The Masters: Takeaways from the final round at Augusta National including debutants and a US PGA eyecatcher

Hovland's time could be soon

Dave Tindall

Before the 2026 Masters we’d never seen the bookmakers offer a Top Norwegian market. It hadn’t been possible as Viktor Hovland was the only man from Norway ever to have teed it up at Augusta National. That changed when Kristoffer Reitan qualified this year.

For the first three days, Reitan outshone his far more celebrated compatriot, even flirting with the top five at one point during round two. But after dawdling along with laps of 75-71-71, Hovland finally found a spark – a serious one – in Sunday’s closing round by playing his first 13 holes in seven-under to briefly climb into the top 10. He was two-over from there but a closing 67 was a strong way to finish.

In truth, few judges had expected much from Hovland this week which is a strange place to be given that he was third in the world rankings in 2022 and still in the top five midway through 2024. But with just one top-10 finish this season and a missed cut at last month’s Valspar Championship dropping him outside the world’s top 20 for the first time since 2020, the 28-year-old had fallen down the list of fancied runners.

Perhaps it’s fair to not think of Hovland as a genuine contender here anyway. Despite the promise of finishing as low amateur in 2019 – check him out in the Butler Cabin dressed in orange chatting to Tiger in red – this week’s finish means he has just one top 15 (seventh in 2023) from seven Masters starts.

But while his chipping around the greens of Augusta National may not be strong enough for Hovland to ever be interviewed in the Butler Cabin as a pro, there’s absolutely no reason why the 2023 FedEx Cup winner can’t land one of the other three majors – and sooner rather than later.

Starting with the 2022 Open at St Andrews, Hovland has posted a quartet of top fours across the other three majors. He was tied fourth at the Old Course four years ago, tied second (2023) and solo third (2024) in back-to-back PGA Championships and again solo third in last year’s US Open.

The remaining 2026 majors take us to Aronimink (US PGA), Shinnecock (US Open) and Royal Birkdale (Open). They were last used in 2018 (BMW Championship, US Open) and 2017 (Open) respectively, a year or so before Hovland came on the radar. But don’t rule him out making a serious mark at all three.

If that seems generous and more signs are needed beyond one good Sunday at Augusta, don’t forget that Hovland has shown an ability to find form when out of sorts or, indeed, somewhat lost. Remember the win at last year’s Valspar in Florida when he came in on the back of three missed cuts? Or, less well recalled but just as important, his third in the 2024 PGA at Valhalla when he’d crashed out at halfway at Augusta and not had anything better than 19th on the PGA Tour up to that May major.

Viktor Hovland is good at majors. He reminded us of that during round four at Augusta. There’s every chance he’s on one or more major leaderboards in 2026 – especially in the PGA at Aronimink. Hovland has a strong record on Donald Ross designs – he was second on Ross’s Oak Hill in the 2024 PGA – and Aronimink should suit.

Debutants to note for the future

Dave Tindall

Trying to make a mark in your first Masters is a serious ask.

Ludvig Aberg managed to finish runner-up on his debut in 2023 but such a high finish for an Augusta rookie is incredibly rare.

That much-quoted fact about no first-timer winning since Fuzzy Zoeller never looked like needing updating this week – even though the sad passing of the 1979 winner at the end of last year suggested fate might throw us another.

There were 22 debutants in this year’s Masters and here are three who did enough on their first appearance to suggest they could make a mark next year.

Michael Brennan - finished tied 25th

Brennan won the Bank of Utah Championship last year in his first PGA start as a pro so is clearly a fast learner. And he’s taken that welcome habit to the highest stage after an impressive debut in his first ever major. Ranked third for driving distance on the PGA Tour this season, his massive hitting was always going to be an asset at Augusta National. But the 24-year-old didn’t just whack it around; he showed off lots of game too. After a trio of three-putts in round one, he had just two more the rest of the way. And if he learns to play 18 better (two bogeys and a double this week), Brennan can definitely kick on if returning in 2027.

Chris Gotterup - finished tied 25th

First piece of crystal (eagle on hole two in round three): tick. First sub-70 round at Augusta (69 in round two): tick. Gotterup can be more than pleased with his first Masters appearance even though some expected even better given that he hits it a mile and is a proven winner. Gotterup came in as just the third player in history to make his Augusta debut having already won four times on the PGA Tour. With a third on his Open debut last summer showing his potential in the majors, this top 25 is a good marker for a big Masters next time and he's sure of his place in the field next year.

