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Once again the world of sports turns its attention to Augusta, Georgia this week as the 2025 Masters Tournament prepares to tee off on Thursday morning.
If you haven't been following any of the goings on in golf since The Open last July, there's quite a bit to catch you up on. But fear not! You've come to the right place. While you might not be able to keep up with the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour week in and week out, we've had our eyes peeled for you.
So before the ceremonial starters step to the tee box at August National on Thursday morning, here's a quick rundown of everything you need to know to at least pretend like you've been paying attention to the top golfers in the world.
Not quite! Scheffler suffered a bizarre, ravioli-induced hand injury in December that kept him from making his season debut until early February. Since then, he’s still been rounding into form. After winning seven of the 19 events he played in 2024, Scheffler has yet to win in any of his six starts in 2025.
Of course, this is Scottie Scheffler we’re talking about — the current World No. 1 golfer — so it’s not like he’s been bad by any means. He was runner-up at the Houston Open two weeks ago and finished Top 10 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. He also hasn’t finished worse than T25.
Scheffler is second on the PGA Tour in scoring average (69.4), third in strokes gained (2.001) and third in scrambling (71.65 percent). So it’s not like he’s slouching out there. He just hasn’t claimed a bunch of wins (yet?) this season.
Parity has returned to golf this year! Well, kinda.
There have been 15 events on the PGA Tour already and 14 different winners. Only Rory McIlroy has won twice (The Players and Pebble Beach Pro-Am). However the season-long race for the FedEx Cup features all the usual players.
McIlroy, obviously, is in the lead with 1,683 points while the Top 10 features the likes of Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas and Scheffler.
Absolutely not!
If you’re only focusing on Scheffler, McIlroy and Åberg, you’re missing out on the most fun group of emerging talents the sport has seen in some time — and many have a legitimate shot to win this week.
That includes Akshay Bhatia, Min Woo Lee and Sahith Theegala. There are also 21 golfers making their first Masters start this year. Rasmus Hojgaard (and his twin brother Nicolai), Davis Thompson and Joe Highsmith will surely have a chance to become household names after this week.
That’s because he’s not playing at The Masters this year, unfortunately.
Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in mid-March and, despite his April Fool’s Joke, he will not be playing in a pro golf tournament for quite awhile as he continues to rehab.
He’ll be one of 17 former Masters champions not playing this year. Vijay Singh, Tom Watson, Larry Mize and Trevor Immelman won’t be attempting to win another Green Jacket, either. Former champion Bernhard Langer will be making his 41st and final Masters appearance.
You don’t really expect us to just count out Jon Rahm, Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau just because no one really follows their careers on a weekly basis anymore, right?
Well, uh, maybe you should.
So far, Rahm’s best finish this year is a T2 at the season-opening tournament in Riyadh. He was T9 and finished one-over par at LIV Miami last weekend. Rahm’s performance in majors last year should spark a little concern, too. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and was T45 at the Masters before a T7 at The Open.
DeChambeau hasn’t finished better than 5th in a LIV event this year, while Smith’s best result is a T9 in Miami. Koepka narrowly missed out on his first win of the season as runner-up at a mid-March event in Singapore.
Even still, DeChambeau and Rahm are tied for the fourth-best odds to win this week (16-1 at BetMGM). So no one really has much of a feel on how their games will stack up against the PGA’s best.
If you still believe in Koepka as a Big Game Hunter, you can grab him at 30-1, which isn’t bad at all for a two-time runner-up at Augusta.
That seems doubtful after the PGA Tour rejected a $1.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund last week.
Per ESPN’s Mark Schlabach:
The PGA reportedly considers LIV Golf continuing in its present form as a “nonstarter”.
I sure wish I could!
If I were a betting man — and, I most definitely am — I’d be looking hard at McIlroy, Bhatia, Justin Thomas (yes, really) and Collin Morikawa to slip on the green jacket Sunday night.
But if the course is dealing with as much water as its expecting this week, then all reasoning goes out the window and it’s anyone’s guess what happens out there.
So just grab yourself some pimento cheese, down a few Azalea cocktails and just enjoy the chaos.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The non-golf fan's guide to the 2025 Masters Tournament
Continue reading...
If you haven't been following any of the goings on in golf since The Open last July, there's quite a bit to catch you up on. But fear not! You've come to the right place. While you might not be able to keep up with the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour week in and week out, we've had our eyes peeled for you.
