Can Rory McIlroy make history and defend his Masters title? Here’s our full preview for the 2026 tournament at Augusta
Masters week is here again. The world’s best golfers are preparing to navigate 72 holes of the most demanding, unforgiving and entertaining course in the game.
The 90th Masters Tournament gets underway on Thursday, April 9, and for the first time in a very long time, the man walking down Magnolia Lane as defending champion is not burdened by history.
Rory McIlroy is the Masters champion. He has been one for almost exactly a year. And now the question is whether he can do it again.
Form suggests otherwise. Will the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick or Scottie Scheffler take his crown?
We’ve got answers to all of your questions in our Masters 2026 preview, right here on 101GreatGoals.
The McIlroy question
Twelve months ago, McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam.
After losing the lead on the 13th hole, he clawed it back. He gave it away again on the 18th. But he eventually won it in a sudden-death play-off, holing a birdie putt to break Justin Rose’s heart in the process.
Now he is back as the 36-year-old defending champion, and he is chasing something only three men in Masters history have ever achieved. Jack Nicklaus went back-to-back in 1965 and 1966. Nick Faldo repeated in 1989 and 1990. Tiger Woods did it in 2001 and 2002. Nobody has managed it since.
McIlroy knows the script and even went to far to address it in his pre-tournament press conference.
“This is going to be the first time I drive down Magnolia Lane and it’s all going to be about enjoying my week, enjoying the perks that come along with being a Masters champion,” he said.
“I get to go back to the Masters Tournament for the rest of my life, and that’s quite a freeing feeling.”
The concern, though, is form. McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March with a back spasm and scraped through four rounds at The Players, finishing tied 46th at even par.
He has not played since. That three-week layoff heading into Augusta is tied for the longest of his career before the Masters.
His putting is a worry too. He ranks 104th on tour in strokes gained. A year ago, heading into his Masters win, he was ninth in that same category. You cannot win at Augusta without making putts.
Butch Harmon is not panicking. The coach who knows McIlroy better than most told Sky Sports he expects to see a more relaxed version of the Northern Irishman this week.
“I think because he won last year and got that off his back, I don’t think he’s going to be as uptight as most people would think,” Harmon said. “He has the ability, the way he drives the ball, to take over the golf course.”
Scottie Scheffler still the one to beat
Scottie Scheffler is the favourite. He almost always is.
The world number one is a two-time Masters champion, having slipped on the Green Jacket in 2022 and 2024.
He missed the Houston Open entirely after the birth of his second child. He has not finished inside the top 20 in his last three Tour starts.
And yet the numbers still point to Scheffler at Augusta. His course history is exceptional, averaging 3.26 strokes gained per round at Augusta National across his career.
His short game and putting have actually improved this season while his iron play has dipped slightly. He won The American Express to open his 2026 campaign, turning a tight final round into a rout, as he tends to do.
The whispers about his game failing to hit last season’s heights are growing. But Woods had gone six tournaments without winning ahead of his 2001 Tiger Slam. The best players have a habit of finding something when it matters most.
The LIV charge: DeChambeau and Rahm
The subplot that refuses to go away. LIV Golf players cannot earn world ranking points during their league events, yet two of their marquee names enter Augusta as genuine co-favourites alongside Scheffler.
Bryson DeChambeau is in frightening form. He won back-to-back LIV events in late March, including one in a playoff over Jon Rahm with a 3-wood from nearly 300 yards out of a wet lie in the rough at the 18th. Paul Casey described it as a shot almost nobody on the planet could pull off.
Rahm won in Hong Kong earlier this season and has the pedigree, having claimed the Green Jacket in 2023. But history works slightly against him.
That Augusta win is his only top-10 finish over his last four Masters starts. He was 45th in 2024 and 14th in 2025. A model that has correctly predicted 16 golf majors gave Rahm a wide berth, suggesting he will not crack the top five.
