Rory McIlroy, fresh off his win last year at the Masters, walked into the press room and said he wanted flip roles to start the session. He had a question. 

“What are we all going to talk about next year?” McIlroy said. 

He laughed. Others did. The question referenced his long pursuit of a green jacket, and now that was finished.

But it’s not as if the Masters was done. They’re playing it again starting Thursday. So here goes, a subject entering this year’s event at Augusta National:

Is McIlroy going to repeat?

No one, of course, knows that answer ahead of Sunday. But below are themes that’ll come into play for him — and for you, being that this is a prognostication piece. 

McIlroy’s form: Entering this week, McIlroy has played four events this year on the PGA Tour and two on the DP World Tour. Here are his finishes:

–Dubai Invitational: tied for third 

–Hero Dubai Desert Classic: tied for 33rd 

–AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: tied for 14th 

–Genesis Invitational: tied for second 

–Arnold Palmer Invitational: withdrew before the third round 

–Players Championship: tied for 46th 

McIlroy’s back: About that withdrawal at the Arnold Palmer. A back injury, McIlroy said, forced it, and he returned the following week at the Players. But will it be an issue this week? On Sunday at the Players, McIlroy said he was encouraged by what he saw after 72 holes of play, and it’s worth noting that McIlroy will have gone four weeks without tournament play when the Masters starts, meaning he’ll be well rested. 

“Happy I got through four days and my body feels good,” McIlroy said after the Players final round. “I feel like my game sort of progressively got a little bit better as the week went on, even though the scores probably didn’t reflect it over the weekend. I hit the ball well. I just didn’t make anything on the greens.

“Happy to come through four rounds and feel like my body held up well. A couple little things to work on, but overall, not the week that I wanted. Just trying to take the positives.”

McIlroy’s inspiration: What does happen when you cross the finish line? McIlroy has said he’s been fighting that since last April. Maybe he’s found motivation this week. Maybe he’s still searching. 

“You know, I think mentally, I have to be comfortable with maybe this is going to be my best year ever,” McIlroy told RTE last year after being named the RTE Sportsperson of the Year. “Who knows? I hope it’s not, you know. I hope I still have many more great years ahead of me. But you know, no matter what I do going forward, I’m only ever going to be able to win my first Masters once. And I really enjoyed that. 

“And I’ve relished the opportunity to bring the green jacket around the world and show it off. It’s been a wonderful year, but I still think that I’ve got a lot more to achieve. So I’m still ambitious.”

With that, members of our staff have each made to-win and sleeper selections to assist you with your own weekly picks, whether those are for a low-stakes office fantasy league, or (legal!) big-bucks bets with a sportsbook. It’s an enjoyable endeavor for us. Deploy it as you wish. 

On to our analysis. 

Masters picks to win, sleepers to watch for 2026

Alan Bastable 

To-win: Patrick Reed, +3,300. Easy to forget no player on the planet had a hotter late-January-into-early February than Reed, who in three consecutive starts in the Middle East won twice and finished runner-up in a playoff, all in the midst of his LIV Golf departure. He cooled off in two South Africa starts since then, but I still expect him to be a major threat at ANGC, where since 2018 all he’s done is win once and record four more top-10s.

Sleeper pick: Min Woo Lee, +4,000. Might be unfair to call the 25th-ranked player in the world a “dark horse,” but I don’t hear a lot of pundits talking up MWL as a green-jacket threat. He’s been excellent on Tour this season with seven cuts made in seven starts and three top-10s, and he’s made the weekend in three of his four Masters starts. This year, I expect him to contend on the weekend.

Josh Berhow 

To-win: Patrick Reed, +3,300. Hardly anyone plays better at Augusta National than Patrick Reed, who you probably forgot finished third last year. He hasn’t finished outside the top 40 in his seven starts there since he won in 2018, and four of those were top 10s. His past three starts at the Masters: 3rd, T12, T4. Throw in the success he had overseas a couple of months ago, and I like Patrick’s chances. (He’s my pick over a surging Matt Fitzpatrick.)

