2025 Masters champion Rory McIlroy
RICHARD HEATHCOTE, GETTY IMAGES
It is that time of year again, when golfers’ thoughts turn to azaleas and pimento cheese and green jackets. The 90th Masters is on tap, and Global Golf Post’s Ron Green Jr., John Hopkins, Scott Michaux and John Steinbreder gather again for a virtual roundtable to talk about the season’s first major.
What do you look forward to most on Masters week?
Green: Is it too big to say all of it? Having been fortunate to cover more than 40 Masters, it still generates a rare anticipation and excitement. There isn't a day there that I don't look across the golf course and marvel at where I am and what it is. And when it gives us a story like Rory McIlroy last year, it lands like nothing else.
Hopkins: In no particular order: the innocent charm of the competitors in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition, though I do wish some of the little mites would get a move on; the press conference with Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player, the honorary starters, after their opening ceremony on Thursday morning; and the confluence of people under the oak tree on the golf course side of the clubhouse.
Michaux: The first egg salad sandwich. The first glimpse of the course when you step on the grass in front of the main scoreboard. The native azaleas between the second and eighth holes. And, more recently, the final Saturday round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur when you can enjoy the golf and course with more manageable crowds.
Steinbreder: The great golf, to be sure, and the setting, which I have come to know and love quite well from covering two dozen Masters over the years. I also relish the way that it kicks off the golf season in my northern part of the world – for playing and spectating on TV – and serves as a welcome sign of spring here, like crocuses and daffodils coming into bloom.
Augusta National offered invitations to winners of six national opens from around the world, and the gesture led to six first-time participants from six different nations. One of them is Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup, who already was qualified for winning that very same event as a co-sanctioned PGA Tour stop. Does Augusta National know something we don’t know about the future of the Scottish Open, or would another event make a more unique choice?
Chris Gotterup at the 2025 Genesis Scottish Open
Christian Petersen, Getty Images
Green: Adding the exemptions for the winners of the designated national opens was a good move and further enhances the Masters' international feel. As for the Scottish Open, if it remains a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, perhaps the Irish Open could take its place on the special list.
Hopkins: The Irish Open would be a good choice.
Michaux: The Scottish Open (which dates to 1972) has far less history than the Open de France (1906) or the Irish Open (1927). And with Europe’s Open de España (1912) already getting the nod, a more inspired choice would be the Argentine Open, with a storied roster of champions dating back to 1905. That would allow national opens from every continent be represented.
Steinbreder: I like the six tourneys that the tournament organizers have added and would enjoy seeing the French and Irish Opens included as well, due largely to their rich history and the rosters of past winners. The great golfers coming out of Eire these days make bringing that nation’s national championship into the fold even more of an imperative.
Who should fill the honorary starter tee sheet when Nicklaus, Player and Watson eventually bow out?
Green: Assuming Ben Crenshaw will continue to serve as the unofficial host of the Champions Dinner on Tuesday evenings, Nick Faldo, José María Olazábal and Bernard Langer seem logical choices. If emotion plays into it – and when isn’t emotion a part of the Masters experience – then Fred Couples should have a Thursday morning spot in the relatively near future.
Hopkins: José María Olazábal, Adam Scott and Davis Love III.
Michaux: It would be cool to see the European domination of the 1980s and ’90s be recognized with the trio of José María Olazábal, Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer. If there must be an American to bridge the gap until Tiger Woods is ready (and Phil Mickelson is probably never getting that call now), Fred Couples could fit the bill even though he only won once.
Steinbreder: I think it is time to bring in the Euros who made such a tremendous mark at Augusta by winning multiple Masters. That would be Faldo, Langer and Olazábal.
Rumor has it that Augusta National might be doing away with its virally popular gnome figurines after this year. Good or bad idea?
Courtesy Scott Michaux
Green: As someone who has never understood the gnome fascination, I’m ambivalent on the subject. Why get rid of something so popular? It’s fair to assume that the club doesn’t like seeing its things being sold on the secondary online market and the gnomes seem to find their way there quickly.
Hopkins: Bad idea. Why stop something that is so popular? Almost as bad would be ending the sale of Masters socks.
Michaux: It would be a shame because they are very cool and I was hoping they would start a trend of gnomes decked out like past champs including Tiger red and that purple shirt Larry Mize wore. But the gnome frenzy every morning and the crass commercialization on secondary markets is unseemly by Augusta standards.
Steinbreder: The gnomes creep me out to no end, and I would never buy one for myself. But I love their kitschiness and how popular they are among patrons and thus would hate to see them disappear. In fact, I wouldn’t mind seeing them strategically placed around the property during tournament week. On the range, perhaps. By the caddie shack. On the putting green and even under the fabled live oak tree behind the clubhouse.
Who will win the 2026 Masters?
Top: Matt Fitzpatrick (SHANNA LOCKWOOD, Augusta National); Middle left: Patrick Reed (Kieran Cleeves, Augusta National); Middle right: Xander Schauffele (Logan Whitton, Augusta National); Bottom: Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm (Jan Kruger, Getty Images)
Green: Xander Schauffele.
Hopkins: Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Michaux: While I wouldn’t discount Scottie Scheffler applying the new-baby bump to keep up his Arnie-esque pattern every other year, this feels like its LIV’s turn to snag a green jacket. Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are both in fine form, but recent LIV defector Patrick Reed is my pick.
Steinbreder: With back-to-back wins on LIV Golf under his belt, Bryson DeChambeau seems to have the hottest hand and is my pick to prevail.
