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Apr. 7—AUGUSTA — The 90th Masters Tournament field is set with a field of 91 golfers.
There is the usual mix of current stars, past champions, amateurs and first-timers who are all vying for the coveted green jacket that will be awarded at the end of the tournament.
For the first time in more than three decades, this year's Masters will not have two of its most decorated champions: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Woods, a five-time winner at Augusta National Golf Club, told tournament officials he would not be in attendance after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence March 27. He flipped his vehicle near his Florida home and is reportedly out of the country seeking treatment.
Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner, announced April 2 that he would miss this year's tournament as he "continues to navigate a personal health matter."
Even without Woods and Mickelson, there is still plenty of star power in Augusta.
Here's a look at the field:
Past champions
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler headline this group. McIlroy won in 2025 to complete his career Grand Slam, and emotion poured out after he defeated Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to finally don the elusive green jacket.
Scheffler won at Augusta National in 2022 and 2024, but his form hasn't been great of late after a win early this year.
Patrick Reed, a former Augusta State star who won the Masters in 2018, has left LIV Golf but has won two times on the DP Tour earlier this year. He will be eligible to play PGA Tour events again in late August.
"I always feel really good coming in," Reed said April 6. "It's one of these things that, being the first major, you always try to come in and obviously be in great form, but it's very easy to kind of put too much pressure on yourself being the first major.
"The first time I actually kind of decided just to let go and play golf was '18, and that got the job done. That being said, that's what I plan on doing."
Overall, there are 18 former champions in the field.
Top contenders — PGA Tour division
Take your pick: this group has many possibilities. Cameron Young won The Players Championship last month and has had success in Augusta.
Other winners so far this year include major champions Collin Morikawa and Gary Woodland.
Woodland, a former U.S. Open champion, is the feel-good story of the year. He underwent brain surgery in 2023, and later revealed he was struggling with PTSD. Two weeks ago, Woodland won the Houston Open for his first victory since the 2019 U.S. Open.
Xander Schauffele is a two-time major champion and 10-time winner on the PGA Tour but has not won since last year.
Top contenders — Foreign division
Three Englishmen come to mind when discussing the Masters: Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose.
Fitzpatrick lost The Players after a late meltdown but bounced back to win the following week. Fleetwood won the Tour Championship in Georgia last fall for his first PGA Tour win. And Rose, who lost a playoff at last year's Masters, has had a long history of success in Augusta.
"I hope it only boosts my belief that I can go ahead and do it," Rose said of his near misses. "I feel like I've pretty much done what it takes to win. I just haven't kind of walked over the line. I feel like I've executed well enough to have done the job."
Other international contenders to watch include Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, who has contended in both of his two trips to Augusta, and Corey Conners of Canada.
Top contenders — LIV division
Bryson DeChambeau remains the top player in LIV, the tour that started in 2022 and is backed by Saudi Arabian money. Ten players from LIV are in this year's field.
DeChambeau is a two-time U.S. Open champion and has had success at Augusta, where he finished tied for fifth in 2025. He is coming off successive wins in Singapore and South Africa.
Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson are all past Masters winners. Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Carlos Ortiz round out the LIV players in Augusta.
First-timers
There are 22 players who are making their Masters debut this week.
History suggests they will not win the green jacket, but they could make some noise. The last first-time participant to win the Masters was Fuzzy Zoeller, and that occurred in 1979.
The newcomers are led by PGA Tour winners Jacob Bridgeman, a former Clemson star who won the Genesis Invitational earlier this year; Chris Gotterup, a two-time winner on the West Coast earlier this year; and Ben Griffin, who won three times in 2025.
Bridgeman attended the Masters when he was younger, and said it was different being inside the ropes.
"It's different on the inside. It feels like a lot of the tees you're kind of walking into a bottleneck of people, but it's really cool," he said April 6. "It's what all of us compete to come here. This is like the goal at the beginning of the year is to make it to the Masters."
Amateurs
Augusta National and the Masters was co-founded by Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur golfer of all-time. Thus, amateurs always hold a special place in the tournament.
No amateur has ever won, but a few have come close. There are six amateurs in this year's field, led by U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell. Like Jones, he's a native of Georgia and resides in Thomasville. He is committed to the University of Georgia.
"Yeah, it exceeds expectations. Every time stepping foot on this property, it's truly incredible," Howell said after his practice round April 6. "Obviously I can't wait for the week to get started, but I know when it does it'll be gone in the blink of an eye. I wish it would honestly slow down. Just trying to soak it all in."
Other notable amateurs are Mateo Pulcini of Argentina who won the Latin America Amateur and Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand who won the Asia-Pacific Amateur.
Continue reading...
