The Masters 2025: Can Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy embrace favourites tag at Augusta National?

7 April 2025, 01:26 | Updated: 7 April 2025, 06:14

Can anyone stop Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy battling for victory at The Masters? Which of the world's top two will claim bragging rights and can one of them secure the Green Jacket? We take a closer look…

Why are these two the favourites?

Quite simply, these are the world's best two players and - between them - have been the two consistent stars of world golf in recent seasons.

Xander Schauffele registered two major titles last season and Bryson DeChambeau snatched US Open glory from McIlroy last June, but it's Scheffler and McIlroy who have regularly enjoyed more success than anyone else.

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Scheffler claimed NINE worldwide victories in 2024, including The Masters, FedExCup glory and Olympic gold, while McIlroy's Players Championship win last month was his sixth worldwide title in a 14-month stretch.

"I'm looking forward to the Rory-Scottie show," former US Open champion Curtis Strange said in a pre-tournament media call. "This year, once again, we have Scottie and Rory playing well.

"Rory seems to be hitting on all cylinders, which is a good thing for the [Grand] Slam. It's hard to get past the first two or three [in the world rankings], but we'll have to see how it plays out. "

How has McIlroy started the year?

McIlroy hasn't even produced his full A-game yet this season and is already a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, closing the gap on Scheffler at the top of the world rankings in the process.

The 35-year-old fell short in his bid for a historic threepeat at the DP World Tour's Hero Dubai Desert Classic but started his PGA Tour campaign with a win, finishing two strokes clear of good friend Shane Lowry at the AT&T; Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

McIlroy has finished no lower than 17th in his four PGA Tour starts since, despite failing to contend at the Genesis Invitational and making a mid-tournament equipment switch during the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

His dramatic win at The Players saw him turn a four-stroke deficit into a three-shot lead during the final round, only to let slip his advantage and need a Monday play-off to defeat JJ Spaun.

McIlroy elected to play the Texas Children's Houston Open in between his TPC Sawgrass success and The Masters, his first appearance at the event since 2014, where he recovered from a slow start to mount a final-round charge and end the week tied-fifth.

Can Scheffler defy history again?

No player has won back-to-back editions on The Masters since Tiger Woods in 2002, but Scheffler is looking to change that and join Jack Nicklaus (1963-66) as the only player to claim three victories in four years at Augusta National.

Scheffler has never finished outside the top-20 at Augusta in five previous starts and is fully expected to continue that trend this week, having maintained the consistency that has seen him remain world No 1 since May 2023.

He may not have won yet in 2025 but is the epitome of the "trending" analogy overuse in golf, having marked his return from a freak Christmas hand injury to post top-25 finishes in each of his first five appearances this year.

Scheffler's last start was his closest yet to returning to the winner's circle, finishing tied-second in Houston for the second successive year as Min Woo Lee held for victory. Coming into The Masters off the back of a runner-up finish served him well 12 months ago and could do again.

How impressive have they both been?

This is the first time in McIlroy's career he heads into The Masters with multiple wins in the calendar year, while he currently leads the PGA Tour's strokes gained table ahead of Collin Morikawa and Scheffler.

McIlroy's also inside the top 20 for strokes gained approach and SG putting, which will both be attributes needed at Augusta, although he said after his impressive week in Houston that he still had "work to do".

Scheffler hasn't been quite the same tee-to-green dominant force but is still inside the top three for that metric, with the American growing in form as they head into the first major of the year.

What is McIlroy's record in the majors?

You probably don't need reminding that McIlroy has had 21 top-10 finishes in majors since his 2014 PGA Championship success - more than any other player during the past decade, without claiming a fifth major title.

Eight of those have been in the last three seasons, with McIlroy narrowly missing out in The Open at St Andrews in 2022 before posting back-to-back runner-up finishes at the US Open the past two years.

McIlroy finished a shot behind Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst No 2 last June, having been two ahead with five to play in his best chance yet to add to his major tally, then missed the cut at The Open a month later.

How has McIlroy previously played at Augusta?

McIlroy squandered a four-shot lead during the final round of the 2011 contest - shooting a closing 80 and ending tied-15th - but arrived as defending US Open champion the following season and has been among the favourites almost every year since.

His Masters record was previously remarkably consistent, with five consecutive top-10s from 2014, although his runner-up finish to Scheffler in 2022 has been his only top-20 at Augusta National in his last four starts.

McIlroy missed the cut in the years either side of that runner-up finish, still his best result in at The Masters, while last year saw him slip out of contention with a second-round 77 and end 15 strokes back in tied-22nd.

And what about Scheffler?

Scheffler started 2022 without a PGA Tour title but cruised to a maiden major title at The Masters that April, his fourth win in six starts, where he claimed a three-shot victory over McIlroy despite four-putting his final hole.

He failed to build on a fast start to his title defence a year later, where he ended tied-10th as Jon Rahm won, although Scheffler returned to winning ways with a brilliant display last season.

Scheffler held a share of the halfway lead and took a one-shot advantage over Morikawa into the final day, where he cruised to a four-shot victory and third PGA Tour title in four starts.

Does history give McIlroy a chance?

McIlroy makes his 17th appearance at Augusta, which is two fewer than Sergio Garcia reached before winning the Green Jacket, while an 11-year gap between majors matches that of Woods from his 14th and 15th major titles.

Woods has previously said that McIlroy winning the Grand Slam would 'definitely happen' in his lifetime, with the bid to join golf's exclusive major club now entering an 11th season

McIlroy would become just the sixth player in the modern era - since the inception of The Masters in 1934 - to complete the career Grand Slam, with Woods the only other player to do so since the 1960s.

Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus are the only other players to have won all four majors in their career, with McIlroy having another opportunity in 2025 to add his name to that list.

"What do you say to a guy who has more talent in his little finger and just hasn't performed at one tournament that he desperately wants to win?" Strange added. "It doesn't make him a failure. That doesn't make him an underachiever by any stretch. It's just he hasn't come through at this one particular week of the year."

Can anyone stop the world's top two?

Schauffele is the closest challenger in the world rankings and is chasing a third major win in four starts, having followed his history-making PGA Championship title by securing The Open at Royal Troon.

The world No 3's runner-up finish to Woods in 2019 is one of four top-10s at Augusta, including each of the last two years, while Scheffler has finished no lower than 18th in each of his last 11 major appearances.

Ludvig Åberg will hope to go one better than his second-place finish on debut last year, having won the Genesis Invitational this season, while two-time major winner Morikawa played alongside Scheffler in the final group last year and has finished runner-up twice on the PGA Tour in 2025.

DeChambeau and 2017 Masters champion Garcia are part of 12 players from the LIV Golf League in the field and searching for more major success, while Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Cantlay are among those chasing a maiden major title.

When is The Masters live on Sky Sports?

Sky Sports Golf will be showing record hours of live coverage from the 2025 contest, where Scottie Scheffler returns as defending champion, including more action over the final two rounds than previous years.

Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm on Thursday, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.

The same timings will apply on Friday, while a new addition to this year's coverage sees a Masters build-up show live from 3pm over the weekend ahead of full coverage starting at 5pm, covering all the action until after the close of play.

Sky+, Sky Q and Sky Glass will provide plenty of bonus feeds and allow you to follow players' progress through various parts of Augusta's famous layout, including Amen Corner and more.

Who will win The Masters? Watch from April 10-13 live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins with Featured Groups on Thursday April 10, from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: The Masters 2025: Can Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy embrace favourites tag at Augusta National?