2026 Masters Power Rankings: Top 10 Golfers To Watch

April 6, 2026

Ian McNeill ranks his top-10 PGA Tour players to watch at the 2026 Masters from Augusta National Golf Club. His data-backed insights into who is primed for success.

As the frost recedes and Mother Earth slips into her favorite shade of green, 90 of the best golfers on the planet will play for the right to do the very same.

It’s Masters week — Christmas for those who live and breathe this sport, and sacred ground for anyone fortunate enough to feel Augusta’s immaculately manicured turf beneath their feet. Only one Green Jacket is awarded each year, and the magnitude of that moment needs no description. For some in this field, Augusta has been a paradise; for others, an unsolvable puzzle. One thing is certain: the title of Masters champion carries more weight in this sport than any other, and in six days’ time, one of the 90 men in attendance will have his name permanently etched in golfing history.

But how does this illustrious field stack up at the top? Who, if anyone, should you be targeting on pre-week betting boards? Without further ado, here are my top ten players to watch at the 2026 Masters.

No. 10 - Justin Rose

Justin Rose won at Torrey Pines in 2019 by shooting 21-under.

He is now 22-under HALFWAY THROUGH THE THIRD ROUND and has an 8-shot lead. pic.twitter.com/myDpoQItAx

— Fore Play (@ForePlayPod) January 31, 2026

His results on a weekly basis have become more and more fickle for Justin Rose as he's entered the autumn of his career, but even as he's entered his mid-40s, there's no doubt as to his upside when he steps foot on Augusta National's hallowed ground.

After all, twelve months ago, there wouldn't have been many statistical cases to make for Justin Rose ahead of the many world-class players in attendance. But when the chips were down Sunday afternoon, Justin Rose was the last one standing in front of Rory McIlroy on his quest for golfing immortality.

In the year since that playoff loss, the former World No. 1 has only grown his current stature in the game -- capturing a playoff win at TPC Southwind last fall, a runaway victory at Torrey Pines earlier this year, and top 20 finishes at The Open and PLAYERS Championships: growing his Official Ranking as high as No. 3 in the World.

At Augusta, his three runner-up finishes since 2015 make him among the greatest Masters performers to never capture a Green Jacket, and given the class he displayed following his playoff loss to Rory 12 months ago, he'll be among the top sentimental favorites among the patrons this week. Despite a clear regression in his overall skillset, Justin has consistently proven he can rise to the game's biggest stages. His range of outcomes is admittedly wide, but if he is able to replicate his play from last year, I carry as much trust in Rose as anyone in the field to navigate an Augusta Sunday.

No. 9 - Tommy Fleetwood

While he may not make the flashiest case for upside at his current price, Tommy Fleetwood’s steady consistency over the early season is difficult to ignore. His T10 at the Valero marked his fourth top-10 in five starts, a streak that has been particularly impressive given that his putting has been below baseline through the first three months of 2026.

From tee through green, however, Fleetwood remains one of the most bankable entities in world golf. He’s one of just three players in this field to rank inside the top 20 across driving, approach play, and around-the-green strokes gained. And at Augusta specifically, only Scottie Scheffler has gained more strokes from tee-to-green over the last two years. Precision off the tee, accurate irons, and scrappy short game work have allowed Fleetwood to grind consistently over multiple rounds, the kind of profile that rarely results in blown opportunities at this venue.

Where Fleetwood’s case softens, however, is in the conversion of that consistency into contention. Despite his run of top-10 finishes, he has yet to truly contend for a Major title -- never rising into the final group or threatening on Sunday. In terms of incoming form and upside, players like Cameron Young, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Xander Schauffele -- all similarly priced -- carry a more pronounced ceiling. Fleetwood, by contrast, offers reliability and a high floor, which makes him a fantastic target for DFS cash or matchup bets, but slightly less compelling for outright wagers in a field packed with peak-form contenders.