There is the usual mix of current stars, past champions, amateurs and first-timers who are all vying for the coveted green jacket that will be awarded at the end of the tournament.
For the first time in more than three decades, this year's Masters will not have two of its most decorated champions: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Woods, a five-time winner at Augusta National Golf Club, told tournament officials he would not be in attendance after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence March 27. He flipped his vehicle near his Florida home and is reportedly out of the country seeking treatment.
Mickelson, a three-time Masters winner, announced April 2 that he would miss this year's tournament as he "continues to navigate a personal health matter."
Even without Woods and Mickelson, there is still plenty of star power in Augusta.
Here's a look at the field:
Past champions
Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler headline this group. McIlroy won in 2025 to complete his career Grand Slam, and emotion poured out after he defeated Justin Rose in a sudden-death playoff to finally don the elusive green jacket.
Scheffler won at Augusta National in 2022 and 2024, but his form hasn't been great of late after a win early this year.
Patrick Reed, a former Augusta State star who won the Masters in 2018, has left LIV Golf but has won two times on the DP Tour earlier this year. He will be eligible to play PGA Tour events again in late August.
"I always feel really good coming in," Reed said April 6. "It's one of these things that, being the first major, you always try to come in and obviously be in great form, but it's very easy to kind of put too much pressure on yourself being the first major.
"The first time I actually kind of decided just to let go and play golf was '18, and that got the job done. That being said, that's what I plan on doing."
Overall, there are 18 former champions in the field.
Top contenders — PGA Tour division
Take your pick: this group has many possibilities. Cameron Young won The Players Championship last month and has had success in Augusta.
Other winners so far this year include major champions Collin Morikawa and Gary Woodland.
Woodland, a former U.S. Open champion, is the feel-good story of the year. He underwent brain surgery in 2023, and later revealed he was struggling with PTSD. Two weeks ago, Woodland won the Houston Open for his first victory since the 2019 U.S. Open.
Xander Schauffele is a two-time major champion and 10-time winner on the PGA Tour but has not won since last year.
Top contenders — Foreign division
Three Englishmen come to mind when discussing the Masters: Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose.
Fitzpatrick lost The Players after a late meltdown but bounced back to win the following week. Fleetwood won the Tour Championship in Georgia last fall for his first PGA Tour win. And Rose, who lost a playoff at last year's Masters, has had a long history of success in Augusta.
"I hope it only boosts my belief that I can go ahead and do it," Rose said of his near misses. "I feel like I've pretty much done what it takes to win. I just haven't kind of walked over the line. I feel like I've executed well enough to have done the job."
Other international contenders to watch include Sweden's Ludvig Aberg, who has contended in both of his two trips to Augusta, and Corey Conners of Canada.
Top contenders — LIV division
Bryson DeChambeau remains the top player in LIV, the tour that started in 2022 and is backed by Saudi Arabian money. Ten players from LIV are in this year's field.
DeChambeau is a two-time U.S. Open champion and has had success at Augusta, where he finished tied for fifth in 2025. He is coming off successive wins in Singapore and South Africa.
Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson are all past Masters winners. Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Carlos Ortiz round out the LIV players in Augusta.
First-timers
There are 22 players who are making their Masters debut this week.
History suggests they will not win the green jacket, but they could make some noise. The last first-time participant to win the Masters was Fuzzy Zoeller, and that occurred in 1979.
The newcomers are led by PGA Tour winners Jacob Bridgeman, a former Clemson star who won the Genesis Invitational earlier this year; Chris Gotterup, a two-time winner on the West Coast earlier this year; and Ben Griffin, who won three times in 2025.
Bridgeman attended the Masters when he was younger, and said it was different being inside the ropes.
"It's different on the inside. It feels like a lot of the tees you're kind of walking into a bottleneck of people, but it's really cool," he said April 6. "It's what all of us compete to come here. This is like the goal at the beginning of the year is to make it to the Masters."
Amateurs
Augusta National and the Masters was co-founded by Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur golfer of all-time. Thus, amateurs always hold a special place in the tournament.
No amateur has ever won, but a few have come close. There are six amateurs in this year's field, led by U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell. Like Jones, he's a native of Georgia and resides in Thomasville. He is committed to the University of Georgia.
"Yeah, it exceeds expectations. Every time stepping foot on this property, it's truly incredible," Howell said after his practice round April 6. "Obviously I can't wait for the week to get started, but I know when it does it'll be gone in the blink of an eye. I wish it would honestly slow down. Just trying to soak it all in."
Other notable amateurs are Mateo Pulcini of Argentina who won the Latin America Amateur and Fifa Laopakdee of Thailand who won the Asia-Pacific Amateur.
Continue reading...
