17 things to look out for at the 2025 Masters

Here we are again. The azaleas are blooming, the Butler Cabin is gleaming, and the green jacket is eagerly anticipating the 89th Masters champion.

After a year since the game last visited Augusta National, the world’s most iconic venue returns to our TV screens, ready to create more sporting history.

Each time, the Masters brings with it the prospect of being better than the one before, and this year’s edition is no exception. From Rory McIlroy’s latest grand slam bid to a returning Scot and a Masters farewell, there are several storylines set to unfold at the magical end of Magnolia Lane.

With that being said, here are 17 things to look out for…

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Bob is back

You really thought we’d start anywhere else? Robert MacIntyre is back, and the Oban man returns to Augusta for the first time in three years. After winning twice on the PGA Tour last season, MacIntyre will fancy his chances of slipping into some new clobber. Remember, lefties have an advantage, and his Masters record reads well with finishes of T12 (2021) and T23 (2022).

Jason Day’s threads

Jason Day – and his apparel partner Malbon – caused quite a stir at Augusta last year. So much so that the Aussie was asked by tournament officials to remove that vest he wore before Friday’s second round got underway. He’s continued to turn heads since and it’s no doubt the experts at Malbon will be up to something right now. We already know what Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland will be wearing…

Money talks

Look, winning the Masters pays well, but few might have realised that figure is creeping up, and up, and up. In fact, the winner’s prize has increased each of the last three years. Is a jacket not enough these days?!

Fuzzy feeling

Even less of a Masters secret is that Fuzzy Zoeller remains the last debutant to win the event. The American won two major titles, but Augusta National was the site of his first in 1979, while it was only his sixth start in one of golf’s big four. It didn’t happen last year – Aberg and Wyndham Clark spearheaded the rookie charge – so it might never happen again but leading this year’s lineup are the likes of Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry, who finally secured his first tour win in February.

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Play it as it lies

After a raft of tweaks to the golf course in recent years, Augusta National has confirmed that it will look exactly like it did last year. Well, kind of. Nothing has been moved, raised, extended, you name it, although there will be fewer trees in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Good news, however, is that Fred Ridley revealed the course is in “spectacular condition”.

The chairman’s press conference

Speaking of Ridley, the annual chairman’s press conference is always worth listening to. Last year, he addressed everything from the rollback to the ongoing war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Nothing is off the table here.

Brits abroad

What do Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam and Danny Willett have in common? That’s right, the quartet remain the only four British golfers to have won The Masters. To be frank, it would take a special effort to join them, and bookmakers agree. Tyrrell Hatton is rated as the best chance but there are well over a dozen players ahead of him in the betting. Tommy Fleetwood was beaten by seven last year and Matt Fitzpatrick by eight the year before.

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The pre-tournament curse

Rickie Fowler was the latest victim of the Masters Par-3 curse, when he took home the first prize of the week on Wednesday, in 2024. Players love the annual contest with their wives and kids but it’s a well-known fact that nobody has won both in the same year. Don’t event think about it, Rory.

Auf Wiedersehen

Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer will bid farewell to The Masters as a green jacket legend. From 1984 through 2002, Langer made 19 straight Masters cuts and has confirmed that this year will be his last trip down Magnolia Lane as a competitor.

LIV’s new man

LIV’s biggest signing of the 2025 off-season was acquiring new CEO Scott O’Neil, who replaced Greg Norman at the helm of the Saudi-backed breakaway league. Norman’s appearance at Augusta last year ruffled a few feathers, but will O’Neil do the same? We know he has been invited, so that’s a start!

The defending champ

Already a two-time Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler is yet to finish outside the top 20 in five starts at ANGC and will bid to become only the fourth player (alongside Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods) to defend his green jacket. His return in 2025 was derailed by a freak injury he sustained on Christmas Day, but he picked up where he left off with a T9 finish at Pebble Beach in February. Now, the caveats. Since 2000, five reigning champions have missed the cut while, of those who played the weekend, the average finishing position of the previous year’s winner is 21.

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McIlroy’s major drought

No player in the field wants a green jacket more than Rory McIlroy. A perennially slow starter at Augusta National, the Northern Irishman has seven top ten finishes at Augusta National but has missed the cut in two of the last four years. His major drought has stretched into an 11th year, while it has been 14 years since he won his first major at the US Open. The Masters was the last piece of the grand slam puzzle for Gene Sarazen, too, although it took the American 13 years to complete. Meanwhile, it took the other four grand slam winners (Nicklaus, Woods, Gary Player and Ben Hogan), an average of five years to complete.

Gnomes under the hammer

The most unusual piece of Masters history comes in the shape of a garden gnome – and they’ve become real money-spinners at Augusta. Every year, fans queue for two hours to get their hands on one at nearly $50 a pop. They have, however, become a sensation for re-sellers, with gnomes being auctioned on eBay for as much as $500.

Team LIV

A total of 13 LIV golfers teed it up at The Masters in 2024 and three finished in the top ten. Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith tied for sixth place, with Tyrrell Hatton just behind in T9. A total of 12 will go into battle again this year, and it would be no surprise to see similar results. Joaquin Niemann has received another special invite, while many of the LIV stars are in form.

The Jordan Spieth experience

You never know which Jordan Spieth is going to turn up but, ten years after slipping into the green jacket, it looks like the former world No.1 is back on the right track. He put his surgically repaired wrist to the test for the first time at Pebble Beach before finishing T4 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open one week later. And that, according to the man himself, did not feel like a one-off. Spieth’s last four results at The Masters read: MC, T4, MC, T3. Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Firing range

Quite literally something to look out for this Masters tournament. Not only will fans be able to see data of every shot from the fairways of Augusta National, but how about the driving range? Yep, that’s right. Boot up the app and hope Bryson DeChambeau is giving Vijay Singh another lesson.

Amateur hour

There can surely be no better feeling in a golfer’s amateur days than teeing it up in the first major of the men’s season. A small, limited cast of rising stars get their chance to show what they’ve got and, as ever, the battle for low am will bring drama of its own.

This featured in issue 220 of bunkered, our biggest-ever Masters preview. For more like this, subscribe here. International subscriptions also available.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.