Who will win The Masters 2025? Favourites and dark horses
Who are the key runners and riders poised to fight for the green jacket at The Masters this year?
There's just something different about The Masters, isn't there? It's unlike any other golf tournament. It is the pinnacle of the sport.
One man who is all too aware of the unique prestige of four days at Augusta National is Rory McIlroy, who has finished inside the top 10 in seven of his 16 outings in Georgia but never claimed a green jacket for himself.
The Northern Irishman enters the competition among the frontrunners, but who else can we expect to see charging up the fairway on the 18th hole as the light begins to fade on Sunday evening?
RadioTimes.com brings you the favourites going into The Masters 2025.
Read more: The Masters TV coverage | The Masters radio coverage | The Masters highlights | The Masters on BBC | The Masters tee times | The Masters blackout explained | The Masters prize money
By entering your details you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Who will win The Masters 2025? Favourites and dark horses
Scottie Scheffler
The favourite, Scottie Scheffler, has won two of the last three editions of the competition and returns to Augusta National as the reigning champion, runaway favourite and world No. 1.
That said, Scheffler has failed to win a title in 2025 so far and hasn't found his sparkling best form as of yet. He is still the man to beat, but plenty of others have shown they can in other tournaments this season.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy enters The Masters as the closest thing to a predictable contender for Scheffler this week. Of course, golf can be a notoriously difficult sport to predict given the fine margins involved, but on paper, McIlroy should be right up there.
He obviously has the talent to win the one grand slam that has so far eluded him, but laying down four rounds of the highest order on an esteemed course such as Augusta National with the spotlight at full glare and burden of a majors drought weighing heavy... well, that remains a tough task.
Xander Schauffle
To say Schauffle has endured a rough start to 2025 would be an understatement. The American – recovering from a rib injury lay-off – failed to go above T30 prior to his T12 finish at the Valspar Championship at the end of March.
A disastrous showing at the Players Championship saw him finish down in 72nd place with a 13-over final tally, 25 strokes off the winner McIlroy. However, prior to his injury setback, Schauffle had found his groove and what better place to rediscover form than The Masters. Do not count him out.
Russell Henley
While it's tough to pitch Schauffle as a genuine dark horse given his ranking at No. 3 in the world, Russell Henley fits the bill as a true outsider peaking at the right time for Augusta.
Henley made his first appearance in a major tournament in 2011 but failed to record a top-10 finish until finishing T4 at The Masters in 2023. He followed it up with T7 at the US Open and fifth place at The Open. His 2025 form has been outstanding to date and the American will fancy his chances of challenging without pressure this week.
Check out more of our Sport coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