Still, Augusta rewards players who can manage all four rounds without collapse, and in that respect, Fleetwood remains one of the most bankable names in this field. Should the week favor steady, precise golf, Fleetwood could quietly rise into contention -- a subtle threat that's easy to overlook amidst the flashier names at the top of the odds board.

No. 8 - Ludvig Åberg

While his last three starts have certainly been a progression from the early-season struggles we saw in January-February, as close call after close call has eluded him on Sunday, a new question entirely has emerged in Ludvig Åberg's Masters case.

Ordinarily, three top-five finishes on the bounce heading into Augusta would make a player a trendy selection, but the manor in which Ludvig has attained those positions (particularly at Sawgrass and San Antonio), is at least a partial cause for pause.

At TPC Sawgrass, Åberg entered the final round with a three-shot lead, and stood in the 11th fairway with a golden chance to pad his advantage. Instead, he over-cut a five-wood into the right hazard, and in his next full swing, rope hooked his tee shot on 12 into another watery grave. Those two swings cost him a bogey and double bogey on the scorecard, all but derailing his tournament.

In his next start, Ludvig trailed 54-hole leader Bobby MacIntyre by one, and seemed primed to be the Scots main challenger on Sunday afternoon. Instead, hit just 6/18 greens in the final round, and despite gaining 4.16 shots with his short game, was barely a factor on the back-nine.

Again, it's unfair to define his weeks purely on the back of a few bad holes down the stretch, and the overall game has clearly improved since the start of March -- gaining nearly 10 strokes in three starts with his driver alone, and going a perfect 3-for-3 gaining strokes with his chipping and putting.

Augusta National is undoubtedly a perfect stage for him, as Åberg boasts  one of the most impressive early Masters resumes in recent memory. Not only has he finished 2nd and 7th over his first two starts, but shared the lead on the back-nine in each of those two tournaments. Ludvig's ball-striking prowess is well known, but it's actually been the putter that's largely carried him around Augusta: gaining 11.58 strokes on the greens through those 8 rounds -- second to Cameron Smith in this field.

It's clear that Åberg has the upside to be among the game's elites, and in this game, all it takes is one magical Sunday at the right time to dispel any negative sentiment about a player's ability to close the deal. Given his lead-in form and clear affinity for Augusta, Åberg is well worth his position as the fifth favorite on odds boards, and deserves serious consideration as the leading man on outright betting cards.

No. 7 - Matt Fitzpatrick

🚨👀💪 #FIST PUMP — Matt Fitzpatrick makes a CLUTCH birdie putt at the 18th hole to take the solo lead. @MattFitzLegion
pic.twitter.com/O3OuRLj6Va

— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) March 22, 2026

I’ve been on the Matt Fitzpatrick bandwagon all year, but even I didn’t anticipate quite this level of progression for the 31-year-old Brit. Through seven starts in 2026, Fitzpatrick ranks as the 7th-best iron player on the PGA Tour -- a staggering 69-place jump from his 76th-place ranking in 2025. For a player who spent the two seasons prior outside the top 100 in approach play, this represents a remarkable transformation.

Fitzpatrick’s strengths with driving and his short game have always been solid, but this newfound iron precision could be the missing ingredient for a truly special season. His last two starts have underscored that potential: a win at the Valspar Championship and a runner-up finish at THE PLAYERS, just a stroke shy of a sudden-death playoff with Cameron Young.

The only thing he lacks in the conversation of this week's elite is a consistent track record at Augusta. In 11 Masters starts since 2014, Fitzpatrick has finished inside the top 10 only twice, never fully threatening on Sunday. On paper, it’s a head-scratcher: he boasts an elite Total Driving profile, is 3rd in scrambling over his last 50 rounds, and has gained over nine strokes with the putter in his last three Augusta starts (+9.62). The tools are there -- the results just haven’t yet fully materialized.

That’s what makes him an intriguing watch in 2026. The stats scream upside, his recent form screams confidence, and he arrives at a venue where precise iron play and scrambling can truly separate the haves from the have-nots. If there were ever a year for Fitzpatrick's Augusta breakout, it's hard to imagine a stronger setup than the one he's built this season.

