Masters 2026: Why Augusta National will play different this year—and how it’ll affect who wins
J.D. Cuban
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Part of the beauty of Augusta National is how a familiar course can play slightly different year to year. Greens will be reworked, tee boxes moved slightly, trees added or removed—to present a new challenge.
The 90th edition of the Masters will offer a dynamic we rarely see to this degree: A completely firm-and-fast test without any rain in the forecast.
One of the biggest storylines of the week is the weather, but for good reason. Patrons, volunteers, players … everybody’s excited to see Augusta National in those conditions. Two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said it’s the best weather conditions he’s seen for a Masters Tournament in his career.
So how will the course change exactly?
Jordan Spieth, the 2015 Masters champion, talked about the difference in how a firm-and-fast Augusta will challenge players.
“It's going to be probably a more challenging green-in-regulation year,” Spieth said. “So it's going to be important to be coming out of the fairway just because it's going to be hard to get it to stay on some of the greens if you're not. And then it's going to probably get brown and crusty. Just with the weather coming, it's going to be so nice that I think they're going to let it go a little bit.”
Of course, most golf fans are probably aware of Augusta National’s Sub-Air system and how it can control its turf. Most of the time, the club will use its control mechanisms to reduce the moisture after rainfall to reduce how soft the course will play. This year, the club might deploy it to add some moisture if the putting surfaces are too firm. That’d be the best situation to have.
Sure, firmness in the fairways means more distance on tee shots, potentially benefitting shorter hitters. But most important is the premium it will put on controlling your ball—particularly into and around the greens when they’re so bouncy.
“The chipping is going to be really tough,” said Akshay Bhatia. “You’ll just have to have some more creativity … It just makes your landing zones a lot smaller. You have to be very precise and miss in the right spot. Definitely makes it trickier.”
.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.406.305.suffix/1771864776429.jpeg)
.png.rend.hgtvcom.406.203.suffix/1588791770594.png)
The most recent best parallel to this year’s expected conditions would be the 2021 Masters, when the course dried out and got crispy even early in the week. Walking around on Wednesday, it was quite windy and crisp—adding to how dried out the turf should be, making it an ideal challenge.
Adding the need to be more precise around these greens will likely make this year’s Masters even more of a complete examination than it normally is. That’s what has people so excited. The best player will be identified by the extra challenge Augusta National presents.
“I'm excited to see how it plays this week,” Scheffler said. “We might get a little bit of wind and that increases the challenge. When it gets firm and fast, you're going to have some shorter clubs in, but it's going to be firmer, so you've got to kind of manage your way around.”
The two-time Masters champ has done a pretty good job of that.