Rory McIlroy is flying in form, Scottie Scheffler is hunting out his third green jacket and a breadth of rising stars, old heads and some outsiders are all chasing the most coveted prize in golf this week in Georgia, USA.
Following a brilliant start to the 2025 PGA Tour season, European players also stand an excellent chance of winning at Augusta National, with five players having picked up titles on the US circuit this year already.
We will, though, be without two former champions, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, with the former – a five-time winner – currently battling back to fitness after sustaining an achilles injury earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, some big names from LIV Golf return for the first major of the year. It comes as merger talks continue to rage between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed golf league but those talks have been glacial at best.
Bryson DeChambeau is in red hot form and has been bludgeoning golf balls on the range already this week, while Sergio Garcia, a former champion, returns to Augusta in resurgent form.
Here at Mail Sport we’ve been doing the reading and have picked out six players you need to keep an eye on at this year’s Masters.
This year’s Masters is shaping up to be one of the most competitive years the tournament has ever seen
Ninety-two golfers have arrived at Augusta National to battle it out for the most coveted prize in golf
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy
Let’s face it, it would be nothing short of epic to see these two battle it out over 18 holes on Sunday afternoon at Augusta.
Right now, they are the two best golfers in the world and it is a tough one to call who would win if they went to a shootout on the final day.
While McIlroy has more starts at Augusta than Scheffler, the American has had the better success, having now won twice on this track, but has also never finished outside the top 20 in his five appearances at The Masters.
It is, though, the Northern Irishman who has better form this year. McIlroy has won twice on the PGA Tour in 2025, notably clinching his second Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass last month.
Interestingly, we are watching a different McIlroy play golf this year. He looks much more settled, at home with his swing compared to previous years and as he says is just ‘blocking out all the noise’ surrounding him.
It is a delight to watch him enjoying his golf.
It comes after a turbulent year that saw him U-turn on a divorce from his partner Erica Stoll and come agonisingly close to claiming victory at the US Open in Pinehurst, only to be bested by Bryson DeChambeau – who we’ll talk a little more on later.
Rory McIlroy (pictured with his wife Erica Stoll and daughter Poppy) is one of the favourites to conquer Augusta this week
The Northern Irishman comes into the event in form but must shed the woes of his past turmoil here to claim victory
On Wednesday, you could not wipe the smile off McIlroy’s face as he walked around the Par Three Course at Augusta National with his daughter Poppy and wife Erica.
The question for McIlroy is can he take his mind away from the pressure that always follows him at this illustrious event? In the past, we have seen McIlroy struggle under the weight of expectations around Augusta – notably sandwiching a second-place finish between two missed cuts in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
But the noises coming from McIlroy, this week are promising.
‘It’s just narratives. It’s noise. It’s just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year,’ he said on Tuesday.
‘Look, I understand the narrative and the noise, and there’s a lot of anticipation and buildup coming into this tournament each and every year, but I just have to keep my head down and focus on my job.’
Scheffler faces a slightly different challenge. Things look a little different for him this time around, with the 2024 FedEx Cup winner also now being a new dad.
This year, he will be competing to join an illustrious club of players that includes Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson and Gary Player, to win three Green Jackets.
But Scheffler knows how to get it done on this track. He was peerless in 2024, winning seven times on the PGA Tour.
And even after having missed parts of 2025, after sustaining a bizarre hand injury while trying to cook up some ravioli at Christmas, Scheffler, barring some hayfever is ready to play his best golf again.
‘Yeah, this rain and pollen out here. I get out of my car in the morning, my eyes start watering. It’s a little bit worse than normal years. But I feel good,’ a bleary-eyed Scheffler told reporters earlier in the week.
Last year’s champion Scottie Scheffler is another favourite to challenge McIlroy for the title
He has not played his best golf at the start of the season having missed parts of the season with a hand injury
But Scheffler’s prowess and form around this golf course is exceptional. He will be bidding for his third green jacket this weekend
‘Yeah, I’m feeling good, ready to roll.’
As for the stats, McIlroy may just edge Scottie for his putting this season on the PGA Tour, ranking 10th for strokes gained on the greens, but Scheffler’s scrambling has been superb. He is third so far this year for saving par from difficult spots around the course and that will no doubt fill him with confidence if he finds himself in a spot of bother in the pine straw.
It’s hard to call between the two. On form it’s McIlroy. But as we’ve seen before, when Scheffler is firing on all cylnders, he is almost unbeatable.
Min Woo Lee
Former PGA Championship winner Jason Day believes Lee ‘has the world at his feet right now’ and that couldn’t be more true.
