AUGUSTA, Ga. – The lights above the Augusta National driving range illuminated an empty, serene scene, hours after the final putt was struck and long since its 91 competitors had packed up and left. This range, known as the tournament practice area in these parts, will not be used for another 51 weeks, a perfect golfing playground just waiting for its kids to return.

We share that in common. The Masters Tournament is over. Rory McIlroy is a winner again. The pro golfing calendar moves on. There’s much more to do over the rest of the PGA TOUR season, with plenty of excitement to come. But part of us will always have our minds on Augusta National, counting down the weeks for our kids to return to the perfect golfing playground so we can watch them play.

As we put a bow on the Masters and move forward, what big questions emerged out of Augusta National that will define the rest of the season? Here are five of them.

Is Scottie Scheffler’s run coming?

To Scottie Scheffler, any implication that he’s searching for something would require him to be lost – a sentiment he strongly rejects. That’s more than fair. In Scheffler’s so-called “slump” after his win at The American Express, he hasn’t finished worse than T24 and has three top-five finishes, most recently a runner-up at the Masters.

It’s also fair to point out that he hasn’t maintained the dominant pace he ended last year, particularly after The American Express win that led many to expect more Scheffler mastery.

To that end, let’s practice some patience, and it’s for one simple reason. At this point last year, Scheffler had not won at all. Yet some might consider it the best year of his career, as he went on to win two major championships, fix his putting and win his fourth straight Player of the Year award.

Basically, there’s still a lot of time left, and Scheffler’s historic weekend performance at the Masters could be the warning shot. He was the first player in 84 years to go bogey-free on the weekend at the Masters. Is that any good?

Now he heads to Harbour Town Golf Links, a course he’s won on. He’s also won at Quail Hollow, the site of the PGA Championship. Oh, and he’s won THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson and the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday and is the defending champion at both the PGA Championship and Open Championship and could win the career grand slam at the U.S. Open.

So, let’s catch our breath. Scheffler’s playing well already, and it might get a lot better very quickly.

Was that Justin Rose’s last chance?

The next time Justin Rose tees it up in the Masters, he will be older than Jack Nicklaus was when the Golden Bear became the oldest to win the Masters in 1986.

In other words, there’s not a lot of precedent for what Rose – soon to be 46 – is tasked with doing. Which begs the question: Was that Rose’s best last chance?

The Englishman has the best Masters record of this generation among those without a green jacket. Candidly, the resume is better than many who do have a jacket. He’s in the conversation with Tom Weiskopf, Johnny Miller and Ernie Els, among those with the best Augusta National resume ever to not win.

Rose left this year’s Masters with regrets. He led when he made the turn to the second nine on Sunday, but sputtered out quickly, bogeying the 11th and 12th holes, then three-putting for par on the 13th to lose his grip on the tournament.

Perhaps Rose is the outlier. He’s making a case for it right now. Maybe he can nab a different major. He was runner-up at The Open two years ago and has top 15s in five of the last six PGA Championships, but the Masters feels the most attainable, yet history does not favor it.

If he doesn’t pick another major off, he’s likely to headline another list: best players who have only won one major championship.

What’s next for Rory McIlroy?

The first Masters victory was supposed to free McIlroy up. That didn’t happen, at least for another 12 months, until he got back to Augusta National.

Will this year be different? McIlroy believes so. He said as much in the immediate aftermath of securing his second green jacket, promising he wouldn’t spend the rest of the summer searching for motivation like he did last year.

As a result of that initial Masters malaise, McIlroy took a back seat to Scheffler for the rest of 2025, but could this tweaked mindset create even more back-and-forth between the two, duking it out as the best golfer in the world?

Now with two Masters under his belt – and six majors total – McIlroy has moved ahead of his closest peers, Brooks Koepka and Scheffler. No doubt he’d like to further that gap, and close in on Scheffler and the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Saying it and doing it are two different things, though, particularly after how it went after the Masters this year.

How will Collin Morikawa’s injury progress?

Considering the condition of his back and the lingering mental aftereffects he’s still battling, Collin Morikawa’s T7 finish at the Masters was one of the most impressive performances of 2026.

It’s also not a sustainable path forward. Morikawa admitted he was more or less only swinging his arms with about half the force of his normal move. That could work around a firm and fast Augusta, mitigating his distance disadvantage, but it’s certainly not going to work as the golf courses get softer and with thicker rough – as will be the case at the Truist Championship in a few weeks, along with the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

Morikawa was coy about how he would approach the next part of the schedule, but the priority should be getting fully healthy, physically and mentally. What will that mean for his upcoming schedule? And how will his form be affected? Will there be any lingering swing issues caused by the overcompensation he needed to do at the Masters? They are all legitimate questions lingering around Morikawa, who was having the best start to a season than any in his recent memory.

Can Brooks Koepka capitalize during 'Brooks Koepka season'?

During his peak years, this was the time of year when Brooks Koepka asserted his dominance. All five of his major victories have come at the PGA Championship or U.S. Open, which will be played over the next two months. The U.S. Open is back at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where Koepka won in 2018.

He can’t be ruled out to run it back, particularly with how his game is progressing. Now through more than three months of the season, Koepka ranks second on the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Approach, trailing only Morikawa. He finished in a tie for 12th at the Masters last week. Outside of the stats, just a quick look at Koepka’s swing tells a similar story. He’s swinging with the freedom and flexibility that were absent in recent years when he battled injuries. His putting has been hit or miss, but after a swoon to start the year, Koepka is beginning to stabilize on the greens. And when he putts around or above average, Koepka plays well. He has four top 20s in his last five starts, including a T13 at THE PLAYERS Championship.

That propensity to play when the lights are brightest shouldn’t be ignored as major championship season hits its stride. Or, in other words, "Brooks Koepka season."