Sleeper pick: Russell Henley, +5,500. Henley very quietly finished top 10 in each of his past two major starts, and he’s had four top 10s in his past six major starts after just one in the previous 38. The point? He’s getting better on the big stage, and his game is in a good spot — top 20s in five of his seven starts this year and ranks 31st in SG: Approach and 14th in SG: Putting.

James Colgan 

To-win: Akshay Bhatia, +5,500. It feels like we’re due for an out-of-left-field green jacket winner, especially after our past five Masters gifted us the murderer’s row of Hideki-Scottie-Rahm-Scottie-Rory as winners. Akshay would be a reasonable choice to these ends — he’s played three months of impressively steady golf to start the year and is a lefty at Augusta National. Major no. 1 arrives for Akshay in 2026.

Sleeper pick: Keegan Bradley, +15,000. It feels like the golf gods owe him one after the way the Ryder Cup knocked him down in September. A Bradley win after all he’s been through over the past six months would be one of the best comeback stories in the sport.

Connor Federico  

Sleeper pick: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, +25,000. Which of this year’s Masters rookies is most likely to succeed? The winner at Australia’s Augusta National feels like a good bet. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen makes his first Masters start via a thrilling win in December’s Australian Open. The Dane vaulted into contention with his understanding of angles and strategy at Royal Melbourne, another Alister Mackenzie masterpiece, where every hole requires elite shotmaking and focus. The success Neergaard found at this World Top 10 course will help him again at another this April. Understanding is one thing, but execution is most important. With a crowd of 30,000-plus Aussies pulling for Cam Smith, Neergaard delivered an unlikely up-and-down to secure the biggest win of his career. He’s got what it takes in the big moments, but at the very least, I’ll be taking him to make the cut in his first Masters appearance. 

Alex Gelman 

To-win: Jon Rahm, +1,100. Rahm is going to win his second green jacket at the Masters. He’s playing some of the best golf of his career and seems to be in a great space mentally. Trust Rahm, take the Sun Devil and enjoy your winnings Sunday evening. 

Sleeper pick: Fifa Laopakdee, +100,000. Yes, it’s a massive long shot but don’t sleep on the junior from Arizona State. He punched his ticket to the Masters after winning the 2025 Asia-Pacific Amateur. He started his career at ASU by winning his first tournament and already has four collegiate wins, including a win three weeks ago at the Desimone Classic. 

Jack Hirsh 

To win: Tommy Fleetwood, +2,200. Fleetwood just needs the putter to heat up, and he’ll pick up where he left off in 2025. He’s placed in the top 10 in four of five events this season, and his performance with the new alignment aid seems to be going well in San Antonio. Now put him on perfect greens. I like where this is going.

Sleeper pick: Si Woo Kim, +6,600. His game sets up really well for Augusta, where lots of run-out should help equalize his length disadvantage. His game has been trending all year, and he’s missed just one cut in eight Masters appearances.

Jessica Marksbury

To-win: Bryson DeChambeau, +1,000. I’m going to take a break from choosing Scottie to win and add a little variety to my picks. I was also thinking about Brooks Koepka, but no — it’s gotta be Bryson, who has two things going for him this week: Momentum, after winning in back-to-back weeks on LIV; and positive playing history, with two top-6 finishes in his past two appearances. It feels like it could be Bryson’s time.    

Sleeper pick: Jason Day, +6,600. Not only does Day have two top-6 finishes this season (including a runner-up at the American Express), he’s also played well many times at the Masters, with five career top-10 finishes.

Zephyr Melton 

To-win: Ludvig Aberg, +1,600. He’s played great at Augusta in his first two Masters starts (second, seventh) and is in fine form with two top-fives in March and a third already in April. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Ludvig don the green jacket come Sunday evening.

Sleeper pick: Maverick McNealy, +10,000. Mav has played some steady golf this year, missing just one cut and finishing in the top 30 in every other event but one. He finished middle of the pack in his debut last year, but he’s got the game to stay in it over the weekend.

Nick Piastowski 

To-win: Brooks Koepka, +3,300. I love a good story line, and this is certainly that. But he’s been outstanding this year in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, which is critical for Augusta. 

Sleeper pick: Jacob Bridgeman, +8,000. Let’s go back to the strokes gained stats, where we’ll find Jacob Bridgeman among the leaders in the putting category. The winner must navigate Augusta’s sloping putting surfaces. 

