The Masters
Purse: $21M
Winner's Share: $4.2M
FedEx Cup Points: 750 to the Winner
Location: Augusta, Georgia
Course: Augusta National Golf Club
Yardage: 7,565
Par: 72
Previous Winners
2025 - Rory McIlroy
2024 - Scottie Scheffler
2023 - Jon Rahm
2022 - Scottie Scheffler
2021 - Hideki Matsuyama
2020 - Dustin Johnson
2019 - Tiger Woods
2018 - Patrick Reed
2017 - Sergio Garcia
2016 - Danny Willett
2015 - Jordan Spieth
Recap: Valero Texas Open
Most of the field for The Masters was set following the Texas Children's Houston Open, but one spot remained at Augusta National for the winner of the Valero Texas Open that was not otherwise exempt. Players like Matt Wallace (T2) and Andrew Putnam (T5) battled through the tough, rainy conditions in San Antonio to put themselves in a position for a spot at the first major of the season before ultimately falling short.
Robert MacIntyre led for most of the tournament after a strong opening two rounds but was stalled by the weather, failing to gain a stroke across a 20-hole span from rounds three to four. In the end, it was J.J. Spaun that surged to the top of the leaderboard after going three-under over the last five holes of the final round, highlighted by his eagle on the par-4 17th. It was the second victory at the Valero Texas Open in Spaun's career and his third PGA Tour victory. Spaun had already earned his spot at Augusta National thanks to his victory at last year's U.S. Open Championship, so no additional players were added to the first major of the season.
Tournament Preview: The Masters
The first major of the season is the most special and iconic; there is nothing that means more to a professional golfer than to join the exclusive winners circle at Augusta National. Of the 91 players in the field, 22 will be making their debut at The Masters, including FedExCup standings leader Jacob Bridgeman and Chris Gotterup, winner of two PGA Tour events this season. There are 17 past winners at Augusta National looking to add another green jacket to their collection, though there will be two notable absences in Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
The two most recent winners in Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler enter The Masters as the two betting favorites, but several questions hover around them. For McIlroy, it'll be his first tournament since THE PLAYERS Championship where he battled a back injury from the previous week at Bay Hill. Last year's victory at Augusta sealed the Grand Slam for the Northern Irishman, but that doesn't necessarily mean there is less pressure on McIlroy this time around, especially if he wants to join that elite circle of multi-time winners. That list includes Scheffler, who started the year out strongly with a victory in his 2026 debut at The American Express. However, he hasn't been the same dominant self that we're used to seeing, and a large reason for that has been his iron play; he led the PGA Tour in approach play from 2023 to 2025 but ranks 80th in that category this year. The questions surrounding McIlory and Scheffler makes this year's iteration of The Masters feel the most open that we have seen in years.
We'll also see the LIV Golf contingent for the first time this year, led by two-time LIV Individual Season Champion Jon Rahm and Crushers GC captain Bryson DeChambeau, the latter of whom is coming off back-to-back victories in Singapore and South Africa. Five of the 10 players from the breakaway tour are invited back as winners at The Masters, which includes Rahm, course-record holder Dustin Johnson (2020), Sergio Garcia (2017), two-time winner Bubba Watson (2012, 2014) and Charl Schwartzel (2011). Omitted from that group is Patrick Reed (2018), who opted to not re-sign his contract with LIV Golf and has been playing on the DP World Tour, where he's won twice. Joining Reed from the DP World Tour is South African Casey Jarvis, who punched his ticket to both The Masters and The Open thanks to his victory at the Investec South African Open Championship. Another LIV Golf defector, Brooks Koepka, will look to earn his sixth major championship and first at Augusta.
Precision and touch will be the keys to success at Augusta National. The fairways themselves aren't daunting, but the greens are incredibly challenging to tackle with irons and in the short game. Catch the wrong slope, and you could be going from a great chance at birdie to desperately attempting to limit the damage to a bogey. For some holes, coming away with an up-and-down par will be better than a chance at birdie, but the four par-5 holes are where most of the field will have the opportunity to make their bread. Each of the last three winners at The Masters scored seven-under or better on the par-5s at Augusta.
