Masters set; Scheffler favorite

The Masters starts Thursday with a field small enough to fit in one clubhouse photo and strong enough to swallow a season. NBC Sports reports that 91 players are in the 2026 field for the 90th edition at Augusta National Golf Club. (nbcsports.com) Scottie Scheffler arrives as the betting favorite, which is the market’s blunt way of saying he is the player oddsmakers trust most on this course and in this kind of pressure. Golfweek’s pre-tournament odds list Scheffler at the top while Rory McIlroy returns as the defending champion. (golfweek.usatoday.com) That pairing gives this week an unusual shape. The favorite is Scheffler, but the man wearing last year’s green jacket is McIlroy, so the tournament opens with one player carrying the shortest odds and another carrying the title. (golfweek.usatoday.com) The Masters always feels different because the field is tighter than the other major championships. The United States Open and The Open Championship often push well past 150 players, while Augusta National keeps its invitation list selective and heavily tied to past champions, recent major winners, top amateurs, and world ranking benchmarks. (nbcsports.com) That is why the number 91 matters. A field that small means fewer early-round traffic jams, fewer anonymous names, and a higher concentration of players who have either won something enormous or played well enough over the last year to force their way in. (nbcsports.com) NBC Sports’ qualification list shows how many doors Augusta leaves open, but each door is narrow. Lifetime invitations go to Masters champions, five-year exemptions go to recent winners of the other majors, and additional spots go to players who reached specific results in big events or climbed into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. (nbcsports.com; nbcsports.com) That system is why the Masters field can feel both old and new at the same time. Past champions such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson, and Scheffler remain part of the tournament’s DNA, while newer qualifiers arrive through recent wins and ranking climbs. (nbcsports.com) McIlroy’s place in the story is different from everyone else’s because he is not just another former winner in the field. He is the reigning champion, which means every camera shot of the first two rounds will carry the same question: can he do it again on the same course, under the same April spotlight, with everyone expecting a repeat? (golfweek.usatoday.com) Scheffler’s role is almost the mirror image. He does not need the green jacket from last year to command the market this year, because oddsmakers have already made him the player to beat before the first tee shot is struck. (golfweek.usatoday.com) That split between betting favorite and defending champion is part of what makes this Masters feel loaded before it even starts. One man owns the shortest path on the sportsbook board, and another owns the most recent memory on the leaderboard. (golfweek.usatoday.com) The calendar adds its own weight. Golfweek notes that the tournament begins Thursday, April 9, and runs through Sunday, April 12, which makes Augusta National the opening stage for the men’s major season in 2026. (golfweek.usatoday.com) For casual fans, the cleanest way to read the week is this: 91 players made it in, one player is favored, and one player is defending. For everyone inside the ropes, those three facts are the whole tension of the Masters compressed into four April days. (nbcsports.com; golfweek.usatoday.com)