Masters 2026: After Rory McIlroy’s spectacular win, what’s the best storyline this year?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Rory McIlroy, sporting the green jacket he’d owned for less than an hour, looked out at the assembled media on April 13, 2025, and smiled a weary smile. “I’d like to start this press conference with a question myself,” he said. “What are we all going to talk about next year?”

It’s a fair question. When McIlroy finally won another major, finally won his Masters in try No. 17, finally claimed his career grand slam, it didn’t just represent the culmination of his career. That glorious 2025 victory represented the end of a chapter in Masters history, the best possible conclusion to one of the tournament’s longest-running storylines. With McIlroy’s victory assured, with Tiger Woods now clearly a part of the tournament’s history rather than its present or future, the Masters needs new storylines.

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So. What are we going to talk about this year?

Fortunately, Augusta National has a way of creating myths out of the thick Georgia air. No matter what unfolds over the next six days, it will take on the tones and colors of legend.

Broadly speaking, the best Masters stories break down into three categories: ascension, domination and resurrection. In other words: a new champion, an elite champion, or a returning champion. Every one of the finest Masters — 2025, 2019, 1997, 1986 and so on — features some combination of the three. So which will it be this year? Here are our best guesses.

Ascension: Greatness debuts

Augusta National has a way of welcoming future Hall of Famers to the big stage, like Woods and Jordan Spieth. With all due respect to literally every other tournament, there’s something special about a Masters win that elevates a player’s career to another level entirely. Any of these paths would make for a fantastic week:

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First-time major winners: Tommy Fleetwood leads the pack here; if the Englishman can claim his first major this week, he’d be one of the golf world’s most popular winners in years. Akshay Bhatia also appears ready to level up. Min Woo Lee, Max Homa and Viktor Hovland would also be crowd favorites if they were atop the leaderboard on Sunday.

First-time Masters winners: Justin Rose really deserves another shot at this, having lost two Masters in playoffs (to Sergio Garcia in 2017 and McIlroy last year). Shane Lowry might set off the finest party Augusta has ever seen. And if Gary Woodland managed to win a green jacket after his personal challenges, there wouldn’t be a dry eye on the grounds.

An amateur: No amateur has ever won the Masters; Ken Venturi came the closest, finishing solo second to Jack Burke in 1956. Sam Burns made a run in 2023 but finished T16. Were any of this year’s six amateurs to get in the weekend mix, they’d be an instant national celebrity.

Domination: Greatness flexes its muscle

Every once in a while, the best have to remind the world why they’re the best. Yes, dramatic 18th-hole playoff finishes are spectacular, but so too is the walk up the 18th fairway when the champion only needs a triple-bogey to win.

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Rory McIlroy: If he were to back up his 2025 nailbiter with a 2026 masterpiece, well, that would be something, wouldn’t it?

Jon Rahm: Just how good is Rahm these days? It’s tough to say because his days are on the LIV circuit, but if the 2023 champion were to come to Augusta National and lap the field, well, a whole lot of the “did he make a mistake?” talk would quiet down.

Scottie Scheffler: Won his two Masters by three and four strokes, respectively. When he finds his groove, there’s nobody that can even slow him down.

Bryson DeChambeau: Also fits in the “First-time Masters winners” category, but man, if DeChambeau were able to back up his talk with a triumphant walk through the pines, well, we’d like to see the YouTube behind-the-scenes videos that would come from that.

Resurrection: Greatness, once lost, is now found

The Masters has a way of bringing greats back onstage for one more turn in the spotlight — think Jack Nicklaus in 1986 or Tiger Woods in 2019. These players are primed for one of those return-to-greatness moments.

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Jordan Spieth: The next player in line for a truly great comeback story. After winning a Masters in 2015 and giving one away in 2016, Spieth seemed like the next legend. It hasn’t quite worked out that way, but if he were able to find that winning form for one more weekend, he’d be the most popular contender in the field.

Keegan Bradley: He has just one major to his credit, a PGA Championship all the way back in 2011 … meaning the most notable line on his resume is last year’s catastrophic Ryder Cup captaincy. A green jacket would go a long way toward rehabilitating that.

Brooks Koepka: After spending several seasons on LIV, Koepka has largely been welcomed back by the PGA Tour galleries. He too belongs in the “first-time Masters winners” category, but a Koepka post-LIV victory would have resonance beyond just the leaderboard.

Sergio Garcia & Patrick Reed: Both have severely tested their fans’ patience over the years, but a victory might — might — eliminate some of the hard feelings.

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Fred Couples: No, it won’t happen. But man, can you imagine how great another Freddie win would be?

Of course, the best result might just be one where we have no idea what’s going to happen all the way into late Sunday afternoon. Think back to, say, 2011, when eight different players held at least a share of the lead on the tournament’s final day, five simultaneously on the back nine. Charl Schwartzel claimed the green jacket with four straight closing birdies, but it remains one of the most spectacular Masters tournaments ever because of the sheer chaos.

We don’t yet know what the story of this week will be. But it’ll definitely be worth retelling. At Augusta National, a victory always is.