Lee is on fire this season, with the affable and humble Australian coming into this week off the back of a huge win at last week’s Texas Children’s Houston Open – his first-ever PGA Tour victory.
The bookies have him at slightly longer odds than the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Xander Schauffele, who are all top picks for the week. But that means he could be a great value outsider.
The thing many golf fans and coaches like about Lee is his excellent putting ability. Currently ranked as the PGA Tour’s fifth-best putter this season, that confidence with the flat stick on Augusta’s winding greens will no doubt be beneficial to the 26-year-old.
Affable, humble and a really promising golfer, Min Woo Lee comes into the week off the back of a big victory in Houston and will be out to improve on his excellent vein of form
Keegan Bradley
The US Ryder Cup Captain has a huge headache this year as he plots out how to retain the biannual trophy from Team Europe in New York.
The 2011 PGA Championship winner has been absolutely outstanding on the tour this season, and although he hasn’t won a tournament, he has to make the difficult decision of whether to both play and captain the US Ryder Cup side when they arrive at Bethpage Black this September.
His brilliant form was evident during yesterday’s Par Three Tournament, where Bradly struck a beautiful hole-in-one on the 144-yard sixth hole.
It was also his third ace this season and considering how dialled his approach game is, he is in with a huge shout of making a play to top the leaderboard this weekend.
‘You get that buzz, even starting on a Monday,’ Bradley said on his hole-in-one.
‘It’s such an amazing week. I’m trying to soak it all in. Super excited to get it all started tomorrow morning. Yeah, it’s the best.’
Having that level of confidence coming into the week, it’s hard not to look past Bradley as at least a top-ten finisher.
There was joy for US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley during yesterday’s Par Three Tournament after he produced a beautiful hole-in-one
Bradley has been in outstanding form at the start of 2025 but he faces a huge dilemma this year: should he opt to be a playing captain at this year’s Ryder Cup? Or just captain the team?
Collin Morikawa
Xander Schauffele used to own the title of being ‘golf’s nearly man’.
For the start of the 2025 season, that title goes to Collin Morikawa.
The American has been playing out of his skin so far on the PGA Tour but has agonisingly just missed out on clinching a title with two runner-up finishes at The Sentry and at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
He is certainly knocking on the door this year and realistically it’s only a matter of time before he cracks the code to winning what will be his seventh PGA Tour title.
On that note, Morikawa finished T3 at the 2024 Masters and knows how to play around this course.
‘I’ve learned how to prep a little bit better kind of coming into this week knowing what you really need to be hitting well,’ he said while giving his verdict on how to play Augusta National.
‘You need to hit your irons really, really well. You need to have control of your irons.’
That is, interestingly, something Morikawa does perhaps better than many other players on the PGA Tour. His work with his wedges, from less than 150 yards out of the green is phenomenal.
Collin Morikawa’s approach play is firing at the moment. He is ranked first on the PGA Tour for shots gamed from under 150 yards
Even in difficult weather conditions, as he showed in the swirling winds of Whistling Straits during the 2021 Ryder Cup, he can be clinical with his mid-irons and short irons
Even in difficult weather conditions, as he showed in the swirling winds of Whistling Straits during the 2021 Ryder Cup, he can be clinical with his mid-irons and short irons.
It’ll be windy this week at Augusta and many players will struggle to control the ball in the air, but Morikawa, who is the top-ranked player on the PGA Tour so far this season for approach play, should be confident he can handle that comfortably.
Bryson DeChambeau
The mad scientist is back at The Masters once again. And he looks primed and ready to tear his way around Augusta.
The LIV Golf star has raised eyebrows this week after he spent the best part of Tuesday on the range – perhaps expected from a man who loves hitting big bombs down the fairway and tinkering with his clubs.
Fans might be a little concerned that he has been working in his game perhaps a little too late on the eve of The Masters, with many noticing that he struck 300 balls on the range.
Some of his bigger strikes were carrying over 320 yards, while his ball speeds were pushing 190mph.
The two-time US Open winner finished T6 in 2024 and could do better this year.
Bryson DeChambeau (right) is certainly one player you want to watch this year. He is one of golf’s great entertainers, not just for his swing, but his antics on the course
But it’s his antics around the course that make him such a great player to watch. Yes, he is a hugely skilled golfer, but Bryson brings entertainment too.
Last year he tore a sign out of the ground at Augusta so he could get a better look angle in on the green.
He also dazzled fans by chipping in on the 18th hole during his final round.
Perhaps, right now, he is golf’s great entertainer. Combining all the science, incredible golfing skills and his affable personality, he is certainly another player to watch this season.
