Even though it happened last year, admit it, it’s a little strange to arrive at the Masters without the urge to wonder if this is the year that Rory McIlroy completes the career Grand Slam with a victory at Augusta National Golf Club. After all, that narrative lived for a full decade before he emerged in a playoff to fulfill the career-defining achievement in 2025.

Perhaps it’ll require another year for it to truly sink in, and perhaps the five-time major champ will successfully defend to get halfway to a second career Grand Slam, but another unexpected narrative has surfaced most recently. Each of the last three PGA TOUR winners also are U.S. Open champions, for whom a victory at the Masters would get any of them halfway to a first career Grand Slam.

Matt Fitzpatrick, Gary Woodland and J.J. Spaun are among 91 in the field of the 90th Masters. Continue reading beneath those projected to contend for the green jacket for details of the tournament, what matters on the only course ever to host the first major of the year, an early peek at the weather forecast and more.

No, the winners of the Valspar Championship, the Texas Children’s Houston Open and the Valero Texas Open aren’t the only storylines headed into the Masters; rather, what Fitzpatrick, Woodland and Spaun have in common across the last three weeks reflect that every narrative is given oxygen for the first major. One of the reasons is that any of the entrants still is in position to win the calendar grand slam, but it’s still just another golf tournament. Well, that’s at least one way for those sniffing victory can help settle the nerves come Sunday.

Among active qualifiers, only multiple Masters champions Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are not committed, there are no alternates and the familiar cut of low 50 and ties at the conclusion of two rounds applies.

In addition to the traditional dresswear and hardware, the winner receives a to-be-determined bank deposit comfortably into seven figures and a lifetime exemption into the tournament. Spots in the other three majors through 2030 also are rewarded. If he’s a PGA TOUR member, he’ll collect 750 FedExCup points and his membership exemption will extend the maximum five years through 2031.

Speaking of familiar narratives, Fuzzy Zoeller lived another 46 years and didn’t witness anyone supplanting him as the latest Masters debutant to prevail. Zoeller, who won the Masters in his first appearance in 1979, died at the age of 74 in November. After Horton Smith and Gene Sarazen in the first two editions of the tournament in 1934 and 1935, respectively, Zoeller has remained the only first-timer to turn the trick.

For any of the 22 Masters rookies in this week’s field, that can serve as motivation instead of a curse, which it very much isn’t. It’s all in the mentality of dismissing the value of course experience, not to mention the significant depth of talent despite this being the smallest field among the majors. Still, even what might feel like ample course prep most weeks doesn’t replace the nuance that the returning competitors understand about angles into greens, the undulations of some of the slickest surfaces they tackle and the weight of chasing history.

Augusta National is a stock par 72 that tips at 7,565 yards. That’s a record length by 10 yards thanks to the shift of the tee box at the par-4 17th hole that now measures 450 yards. With position on approach prioritized over avoiding trouble in the absence of a gnarly cut of rough, it’s never inaccurate to label it as a second-shot track. As a result, distance off the tee plays up, but nothing replaces the knowledge gained for having been in the arena before.

Unlike last week’s weather-impacted stop in San Antonio, Mother Nature is sitting this one out. OK, she never rests, so let’s just say that she’s presenting an experience as inviting as the Masters Club dinner on Tuesday. Almost nothing but sunshine and comfortable breezes are expected throughout. Daytime highs will increase gradually from the low 70s on Thursday to the mid-80s on Sunday.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

PGATOUR.com’s Rob Bolton previews and recaps every tournament. Refer to the timing of his contributions below. He’s also active as @RobBoltonGolf on X where you can connect with him.

MONDAY: Power Rankings
TUESDAY: Fantasy Insider; Expert Picks*; Sleepers**
SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Points and Payouts

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** Rob also is included in Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf that publishes on Tuesday.