The 2025 Masters is almost here, and that means the best golfers will be back together again soon. For a little while, at least.
The sport's first major always carried additional meaning, with the tournament returning to the idyllic scene at Augusta National Golf Club year after year to create many of the game's most iconic moments. But it is also now the first event of the year in which the best golfers in the world are competing against one another on the same course since the split between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.
The four majors matter more than ever and the 2025 Masters offers a slew of intriguing storylines to savor. Scottie Scheffler will attempt to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win the Masters in back-to-back years. Rory McIlroy, after winning the Players Championship last month, resumes his quest to win the only major title to elude him, and his first major title in 11 years. They'll also be tested by Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and other top golfers on the LIV Golf roster competing around the world outside the bigger spotlight of the PGA Tour.
Picking a winner is always tricky at the Masters. Scheffler and McIlroy are the favorites. This, however, is golf's ultimate proving ground. It's even more so in recent years because of how scattered golf's best players are without a merger in sight yet. There's also nothing quite like the pressure of closing out the back nine at Augusta National.
USA TODAY Sports is here to help with some of the favorites that have the best chance to win based on BetMGM odds, a sleeper pick with favorable odds and an early prediction for the winner of the 2025 Masters.
The Masters 2025 favorites to watch
BetMGM odds as of April 2
Scottie Scheffler (+450)
Picking Scheffler is a pick for history, and it would be his third Masters win in four years. The defending Masters champion has yet to win a PGA Tour event after his return from a hand injury that required surgery this season, but he still has three top-10 finishes. That includes a second-place showing at the Texas Children's Houston Open in his most recent appearance, when the two-time Masters winner noted he "liked the way my swing started to feel over the weekend" after carding a 7-under 63 in the final round.
Rory McIlroy (+650)
The Masters has proven to be an elusive title for McIlroy and he still has last year's collapse at the U.S. Open and more than a decade's worth of frustration hanging over him after going so long since winning his last major. He's finished in the top 10 seven times here, but not since his his second-place showing in 2022. McIlroy is still among the game's best, ranking first in strokes gained on the PGA Tour this season, and he's coming off a win over the stacked field at The Players Championship. He would become the sixth golfer to complete a career ...