So before the ceremonial starters step to the tee box at August National on Thursday morning, here's a quick rundown of everything you need to know to at least pretend like you've been paying attention to the top golfers in the world.
So is Scottie Scheffler still dominating?
Not quite! Scheffler suffered a bizarre, ravioli-induced hand injury in December that kept him from making his season debut until early February. Since then, he’s still been rounding into form. After winning seven of the 19 events he played in 2024, Scheffler has yet to win in any of his six starts in 2025.
Of course, this is Scottie Scheffler we’re talking about — the current World No. 1 golfer — so it’s not like he’s been bad by any means. He was runner-up at the Houston Open two weeks ago and finished Top 10 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. He also hasn’t finished worse than T25.
Scheffler is second on the PGA Tour in scoring average (69.4), third in strokes gained (2.001) and third in scrambling (71.65 percent). So it’s not like he’s slouching out there. He just hasn’t claimed a bunch of wins (yet?) this season.
If Scheffler isn’t running things, then who is?
Parity has returned to golf this year! Well, kinda.
There have been 15 events on the PGA Tour already and 14 different winners. Only Rory McIlroy has won twice (The Players and Pebble Beach Pro-Am). However the season-long race for the FedEx Cup features all the usual players.
McIlroy, obviously, is in the lead with 1,683 points while the Top 10 features the likes of Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas and Scheffler.
Is this just another year where I only need to worry about the big names, then?
Absolutely not!
If you’re only focusing on Scheffler, McIlroy and Åberg, you’re missing out on the most fun group of emerging talents the sport has seen in some time — and many have a legitimate shot to win this week.
That includes Akshay Bhatia, Min Woo Lee and Sahith Theegala. There are also 21 golfers making their first Masters start this year. Rasmus Hojgaard (and his twin brother Nicolai), Davis Thompson and Joe Highsmith will surely have a chance to become household names after this week.
Hey, you haven’t mentioned Tiger Woods yet!
That’s because he’s not playing at The Masters this year, unfortunately.
Woods ruptured his Achilles tendon in mid-March and, despite his April Fool’s Joke, he will not be playing in a pro golf tournament for quite awhile as he continues to rehab.
He’ll be one of 17 former Masters champions not playing this year. Vijay Singh, Tom Watson, Larry Mize and Trevor Immelman won’t be attempting to win another Green Jacket, either. Former champion Bernhard Langer will be making his 41st and final Masters appearance.
What about all those LIV Golf guys? Do they have any chance of winning?
You don’t really expect us to just count out Jon Rahm, Cam Smith, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau just because no one really follows their careers on a weekly basis anymore, right?
Well, uh, maybe you should.
So far, Rahm’s best finish this year is a T2 at the season-opening tournament in Riyadh. He was T9 and finished one-over par at LIV Miami last weekend. Rahm’s performance in majors last year should spark a little concern, too. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and was T45 at the Masters before a T7 at The Open.
DeChambeau hasn’t finished better than 5th in a LIV event this year, while Smith’s best result is a T9 in Miami. Koepka narrowly missed out on his first win of the season as runner-up at a mid-March event in Singapore.
Even still, DeChambeau and Rahm are tied for the fourth-best odds to win this week (16-1 at BetMGM). So no one really has much of a feel on how their games will stack up against the PGA’s best.
If you still believe in Koepka as a Big Game Hunter, you can grab him at 30-1, which isn’t bad at all for a two-time runner-up at Augusta.
Any chance LIV and the PGA Tour settle their differences and finally merge this season?
That seems doubtful after the PGA Tour rejected a $1.5 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund last week.
Per ESPN’s Mark Schlabach:
The PGA reportedly considers LIV Golf continuing in its present form as a “nonstarter”.
OK, can you just tell me who is going to win this week already?
I sure wish I could!
If I were a betting man — and, I most definitely am — I’d be looking hard at McIlroy, Bhatia, Justin Thomas (yes, really) and Collin Morikawa to slip on the green jacket Sunday night.
But if the course is dealing with as much water as its expecting this week, then all reasoning goes out the window and it’s anyone’s guess what happens out there.
So just grab yourself some pimento cheese, down a few Azalea cocktails and just enjoy the chaos.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The non-golf fan's guide to the 2025 Masters Tournament
Continue reading...
