AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy’s historic victory at the Masters on Sunday shifted attention to the 36-year-old’s continued climb up the list of golf’s all-time greats.
McIlroy secured his position. the greatest player of his generation And if he can translate his newfound confidence into another major championship, he could start thinking about climbing into some truly unusual air. With a six-shot lead after two rounds, his weekend performance was far more interesting than expected, but despite his flair for the dramatic, he managed to slip into the green jacket for the second consecutive year on Sunday afternoon, joining an exclusive list of players that includes Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus.
McIlroy’s newfound dominance at Augusta National is understandably the main topic at the first major of the year, but there were plenty of other things that happened at this week’s Masters that are worth analyzing and exploring more deeply.
This year’s Masters was a thrilling battle between the world’s top players, with many of golf’s biggest names on the first page of the final leaderboard. Here, we look at the five biggest takeaways from our week at Augusta.
Scottie Scheffler gets back on track
Since acquiring American Express to begin the 2026 season, Scottie Scheffler has looked surprisingly mortal considering what he’s accomplished over the past three years. Most notably, his ball striking, while long a strength of his game, was average on the PGA Tour and surprisingly inconsistent. That trend continued through the first two days of the Masters, and by the weekend he was 12 strokes off McIlroy’s pace.
Suddenly on Saturday, Scheffler was back to full form and made history for himself by nearly erasing the largest deficit in major championship history and winning his third green jacket. Scheffler’s 65-68 finish over the weekend, which left him in sole second place, one stroke behind McIlroy, leaves you wondering what happened. Scheffler admitted he “left some chances open” Saturday after one of the great rounds of ball-striking ever seen at Augusta National, and he missed a few more Sunday — including one that painfully nearly missed the birdie putt on No. 17 that would have ultimately forced a playoff.
Scheffler didn’t come into this week aiming for a runner-up spot, but the way he suddenly started to improve over the weekend was quite remarkable. Scheffler insists he’s happy with his game and has been tight-lipped about the cause of his inconsistency, but this weekend was the first time we saw him in complete control of the golf ball that has become the most dominant force in his game. That bodes well for this year’s major season moving forward, and it feels like this won’t be the last showdown between the top two in the world rankings on this year’s major stage.
Cameron Young proves he’s real even in defeat
Young got a taste of what it’s like to lead the Masters on Sunday, and although he took a step back with a final-round 73, there was nothing in his play that indicated he wasn’t ready for the moment. There were definitely mistakes. Young hit solid golf shots until the second nine, but made nine straight pars and was unable to make a putt, finishing in a tie for third place.
“I don’t have any negatives other than obviously I would have liked a different result,” Young said after the round. “But golf-wise, I think I played well enough to win today, and I think I played well enough to win by a couple of margins. So it’s just one of those days. Going through the back nine, I had a birdie chance on almost every hole and I just couldn’t convert the birdie chance. That’s what happens sometimes.”
Although Young’s putter never warmed up, his aforementioned ball-striking performance was incredible. There will be some lessons learned for future Masters, but he didn’t seem fazed up until that moment, and the missed putt didn’t affect his next shot.
When asked if it was difficult trying to make short birdie putts without starting to press, Young laughed.
“So how much closer do you want me to hit it than on the back nine? Do you want me to hit No. 12 more accurately?” Young asked back. “One of those things, I think the shots are very obvious. And I took a lot of shots and couldn’t make anything.”
Young’s performance was a reminder that he is one of the best talents in golf. Nothing is guaranteed in golf, but Young can leave Augusta confident that he has the game to win a major sooner rather than later.
Rahm and DeChambeau quit the search after a frustrating few weeks.
Although McIlroy and Scheffler were well positioned as pre-tournament favorites, two of LIV Golf’s top stars were absent from the conversation Saturday.
Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm played exceptional golf at LIV, winning the last three times and dueling in a playoff in the final event before the Masters. But neither of them came close to their best and will have to find something heading into the PGA Championship to shake off the bitterness of a disastrous week at Augusta.
Fresh off top-six finishes in the past two years at the Masters, DeChambeau returned to his old struggles around Augusta National. doomed to miss the cut His declaration of newfound perseverance at Augusta National didn’t materialize in the moment, and the equipment he said this week was his cornerstone failed miserably. With a month left until the PGA, DeChambeau will continue to search for the right mix of irons. But after being sent off early on Friday afternoon, his confidence in the current version of his homegrown club is not so high.
Rahm, on the other hand, was able to continue his efforts heading into the weekend, using his two out-of-contested rounds as a testing ground.
“The only (good) thing about a weekend like today is when things aren’t going well enough, you can start trying things out to see what it feels like or how you can do in a game,” Rahm said Saturday. “Just a little bit of what I did today. I’ll probably do it again tomorrow. Hitting it on the driving range is different than hitting it on the golf course.”
From different shots to trying out new alignment options on the greens, Rahm was looking for something positive to do over the weekend. Sunday’s 68 points perhaps offered a glimmer of hope, but both LIV stars will come into this year’s Masters feeling a little humbled and searching for their best form.
Justin Rose’s prayer at the Masters goes unheard during the Amen Corner, and his green jacket comes off again.
patrick mcdonald
Hatton, Henry and Homa could emerge as perennial candidates.
For McIlroy and past champions, the annual return to Augusta National is a chance to draw on great memories and experience. But it’s not just players in green jackets who can have great careers at the Masters.
Justin Rose is the best example right now, creating a frustrating close call to finish in the top five this year. This may have been Rose’s last real chance to earn a green jacket (although we said that last year too, and he’ll be here again in 2026). But at the Masters, where players feel like they are ranked below the true favorites every spring, some players seem poised to take their place as the next perennial contenders.
Tyrrell Hatton has made his dissatisfaction with Augusta National public in the past, but he has now finished inside the top 14 in each of the past three Masters and achieved a career-high T3 with his incredible play on Sunday this year. Russell Henry, a veteran from Macon, Ga., also played well in the final round, finishing in the top five for the second time in the last four years. The veteran from Macon, Georgia, calls Augusta home.
Then there’s Max Homa, who has fallen off his regular form on the PGA Tour in recent years, but depending on his performance, he’s guaranteed an invitation to the Masters for the second consecutive year. Homa’s final round 67 pushed him into the top 10, and the creativity required at Augusta National brought out the best in his game. Perhaps there’s a lesson there for Homa to embrace more of that artistry at the PGA Tour’s usual destinations instead of focusing on the minutiae of his golf swing, but at least this particular location brings out the best in him.
Given the current level of talent in the golf world, winning a green jacket is harder than ever, so it’s hard to predict who among this trio could be the winner. That being said, if you can think of a dark horse who could be the next surprise Masters champion, it starts with them.
Morikawa finds needed confidence after back injury
On Thursday, Collin Morikawa said he woke up feeling more nervous than ever during a round of golf, unsure of the fate of his lower back injury. He spoke openly about the mental toll his injury suffered on the tee box at The Players, saying the fear of it happening again was always lurking in the back of his mind.
His play all week was huge for him considering his biggest hurdle coming back from injury was mental rather than physical. Morikawa had finally regained the form that made him a two-time major champion earlier this season and looked poised to become a favorite once again. But after his back injury, he had no idea how big of a setback it would be.
He had a strong weekend at this year’s Masters, finishing in the top 10, and will feel like he’s back on track right away on the way home. Perhaps most importantly, he will have more confidence in his body and the belief that he can physically execute the swing he wants. This will propel him to the PGA Championship and add another big name to the list of major title contenders in 2026.
