A perfect weather forecast awaits to help deliver what should be a terrific 90th Masters.
Rory McIlroy is the defending champion, getting back to business after basically a year-long victory lap (and that back nine last year still amazes).
He defeated Justin Rose in the playoff for the green jacket, and the Englishman is hoping for redemption this week. Past champion Patrick Reed is back, and now that he's no longer with LIV Golf he is even more invigorated at the season's first major.
Another past champion is Jon Rahm, whose squabble with the DP World Tour continues but that hasn't affected his spot on the short list of favorites.
They'll all take on an Augusta National course that figures to get firmer and faster through the weekend with dry conditions—which could lead to a higher winning score than usual.
Play begins Thursday morning at 7:40 a.m. In the meantime, the Sports Illustrated team of writers and editors onsite at Augusta National have made their picks on who will win the season’s first major.
Bob Harig, SI Golf Senior Writer: Scottie Scheffler. I'm sticking with my preseason Masters pick. Despite some recent drop in form—for him—he remains a force around Augusta National. Even last year, prior to going on another winning spree, he finished fourth here. The every-other-year, Arnold Palmer-like run seems appropriate. Winning score: 280, 8 under par.
John Pluym, SI.com Managing Editor: Bryson DeChambeau, -13. DeChambeau is playing well, coming off consecutive LIV wins in Singapore and South Africa. He also came close last year, playing in the final group with eventual champion Rory McIlroy, who overcame a rollercoaster final round to complete his Grand Slam. I think DeChambeau gets it done this time around, learning last year what it will take to win his first Masters at Augusta.
Jeff Ritter, SI Golf Managing Director: Scheffler is the chalk pick, but this Masters feels sneakily wide open. I think it’s time for a first-time major-winner to snag a jacket, and I’ll go with the same pick I made in SI’s print edition a couple of months ago: Tommy Fleetwood is now a PGA Tour winner and playing the best golf of his career. He’s made eight straight cuts at Augusta and was T3 in 2024. His time is now. I think this is his spot. And at 14 under par.
Michael Rosenberg, SI Senior Writer: Ludvig Åberg, 8 under par. Åberg was the 2024 runner-up and finished seventh last year. So clearly, he knows how to contend at Augusta National, and he obviously has the length to win. Åberg is not known as a great putter, but he has improved in one key aspect: This season, he is second on the PGA Tour in putting from 10 to 15 feet. Putts from that distance are so important on Augusta National’s greens—especially this week, when the course should be dry and fast every day.
Max Schreiber, SI Golf Contributor: Xander Schauffele, 12 under par. After an early-season injury derailed his 2025 season, the two-time major winner appears to be on the verge of a breakthrough, coming off consecutive top 5s at the Players and Valspar championships, and hasn’t finished outside the top 25 since the WM Phoenix Open. Since 2019 at ANGC, he’s finished T2-T17-T3-MC-T10-8-T8. Not too shabby. He gets over the hump this year.
More Golf Coverage from Sports Illustrated
- Beginner’s Masters Betting Guide: How to Bet Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Min Woo Lee
- Masters Weather Forecast Portends a Wildly Tough Version of Augusta National
- Keegan Bradley Was So Fired Up After Historic Hole-in-One at Masters Par 3 Contest
- 2026 Masters Hole in One Odds and History at Augusta National
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 2026 Masters Predictions: Our Picks to Win the Green Jacket.
