Masters roundtable: Missing Tiger Woods, long-shots to win and favorites to lose

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s Masters Week.

The azaleas are popping, the gnomes are flying off the shelves in the merchandise building, and the egg salad sandwiches are in abundance. The golf world has descended on Augusta National Golf Club for the 2025 Masters Tournament, including The Athletic.

To get the week started, three of our golf writers — Brody Miller, Gabby Herzig and Hugh Kellenberger — answered questions, from what they were thinking about on their way to Augusta to whether they’ll miss Tiger Woods (out, torn Achilles) to who and who may not be the owner of a new green jacket come Sunday afternoon.

What excites you the most about this Masters?

Herzig: The storylines are abundant at this year’s Masters, but for a few different reasons, it feels like we could be due for an unexpected main character to emerge. It’s difficult to underestimate Scottie Scheffler, but his game is just coming into peak form after a ravioli-making incident derailed the beginning of this season. Rory McIlroy is playing some of the best early-season golf of his life, but Augusta National brings something out of him that can be unpredictable. Xander Schauffele would have been an automatic favorite if it weren’t for an injured intercostal muscle that put him on a temporary ball count.

The LIV players are coming into Augusta having played only one stateside tournament, and the overseas courses don’t quite rival the Alister MacKenzie test, to put it nicely. The combination of prowess and uncertainty at the top of the men’s game makes the anticipation around this Masters feel particularly palpable. It’s a familiar phenomenon, but this year, more than others, I’m feeling the anything-could-happen vibe.

Kellenberger: As a Florida resident, I’ve had the occasion to meet many a Disney adult, and may or may not be related to one or two. While it’s not for me, I do understand the appeal. You walk through the gates and the outside world seems to fall to the wayside, the “magic” intended to swaddle you the way your mother once did. It’s comfortable escapism. Well, I’ve always maintained that the Masters is a Disneyland, swapping out Goofy ears for that classic yellow logo and a turkey leg for a pimento cheese sandwich. I’m happy to indulge.

Miller: There are so many potential epic, epic narratives that could come from this week. Does McIlroy, playing some of the best golf of his career, finally complete the career grand slam 11 years after his last major win? Does Xander Schauffele get a third major in four starts? Does Jon Rahm become a multiple-time winner or does Scheffler win three of four Masters to reach god-tier Augusta National greatness? Or does a budding new star like Ludvig Åberg put himself in the history books like we all expect?

And if all of that doesn’t happen, it means a new icon we weren’t planning for. That’s the coolest thing about the Masters. We’ll all remember who Charl Schwartzel and Danny Willett are, because they won here.

Tiger Woods’ torn Achilles has kept him out of the 2025 Masters. (Warren Little / Getty Images)

Will you miss Tiger Woods?

Miller: Yes. Even if I find myself tired at times of the attention we must pay to each round, from a golfer who is no longer a true contender, it’s history. I don’t care if it’s corny. It’s possibly the greatest golfer to ever play, doing it at the most iconic venue, and seeing that should never be taken for granted. Woods’ presence adds gravitas and relevance that is noticeably absent when he’s not there.

(And if I want to be a selfish sportswriter, it’s always nice when Woods draws large galleries and breaks up how many people follow the other stars.)

Kellenberger: A year ago, I made it a point to be behind the 18th green as Tiger walked up the fairway. I watched as he finished his round before the leaders had even teed off, as the patrons bathed him in admiration and praise befitting a man of his record and not the 77 he had just shot to finish last in the field. “Just in case,” was my reasoning for being there, because if the last decade has taught us anything about Tiger Woods, you never know what will happen next.

Chances are he will play the Masters again, but it should be on his terms, for his reasons, and without external expectations placed on him. A Masters without Tiger Woods will feel unfamiliar, but we’ll move on.

Herzig: Will I miss the energy in the Masters press conference hall when Woods walks out, settles into his chair and adjusts the microphone with 200 people at the edge of their seats waiting for him to open his mouth? Or the stunning increase in decibel count when he struts from the clubhouse to the first tee on Thursday morning? Absolutely. Woods and Augusta National make a dynamic duo, one that no player will ever replicate in the modern era — at least no player that we are currently aware of. I’ll miss the spectacle that Woods provides at the Masters.