Ben Griffin - finished tied 33rd

After three wins and a Ryder Cup debut in a breakout 2025, Griffin entered the week as probably the most rounded of the first-timers. He’d even shown his chops in the 2025 majors by finishing tied eighth at the PGA Championship and tied 10th on his US Open debut. The 29-year-old from North Carolina had been struggling for form in 2026 but found some momentum in Houston and continued it here on his first look at Augusta. Griffin started with a 72 and then shot five-under over his middle two rounds (69-70). A poor back nine cost him a top 20 (perhaps even top 10) but, with better form coming in, he’s got the all-round skills to build on a quietly impressive debut.

Lessons to take with us

Ben Coley

It was a poor Masters for my outright selections despite some promise from three of the four. The other, Robert MacIntyre, strained his neck on the eve of the tournament and can be forgiven, though clearly has a bit more to do on the mental front if he's to conquer Augusta. He has the game, though, and I do think he'll have his chances to win this in time.

Anyway, there are always lessons to be learned so here are two (and a half) for starters.

On alert for 2027

The final leaderboard was about as Classic Masters as you could possibly imagine. Debutants don't do well here and none made the top 20. Course form is as important at Augusta as it is anywhere and every single contender had it. Putting is overrated and virtually every contender putted no more than decently. We don't know in advance which players will do what they need to, but we do know what they need to do.

And this makes it the best golf tournament for antepost betting, insofar as any of them are really good for it in this day and age. Because while there will be fluctuations over the next 12 months, players coming and going as they do in this sport, one thing won't change and that's the profile of a Masters champion and the course form the current crop already have on display.

Cameron Young was the best demonstration of what's possible. When he struggled in the summer of 2025, massive prices became available on him winning the Masters. We didn't know then that he would turn things around, win, play brilliantly in the Ryder Cup then win again, but we did know he had two top-10s at Augusta and stacks of ability.

Even Justin Rose was on offer at 66/1 when antepost betting opened, despite his play-off defeat to Rory McIlroy, and while these are two cherry-picked examples, they do show what's possible. Given the trend now for bookmakers to fight over who offers most places rather than who has the best prices, being on alert throughout the season might be one way to get ahead.

Trust players to prepare

I've already said what I think about the LIV Golf schedule and how frustrating it must surely be for the likes of Jon Rahm to be limited in what he can do about preparing for the Masters. Rahm and his colleagues are different in that they have no option but to play wherever the LIV schedule demands, and this year that meant Australia, the Middle East, Africa and the Far East, but not the USA.

Tyrrell Hatton produced his best Masters finish so far and it's important to acknowledge that he overcame whatever problems the schedule created, but to see Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau be completely irrelevant has to be worth thinking about. Rahm hinted at mixing things up next year but again, there's only so much he can do.

However, one thing I'll resolve to accept in 2027 is that those who have options should be trusted to pick the best one for them. Five of the top seven players who did indeed have freedom of choice decided, for one reason or another, not to play in-between Sawgrass and Augusta. One of the others played just two rounds in the Texas Open and only Sam Burns joined Hatton in completing an entire four-round tournament.

Maybe freshness is key, but I'd rather simplify this and say that players ought to know what works best for them. The eve of the Masters can be a bit of a headache but schedules and supposed preparation advantages can be removed from calculations.

Major clues

I started today digging around to get a feel for whether the Masters is much of a predictive tool for the majors that follow it, and having done so I'm none the wiser. There are examples of it providing a springboard, but if anything it seemed to me that most contenders failed to kick on. Maybe that says something about how much a near-miss takes out of players, but I'd probably lean towards Augusta's uniqueness being key.

Nevertheless, I agree with Dave's Hovland assessment and it's hard to get away from the fact that Cameron Young should benefit from this in the near future, particularly when he tees it up in his home state of New York for the US Open. That's two of the three sorted, so who wins the third? Perhaps, in light of McIlroy's success, we should opt for Scottie Scheffler defending his title in the Open Championship, right?

But I'll throw a curveball at you and nominate Maverick McNealy, who has a deftness of touch and a variety of shot that I think could take him a long way in an Open, with 23rd last year also a plus. He's on record as loving links golf and having amassed stacks of high-class form over the past year and a bit, he followed a nightmare opening 77 with some of the best golf in the field for 18th place. Big things await somewhere.