AUGUSTA, Ga. — The 2025 Masters has begun, and it did so just as others preceding it have — with the annual tradition of three luminary figures and former Masters champions hitting tee shots as the Honorary Starters. Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus, three-time champion Gary Player and two-time champion Tom Watson opened play early Thursday morning at a brisk Augusta National Golf Club just after the sun has risen. Nicklaus has been an Honorary Starter since 2010, while Player joined him in 2012. Watson was the most recent addition to the group in 2022, and he struck an opening tee shot for the fourth time Thursday morning. This year’s Masters marks the 50-year anniversary of Nicklaus’ fifth green jacket and 13th major title.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The 89th playing of the Masters is upon us, and 95 players still have a chance to be the lucky soul to slip on the green jacket come Sunday. While the last few Masters have gone the way of tournament favorites like Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler (not once, but twice), the 2025 edition of this tradition unlike any other feels a bit more wide open. Much like the wind in Amen Corner, questions swirl around the top players in the world and make this year’s Masters all the more difficult to figure out. From a field of 95, which we ranked top to bottom earlier this week, we have whittled the contender list down to the nine most likely to join golf’s most exclusive company this weekend.
2025 Masters predictions, picks, favorites: One of these nine golfers will win at Augusta National
The 2025 Masters will begin, as others preceding it have, with the annual tradition of three luminary figures and former Masters champions hitting tee shots as the Honorary Starters. Six-time Masters champion Jack Nicklaus, three-time champion Gary Player and two-time champion Tom Watson will once again open play at Augusta National Golf Club with their shots off the first tee. Nicklaus has been an Honorary Starter since 2010, while Player joined him in 2012. Watson was the most recent addition to the group in 2022, and he will strike an opening tee shot for the fourth year on Thursday morning.
Less than 24 hours before the pressure ratchets up significantly at Augusta National Golf Club, the annual Masters Par 3 Contest offers players an opportunity for a bit of a reprieve. The competition often comes second to golfers having fun with family and friends. In fact, many players intentionally disqualify themselves as scoring competitors by having their kids or significant others — wearing the iconic white Masters caddie onesies — hit a tee shot or putt on their behalf. One of the highlights of the 2025 Masters Par 3 Contest came courtesy of Rory McIlroy’s 4-year-old daughter, Poppy, who poured in a long downhill put on the 9th hole by just nudging the ball to get it on the right line with gravity doing the rest.
While the true value of the Par 3 Contest is that it allows players to relax and enjoy the day before the tournament pressure ratchets up, there is a competition at play. This year’s event ended in a playoff between Nico Echavarria and J.J. Spaun after both shot a 5-under 22. Ultimately, it was Echavarria who won with a birdie on the second playoff hole (both coming at No. 9) as Spaun made a bogey. Check out the moments and highlights.
2025 Masters week got off to a bit of a tough start, atmospherically, as Monday’s practice round was called just before noon ET due to inclement weather in the area. That gave way to sunny skies and cool conditions Tuesday and Wednesday, and as the week progresses, the weather forecast projects to be much better than the extremely difficult conditions players battled through in 2024.
The 2025 Masters is headlined by the two top-ranked golfers in the world chasing history. Rory McIlroy will make his 11th attempt at capturing the career grand slam, but this year’s try brings renewed optimism amid the best start to a season of his career with two wins already in his bag ahead of his annual visit to Augusta National Golf Club. Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, has an opportunity to declare himself one as of the all-time greats at the Masters by collecting back-to-back green jackets and a third in four years.
Only Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods have gone back-to-back at Augusta National, while only Nicklaus has won three green jackets in a four-year span.
It is hardly rare to see the course at Augusta National Golf Club undergo changes ahead of the Masters. The club is constantly evaluating ways to adjust its playing surfaces to present new challenges for players. Exiting last year’s tournament, there were not many significant changes planned; however, when Hurricane Helene swept through the area in September and devastated much of the Southeast, there were repairs and alterations that needed to be made. ANGC chairman Fred Riley on Wednesday discussed the larger hurricane recovery effort, which focused primarily on helping the community of Augusta, Georgia.
2025 Masters course changes: Tree removals most notable adjustment to Augusta National Golf Club
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Are you result-oriented or process-oriented? Really think about it. Be true to yourself. Look at the man or woman in the mirror and answer with honesty. There are no wrong answers — it is personal question, after all. This question is being posed to provide context around what professional golfers must experience when they tee it up at Augusta National Golf Club. The 89th edition of the Masters welcomes 95 players with dreams and aspirations. Those are 95 unique players with 95 unique perspectives and 95 unique answers to the aforementioned question.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Nothing can prepare a golf diehard for the moment one steps foot onto the property. You hear it all leading in. The elevation changes are more drastic in person. The green complexes are beyond severe. Not a blade of grass is out of place. The food prices! You nod and pretend you already know, but in reality, you do not. It hits you hard. You find yourself trying not to get too excited. It proves to be a losing battle as the madness flanks you from all sides.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The week of festivities have already at Augusta National Golf Club with the first round of the 89th Masters fast approaching. As usual, the key question everyone’s asking remains the same across the golf world: Who are you picking to win the green jacket? With an extraordinary 95-man field featuring the best professionals and many of the top amateurs in the world, the first major championship of 2025 should be a tremendous ride from Thursday’s first round through the awarding of the green jacket Sunday evening.
