The sense that the Masters always delivers is a little over blown.
There have, after all, been a few duff tournaments down the years.
But we seem to be living in a golden period currently because this year’s finale undoubtedly lived up to the drama of 2025.
As we all catch our breath, let’s consider the five biggest talking points coming out of the 2026 Masters.
1. Is Rory McIlroy Europe’s greatest ever golfer?
If we are in a golden period, let’s call it Rory’s World.
Because in winning last year he completed the Career Grand Slam.
And in successfully defending the Green Jacket he joined an elite club of back-to-back Masters winners. How elite? Its only other members are Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. That elite.
With a sixth major victory McIlroy draws level with Faldo as the leading major winner from Europe in the modern era (Harry Vardon won six Opens and a US Open between 1896 and 1914).
McIlroy trumps Vardon because he’s had to beat deeper fields. He trumps Faldo because he has the Career Grand Slam. He trumps Seve Ballesteros, who had five wins, but does remain the man who revived European golf.
The Northern Irishman has the potential to achieve something special. Tom Watson ranks sixth for major wins on eight. Ben Hogan and Gary Player sit on nine. They are in the crosshairs.
2. Just how important is mindset?
At the start of the week Rory McIlroy hosted the Champions Dinner and for many defending Masters champions, especially the first timers, it is that experience that makes winning back-to-back exceptionally difficult.
The dinner is an intimidating experience but McIlroy was older than most new boys, with a career record that meant he deserved to be there.
He treated the night with reverence but there was also a sense that he had found his place and it allowed him to attack the tournament with a sense of having nothing to lose. It allowed him to build a six-shot halfway lead.
Suddenly, however, he had everything to lose: a huge lead and the threat of looking a proper Charlie. Cue a clumsy Saturday which conceded his advantage.
He was fortunate that the mistakes came in round three and not round four. It offered him the chance to right the ship, but more importantly to re-assess his mental attitude.
When McIlroy three-putted the sixth green Cameron Young immediately went from the hunter to the hunted leader with a two shot lead.
Had the parred his way home we’d have had a play-off. Instead he made bogey immediately and was a spent force.
3. Is Justin Rose golf’s most resilient man?
It will be tempting to believe that this was Justin Rose’s final opportunity to win a Green Jacket. When Young started to slide backwards it was initially Rose who found himself top of the leaderboard on his own.
His first response was positive: a birdie at 9 to double his advantage to two strokes, but Amen Corner ultimately caught him out and he added a share of third to his three second place finishes at Augusta National.
He will turn 46 in July – surely he’s done with contending in the majors?
And yet we thought that when he played in the 2023 Ryder Cup, holding the hand of Robert MacIntyre and generally looking like captaincy or vice-captaincy was next. But he bounced back to be superb in the 2025 match in New York and rejected overtures to captain in 2027 because he wants to play again.
We thought he’d had his last major chance when he was superb in finishing second in the 2024 Open at Royal Troon. His response that time? He very nearly won the very next major he teed it up in – last year’s Masters.
Don’t doubt the Rose. He keeps coming back for more.
4. What is the state of LIV golfers in the majors?
LIV enthusiasts had every right to be excited about this Masters.
Jon Rahm entered it on a run of nine finishes of T5 or better on LIV that included one win and six seconds. Bryson DeChambeau arrived fresh off back-to-back wins in Singapore and South Africa.
What happened next was a double pratfall: Rahm barely made the weekend and DeChambeau didn’t.
It allowed traditionalists to become smug, with much chatter about the poor levels of preparation that LIV offers for a major championship. It was noted that Rahm and DeChambeau fought out the final tournament before the Masters in extra holes in South Africa having shot 26-under in regulation – easy golf, it was said, is no prep for the tough Augusta National.
The truth, as always, is more complex than partisans will allow.
LIV advocates ought to be concerned that Rahm can so dominate LIV and yet, since winning the 2023 Masters before he joined the circuit, has not genuinely contended in a major since. They should be concerned that Joaquin Niemann plays world class golf on LIV and yet has only one major top 10 in 26 starts. They should be concerned that Cameron Smith has missed the cut in his last six majors.
The traditionalists ought to note that Tyrrell Hatton has finished top four in two of the last three majors (and contended in the other). And DeChambeau still has six top 10 finishes including a win and two seconds in his last nine majors.
5. How good were the TV angles?
There was a time when we watched the Masters from the same TV angles every year, from those green platforms on green posts behind greens and tees.
In the last couple of years, however, we’ve started to see subtly different angles and this year was a revelation. Sometimes it was as simple as seeing the players tee off at 3 from the side – so we could see the 7th green behind.
But it was the drone footage that took it to another level. From a TV perspective, we’ve never seen so much of the course and it was fantastic.
Read next: How much does the Masters winner earn? 2026 prize money revealed
The post A changing of the guard? What The Masters says About golf’s future appeared first on Golf365.
Article Link: Rory McIlroy and golf’s new era: What The Masters 2026 revealed