AUGUSTA, Ga. — The week of festivities have already at Augusta National Golf Club with the first round of the 89th Masters fast approaching. As usual, the key question everyone’s asking remains the same across the golf world: Who are you picking to win the green jacket? With an extraordinary 95-man field (ranked in its entirety here) featuring the best professionals and many of the top amateurs in the world, the first major championship of 2025 should be a tremendous ride from Thursday’s first round through the awarding of the green jacket Sunday evening.
While the Masters field is stacked, reigning champion Scottie Scheffler, who has won two of the last three green jackets, is not riding as much momentum into the tournament as usual. Scheffler has gotten off to a slow start to the 2025 season but nevertheless enters as the favorite to win a second consecutive Masters. Just behind him on the odds board is Rory McIlroy, who conversely is off to his best start through three months to open any season in his career with two victories already in his bag.
2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm follows the two single-digit favorites with Collin Morikawa just behind. While Morikawa has struggled to find the winner’s circle of late, he’s played some of the best golf through the early portion of 2025 alongside McIlroy.
There are plenty of golfers behind them who will surely be in contention, including Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, young sensation Ludvig Åberg and Justin Thomas, who has recently found some form to his game. Unfortunately, Tiger Woods will not be competing after tearing his Achilles, but Phil Mickelson will be in the field once again … with odds of 110-1.
So, what is going to happen at Augusta National this week? There are storylines aplenty to follow. Let’s take a look at a full set of predictions and picks from our CBS Sports experts as we attempt to project who will win — and what will go down — at the most prestigious golf tournament in the world.
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2025 Masters expert picks, predictions
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
Patrick McDonald, golf writer
Winner — Robert MacIntyre (60-1): Considered putting Scheffer in this spot for obvious reasons, but I’ve been doing that for the last year. Let’s instead spice things up. MacIntyre is one of the few players to rank inside the top 40 in the world across each tee-to-green metric, and he comes into the Masters riding a wave of form. He has four top-11 finishes in his last five tournaments thanks in large part to significant strides with his driver and irons in hand. MacIntyre also has a pair of top-25 finishes in his two Masters starts. He’s a sleeper, yet he’s also my winner. The value is immense.
Sleeper — Patrick Reed (90-1): The 2018 champion is peaking at the precise right time. Reed has rattled off three top-10 finishes in his last four worldwide starts including a close call at LIV Golf Doral where he held the first-round lead. Always dangerous given his short-game prowess, Reed’s recent improvement off the tee and into the greens could push him over the edge and into contention.
Top 10 lock — Scottie Scheffler: He would fit in nicely with the three successful defenders at Augusta National, but let’s play it conservative. The world No. 1 is looking more and more like his normal self by the week, and the need for adequate strategy and course management this tournament should only speed up that process. He has finished inside the top 10 in 12 of his last 18 major starts.
Star who definitely won’t win — Ludvig Åberg: The game just has not been the same since the West Coast Swing. A runner-up finisher in his debut last season, the Swedish superstar comes into this edition of the Masters without the same level of sharpness. He ranks outside the top 40 in total strokes gained and outside the top 100 in both short-game categories.
Scottie Scheffler vs. Rory McIlroy: They will both have to deal with some extracurriculars, but Scheffler is the one who has shown capable of handling them. He has a real chance to become the fourth-ever back-to-back champion this week, and despite McIlroy playing better golf across the first three months, Scheffler shines at Augusta National.
Surprise prediction — There will be more LIV GOLF players on the first page of the leaderboard: A lot of the usual suspects are playing some sensational golf at the moment. Reed, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau and even Phil Mickelson to an extent should come into this week believing they can win this tournament. Throw in major savant Brooks Koepka, Masters stalwart Cameron Smith and a motivated Joaquín Niemann, and it’s conceivable to see a first page with more LIV players on it than PGA Tour members.
Lowest round: 65 (-7)
Winning score: 275 (-13)
Winner’s Sunday score: 69 (-3)
Robby Kalland, golf writer
Winner — Collin Morikawa (18-1): The setup for a Scottie-Rory battle feels too perfect, and that often means someone else steals the spotlight. Morikawa has been so good this year and so good at Augusta National in the last three years that I can’t help but think the breakthrough is coming. I know he’s struggled to get it across the finish line lately, but his ball-striking has been outrageous this year (which is the formula at Augusta National), and I think we’re talking about him trying to complete the career grand slam later this summer at Oakmont.
Sleeper — Cameron Smith (60-1): He is always around the top of the leaderboard at the Masters with five top 10s in his seven starts. He’s been a bit of a forgotten man in LIV Golf, but he knows how to win a major, boasts a great track record at Augusta National and can get incredibly hot with the putter. I think he’ll be near the lead again on Sunday, and if he can find the ball-striking, he could certainly win at a long number.
Top 10 lock — Scottie Scheffler: He’s 5/2 for a top 10 this week for good reason. There’s no one in the field with a higher floor than Scheffler, and if he’s not in the top 10 by the end of Sunday, it would be a legitimate shock.