No. 6 - Xander Schauffele

“Slump” may not be the most apt descriptor, but Xander Schauffele did take a noticeable step back in the twelve months following his historic 2024 major run. A rib injury sidelined him for over two months during the 2025 season, and he managed just one top-five finish in 16 starts -- though it did come with a victory at the Baycurrent Championship that fall.

Even amid that relative downturn, however, Schauffele remained one of the game’s most reliable major performers. Outside of his win in Japan, three of his six best finishes came on the biggest stages: T12 at Oakmont, T7 at Portrush, and a T8 here at Augusta National. That Masters result was particularly notable, arriving on the heels of a difficult Florida swing where he finished 72nd at THE PLAYERS and 40th at Bay Hill.

The 2026 season has brought a far more familiar version of Schauffele, with three finishes of seventh or better in his first seven starts. While his ironman made-cut streak came to an end at Torrey Pines, his recent body of work suggests he’s already building toward another extended run.

In fact, the same Florida swing that derailed him a year ago has become a point of optimism. Across three starts at Bay Hill, TPC Sawgrass, and Innisbrook, Schauffele gained over 17.8 strokes tee-to-green -- a signal that, for the first time in over a year, his complete skill set is trending back toward the level that carried him to multiple major victories.

A breakthrough at Augusta National has long felt inevitable since his runner-up debut in 2019, and with four top-10 finishes in six appearances, his floor at this venue remains among the highest in the field.

The lingering question, however, is one that has followed Schauffele throughout his career. For all his consistency, it remains difficult to point to many instances where he has seized control of a tournament late on Sunday. He excels at methodically working his way into contention, but whether the ceiling shows up often enough to justify a sub-20/1 price is another matter entirely.

With the market no longer offering a discount, backing Schauffele outright now requires a willingness to pass on several similarly priced elite options -- a decision that ultimately comes down how much faith you have in his closing equity.

While the top of this week's odds board is largely filled with established names within the Masters hierarchy, 28-year-old Cameron Young stands out as the week's preeminent breakout candidate. Less than a month after capturing the 2026 PLAYERS Championship, Young turns his attention to one of the few prizes that could supersede that magical week in Ponte Vedra.

It's not like Young is without any experience on this stage, as the Wake Forest product opened 2023's rendition with a five-under 67 -- placing him in a tie for fourth by day's end and a T7 on Sunday afternoon. The next year, he ground out an even-par 288 over four days in one of the most difficult recent Augusta renditions -- finishing in a tie for ninth.

Young hasn't yet tasted true contention at the Masters, but two top-10 results in four career starts is a more than sufficient runway for those making the case this year, and as we alluded to with his PLAYERS Championship triumph, there may not be a man in this field riding a bigger high upon his arrival down Magnolia Lane.

Over Cam's last three starts (all in Signature Series Events), he's logged finishes of seventh, third, and first -- gaining 4.14 strokes per tournament off of the tee and 4.42 on approach. Those sorts of ball-striking splits are as close of a call-back as you'll find to a peak Scottie Scheffler, and a change in bag man to former Wake Forest teammate Kyle Sterbinsky has almost instantly changed his fortunes on the greens.

Since hiring Sterbinksy in May of 2025, Young has gained strokes on the greens in 16 of 20 starts -- ranking as a top 10 putter in this field over his last 50 rounds. With this added baseline in his game, Cam not only logged his first two wins with Kyle on the bag, but an unprecedented level of consistency: top 10'ing at a 55% clip since the Truist Championship last year.

Despite my affinity for Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, or Tommy Fleetwood, I'm of the opinion now that Cameron Young is the clearest threat in the gamae to open his Major account. He's got the raw power to overwhelm modern championship setups, the newfound confidence to close on Sunday afternoon, and an established pedigree in the Major Championships (six top-10s since 2022). It's as clear of a breakout signal as can be found in professional golf at the moment, and although his prices have crashed across market, I can't give a genuine reply to anyone still eager to buy in at 25-1.

