Scottie Scheffler was recently crowned the 2024 Masters champion which means, most of the storylines for this year’s tournament have already become well worn.
For a little bit of fun, let’s take an extremely premature look ahead at the 2025 Masters and possible contenders at next year’s first major. Reminder top-12 and ties from this week will earn invitations to next year’s Masters Tournament.
LUDVIG ÅBERG
After an impressive rookie campaign, Ludvig Åberg, of Sweden, could be a 2025 frontrunner. Within his first year of playing professional golf, the 23-year-old Swede has won the PGA Tour, competed in a Ryder Cup and moved into the top-10 world rankings. His supreme ball striking produces top-level play everywhere he tees it up. Going into the final round this year, Ludvig stood in fourth place, and I expect him to be a stalwart for many Masters to come.
CAMERON SMITH
The 2022 Open Champion, Cameron Smith, put together another strong performance at Augusta National this year. In 2020, Smith became the first player to shoot all four rounds in the 60s at the Masters en route to a runner-up finish. The Australian openly talks about how much Augusta National inspires him to play creatively. With an elite-level short game, Smith should be considered for the frontrunner conversation come next April.
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER
Picking Scottie Scheffler as a 2025 Masters frontrunner is no surprise, but the world’s No. 1 certainly deserves to be in any such predictions. The 2022 and 2024 Masters champion strikes the golf ball as well as a younger Tiger Woods, and the golf world does not envision Scheffler’s level of play dipping in the slightest anytime soon.
HIDEKI MATSUYAMA
Another past champion that I expect to be atop the leaderboard in the 2025 Masters is Hideki Matsuyama. Even though this year’s event did not lead to another green jacket, Matsuyama shows consistent results year after year. And he had some flashes even in this year’s Masters. Known for his exacting ball striking and relentless work ethic, Matsuyama, the 2021 Masters champion, will likely find himself in contention next April.
The Masters truly is “a tradition unlike any other,” and looking forward to the next lap around Augusta National is always a fun pastime for patrons.
