Previewing the 10 LIV Golf Players in The Masters - Part Three

The final part in the three part series previewing all 10 LIV Golf players in the field for the 2026 Masters. If you missed part one and two, check them out here:

Tyrrell Hatton is making his 10th start at The Masters. In his previous 9 starts, he’s made the cut 7 times and has a scoring average of 73.31. He’s finished inside the top 15 in the past two starts here and has a low round of 68. Tyrrell is looking to become the third English born player to win The Masters.

Hatton’s final round in 2021 provided some good memories that he’s been able to build off in years since. It still stands as his lowest round at Augusta National to date but his four consecutive birdies on the back-nine spurred him to the first top 20 of his Masters career.

Not that anything does, but the start to 2026 for Hatton won’t have made him too happy. He’s played six events thus far and finished T10 or better two times, with his best being a tie for 3rd at LIV Golf Adelaide. Tyrrell generally brings a balanced game, he’s not the longest off the tee, he doesn’t stand out as an elite putter or artist around the green, he’s just very strong throughout the bag. The same can be said for when he’s not playing well, while the putter can get cold at times, the struggles usually permeate through to the rest of his game. The bright side of that is that there’s no glaring issues that need to be fixed, he just needs to build comfort and get back to where he can be through repetition.

Given his form this year and his confidence around this place it’s easy to have low expectations for Hatton going into this week. When asked what it was going to take to become the third Englishman to put on the green jacket ahead of the 2024 Masters, in typical Tyrrell Hatton fashion he said “Well, you shouldn’t ask me, I’ve got no chance”. Despite that mentality, he finished inside the top 10. I think continuing his top 15 streak could be considered a very successful week for Hatton, though that certainly won’t be the thing that makes him happy.

With the conditions being tougher than years prior, Hatton’s steady game tee-to-green could really help him. He’s not going to go out and shoot a course record, but if the scoring stays closer to par than it has in the past, there’s no reason he couldn’t find himself in the mix on Sunday. His record is much better in The Open than it is at The Masters, so if things can firm up and demand a links style mentality come the weekend, Hatton will be primed and ready to go. That’s what he grew up playing, that’s where he excels.

Bryson DeChambeau will be making his 10th start at The Masters. In his previous 9 starts he’s made the cut 7 times, has a low round of 65, and a scoring average of 72.44. In 2016 he made his debut as an amateur, earning the invitation by winning the 2015 US Amateur. That year, he finished as the low amateur of The Masters. He’s coming off of his best finish with a T5 last year, where at one point in the final round he was the solo leader of the tournament. The year prior he finished T6.

In last year’s tournament one thing, unfortunately, was undoubtedly true for Bryson. His distance control with his irons was off, and that would impact the rest of his game. Even with that going on, he was able to muster up a third round of 69 and be in the final pairing on Sunday. On the last hole of his third round he hit an approach shot that would end up just off the left side of the green, with the pin in the back right.

In typical Bryson fashion, he hit a great putt that would hit the pin perfectly and drop in the cup for an unlikely birdie.

Bryson is currently second in the LIV Golf season long standings, though most would argue he’s in the best form of anyone. He’s coming off of back-to-back wins in Singapore and South Africa. He hit one of the best 3 woods of his career to win the playoff in South Africa against Jon Rahm, so his confidence will be as high as it’s been entering The Masters. In addition to the two wins, Bryson finished in a tie for 3rd place in Adelaide, meaning he’s only finished outside of the top 5 twice this season.

Bryson has openly and admittedly been building his game to suit this course and wants nothing more than to win this event. Everything he does seems to build towards this week, which can work both ways. He’s putting as much if not more pressure than anyone on himself to perform this week. But he’s also a guy where when he really wants to accomplish something, nothing is going to stop him from doing that. He’s put more focus into his wedges in preparation for this week, which I wrote about at length here:

The only thing that might hold him back is a slow start, which has plagued him in years prior. He’s done a lot better with that this season, but it still might be in the back of his head.

Bryson DeChambeau winning looks like chaos. A man who operates better than anyone in the world in the chaos. He doesn’t avoid it, he doesn’t seek to block it out. No, he encourages it, he feeds off of it. But for Bryson to win this week he needs to improve on the one thing that held him back last year, his distance control into the greens. He was missing spots by far more than is normal for a golfer of his level. If he can do that, there’s no reason he can’t find himself in the final pairing on Sunday afternoon, and then in the green jacket on Sunday evening.

In 2026 Jon Rahm will be making his 10th start in The Masters. In his previous 9 starts he’s made the cut all 9 times, has a low round of 65 and a scoring average of 71. In 2023 he won the green jacket by four shots over Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka. In 2024 he finished T45 but was dealing with an injury that limited how much he was able to prepare for the tournament. Rahm is one of four Spaniards to win this tournament alongside Seve Ballesteros, José María Olazábal, and Sergio Garcia.

In 2023, Jon Rahm was standing over a lengthy birdie putt on the first hole of the tournament. He would exit that green two over par. He finished the round with a 65 and would eventually win the tournament by four shots. It was a fantastic round of golf, enjoy the entire thing here:

Jon Rahm’s fantastic form in LIV Golf events continues, and has even improved. In 2026 Rahm has played five events and finished outside of the top two just one time. He won by three strokes over Thomas Detry in Hong Kong and just last event, in South Africa, lost in a playoff to Bryson DeChambeau. He’s the number one player in the world based on average strokes gained in 2026. Statistically, nobody is in better form heading into this event than Jon Rahm.

2026 Masters Expectations:

I expect Jon Rahm to contend, and eventually win the 2026 Masters. He’s my official pick. Not only has he been statistically the best golfer in 2026, he’s been unbelievably consistent. No doubt there is a lot of pressure on him, both externally and internally as the conversations about his major performances continue, but this is his best chance to silence the doubters and remind everyone just the level of play that Jon Rahm is capable of.

Jon Rahm winning this tournament in 2026 will look a lot like 2023, except he won’t have the poor round mixed in. He’ll come out hot, asserting his dominance early. From there he’ll be as steady as can be and cruise on home, much like he did in Hong Kong earlier this year. He’ll eventually finish 2-3 strokes ahead of the field and find himself wearing the green jacket once again.