No. 4 - Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson DeChambeau wins LIV South Africa in a playoff over Jon Rahm!

This incredible shot from the left rough set up a two-putt birdie for the win. pic.twitter.com/l62GLcEPtt

— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) March 22, 2026

Results on LIV have been an inconsistent barometer for major championship success, but this year at Augusta, the league’s two headliners may have their best opportunity yet to validate that form. Whether it’s the shift to a 72-hole format or a thinning of overall depth, LIV events have, for the first time, seen their elite players consistently rise to the top.

While Jon Rahm captured many of the early-season headlines -- opening with finishes of second, second, and first -- the past two events have belonged to Bryson DeChambeau. He first claimed the title in Singapore over Richard Lee, then out-dueled Rahm in South Africa, striking a majestic 295-yard 3-wood in a sudden-death playoff to set up the winning birdie.

It’s debatable which of the two has had the stronger start to the season, but there’s little question which has been more relevant at Augusta since the move. While Rahm has posted two surprisingly uncompetitive finishes in 2024 and 2025, DeChambeau has spent much of the past two Masters inside the top five. In 2024, he held a share of the 36-hole lead before Scottie Scheffler pulled away. A year later, he played in the final group alongside Rory McIlroy, even holding the solo lead through two holes on Sunday before consecutive bogeys at Nos. 3 and 4 ceded control back to McIlroy.

While those performances align with the profile of a future Masters champion, they’ve also revealed a potential vulnerability. DeChambeau has consistently excelled early in the week -- often when conditions are softer and more receptive -- but has struggled to sustain that level as Augusta firms up over the weekend. He’s posted rounds of 75 on Saturday or Sunday in each of the past two years, falling out of contention as the tournament tightened. The putter, in particular, has underperformed relative to his baseline on Augusta’s notoriously demanding greens.

That said, it would be premature to dismiss DeChambeau on the basis of a few missed opportunities. Many past champions at Augusta endured similar Sunday frustrations before breaking through. And anyone capable of chipping and putting their way around Pinehurst No. 2 the way DeChambeau did en route to his 2024 U.S. Open victory has the tools to solve this test.

At this price point, however, even minor concerns carry weight. Without the slope-reading aids he typically relies on, the question remains whether his process on the greens is simply too different here to consistently hold up under Sunday pressure.

We haven’t seen Jon Rahm capture a major since his headline move to LIV prior to the 2024 season, but given the much-discussed inconsistencies among many of the PGA Tour’s elite to open the year, Augusta National may represent his best opportunity since winning the Green Jacket here three years ago.

While Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Xander Schauffele have combined for just one win and six top-five finishes across 22 starts to begin the year, Rahm has opened his 2026 campaign with a win in Hong Kong, a fifth in Singapore, and three runner-up finishes. Through those five events in 2026, he currently leads LIV in Total Driving (311 yards; 64% of fairways), Greens in Regulation (82.2%), and Birdie Average (5.8).

Of course, his first two appearances at Augusta National following the move have been underwhelming, including a career-worst T45 in his title defense. But if Brooks Koepka’s return to the PGA Tour is any indication, the temperature surrounding the league divide has cooled considerably. Rahm is unlikely to face the same level of off-course scrutiny this week, and as time has passed since that December move, his performances on the game’s biggest stages have steadily improved.

At last year’s Masters, Rahm rebounded from an opening 75 (T63) with three consecutive under-par rounds to finish T14. He was firmly in contention at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, standing over an eight-foot putt on the 14th to tie Scheffler for the lead. The attempt slid by on the right edge, and Rahm never quite regained that position -- ultimately settling for T8.

The Spaniard followed with a T7 at Oakmont, closing with a Sunday 67 that stood as the round of the day. And since that performance, Rahm has finished outside the top five just once in nine LIV starts.

