The Masters: Rory McIlroy faces latest date with destiny at Augusta National

After nine arduous months, major championship golf returns as 95 of the world’s best players prepare to take on Augusta National at the Masters.

While other major championship tests are predicated upon penal set-ups and brutal conditions, the beauty of the Masters lies in its familiarity.

No player in recent years has become better acquainted with the pristine layout of Augusta than Scottie Scheffler who drives back down Magnolia Lane as the defending champion.

The World No.1 has won this tournament in two of the last three years and now bids to become the first person since Tiger Woods in 2002 to don the Green Jacket in back-to-back years.

That task is easier said than done, and many, including a certain Rory McIlroy, looked primed to push Scheffler all the way over the course of the next week.

Ahead of Thursday’s opening round, here’s all the key storylines to keep an eye out for.

Can Rory conquer his Augusta demons at last?

Ever since blowing a four-shot lead with a final-round 80 back in 2011, taming Augusta National has become as much of a mental test as it is a golfing one for McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman has tried it all – talking up his chances, seeking to go under the radar or somewhere in between – but fate and the magic formula have both alluded him in the 14 years since.

Despite being almost 11 years on now from his last major triumph, McIlroy still remains at the peak of his powers and among the game’s best.

A reworked golf swing and a new ball in the off-season have seen him land two wins in his five PGA Tour starts this year, including at the Players Championship last month.

But it is all about the peak weeks now for McIlroy who finished a disappointing T22 last year at Augusta and returns with fresh mental scars after his heartbreaking near miss at the US Open last June.

Is Scottie Scheffler vulnerable?

After winning a remarkable eight times in 2024, it is perhaps noteworthy that Scheffler returns to defend his Masters title without a win so far in 2025.

Part of that is misfortune – the World No.1 missed the start of the season due to surgery on a hand injury suffered while preparing Christmas dinner – but there is also a sense that the 28-year-old has still not returned to the same dominant form that saw him likened to a peak Tiger Woods.

However, a T2 finish at the Houston Open in his last start before this week may well serve as an ominous warning for the field, as should Scheffler’s own sense that he is now primed and ready after an interrupted start to 2025.

‘I would say that I feel very prepared for this golf tournament. This is definitely the most prepared that I’ve felt all year,’ Scheffler told reporters on Wednesday.

‘This year coming off an injury was definitely a different feeling than I’ve had in the last few years. But as far as preparedness goes, this is definitely as prepared as I’ve felt going into any event this year and I’m excited to get the tournament going.’

Ludvig Aberg leads the new wave

Even with expectations sky-high for Ludvig Aberg last year, the talented Swede managed to impress.

His solo second finish in his maiden Masters start cemented the 25-year-old as one of the rising stars of the sport.

12 months on from that superb display and Aberg has not slowed down. Now ranked fifth in the world, he won the Genesis Invitational in February in a clear sign that he is more than capable of turning talent into concete high-profile wins.

And with a laser-accurate swing and ice-cool persona, few would rule Aberg out of breaking his major duct this week.

Sergio Garcia hoping to roll back the years

A winner here before in 2017, many thought that Sergio Garcia’s days in contention were over, particularly after his departure from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.

But the Spaniard has cut a reinvigorated figure in recent months as he sets his sights on an unlikely 11th appearance in the Ryder Cup this September.

A winner last month in LIV’s event in Hong Kong, the 45-year-old also finished third in LIV’s Miami event just last week.

Experience and know-how matter more at the Masters than perhaps any other tournament in the golfing calendar and the Spaniard will be hoping to fall back on those this week as he bids to put himself in Luke Donald’s thoughts when it comes to an all-important captain’s pick for Team Europe.

Angel Cabrera’s presence casts a long shadow

A notable figure in Tuesday’s Champions Dinner photo was Angel Cabrera, the 2009 winner who will make his first appearance at the Masters since 2019.

But it is not age or injury that has kept the Argentine away from Augusta National, but rather a 30-month prison sentence for domestic abuse towards three former partners.

Cabrera, for his part, has repeatedly apologised and repented for his actions having been released from jail in August 2023.

But his particularly warm welcome back to the Masters is somewhat hard to stomach as the victims of his crimes still deal with the trauma of their experiences.

Augusta National has a reputation for moving slowly with the times – the club only admitted its first females in August 2012 – and Cabrera’s swift return will go now way to helping change that image.

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