The first major championship of the season is upon us, and the opening round of the 2025 Masters features groupings worthy to receive every ounce of your attention. A field of 95 players at the onset of the week still technically have a chance to don a green jacket come Sunday, but a fast start will be required or else hopes will be quickly dashed.
Two-time Masters champion and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler starts the festivities off in the morning hours as he seeks to become just the second player to win three Masters in a four-year stretch. Check out the rest of the featured groups below.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — When the task to rank the entire 2025 Masters field came across the desk, the initial thought was that there was no way anyone would parse the difference between who checked in No. 43, and let’s say, No. 67. Then perspective prevailed with the realization that, in this day and age, anything that can be debated will be debated.
That is to say this endeavor has been undertaken with the utmost seriousness, not only for that one person who cares deeply about where each individual in this 95-man field stacks up against one another but because the Masters is the preeminent major championship on the golf calendar, one that we have all had circled since last August.
2025 Masters predictions, favorites: Ranking the entire field from 1-95 at Augusta National
For the fifth time in the last 11 playings of the Masters, Tiger Woods will be sitting on the sidelines. The five-time green jacket winner will not tee it up in the 89th Masters this week at Augusta National as he continues to recover from a ruptured Achilles, an injury he announced during the week of The Players Championship. Here’s more on where the 15-time major champion stands.
Tee times for the 2025 Masters are out, and the Thursday pairings at Augusta National — from morning until the afternoon — are jam-packed. Once the Honorary Starters — Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson begin the tournament with their ceremonial tee shots at 7:25 a.m. ET — there is no slowing down the tremendous groupings who will be taking the course.
If the 2025 Masters feels a bit more wide open than recent trips to Augusta National Golf Club, that may be wind up being accurate. Many of the top players enter the first major championship of the season with questions swirling around some aspect of their form. That could give way to a surprise winner for the first time in a long time.
Will Scottie Scheffler becomes just the fourth player to successfully defend his Masters title? Will Rory McIlroy overcome the demons and become the fifth to complete the career grand slam? Will world No. 3 Xander Schauffele regain his form following a two-month hiatus due to a rib injury?
Read on below to see the trends that could help pinpoint the Masters winner this year:
The dominant storyline entering the 89th Masters is a hopeful duel between Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. The two best players in the world seem to be peaking ahead of a potential all-time battle at Augusta National, but as golf fans are well aware, the biggest story is not often the one a major championship ultimately produces.
Even though much of the talk is centered around McIlroy and Scheffler, it feels like this Masters is ripe for someone to come from further down the field to win it.
Read on below to see the sleeper picks you should consider at the 2025 Masters:
The 89th Masters takes place this week at Augusta National Golf Club, and there might as well be 89 storylines to follow. The most notable names are rounding into form as the 2025 PGA Tour season enters its first championship with the games of numerous golfers peaking at the precise right time just as the azaleas have bloomed and Augusta National awaits patrons from the world over to swarm its gates.
Rory McIlroy rolls into Georgia with a wave of momentum at his back and the weight of a mountain on his shoulders. Seeking to become the sixth player to complete a career grand slam, his march to Augusta across first three months of the season has been just about flawless, only turning up the volume on the discussion.
McIlroy is hardly the only golfer being conversed about entering the Masters, of course. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler has a chance to join rare company by winning a third green jacket in four years. World No. 3 Xander Schauffele could join perhaps the rarest company imaginable. Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm may represent LIV Golf’s best shot at winning, but it is another name who may, in fact, have the best shot at bringing a green jacket back to that tour.
Let’s dive into the nine most captivating storylines entering the 89th Masters with the week just kicking off from one of the nation’s most pristine courses.
Read more below for the biggest storylines to follow at Augusta National this week:
The piano music is playing in the background, the azaleas are blooming, and the sports world has shifted its attention to Augusta, Georgia. There is nothing in golf quite like the anticipation for the Masters, and the 2025 edition figures to be another sterling golf tournament taking place at one of the most pristine courses in the world.
As the best players from the Untied States and internationally all come together for the first time this year at Augusta National Golf Club, you may be wondering who you should be cheering to take home the green jacket. There’s no shortage of great stories waiting to be written at the 2025 Masters, but we’ve narrowed the field down to nine we believe are particularly worth of following over the next week.
Read more below to see which golfers should capture your rooting interest this week at Augusta National:
Not only is a green jacket up for grabs at the 2025 Masters, so is a Silver Cup and a seat in Butler Cabin. Those honors will be bestowed upon the low amateur in the 89th playing of the tournament, and history suggests this crowning achievement may just be the beginning of a golfer’s great career.
The 2025 Masters represents the 30th anniversary of a rather well-known golfer winning the Silver Cup as Tiger Woods, at age 19, brought home the honor. Woods was the only amateur to make the cut in 1995, and two years later, he boat raced the field to win the first of his five green jackets.
Read on below to learn more about the amateurs competing in the 2025 Masters field:
2025 Masters field: Meet the five amateur golfers who qualified to play Augusta National Golf Club
The setup for the 2025 Masters makes it appear as if the first major championship of the season will deliver one of the best such tournaments in recent memory. The two most outstanding players in the world arrive at Augusta National Golf Club showcasing incredible form, and the depth of talent making up the 96-man field is truly astounding.
That makes for a fascinating Masters odds sheet as reigning champion Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have separated themselves from the pack, but there are plenty of players beyond them that have the game to compete and win at Augusta National.
Read on below for the complete betting odds list for the 2025 Masters:
