in your favor, especially for one of the top-five most-talented players in the game. The golf gods work in mysterious ways. It’s time for some of that heartbreak (like his Pinehurst loss) to even out. Why won’t he win? Because golf (and life) is not fair and nothing is promised on Sunday at Augusta.
Schrock: He claims he’s the most complete golfer he has ever been and the stats back it up this season. The work done in the offseason to rework his takeaway, coupled with a focus on course management and a new golf ball, has him firing on almost all cylinders. Rory has suffered so many scars in recent years as he tried to break this drought. He arrives at Augusta not searching or hoping but playing the best golf of anyone in the world. If not now, when?
Hirsh: It’s easy to see how he wins. The driver gets cooking and we see him hit from spots we haven’t seen players play from since they Tiger-proofed the course (and then they build a bunch of new tees and make the course 8,000 yards next year). How he loses is he starts playing well and then gets to No. 10 and starts feeling the demons of 2011 come back. He just might be broken at Augusta.
What’s a storyline no one is talking about that deserves more attention?
Berhow: I have no under-the-radar storyline to offer but have one random thought to type out: it’s crazy we have reached the 10-year anniversary of Jordan Spieth’s Masters win (which was immediately followed by his Chambers Bay U.S. Open victory). He’s won just one major since those two in 2015 — the 2017 Open at Royal Birkdale — and he continues to become a difficult player to predict. His last four Masters starts — MC, T4, MC, T3. The sport is a lot more fun when he’s in contention. I hope he’s in the mix this week.
Schrock: I would have gone with Spieth and I expect Augusta National to stir the Spieth of old next week. I’m going to go with Jon Rahm. His first major season as a member of LIV Golf was a dud outside of a T7 at The Open. His Masters defense fell flat last year and he followed that with a missed cut at the PGA Championship. He remains one of the most talented golfers on the planet but will that show on the biggest stages this year?
Hirsh: I’ll follow Schrock’s lead and go with another LIV golfer in Joaquin Niemann. I will say the people calling him the best player on the planet right now is overblown, but he should have as much expectations on him this week as anyone not named Scottie or Rory. He’s still never finished better than T16 in a major championship and if that continues, that’s not going to be a good look for the competitive balance on LIV Golf.
Most likely to win a green jacket first: Morikawa, Xander or JT?
Berhow: Xander and Collin have both played very well here but I’ll give the slight nod to Morikawa, who has the perfect game for this golf course. He’s also had an awesome season so far — two runner-up finishes, a T10 and pair of T17s. Oh, and his last three starts at Augusta? All top 10s. His ball-striking is back to being among the game’s best (currently 1st in Strokes Gained: Approach), he’s confident and he’s got a little chip on his shoulder looking for that next win. Heck, maybe he wins this thing this year?
Schrock: I think the likely answer is Xander but I’ll make the case for JT. In the age of Trackman and dome golfers, JT is a true artist. When he’s playing at his best, his game and imagination should fit Augusta perfectly. He is finally out of the wilderness and has been playing like a top-10 player for six months. Don’t be surprised if he’s slipping on the green jacket Sunday.
Hirsh: It’s Morikawa. He’s just due. He’d probably be my pick if it wasn’t for McIlroy. While he doesn’t have the prodigious length, his elite ball-striking is tailor-made for Augusta, which is one of the few courses the Tour plays where angles still matter. I like him a lot this week.
While several PGA Tour headliners took last week off, a dozen Augusta-bound players competed at LIV Golf Miami. Rank your top-five Masters contenders from the group that just played a tune-up in Florida.
Berhow: My subjective ranking goes 1) Bryson, 2) Rahm, 3) Brooks Koepka, 4) Phil Mickelson, and 5) Cameron Smith. Joaquin Niemann seems like a guy ready to break out at a major at some point, but we haven’t seen it yet. Smith is the curious one — five top 10s in his last seven trips here, but he didn’t do much (T63, T32, MC) in his three other major starts last season. Is this the week he jumps back on everyone’s radar?
Schrock: Man, this is tough. I’ll go 1) Bryson, 2) Rahm, 3) Brooks, 4) Sergio Garcia, 5) Tyrrell Hatton. I think the top three are pretty clear. Sergio Garcia has been playing really good golf for the better part of a year now and has good history at Augusta National. It feels like a week where he could contend. I know Joaquin Niemann has been lighting up LIV, but until he cards a top-15 in a major, I can’t look at him as a legitimate threat to make noise at Augusta. Hatton got kicked in the teeth by Doral, but he has been playing well over the last six months. He finished T9 at Augusta last year, and I think he’ll be lingering to start the weekend. Phil could very well turn back the clock one more time, but he’s a pass for me.
Hirsh: 1) Rahm, 2) Niemann 3) Sergio 4) Brooks Koepka 5) Bryson. Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Bryson doesn’t make the cut. He didn’t make the cut in 2022 or 2023. The concept that he figured something out last year seems foolish. Nobody really figures out Augusta National except Tiger. Rahm is the clear top dawg here as he needs to show he can compete in the majors still after a lackluster showing last year. As I mentioned above, Niemann wants to shake the doubters of his major prospects. Sergio Garcia’s play of late really makes me think he could do something special in his 40s.
Spain’s Carla Bernat Escuder held off Lottie Woad and Asterisk Talley to win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on Saturday. What most impressed you about Bernat Escuder’s play, and what did you learn in the latest edition of the ANWA?
Berhow: Her fearless play. Holding that lead on the back nine is not easy to do and she did it while hitting some big-time shots, like that fairway wood from an awkward lie to the 13th green that set up a two-putt birdie (and three-shot lead). This tournament has quickly become one of the handful you circle on the calendar in amateur and pro golf. It’s fun to see how the top female ams play it and introduce themselves to the golfing world. It’s the perfect Masters appetizer. Although I still want more of it on TV.
Schrock: She was so steady in the cauldron. As the pressure ratcheted up on the back nine, she never flinched. She had that massive par save on No. 10 and the second shot on 13 to set up a key birdie. I do want to give a shoutout to Asterisk Talley, who had arguably the two most impressive feats of the day with the hole-out eagle on No. 1 and that ridiculous birdie on No. 17. She’s so damn impressive.
Hirsh: I love how she references the “Masters begins on the back nine Sunday” tagline during her press conference. I think her being herself at her press conference instead of getting stiff and awkward with the lights (and green jackets) turned on was really impressive. We also learned this week that Asterisk Talley didn’t have just a hot season last year — she’s going to be a contender for years to come no matter what level she plays at. As for the ANWA, why aren’t we playing more of it at Augusta National? It’s called the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, but only 33 percent of it is played at Augusta National. Also agree we need more TV coverage of it.
