2025 Masters Tournament Predictions

Springtime in Augusta. As a golf fan, you’re hard pressed to find a better feeling. Azaleas in full bloom, Rae’s Creek lurking to flip the tournament at the drop of a hat and who isn’t ready to throw down a few of those iconic pimento cheese sandwiches at some of the lowest prices in sports? No, that wasn’t a Jim Nantz Sunday monologue, but I tried my best. The PGA Tour heats up with its first major tournament of the season as it visits Augusta National Golf Club for the 89th edition of the Masters Tournament. Designed by iconic golf course architect Alister Mackenzie and heralded amateur golfer Bobby Jones, Augusta National Golf Club has played host to the game’s best each spring for nearly 90 years, with the first edition taking place in 1934. This year, Augusta National will play as a Par 72, 7,555 yard layout.

Augusta National serves as one of the ultimate tests of golf: a long course, plenty of hazards and absolutely serene beauty. But seriously, Augusta National serves as one of the longest treks on tour. Accurate hitters do find success here, but at 7,500+ yards, the advantage does start to sway towards the long ball hitter a touch more every single year. Length is important, but strong iron play is even more vital. With some of the trickiest green complexes sporting tons of slope and undulation, players will be hard pressed to hit some of these greens, let alone placing the shot in a manageable location. Three putts and four putts will be going around a plenty, so players will try their best to minimize any self-inflicted wounds on the greens. Scoring has varied here through the years, with weather often playing a factor. The course is demanding, but fair, with eight of the last 10 winners finishing double digits under par, but only reaching -15 or better on three of those occasions. Finally, just avoid the big number. With plenty of scoreable par 5’s, there are birdies to be had this week. But with Rae’s Creek, thick rough and plenty of strategically placed bunkers, both double and triple bogies can quickly rear their ugly heads. Having that light touch around the green will certainly help if a player finds their way into trouble. Par can be a great score in these types of situations. Just staying calm in these difficult moments and not having a mental lapse will go a long way towards separating the contenders from the rest, especially when the nerves start tightening up on the back nine on Sunday.

The field for this year’s Masters Tournament is about as strong as it gets, with all 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking teeing it up, as well as 70 of the top 100, not to mention many of the great LIV players. All the studs are here, including Ludvig Åberg, Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, as well as many iconic past champions, including Angel Cabrera, Fred Couples, Zach Johnson, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal and Mike Weir, just to name a few.

The Masters Tournament has produced an incredible list of champions, encapsulating the best of the best throughout the history of the sport. Jack Nicklaus holds the record for most Masters wins, slipping on the Green Jacket six times in his career. Tiger Woods ranks second on the list with five Green Jackets, while Arnold Palmer sits in third with four Masters victories. Three-time winners of the Masters include Jimmy Demaret, Nick Faldo, Phil Mickelson, Gary Player and Sam Snead, while Seve Ballesteros, Ben Crenshaw, Ben Hogan, Bernhard Langer, Byron Nelson, Jose Maria Olazabal, Scottie Scheffler, Horton Smith, Bubba Watson and Tom Watson are all multi-time Masters champions.

Last year’s edition was won by Scottie Scheffler, who held off a handful of hopefuls to slip into the Green Jacket for the second time in his career. Ludvig Åberg finished in solo second, four strokes off the pace, while Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa and Collin Morikawa all finished T-3, seven strokes behind.

Player to Fade:

The Cinderella Story of the 2025 PGA Tour season, Brian Campbell is making his first trip to Augusta National, thanks to his victory at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. That’s where the good times end, unfortunately. Since that victory, Campbell’s best finish has been a T-48 at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches and he is entering the week off the heels of three straight missed cuts. Although he owns a great short game, Campbell struggles from the tee, ranking 186th in Driving Distance and 178th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Anybody is capable of putting together four great rounds this week, but Augusta National is an absolute brute and will put short hitters at a drastic disadvantage compared to the bomb and gouge type of players. We wish Campbell the best, but predict a missed cut in his Masters debut.

Dark Horse:

Gotta show the LIV boys some love and get the boomers fired up! Patrick Reed will be making his first PGA Tour start of the season this week and is coming in with decent form, logging three straight top 25 finishes in LIV, including a pair of top 10’s during that stretch. His game doesn’t really jump off the board in any one area, but he has gained strokes on the greens in two of his last three LIV starts and has also consistently gained from the tee during that stretch. The 2018 Masters champion typically brings his best each April to Augusta, as he has finished inside the top 12 in four of his last five trips down Magnolia Lane, and he has only missed the cut here twice in 11 career starts. Reed has the game to win here, as he has already done before, and is rounding into form at just the right time. Even though Reed will never see this post (If you know, you know.), we predict he will log another top 15 Masters finish.

Top 10:

Another LIV golfer? Yes, you read that right. Believe it or not, they didn’t forget how to play, despite all of your chirping on social media. Case in point, Jon Rahm. In 18 career LIV starts, Rahm has posted 17 top 10’s, including a pair of wins, to go along with one withdrawal. But yeah, he fucking blows. Gotcha. Stats wise, once again, Rahm has proven he has game. Rahm has been consistently gaining strokes across the board in nearly every start this season, which bodes well for a return to Augusta. The 2023 Masters champion, Rahm has played quite well here in his career, posting one win, three top fives, five top 10’s and zero missed cuts in eight starts. Rahm is on a solid streak of play in majors, logging top 10’s in four of the last seven he has teed it up in. Once again, Rahm is a proven winner in this event and will be one of the biggest threats to take home the Green Jacket this week. Expect Rahm to be in the hunt come Sunday and for him to post another top 10 result at Augusta.

Winner:

The fourth ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, Collin Morikawa has been on the edge of a breakthrough all season long. Five starts, five top 25 finishes, highlighted by a pair of runner-up performances at The Sentry and the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Morikawa is back to his ball striking ways this season, ranking 1st in both Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, 1st in Proximity to the Hole, 4th in Driving Accuracy Percentage, 9th in Greens in Regulation Percentage and 12th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee. Morikawa’s short game is also in fine form, ranking 20th in Scrambling, 34th in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and 59th in Strokes Gained: Putting. Morikawa has not yet won The Masters, but has been as solid as can be of late, wracking up three straight top 10’s at Augusta, finishing 5th in 2022, T-10 in 2023 and T-3 last year. Our pre-season pick to win this tournament, we predict that Morikawa will end a nearly two-year winless streak, slip into that coveted Green Jacket and pick up his third career major championship with a victory… at The Masters.