Josh Schrock

To-win: Justin Rose +3,300. It’s time for Rose to get it over the line at Augusta National. He has led or co-led the Masters nine times after the first three rounds, which ranks third after Arnie and Jack. Over the past 10 Masters, he is seventh in score to par at 18 under. Five of the other six have won at least one Masters in that time period. He’s playing well, has increased his ball speed, and the iron play remains immaculate. It’s time. 

Sleeper pick: Adam Scott, +6,600. Due to the small field, there aren’t a ton of good “sleeper” options. I’d probably take Rickie Fowler if he was in the field, but, alas, he’s not. So we’ll go with Scott, who played well at Riviera and has great course history at Augusta. Honorable mention to Jason Day. 

Josh Sens

To-win: Xander Schauffele, +1,400. In his eight Masters appearances, Schauffele has five top 10s. He doesn’t miss cuts, and he’s built for majors. Even last year, when his game slipped a gear, he finished eighth at Augusta. This year, he’s been showing steadily growing signs of life, with a third at the Players and a T4 at the Valspar in his past two events. Bottom line: An elite player and proven major winner is rounding into form, just at the right time.

Sleeper pick: Jason Day, +6,600. Yeah, I know. A past major winner at 66-to-1 isn’t exactly a sleeper. But I don’t see the point of going much lower on the board at the Masters, where long shots have about as good a chance of winning as I do of earning an overnight in the Crow’s Nest. A true dark horse simply isn’t going to come out on top at Augusta so I’m not going to waste a wager on one. As I see it, Day is as far down on the betting board as anyone with an outside chance at the green jacket. He’s got a strong track record here, including a T8 last year, and a T6 last week on a tough course was another good showing in what has been a decent season so far.

Johnny Wunder  

To-win: Jon Rahm, +1,100. Rahm has played the best golf in the world over the past nine months and he’s already established he can win here. His hitting stats are out of this world and if the putter is even relatively serviceable, I don’t see a scenario where he’s not in the final group and putting on the jacket again. 

Sean Zak 

To-win: Jon Rahm, +1,100. Rahm is going to win. He’s playing as good of golf as he’s played at any point in his life. And the last time he was this good, he won the Masters. 

Sleeper pick: Jake Knapp, +6,600. Knapp has been flying less under the radar recently, but he’s been one of the five or six best golfers in 2026. 

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Masters week is here, and CBS’ Jim Nantz and two-time major champion Bryson DeChambeau will command a lot of attention in the coming days. Nantz will be the lead TV analyst on Saturday and Sunday. DeChambeau is one of the betting favorites to win his first green jacket.

Heading into tournament week, though, the two men are entwined in a bit of controversy stemming from recent comments Nantz made about DeChambeau in the lead-up to the Masters.

On Monday, Nantz joined the “Pat McAfee Show” to defend himself, saying he “stood by his comments” while blaming criticism his comments have received on “bots” and LIV Golf’s social media team. But he also attempted to quell any further controversy by professing his “great friendship” and “long relationship” with DeChambeau.

Here’s what you need to know.

Nantz calls DeChambeau friend: ‘My son was almost named after him’

The Nantz-DeChambeau controversy began last week, when Nantz took part in a conference call previewing CBS’ 2026 Masters coverage.

In response to a question about DeChambeau’s form heading into the Masters, Nantz first said he considered Bryson among the favorites to win the Masters. But then he confessed that he had “not seen Bryson hit a single shot this year. I have not seen him.”

The comments spread far and wide, with some observers taking them as a dig at DeChambeau, and others seeing an implied criticism of LIV Golf.

In his appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Monday, the first day of Masters week, Nantz tried to clarify his comments about DeChambeau, saying they were “extracted from a quote” in which he picked Bryson as one of the Masters favorites.

“I really like Bryson’s chances. I was on a press conference call last week and a lot of people took exception to a statement I made about how Bryson, I haven’t watched a shot so far this year. Of course he’s been winning on the LIV tour, he’s won a couple of starts, and I just want to say that was extracted from a quote where I had him as the favorite behind Scottie [Scheffler], number one,” Nantz said on the Pat McAfee Show.