Neither man has come close to winning a 72-hole stroke play event outside of LIV in the three years since joining the breakaway tour.
Augusta is a different animal. The pressure, the cut, the weekend, the weight of it all, is unlike anything LIV can manufacture.
Matt Fitzpatrick: The Value Pick
If there is a name being talked about in hushed but excited tones this week, it is Matt Fitzpatrick.
The Sheffield-born 2022 US Open champion has had an extraordinary start to 2026. He began the year ranked 22nd in the world.
He is now fifth, the highest position of his career. He won the Valspar Championship in March, finishing with back-to-back bogey-free rounds on the weekend. He was second at The Players. Seven made cuts from seven starts. Five top-25 finishes.
His ball striking is as clean as anyone’s in the game right now. He is hitting 69% of fairways, fourth on tour. At a course that rewards accuracy from the tee and demands precision with the irons, that matters enormously.
The Rest of the Field
Xander Schauffele comes in as a two-time major winner but is misfiring badly. He missed a cut earlier in 2026, finished 41st in his second event and ranks 76th in strokes gained: putting. He has more missed cuts than top-fives in his last four Augusta appearances.
Ludvig Aberg finished second at the 2024 Masters on debut. He is only 22, hits the ball a long way and has the temperament to match. He is a better bet than his relative anonymity among casual fans might suggest.
Tommy Fleetwood has been quietly excellent in 2026, making 10 cuts in 10 starts as a professional at Augusta and posting three top-10 finishes across the season’s signature events.
Justin Rose carries painful memories of last year’s playoff loss to McIlroy. The 45-year-old won at Torrey Pines earlier this season and makes his 21st Masters start. He is a three-time runner-up at Augusta and knows the course inside out.
Cameron Young won The Players Championship at Sawgrass and is entering Augusta with momentum and a growing belief that he can compete at the top level in majors.
It is also worth noting two absentees. Tiger Woods will not play. He stepped away from golf following his car crash in Florida in January and subsequent DUI charge.
It has cast a shadow over what would have been another emotional Augusta week. Phil Mickelson also withdrew due to a personal family health matter.
How to Watch The Masters
The Masters begins on Thursday, April 9, with the final round taking place on Sunday, April 12.
UK viewers can watch every round live and exclusively on Sky Sports Golf. Coverage starts from 2pm BST on Thursday and Friday, with a broader window opening from 6pm. Featured groups, Amen Corner and holes 4, 5 and 6 are all available on Sky Sports from Monday’s practice rounds onwards.
US viewers can watch on ESPN (Thursday and Friday) and CBS (Saturday and Sunday). Masters.com carries every shot of the tournament and is free to stream. Prime Video picks up early-afternoon coverage on Thursday and Friday. Paramount+ also streams the action.
Masters 2026 Odds
(Odds accurate at time of publication, via Bet365)
| Player | Odds |
|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | 11/2 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | 10/1 |
| Jon Rahm | 9/1 |
| Rory McIlroy | 11/1 |
| Xander Schauffele | 14/1 |
| Ludvig Aberg | 14/1 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | 18/1 |
| Cameron Young | 18/1 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 20/1 |
| Justin Rose | 25/1 |
Prediction
Scheffler is the safe pick. He usually is. But the value is elsewhere.
Fitzpatrick enters this week in the form of his life. His ball striking is world-class, his head is right after a year of rebuilding, and Augusta suits players who can shape the ball both ways and attack the course with precision rather than brute force. He ticks every box.
DeChambeau is the wildcard that could ruin everyone’s card. Those back-to-back LIV wins were not against a soft field. If he is in that gear on Sunday afternoon, with the leaderboard tight and the pressure ratcheted up, he is capable of anything.
As for McIlroy, do not dismiss him because his form looks shaky. He came to Augusta last year with back problems and questions hanging over him. He won. He is the defending champion. He now drives down Magnolia Lane without the weight of history crushing him. That alone could be worth a shot or two.
Our pick: Bryson DeChambeau to win