Underdog Contest Overview
Underdog hosts drafts every week at three buy-in amounts; The Par 3 at $3, the featured draft at $10, and "The Sandbagger" at $100. Each entrant will be paired up with five other participants and participate in a six-man snake draft of teams made up of six players (36 total selections), with each selection on a 30-second timer. For example, the person with the first overall pick and lucky enough to get Scheffler (unless you like to live dangerously) will have to wait until 2.6 and 3.1 to make their next selections. Points are allocated to golfers based on their performance on every hole, with bonus points available for golfers who make consecutive birdies or finish a round bogey free.
First Two Rounds
Jon Rahm (2.3 ADP)
Rahm has been the most consistent player in LIV Golf since joining the breakaway league in 2024. He's finished in the top-10 in nearly every LIV tournament he has finished and has several top-5 finishes, including two victories during the 2024 season. He's won the Individual Championship in each of the last two years, with his 2025 win coming despite the lack of a tournament victory. He's on top of the LIV Golf individual season standings again this year, thanks to his victory in Hong Kong and runner-up finishes in Riyadh, Adelaide and South Africa. He leads the league in birdies made and GIR while ranking fourth in driving distance and scrambling opportunities.
Bryson DeChambeau (3.4 ADP)
DeChambeau and McIlory (3.9 ADP) have been the early selections of drafters behind Scheffler (1.1) and Rahm. I'll highlight DeChambeau here, given the recent form he has shown in LIV Golf with back-to-back victories in Hong Kong and Singapore, along with a top-3 finish in Adelaide in mid-February. The Crushers GC captain has also played well at Augusta as of late, and fans will remember that he briefly held the lead during the final round of The Masters last year before settling for a T5 finish. Through five LIV tournaments, DeChambeau ranks in the top-7 in the league in birdies made, driving distance, scrambling, GIR and putts per hole.
Matt Fitzpatrick (8.7 ADP)
Fitzpatrick endured a heart-breaking loss to Cameron Young at THE PLAYERS Championship, but the former rebounded the following week with a victory at the Valspar Championship, which was the third PGA Tour championship victory of his career. Fitzpatrick has the second-best SG: Tee-to-Green on the Tour this season and also ranks fourth in GIR, seventh in SG: Approach, ninth in total driving, 11th in par-5 scoring and 16th in SG: Off-the-Tee. He has made the cut in 10 of 11 appearances at Augusta National, including a T10 finish in 2023.
Min Woo Lee (11.7 ADP)
Lee has made the cut in each of his seven Tour appearances this season, and he posted a T2 in Pebble Beach and T3 in his last outing at the Texas Children's Houston Open. That has him sitting eighth in the FedExCup Standings, and he enters Augusta National as one of the top all-around players in the field. Lee has the second best par-5 scoring average on Tour this season and ranks seventh in SG: Off-the-Tee, 11th in SG: Tee-to-Green and top-30 in SG: Putting and SG: Around-the-Green.
Also consider: Tommy Fleetwood (8.1 ADP - four top-10 finishes in five Tour outings this season, ranks second in SG: Around-the-Green, seventh in par-5 scoring and in the top-35 in SG: Off-the-Tee and SG: Approach).
Middle-Round Value
Chris Gotterup (16.3 ADP)
I went back and forth between featuring Gotterup or Patrick Reed (16.8), but I'll go with the former as the two-time Tour winner this season. Gotterup went through a bit of a rough stretch from February to March that included finishes of T37 or worse in three of four tournaments, but he's coming off a T6 finish at the Texas Children's Houston Open. He ranks sixth in par-5 scoring, eighth in SG: Tee-to-Green, 16th in SG: Off-the-Tee and in the top-30 in SG: Approach and SG: Around-the-Green. Gotterup would be in serious contention at The Masters if he can bring his play on the greens (80th in SG: Putting) up to the same level as every other aspect of his game.