That being said, there’s nothing worse than a relationship that feels forced. No matter how confidently he says it, Woods has not been in form to win at this golf course since the car crash. I won’t miss witnessing the limp on those hills, or wincing at the sight of his ball entering the deepest bunkers on the property — it’s just not fun to watch someone who has dominated this game play through pain. It’s not worth it.

Sepp Straka has one PGA Tour win this season. (Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

Name a long shot to win

Kellenberger: A list of long shots at the Masters is always going to intrigue, filled with the second-tier PGA Tour stars and a heavy list of former champions that could theoretically pull a Jack in ’86 and find the magic just one more time.

Russell Henley begins the week plus-5000 and is a month removed from a signature event win. Cameron Smith and Wyndham Clark are still fairly recent major champions. Keegan Bradley is a choice for chaos. Phil Mickelson? Patrick Reed? Oh my, the takes. Robert MacIntyre has not been to the Masters since 2022, but his performance back then was better than his resume. He’s a different, better golfer now, and a Scot who knows how to shape his shot in the wind is not like the craziest thing ever at the Masters.

Miller: Sepp Straka. He’s one of the 10 best iron players in the world, and this year it’s been better than ever. He won the American Express in January and already has seven top-15 finishes in this short season. Add in that he finished T16 at the Masters last spring, so there aren’t a ton of reasons to doubt he’s capable of winning here. If there was a hangup, it’s that Augusta National is a place where you often need a creative short game, and Straka is a below-average player around the greens, but hey, that’s why he’s a long shot.

Herzig: Will Zalatoris. This isn’t just a shot in the dark. In 2023, Zalatoris had to withdraw from the Masters after suffering a back injury that led to spinal surgery, and it devastated him. But before that, Zalatoris was putting together a Masters resume that felt destined to soon include a win. He finished solo second in 2021 and tied for sixth in 2022. One year later, his back fused, and still adjusting to the burden of four days of competition, he posted a T9. Now, with the 2025 season underway, you could look at Zalatoris’ results and convince yourself he’s not in form to win a Masters.

I’d argue that the world No. 63 has played much better than he’s scored this season, the first glaring example being his roller-coaster of a Players Championship. In some of the windiest conditions we’ve seen this calendar year, Zalatoris reached a tie for second place on Saturday at TPC Sawgrass after going 10-under in his last 27 holes. Then he made a quadruple bogey, and it all unraveled from there. All we see is the T30, but he executed some stellar golf in ridiculous conditions on a massive stage within that result. Plus, the man loves Augusta National — let’s see what he can do.

One name who you’re sure will not win

Miller: Bryson DeChambeau. Although it was nice to see him play well last week at LIV Miami, he’s been quite average this LIV season and has generally been regressing since that epic U.S. Open win. And while we should by no means ignore his impressive T6 last year, his overall Masters career has been a ton of missed cuts and finishes outside the top 20. I respect DeChambeau a ton, but he’s not winning.

Herzig: He’s the talk of the town, but Rory McIlroy will not win the Masters this year. I’m as convinced as anyone that McIlroy is playing some of the most complete and disciplined golf of his career. He’s mastered that flighted down bulletproof iron shot for windy conditions and tiny landing areas. The creativity and versatility in his game feel unmatched. And McIlroy is coming into the Masters with the best 2025 resume of the big dogs in the field: A win at Pebble Beach and a Players Championship. Hard to beat those.

But yet, I’m convinced that we’ll either see McIlroy miss the cut by three or break hearts on Sunday with a near miss. I don’t think it will be anything in between, and I also don’t think it will be a win.

Kellenberger: Jordan Spieth having better odds to win the 2025 Masters than Hideki Matsuyama is wild. W-i-l-d. He’s played in six tournaments since his return from offseason wrist surgery and has two top 10s, but his performance against signature event fields (when he’s in them) has not been nearly as encouraging. While he’s not losing strokes in any of the four categories, per Data Golf, he’s not outperforming a significant part of the field in any of them either.

Would love for Spieth to be back at some point, but he’s a top-5 name with a top-50 game. Spieth and the Masters will always have a certain appeal, but he’s missed the cut two of the last three years. I’m out on that one.

(Top photo of Scottie Scheffler with his caddie, Ted Scott: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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