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2026 Masters Preview

The Super Bowl of golf is here. Augusta. The Back 9. The drama. The Green Jacket. The Masters. Here are the Top 5 things/storylines I am looking for this year.

1. Rory Mcllroy. One of the game’s icons goes for back-to-back green coats after thrilling the golf world last year with his playoff win over Justin Rose to complete the career Grand Slam. If he wins again, it just adds to his Hall of Fame legacy at this point, and not many have two Masters wins in the game’s history. Also, only three players in history have won this tournament back-to-back, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods.

2. 17th hole change. Nandina, as they call the hole, will have a slight tweak. The front of the 17th tee box has been shortened by just under a dozen yards. The hole will officially list the par-4 at 450 yards. It was 440 yards last year. This hole was ranked the 4th hardest on the course last year. 17 was glory for Rory in 2025, or so he thought. He birdied the hole, but then had a bogey on 18, leading to the playoff with Rose. This shouldn’t be a big change, but you never know. Golfers and their margins and how the mind flows are always at work.

3. Qualification process. This has changed for 2026 and beyond. Augusta National has partnered with The R&A, which runs The Open Championship. Scottish Open, Spanish Open, Japanese Open, Hong Kong Open, Australia Open and South Africa Open winners will also immediately qualify to play in the Masters. More depth, more winners and an even better, hotter field went into the thought process here.

4. Tiger Woods. Athletes of all kind are amazing when they literally think anything is possible no matter what. The best ever? 10 times that, including TW who is now 50 (By the way, how is Tiger 50 already?). As of this writing, Woods addressed the media and said this tournament isn’t off the table. Uh, well, Woods cannot really walk the course, his body has been operated on a million times, including recently, and he is 50 and the game’s prime players are miles better and 20-25 years younger. Woods thinks he can compete in every tournament, including this one, his favorite. The reality? He has no chance. It’s ok, it happens to everyone.

5. Scottie time? Scottie Scheffler has won two of the last four Green Jackets and is the best player in the world. There are no holes in his game, which plays to any course around the world. This guy can hang around and come back and beat you, he can crush the field, he can now beat you with his putting and short game, he hits it a mile and he apparently has the ability to get three Eagles in a round (4th Round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am). He has four major titles, turns 30 on June 21 and the all-time resume continues to grow. He can complete the career Grand Slam with a U.S. Open win this year, but he would never turn down a third green coat, which comes first.

Did you know?

Only one U.S. president was a member at Augusta National.

Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower is the only U.S. president to have been a club member. Ike’s Pond occupies 3 acres near hole No. 9 on the par 3 course, a nine-hole layout that is the site of the traditional Par 3 Contest on Wednesday of Masters week.