Akshay Bhatia (18.9 ADP)
Bhatia missed the cut in his first two tournaments of 2026 but has finished T16 or better in each of his last five Tour events, including a playoff victory over Daniel Berger at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a T3 finish at the WM Phoenix Open and a T6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Bhatia ranks eighth on the Tour in SG: Approach, 10th in SG: Putting and 16th in par-5 scoring. He's made the cut in each of his two prior outings at Augusta National.
Jake Knapp (21.6 ADP)
Each of the major tournaments and Signature Events bring out the very best players. Yet, it's a bit surprising to see Knapp outside the top-20 ADP, given that he's finished T11 or better in six of seven PGA Tour events this season, including a T6 at his most recent outing at the Texas Children's Houston Open. In fact, Knapp leads the Tour this season in total strokes gained, scoring average (both adjusted and actual), par-5 scoring and final round scoring while also ranking second in SG: Putting. This week will be Knapp's second appearance at The Masters; he finished T55 in his Augusta debut in 2024.
Si Woo Kim (21.8 ADP)
Like Knapp, Kim has enjoyed plenty of success this season. Kim finished T11 or better in each of his first four tournaments of 2026 and is coming off a T10 performance at the Valero Texas Open. He leads the Tour this season in proximity, ranks third in SG: Approach, 15th in SG: Off-the-Tee and 19th in GIR. He's cracked the top-30 in four of seven appearances at Augusta National, with his T21 in 2019 being his best finish at The Masters.
Also consider: Robert MacIntyre (13.5 ADP - coming off back-to-back top-5 finishes, ranks fourth in SG: Putting and ninth in SG: Off-the-Tee) and Patrick Reed (16.8 ADP - the 2018 Masters champion has finished in the top-12 in four of his last six outings at Augusta National, including solo third in 2025).
Late-Round Targets
Adam Scott (27.5 ADP)
The 2013 Masters champion has made the cut in all seven Tour tournaments this season, including a solo fourth at The Genesis and T11 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Scott ranks second in par-3 scoring, third in SG: Approach (including third in proximity and 22nd in GIR), 17th in par-5 scoring and 40th in SG: Off-the-Tee. He has made the cut in 21 of 24 appearances at Augusta National, which includes 11 top-25 finishes.
Jacob Bridgeman (29.1 ADP)
Bridgeman was another player I was surprised to see far down the ADP list, though that may have been in part due to his MC in his Augusta National debut in 2025. The FedExCup Standings leader has finished T18 or better in all eight PGA Tour outings this season, including three top-5 finishes and a victory at The Genesis Invitational. Bridgeman leads the Tour in SG: Putting while ranking second in SG: Total and in the top-25 in SG: Approach, GIR and par-5 scoring.
Maverick McNealy (32.1 ADP)
McNealy has been steady this season, making the cut in seven of eight Tour events and five top-25 finishes, with his solo 10th at the Farmers Insurance Open being his best performance. He is seventh in par-5 scoring and 22nd in SG: Total, and he is fairly well-rounded across all categories, ranking in the top-50 in SG: Off-the-Tee, Approach and Putting. McNealy finished T32 in his Augusta National debut in 2025.
Gary Woodland (35.2 ADP)
Woodland's victory at the Texas Children's Houston Open has been the feel-good moment of the year. It was a triumphant moment for Woodland, who underwent brain surgery in September of 2023 and opened up about his PTSD and depression from the operation and recovery prior to his win at Memorial Park. He's sixth on the Tour in SG: Off-the-Tee, 25th in par-5 scoring and 33rd in SG: Putting. Woodland has missed the cut in six of 12 previous outings at The Masters, though he did finish T14 in 2023.
Also consider: Daniel Berger (35.8 ADP - ranks sixth in SG: Approach, 25th in driving accuracy and 28th in par-5 scoring; has three top-20 finishes including T6 at the Sony Open and a playoff loss to Bhatia at the API).
For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.
