Augusta Plays Firm and Fast as 90th Masters Field Braces for Test
Firm and Fast Augusta Awaits as 90th Masters Field Arrives
Augusta National is already doing what Augusta does best — making life difficult. With no rain in the forecast and the course extended to a record 7,565 yards, the 90th Masters beginning April 9 is shaping up as one of the sternest tests in years.
“The course is in great shape, and it’s already pretty firm,” said Cam Smith, the 2022 British Open champion. “It will be firm and fast, I would assume.”
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler — the betting favourite at +500 — and defending champion Rory McIlroy tested their games in Monday practice as the world’s best prepared for the year’s first major. McIlroy is chasing back-to-back Green Jackets, joining Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, and Jack Nicklaus as the only players to do so.
Xander Schauffele arrives in form after a third-place finish at the Players and fourth at Valspar. Russell Henley, a Georgia native who won Bay Hill and claimed two major top-tens in 2025, is another name to watch.
Eighteen past champions are in the field. The last first-time winner was Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 — a streak that every non-champion in this week’s field will be desperate to end.
Augusta is ready. It just doesn’t look like it will be easy.