Nantz then tried to defend himself by describing the “long relationship” he’s had with DeChambeau. Surprisingly, he even claimed he nearly named his son after Bryson.

“I happened to mention I’ve had a long relationship with Bryson, he’s been to my home, my son was almost named after him, I mean, there’s a great friendship and respect there,” Nantz said. “I think he’s going to win Augusta, maybe this year.”

He then provided a similar excuse for not having watched DeChambeau in 2026 to the one he gave in last week’s media call, saying he’s “got my own stuff going on” including his own CBS PGA Tour broadcasts. (Both of DeChambeau’s LIV wins this year came after CBS’ most recent golf broadcast).

He went on to defend his actions by claiming he also doesn’t need to watch DP World Tour events to prepare for those players’ appearances at the Masters.

“I was just trying to make a point. I’ve got my own stuff going on. We’re broadcasting. The point is, I read everything. I don’t have to sit down and watch the DP World Tour to be prepared for those players, or the LIV Golf,” Nantz argued. “But I give them their due, and I expect that Jon Rahm’s coming in playing well, too. I expect both Jon and Bryson will be right there, both great guys, and I would love to have them on the leaderboard.”

When McAfee asked Nantz if he was claiming his comments were taken out of context, Nantz said that he “stood by his comments” and blamed “all these bots” and LIV’s “strong force of a social media team” for the criticism his Bryson comments have received. He also reiterated that they were not meant as an attack on DeChambeau, and that he considers Bryson “a friend.”

“You’ve got all these bots, and LIV has a pretty strong force of a social media team, from what I hear because I’m not on social media, but if you say anything that can be loosely interpreted as negative, they come after you. And that’s fine. I stood by my comments,” Nantz said. “I wasn’t trying to take a shot at Bryson. Like I said, I have a great regard for him, I consider him a friend, and I consider him a favorite this week.”

DeChambeau begins 2026 Masters week as the second-favorite in the Masters odds, with the opening round kicking off Thursday. Nantz’s CBS broadcast duties begin Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

AUGUSTA, Ga. — As our gaze returns to Augusta National this week, it’s easy to believe the most famous golf club in the world is rigid. That its traditions are intractable. That everything it owns behind the gates of 2604 Washington Road is unchanging. 

The reality is “everything Augusta National owns” changes basically every month, and has been changing, quietly but significantly, for the last 25 years. In total, Augusta National-owned property has aggregated into a roughly $500 million empire thanks to more than $280 million in property acquisitions. But importantly — and perhaps unsurprisingly from such an exclusive and private club — these purchases are made under the veil of real estate secrecy, via obscurely named LLCs, which GOLF.com tracked and assembled, both in this map and in the video below. 

It started a lot like most things Augusta National does, through a goal made with Masters patrons in mind:

Free parking. 

The Masters has offered free parking as a patron perk for decades, but throughout the 80s and 90s, that parking space was limited. The lot would reach capacity early on its first-come, first-served basis, forcing those who arrived late to look for spots n the neighborhoods across Washington Road. 

At the turn of the 21st century, the majority of patron parking was on what was then the northwest corner of the property — which you can see below — where the driving range and media center now exist. It’s impossible to know when the club decided it needed more parking, but an inflection point seemed to arrive around then. On July 3, 2001, an LLC named “Berckman Residential Properties” was formed, according to state corporation documents, and has been amassing parcels in the proximity of Augusta National ever since. 

To the Augusta National newbie, Berckman Residential might be a curious name, but not to Masters regulars. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Berckman family owned the land that Augusta National now sits on, operating a horticultural nursery on these hills, introducing many species to the American South, some that serve as the floral inspiration to the most famous golf tournament in the world. Berckmans Place is the luxe hospitality hangout for Masters VIPs, in the southwest corner of the club. And Berckmans Road is the the street that was rerouted along the club’s western flank, around which new parking would manifest in the 2010s.

Berckman Residential Properties bought many homes and land plots west of the club, rezoning them for commercial use and repurposing them — with permission from city leaders — for Masters parking. The other 51 weeks of the year, the land sits largely vacant. The grass gets mowed, the edges stay trimmed. But until the aggregation of land was officially parked upon, it wasn’t always clear that Augusta National was the buyer, because the club never put its name on the purchases. 

