The first major of 2025 is upon us, with the Masters getting under way at Augusta National on Thursday.

Things have not gone perfectly for Scottie Scheffler since he won this event for the second time last year. 

His bid to build on that at the PGA Championship a month later was thrown into chaos when he was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club, with all charges against the world number one later dropped.

A freak injury sustained while cooking Christmas dinner then delayed Scheffler's 2025 season debut, but he returns to Georgia targeting a place among the greats.

Not since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002 has anyone won back-to-back editions of the Masters, with Jack Nicklaus (1965 and 1966) and Nick Faldo (1989 and 1990) the only other players to achieve that feat.

While Scheffler is the favourite, he has plenty of competition. Last year's runner-up Ludvig Aberg has been backed to compete again, while Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are two-time major winners fancied by many.

And what of Rory McIlroy, who has now gone almost 11 years without a major success?

The Northern Irishman has won two of his five PGA Tour events this year and will be desperate to get over the line after several near misses on the big stage.

Ahead of the opening round, we look at the best Opta stats surrounding the key contenders.

Final preparations. #themasters pic.twitter.com/sZtI2Md9c9

— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 7, 2025

THE CONTENDERS

Scottie Scheffler

Scheffler produced a magnificent final round to pull clear of Aberg and win the Masters for the second time last year, carding a four-under 68 after starting Sunday a shot ahead.

He is hoping to join a list of eight players to have won the event three times, alongside Nicklaus (six), Woods (five), Arnold Palmer (four), Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Phil Mickelson and Faldo (all three). Woods and Mickelson are the only players in that group to have triumphed since the turn of the century, though.

Scheffler is yet to land a title in 2025, finishing tied for third at the Genesis Invitational and with a share of second at the Houston Open last month.

But he tends to save his best performances for the biggest moments, securing a top-10 finish in 12 of his last 18 majors (67%), more than any other golfer at majors since 2020.

Rory McIlroy

While Scheffler has recent experience of winning at Augusta, the course has not been too kind to McIlroy. 

His most gut-wrenching Masters near miss came in 2011, when he had a four-stroke lead going into the final round, only to card an eight-over 80, while he also tailed off after putting himself in contention in 2018.

A win at the Masters would see McIlroy become the sixth golfer in history with a career grand slam, after Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Woods. 

His last major victory was at the 2014 PGA Championship, though, with his ongoing run of 38 major appearances without a title being the longest of his career.  

The 35-year-old does enter the week in good form, though. He is the only multiple winner on the PGA Tour in 2025 – he won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February and the Players Championship in March.

Xander Schauffele

2024 was Schauffele's year.

He captured his first two major titles at the PGA Championship and the Open, becoming the first golfer to win multiple majors in a single year since Brooks Koepka in 2018, as well as making the top 10 at Augusta and the US Open.

Those successes had been coming. Since the 2022 PGA Championship, Schauffele has played at 11 majors and has never finished outside the top 20, making the top 10 in six of his last eight. 

Schauffele had long been a consistent challenger, but last year finally saw him take the final step. He was a remarkable 32 under par across all four majors in 2024, 15 strokes ahead of any other player to make the cut at all four events, with Scheffler at 17 under.

Jon Rahm

There are few signs of the split between the PGA and LIV circuits, which has divided golf for three years, healing any time soon. Twelve players from the breakaway tour will compete at Augusta, with Rahm heading their charge.

Rahm has been consistent on the LIV circuit lately, making the top 10 at each of his last 10 LIV events and winning twice. 

The Spaniard struggled at the first two majors of 2024 then withdrew from the U.S. Open due to injury, but a T7 finish at the Open was his best at any major since winning the Masters in 2023. 

Bryson DeChambeau 

In Rahm's absence, last year's US Open was won by DeChambeau, making him the second active LIV golfer to win a major, after Koepka at the 2023 PGA Championship.

DeChambeau claimed a share of sixth at Augusta last year, marking his first top-20 finish at the Masters on his eighth appearance. His last three major outings on American soil have seen him finish tied for sixth, second and first.

He won the Masters' Low Amateur award back in 2016, and he could become just the eighth golfer to pair that prize with a Green Jacket, after Cary Middlecoff, Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Mickelson, Woods, Sergio Garcia and Hideki Matsuyama. Patrick Cantlay (Low Amateur in 2012) and Viktor Hovland (in 2019) are chasing that same accolade.

Collin Morikawa 

Neither of Morikawa's major successes have come at the Masters, but he is the only golfer other than Scheffler to make the top 10 at each of the last three editions.

While 2024 came and went without a major triumph for Morikawa, his total score of 15 under par across the four events was only bettered by Schauffele and Scheffler, showcasing his consistency.

Though he failed to make a final-round lead count at last month's Arnold Palmer Invitational, Morikawa has been in good form lately, finishing second at the Sentry and in a share of 10th at the Players Championship, so he is expected to be in contention come Sunday.

Ludvig Aberg

Aberg is considered the most likely player to win a maiden major title this week, having threatened to do so on debut last year.

Fuzzy Zoeller, back in 1979, was the last player to win the Masters on his first attempt, but Aberg threatened to do just that until being derailed by a double-bogey on the 11th hole of his final round.

Five players have won the Masters on their second appearance, most recently Danny Willett in 2016, and a T12 finish at the U.S. Open further showcased Aberg's potential. 

Henrik Stenson is the only Swedish man to win a major, triumphing at the 2016 Open, but it seems a matter of time before Aberg follows in his footsteps.

THE OTHER STORIES

Although an Achilles tear suffered in early March will cause Woods to miss the Masters – and likely the other three majors – there are still plenty of other stories to look out for.

This will be the 89th staging of the Masters, and nearly three quarters of Green Jackets have been won by golfers from the United States (73%, 64/88), ahead of Spain (six) and South Africa (five).

America's current crop have dominated at recent majors, too. The last seven such tournaments have been won by US players – Koepka (2023 PGA), Wyndham Clark (2023 U.S. Open), Brian Harman (2023 Open), Scheffler (2024 Masters), Schauffele (2024 PGA and Open) and DeChambeau (2024 US Open). 

This is the longest streak of major wins by Americans since 13 straight tournaments were won by US players from 1974 to 1977.

After McIlroy, Rahm and Aberg, perhaps the most likely non-American contender could be Matsuyama. He has made the top 20 at eight of the last 10 Masters tournaments, including his 2021 triumph. That remains the only major won by a male Japanese golfer.

Joaquin Niemann, meanwhile, is the only player with multiple wins in the LIV Golf League this year, triumphing in Adelaide and Singapore. However, the Chilean has never had a top-10 finish in 22 major appearances, his best attempt being a T16 placing at Augusta in 2023.

Could we get play-off drama? Only one of the last 11 Masters tournaments has been decided in this fashion, with Garcia overcoming Justin Rose in 2017. 

A play-off had been required to decide three of the previous five editions. In fact, only one major has needed a play-off since then, with Justin Thomas beating Will Zalatoris at the 2022 PGA Championship.