Star who definitely won’t win — Bryson DeChambeau: I don’t believe DeChabmeau has Augusta figured out just yet. There’s too many calculations to make on every shot for someone with his exacting approach to ever be comfortable for 72 holes. As we saw last year, he can have those magical rounds and go low — just not consistently enough. It’s just a lack of complete comfort with the variety shot shapes required over the course of four rounds at Augusta.
Scottie Scheffler vs. Rory McIlroy: Gotta go with McIlroy. I know I’m really threading the needle here, but follow this treasure map with me to a McIlroy runner-up, Scheffler T6 and Morikawa win. I truly believe Rory is in the best place (both mentally and with his game) we’ve seen him coming into Augusta. I also believe he just might be Sisyphus pushing a boulder up the hill (in this case, the 18th fairway) forever. Wouldn’t it be perfectly Rory for him to play great, beat his biggest competition head-to-head but still come up just short of a green jacket?
Ludvig Åberg vs. Joaquín Niemann: Aberg. This is mostly about where I think Aberg’s floor is, which is a top 20. We saw last year he has the ability to be patient at Augusta, which we rarely see from players in their debut. The way he clicked with the challenges of Augusta, I have a hard time seeing him regress too far off of that runner-up in 2024. Niemann certainly has the game, but I need to see it all come together in a major before I can take him.
Surprise prediction — Sergio Garcia first round leader: While Niemann has gotten a ton of the LIV Golf buzz, Sergio has been rejuvenated this year and is going back to a place he loves. I think he comes out of the gates hot on Thursday and is at the top of the leaderboard before eventually fading back some.
Lowest round: 66 (-6)
Winning score: 276 (-12)
Winner’s Sunday score: 68 (-4)
Adam Silverstein, senior director of editorial
Winner — Rory McIlroy (13/2): Not that we have to choose different winners as part of this exercise, but Robby’s choice of Morikawa — who has much more interesting odds at 18-1 given he has an about equal chance of winning come Sunday — took some wind out of my sails. Instead, let’s go on record predicting this is finally the year that McIlroy completes the career grand slam by claiming a green jacket. You’ve been beaten down with data about his start to 2025 being the best of his career. What I like about Rory is that 2023-24 marked the first time since 2012-13 that he failed to finish among the top 10 in consecutive Masters starts. Coupled with McIlroy taking a step back as the poster boy for the PGA Tour amid the LIV Golf drama, he appears more relaxed and capable of going out and achieving. In other words, he got his mind right. And that is paramount to finding success at Augusta National.
Plus, Rory won’t let his daughter, Poppy, show him up … will he?
Sleeper — Shane Lowry (45-1): Though he only has one top 10 finish at the Masters (2022), Lowry posted two major top 10s in 2024 and three top 10s to start the season. He also played far better at The Players than his numbers suggested. The feeling around Augusta has been that this Masters will be one by someone on the front page of the odds board, but as we have seen before, Lowry has a way of making prognostications like that look silly.
Top 10 lock — Scottie Scheffler: Two wins in the last three Masters, three straight top 10s at Augusta National having never placed worse than T19. Twelve top 10s in his last 17 majors (71%). Even with his current form not at its peak, when asked to choose a lock, there is simply no better option.
Star who definitely won’t win — Joaquín Niemann: Phil Mickelson and the LIV Golf-ers are banging us over the head with the notion that Niemann is the “next big thing” because he’s found success on that tour. No shade to winning golf tournaments, but please let me know when this guy contends at a major. His best finish in 22 tries is T16 (granted, that came at the Masters in 2023). Niemann has not won an event on United States soil in three years.
Scottie Scheffler vs. Rory McIlroy: Just a few sentences after describing Scheffler as a mortal lock to contend at this tournament, I nevertheless need to lean toward McIlroy. After all, I’m picking Rory to win the whole shebang. The head-to-head duel we all want is highly unlikely to occur Sunday coming down the second nine, but wouldn’t it be something if we saw these two battle it out down the stretch at Augusta National? Talk about a dream golf scenario.
Ludvig Åberg vs. Joaquín Niemann: It does truly feel like Åberg is a star in the making, and while his performance at last year’s Masters will be extraordinarily tough to duplicate, whose to say he simply does not have this course nailed down? Granted, missing two cuts in his four career majors last year is not the most welcome sign of a top prospect, but he also picked up a T12 at the U.S. Open. So Åberg in one year has more top 12s at majors than Niemann in his whole career.
Surprise prediction — Min Woo Lee makes a legitimate run: Get out that spatchula. Fresh off his first career PGA Tour victory — one in which chase down and surpass Scheffler on his way to the winner’s circle, the chef is feeling himself. While it’s unlikely that he truly contends at 55-1 given the number of tremendous competitors in this field, I absolutely see him putting together a strong 36 opening holes to sit inside the top 10 on the leaderboard making patrons in attendance and viewers at home perk up at the potential for him to win his first career major.
Lowest round: 65 (-7)
Winning score: 276 (-12)
Winner’s Sunday score: 69 (-3)
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