In recent years, Augusta National has largely rewarded the player in peak current form. Scheffler entered his 2022 victory with three wins already that season, ascending to World No. 1 after beginning the year outside the top 15. Rahm himself had collected three victories in his first eight starts prior to his 2023 triumph, while Scheffler’s 2024 win came in the midst of a historically dominant campaign.

The growing divide between LIV and the PGA Tour complicates direct comparisons, but by DataGolf’s True Strokes Gained, no player has performed at a higher level to begin the year than Rahm. There isn’t a facet of his game that doesn’t align with Augusta National — and if these early returns are any indication, a peak version of Jon Rahm may be arriving at exactly the right time.

Although he’s yet to relinquish the top spot in any iteration of these rankings, the case for Scottie Scheffler as the clear-cut No. 1 player in the world has felt slightly less definitive with each passing week. At times during his T22 finish at TPC Sawgrass, Scheffler appeared unusually out of sync -- particularly battling a persistent right miss off the tee.

Even so, it remains a testament to his all-around brilliance that this stretch of “average” form has yet to produce a true downturn. In fact, Scheffler still ranks third on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Total through the first three months of the season.

That +1.87 per round mark continues to outpace many of the week’s most discussed contenders -- including Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, and Matthew Fitzpatrick -- and now he returns to a venue that has consistently rewarded its most dominant players.

Just 12 months ago, Scheffler arrived at Augusta facing similar questions. He had yet to win through six starts in the 2025 season and posted comparable results in his final two lead-in events (T11 at Bay Hill and T20 at THE PLAYERS). His response was immediate: an opening-round 68 that vaulted him into contention, and a fourth-place finish by week's end.

Which brings us to this year. While there may be more buzz-worthy names further down the board, any market drift on the World No. 1 stands out as one of the more intriguing developments of the week. Odds approaching 6/1 on a two-time Masters champion -- who still has the strongest claim to being the best player in the world -- are rarely available.

Would it really be a surprise if Scheffler once again finds his footing on this stage?

LIKE ROTOBALLER?

CLICK HERE, ENTER ROTOBALLER.COM, THEN CHECK THE BOX

Golf DFS News and Player Outlooks

J.J. Spaun Needs the Putter to Cooperate in San Antonio

Thorbjorn Olesen Trending Up in San Antonio

Denny McCarthy Carrying Momentum into San Antonio

Chris Kirk Has Course History on His Side in San Antonio

LIKE ROTOBALLER?

CLICK HERE, ENTER ROTOBALLER.COM, THEN CHECK THE BOX

More PGA Analysis and DFS Lineup Picks

2026 Masters Tournament Preview & Trends

The Masters Bible: PGA DFS Outlooks

PGA Betting Roundtable: Valero (Premium)

OAD Picks: Valero Texas Open (Premium)

Win More With RotoBaller

Win more with expert tools and advice from proven winners! RotoBaller's PGA Premium Packages feature several savvy analysts and proven winners for DFS and betting.

Our very own Joe Nicely took down a big DraftKings DFS tournament for the Travelers Championship. And as an encore, RotoBaller subscriber @tenndolly2 won $100K on FanDuel with the help of Joe and the rest of our Premium PGA team:

If you read my articles @RotoBaller or listen to @TheTurnGolfPod I’ve been telling y’all it was #WinningSeason when golf came back! Shoutout to the entire @RotoBallerPGA squad and all you guys that support my work for all the ❤️ pic.twitter.com/07a4ynvbSU

— Joe Nicely (@JoeNicely) June 28, 2020

Congrats @tenndolly2 ???

Thanks for being a @RotoBaller PGA DFS Premium subscriber & checking out all the amazing golf content that @JoeNicely produces every week! https://t.co/tHKZVsPbbt

— RotoBaller PGA (@RotoBallerPGA) August 10, 2020

Between all the incredible Premium PGA DFS and Betting content and tools we put out each week, and our Premium Slack Community where we chat with our subscribers before lineups lock, RotoBaller PGA subscribers are armed with the tools, analysis, and advice to win more.