The Masters tees off on Thursday at Georgia’s Augusta National, and – judging by the pre-tourney hype – it’s going to be a strange one.
Over the last four years issues involving the PGA Tour and LIV Golf were prominent. Not so this year. Merger talks seem non-existent. LIV has remained a viable threat to the established circuit, even without making a notable signing for this season. The Saudi-backed circuit has also improved its television offering thanks to a new deal with Fox.
The PGA Tour continues to miss the star power of the players that defected to LIV – Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson in particular. LIV has only 12 players among the 96 in this year’s Masters field but six are past champions.
That doesn’t simplify the annual task of predicting the next winner of one of the four golf major titles. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion with two wins in the last three years, but — battling a hand injury — he hasn’t won an event among the 14 tournaments put on by the PGA Tour so far this year.
LIV has staged only five events, and last week’s stop at the Doral Blue Monster in Florida was the only one held in the United States. There’s a similarity in the two tours, though.
Rahm was the dominant player for LIV last year, concluding his first campaign after leaving the PGA Tour with a rousing win in the Individual Championship at Bolingbrook Golf Club. Like Scheffler, though, Rahm hasn’t won a tournament in 2025. He has been in the top 10 in all five LIV events, however.
Ludvig Aberg, the Swedish sensation on the PGA Tour, was runner-up to Scheffler in last year’s Masters, but he didn’t even make the cut in last week’s last PGA Tour tuneup event – the Valero Texas Open. Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, who battled Rahm for individual LIV honors last year, has two wins and leads that tour’s standings this year but he could only tie for 33rd at Doral. That doesn’t suggest he’s ready for the Masters, either.
So, who will wear the green jacket on Sunday? The prediction here is that it’ll be Rory McIroy. The Irishman won at Pebble Beach and The Players Championship and tied for fifth at Houston in the last of his five starts in 2025. He also needs to win the Masters to complete a career Grand Slam of the sport’s four major titles. This is the perfect time for him to get the job done.
LOCAL FLAVOR: The Chicago area had four participants among the 80 qualifiers for Sunday’s national finals in the Drive, Chip & Putt competition. Their results were good, too. Brelle Downer, of Lockport, was second in the Girls 7-9 division. Chloe Lee, of Plainfield, was third in Girls 12-13; Hudson Hodge, Clarendon Hills, was fourth in Boys 10-11 and Jack Kemper, Winnetka, was eighth in Boys 12-13.
Two members of the Northwestern women’s team were in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, which concluded at Augusta National on Saturday. Elise Lee tied for 14th, nine strokes behind champion Carla Bernat Escuder, a Kansas State senior from Spain. The other NU competitor, Lauren Nguyen, didn’t survive the 36-hole cut.
As far as the 72-hole main event goes, only University of Illinois alums Thomas Detry and Brian Campbell will be among those teeing off on Thursday. Both won PGA Tour events this season to earn their spots in the Masters.