Only its address.

Buried in the property sale records of the vast majority of the parcels purchased near the club are near-constant references to the land’s true owner. In most cases, the owner’s address is listed as “2604 Washington Road,” the official address of Augusta National. In other cases, it’s P.O. Box 2086, the commercial P.O. Box of Augusta National. 

Over the years, many obscurely named LLCs have used those addresses in official records filed in the Georgia Corporations Division. As the years have passed — allowing for dust to settle on certain purchases — those LLCs have been merged into Berckman Residential Properties before becoming something new from Augusta National. 

Take “Big Tree LLC” and “The Greens on Washington Road Ventures LLC,” which combined to spend more than $16 million to displace what was an IHOP and a strip mall to build the Masters’ palatial global broadcast compound and content center. It’s impressive and industry-leading. It also was just the start. 

One of those tracts of land was bought in 2000, just as the club started making moves on parking expansion along its opposite border. Most of the housing plots west of the course were purchased in the last 15 years, often in the $300,000 to $500,000 price range, according to hundreds of sale records reviewed by GOLF.com. While the sale prices often are two to three times the appraised values, a handful of properties have fetched a much steeper rate, like one holdout plot across the street from Berckmans Place. In 2012, the lot was privately owned, as its neighbors were being purchased and leveled. In 2013, the land sold for $3.56 million. In 2015, a new road had been paved right through the lot’s backyard, where a swimming pool once existed.

One homeowner famously refused to sell to Berckman Residential. The house at 1112 Stanley Road has seen almost all of its neighboring homes be razed to make way for Masters parking. The house is still there because its long-time and now late owners, Herman and Elizabeth Thacker, declined all of Augusta National’s advances.

“Where are we going to go?” Herman, who died in 2019, told GOLF.com in a 2017 interview. “This is home. We love it here.”

Still, there’s a Father Time element to ANGC’s real estate pursuits: the golf club will be here long after any of its neighbors.

Elizabeth owned the house until she died last summer. It is unclear to whom the Thackers passed down the land and home, or what will come of it. But many of the homes in the area are transferred into a trust or an estate and often are sold in the years that follow an original owner’s death. Some agreements are made to transfer the homes to Augusta National immediately upon their passing. As of the 2026 Masters, only a handful of properties southwest of the course remain unowned by Berckman Residential.

GOLF.com spoke with one of the holdouts: George Ransom, who lives on nearby Margate Drive. Ransom has seen the meaning of the Masters change to those in the area over the years. It was once a “giant party,” he said. Now, it feels like a “giant attraction, like Disneyland,” he said. While that shift has cost the club a pretty penny, Ransom said ANGC has been “very reasonable [neighbors] in every respect.” 

But he also teased something important. 

“They’ve got a 50-year plan,” Ransom said, “which we are a very small part of.”

Ah yes, The Plan.

In general terms, one could describe Augusta National’s reported “plan” as building outward, as Golf Digest writer Joel Beall extensively reported in 2024. Beall spoke with various club members and former employees to understand what the club and its crown jewel tournament could look like on a 30- or 40-year horizon. In essence, that will require accumulating even more property in every direction.

The club bought a public park in 2024 along its eastern border, and nearly every other parcel adjacent to it. Through WSQ, LLC, the club acquired the National Hills Shopping Center across Washington Road, turning one corner of the building into a new corporate hospitality named “Map and Flag.” Down Washington Road, WSQ, LLC also purchased the land that currently houses a Publix, next to where rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft drop off patrons. ANGC hasn’t pushed out Publix yet, but the bottom line is obvious. Club operations follow directly along these property purchases, even if just one week a year.

There used to be a Hooters on Washington Road, on land owned by WSQ, LLC. That was until Hooters in America filed for bankruptcy in early 2025 and decided to downsize its national footprint. Eight months later, the Hooters was leveled and graveled over. If nothing replaces it, no one will blink. If something does, it’ll be decided by Augusta National. That is how most things go in the area around the most famous club in the world. Tracking it all takes near-constant attention. And a calculator. One line in particular from that Golf Digest report rings most true. In regards to the money spent, one member said, “Whatever you want to guess, it’s going to be wrong.” 

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