Who Can And Can't Win The Masters in 2025

95 competitors will be making that iconic drive down Magnolia Lane to Augusta National Golf Club for the 2025 Masters, the 89th edition of a tournament that has defined the career of many a legendary player.

The restricted nature of this invited field - which effectively brings together the elite alongside a handful of amateurs and several antiquated past champions - means that the leaderboard here is always star-studded and you can almost guarantee that the biggest names will be right there in contention on Sunday. 

But that doesn't always mean that one of the favourites will slip into the Green Jacket. The likes of Danny Willett, Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson are examples from the past two decades. 

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That said, it's hard to see beyond a select group of contenders, headed by Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau.

But who can and can't win this tournament? 

Taking a look through the whole field, I have placed every player into categories of how likely they are to win, which certainly opens me up for ridicule should someone defy my opinion and become the Masters champion. 

However, I always root for the best stories, so I'm perfectly accepting of a surprise or two!

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Strong Candidate to Win The 2025 Masters

I've chosen ten players who I believe have a really, really strong chance of winning the tournament. There are hardly any shock names here, but you might be surprised to see Henley and Lowry rated so highly, but I have a feeling that they could be the ones to usurp the likes of Scheffler and McIlroy.

Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Shane Lowry, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas.

Could Be a Contender

These are the players who I don't think will win the Masters this year, but wouldn't be surprised to see them feature on the leaderboard and potentially even contend on Sunday.

Akshay Bhatia, Patrick Cantlay, Corey Conners, Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee, Robert MacIntyre, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith, Sepp Straka.

Will Just Make Up The Numbers

This is the majority of the field, the golfers who I think have a strong chance of making the cut and playing all four rounds, but who I don't see sustaining a lofty position on the leaderboard. Some of you probably see the likes of Spieth, Rose, Horschel and maybe even Zalatoris as good outside bets - and they are - but I don't believe that this will be their week, even though I would be happy to see any of them being a factor.

Byeong Hun An, Daniel Berger, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, Brian Campbell, Laurie Canter, Wyndham Clark, Cam Davis, Thomas Detry, Nick Dunlap, Nicolas Echavarria, Austin Eckroat, Harris English, Matt Fitzpatrick, Lucas Glover, Brian Harman, Joe Highsmith, Tom Hoge, Nicolai Hojgaard, Rasmus Hojgaard, Billy Horschel, Sungjae Im, Stephan Jaeger, Dustin Johnson, Tom Kim, Michael Kim, Chris Kirk, Patton Kizzire, Denny McCarthy, Matt McCarty, Phil Mickelson, Matthieu Pavon, Taylor Pendrith, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai, Davis Riley, Justin Rose, Adam Schenk, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, JJ. Spaun, Jordan Spieth, Nick Taylor, Sahith Theegala, Davis Thompson, Jhonattan Vegas, Cameron Young, Kevin Yu, Will Zalatoris.

Have Absolutely No Chance

Bringing together the amateurs, champions long beyond their peak, and current starts (like Homa) who have struggled of late, these are the golfers who I think will be doing well if they make the cut. For most of them, the likelihood is that they won't be hanging around for the weekend, even though I would love to see Couples, Langer and Olazabal roll back the years one last time.

Jose Luis Ballester, Evan Beck, Angel Cabrera, Rafael Campos, Fred Couples, Max Greyserman, Justin Hastings, Max Homa, Zach Johnson, Noah Kent, Bernhard Langer, Thriston Lawrence, Jose Maria Olazabal, Hiroshi Tai, Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Danny Willett.

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