US Masters 2026: Three picks from Dave Tindall in his early look at Augusta

• Dave Tindall takes a close look at the 2026 Masters

• Hideki Matsuyama is coming back to top form and can win again

• Xander Schauffle can launch yet another major bid

• Rasmus Hojgaard can build on a promising Masters debut

---

Tournament: The 2026 US Masters
When: April 9-12
Where: Augusta National Golf Club
How to watch: All four days live on Sky Sports

It's hard to imagine how the 2026 Masters can match the extraordinary 2025 edition when the story that so many craved - a win for Rory McIlroy - finally unfolded in thrilling and dramatic fashion.

On a much colder level, it was a win for a man ranked second in the betting and the Green Jacket was handed to him by defending champion and pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler.

There has to be a big chance that World No.2 McIlroy hands it back to the World No.1 in 2026 and Scheffler, at 3/14.00, is a point shorter than he was at this stage last year.

The win was McIlroy's eighth top 10 in the last 12 Masters and further proof, not that we needed it, that Augusta is a classic horses-for-courses track.  

But did the leading finishers last year also have a strong previous bank of Masters form? These were the best past Augusta performances of the top 10 in 2025.

1st Rory McIlroy - 2nd
2nd Justin Rose - 2nd
3rd Patrick Reed - Win
4th Scottie Scheffler - Win
5th Bryson DeChambeau - 6th
5th Sungjae Im - 2nd
7th Ludvig Aberg - 2nd
8th Corey Conners - 6th
8th Jason Day - 2nd
8th Zach Johnson - Win
8th Xander Schauffele - 2nd 

That's pretty remarkable.

Of those top 11 players, three were past winners and six had previously finished runner-up.

Everyone in the top 10 had posted a top six at Augusta, although perhaps the strongest way of framing it is that nine of the 11 had previouly registered a top two.

The Betfair Sportsbook is currently offering six each-way places (1/5 odds) and the top of the betting (December 15th) looks like this: 3/14.00 Scottie Scheffler, 15/28.50 Rory McIlroy, 12/113.00 Ludvig Aberg, 14/115.00 Bryson DeChambeau, 16/117.00 Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, 25/126.00 Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, 28/129.00 Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, 33/134.00 Cameron Young, Hideki Matsuyama, Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Cantlay.

---

Bet 1: Back Hideki Matsuyama @ 33/134.00

If a previous top two is desired, the one that takes my eye at the current prices has to be Hideki Matsuyama.

The Japanese star became his country's first male major winner when capturing the 2021 Masters.

It was hardly a surprise. Matsuyama was Low Amateur (27th) on debut in 2011, was fifth in 2015, seventh in 2016 and made the top 20 in six of his next seven after that. 

Tied 21st last year was underwhelming, although his Sunday 66 was the joint-best of the day and seven shots fewer than McIlroy's closer. 

Note that Matsuyama ranked first for Greens in Regulation that week. His finish was hugely compromised by his short game which is very odd given that in the previous 10 Masters he'd ranked in the top 10 for Scrambling in six of them.

In truth, 2025 has been a strange year. He started it with a bang by winning The Sentry (not being played this year) with 35-under and then didn't register a top 10 until October (there were lots of top 20s it has to be said).

But after seventh at the DP World Tour's Genesis Championship and fifth back home in the Dunlop Phoenix Tournament, Matsuyama signed off 2025 by beating a small but elite field at the Hero World Challenge.

That event has often been a useful springboard for the year ahead and Matsuyama has plenty of opportunities in the early part of 2026 (he's a past winner in both Phoenix and Riviera) to build on it.

If he does, the current 33/134.00 will likely be cut. He was 28s at this stage last year. 

---

Bet 2: Back Xander Schauffele @ 20.019/1

Xander Schauffle is another former major winner who's endured a bit of a weird year.

It was always going to be hard to follow up his 2024 season which brought his first two major wins - the US PGA and The Open Championship.

Injury clearly messed with his early results and eighth at Augusta was Schauffele's only top 10 until July.

But it's telling that he still managed to have another solid year in the majors, also adding 28th at the US PGA, 12th in the US Open and seventh at The Open.

Schauffele has always been a brilliant perfomer in the biggest events - the current count is 17 top 10s in his 34 majors - and showed that again by finishing as joint-top US scorer (three points out of four) in the Ryder Cup.

Shortly after, he picked off a 10th PGA Tour title by landing the Baycurrent Classic in Japan.

Schauffele is the classic case of a world-class player ready to bounce back after a mixed campaign and he's already given us plenty of clear signs that such a scenario will play out.

With five top 10s in his eight Masters, including a second (2019) and a third (2021), Schauffele's high ball flight (22nd Distance to Apex) and all-round game should ensure many more challenges at Augusta National.

Back him on the Betfair Exchange at 20.019/1, a price that could come down before the off.

---

Bet 3: Back Rasmus Hojgaard @ 150/1151.00

One of the stories at Augusta last year was Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard becoming the first twins to play in the tournament.

Nicolai had impressed on his first look the previous year when finishing 16th while it was Rasmus's debut.

Both are 150/1151.00 this time but Rasmus is the only one with his position in the 2026 field locked up (not official yet but his OWGR of 40th will guarantee he's in the top 50 at year's end and that's one of the qualification criteria).

Rasmus finished 32nd on his debut 12 months ago and was ninth at halfway after an excellent 5-under 67 on just his second ever lap of the course.

While the Dane is yet to have a top 10 in a major, he was one of just 16 players to make the cut in all four in 2025 so the five-time DP World Tour winner is building a foundation.

Playing a first full year in the United States in 2025 will also help him and, like Matsuyama and Schauffele, he's another who finished the current campaign strongly.

While zero points on his Ryder Cup debut was a disappointment, Rasmus (still just 24) played some fine golf either side.

Starting with 16th in The Open Championship, his final 10 events produced second places at the Danish Golf Championship and European Masters, a third in the Sanderson Farms and a seventh in the DP World Tour Championship.

Overall, he had eight top 25s in those closing 10 tournaments.

Only McIlroy and Aldrich Potgieter have a higher ball flight according the PGA Tour Apex Height stats while he ranked 11th for Driving Distance on the PGA Tour in 2025 so Augusta National should prove a good course for him as time goes on.

Hopefully Rasmus can make his first big impression in 2026 and get among those top six places. 

---

*You can follow me on Twitter @DaveTindallgolf

---

Now read more Golf tips and previews here

---