Åberg tops 9 Masters 2026 players with the most to prove
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- Ludvig Åberg headlines nine players at the 2026 Masters who could "make the most noise," per CBS Sports' Robby Kalland, with the 24-year-old ranked fifth on the Masters odds sheet despite having no major victories.
- Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm have separated from the pack, combining for 13 major titles and six of the last nine major victories.
- Åberg finished 2nd at the 2024 Masters in his first career major start, took 7th in 2025 (one shot off the lead through 16 holes), and blew a Sunday lead at The Players last month — a pattern of hyper-aggression that has cost him in big moments.
- Justin Rose, 45, owns the best Masters résumé of any player without a green jacket: seven top 10s and three runner-up finishes, including a playoff loss to McIlroy in 2025.
- Brooks Koepka could tie Phil Mickelson, Lee Trevino and Nick Faldo at six majors (12th all-time) and move past McIlroy for the most of this era, though Kalland notes his form since returning from LIV Golf has yet to produce a real PGA Tour contention.
- Rory McIlroy could join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods as the only players to win back-to-back Masters, though he enters this year dealing with a back tweak and a long layoff since The Players.
- Cameron Young validated his major credentials with his recent win at The Players, and Kalland frames a Masters breakthrough as the next logical step after a boom-or-bust Augusta record (two top 10s, two missed cuts).
Why it matters: A green jacket for Åberg would drop the "rising" from "rising star" and insert him into golf's elite tier alongside Scheffler, McIlroy, DeChambeau and Rahm; a win for McIlroy or Koepka would crack the all-time top 12 in major titles. The list also frames how open the 2026 major season looks beyond the dominant quartet, with a 45-year-old veteran (Rose), a LIV returnee (Koepka), and three young Americans (Åberg, Young, Schauffele) all chasing career-defining breakthroughs at Augusta.
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