2026 Masters takeaways: Scottie Scheffler gets his groove back, Cameron Young proves he's next in line

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Rory McIlroy's historic triumph on Sunday at the Masters shifted attention to the 36-year-old's continued ascent up the list of golf's all-time greats.

McIlroy secured his place as the greatest player of his generation and can begin thinking about climbing into truly rare air if he can parlay his renewed confidence into another run of major championships. His weekend performance made things far more interesting than expected when he took a six-shot lead after two rounds, but even with his flair for the dramatic, he managed to slip into the green jacket on Sunday afternoon for the second straight year and join an exclusive list of players -- Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus -- to do so.

While McIlroy's newfound dominance at Augusta National is rightfully the leading topic coming out of the year's first major, there was so much else that happened this week at the Masters that is worth parsing out and exploring deeper.

This year's Masters was a thrilling battle between some of the game's best, with the first page of the final leaderboard littered with many of the biggest names in golf. Here we'll look through our five biggest takeaways from the week that was in Augusta.

Scottie Scheffler gets his groove back

Since winning the American Express to start the 2026 season, Scottie Scheffler has looked startlingly mortal, given what he's accomplished over the past three years. Most notably, his ball-striking -- long the strength of his game -- has been PGA Tour average and shockingly inconsistent. That trend continued through the first two days at the Masters, which put him 12 shots off McIlroy's pace entering the weekend.

Suddenly, on Saturday, Scheffler found his full form again and nearly erased the largest deficit in major championship history to capture his third green jacket and make history of his own. Scheffler's 65-68 finish on the weekend saw him finish in solo second, one shot back of McIlroy, and he'll be left to wonder what could've been. Scheffler admitted he "left a few out there" on Saturday after one of the great ball-striking rounds ever seen at Augusta National and had a few more opportunities slip away on Sunday -- including a birdie putt on the 17th that came painfully close to dropping that would've ultimately forced a playoff.

While Scheffler didn't come into the week aiming for a runner-up finish, the way he started his sudden click into form on the weekend is extremely notable. Scheffler has been cagey about what's been causing his inconsistency, insisting he feels good about his game, but this weekend was the first time we've seen him have that full control of his golf ball that made him the game's most dominant force. That bodes well moving forward this major season, and it feels like this won't be our last duel between the top two in the world rankings on a major stage this year.

Cameron Young proves he's the real deal, even in defeat

Young got a taste of what it's like to lead the Masters on a Sunday, and while he took a step back with a final round 73, nothing about the way he played indicated he wasn't ready for the moment. There were mistakes, to be sure. Young produced solid golf shots throughout the second nine but couldn't buy a putt as he made nine consecutive pars to finish in a tie for third.

"There is no negative to take away other than obviously I would've loved a different result," Young said after his round. "But in terms of the golf, I played plenty well enough to win today and plenty well enough to win by a couple I think. So just one of those days. If you go through the back nine I pretty much had a birdie chance on every hole and didn't make any. That's how it goes sometimes."

While Young's putter just never warmed up, the aforementioned ball-striking display was tremendous. There will be some lessons learned for future Masters, but he never seemed rattled by the moment and never let the missed putts impact his next shot.

When asked if it was hard not to start pressing and try creating shorter birdie putts, Young scoffed.

"I mean, how much closer do you want me to hit it than I did on the back nine? Want me to aim right on 12?" Young asked back. "Just one of those, I think the shots are pretty obvious, and I hit a lot of them; just didn't make anything."

Young's performance was a reminder that he is one of the premier talents in golf, and while nothing is guaranteed in golf, Young can leave Augusta feeling confident that he has the game to win a major sooner rather than later.

Rahm, DeChambeau left searching after frustrating weeks

McIlroy and Scheffler lived up to their positions as pre-tournament favorites, but notably absent from the conversation on Saturday were the two top LIV Golf stars.

Both Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm came in playing exceptional golf on LIV, combining for the last three wins and dueling in a playoff in the final event before the Masters. However, neither produced anything close to their best and will have to find something going into the PGA Championship to shake off the sour taste from a dismal week in Augusta.

DeChambeau, fresh off a pair of top-6 finishes the last two years at the Masters, reverted to his old struggles around Augusta National, dooming himself to a missed cut with a pair of implosions in bunkers on Nos. 11 and 18. His proclaimed newfound patience at Augusta National didn't materialize in those moments, and the equipment he spoke about as the pivot point for him this week failed miserably. With a month until the PGA, DeChambeau will continue tinkering and trying to find the right formula with his irons. But after an early exit on Friday afternoon, his confidence in the current version of his self-made clubs can't be particularly high.

Rahm, meanwhile, was able to grind his way to the weekend, where he could use two rounds outside contention as his testing ground.

"The only [good] thing about a weekend like today, once things are not going well enough, is you can start trying things just to see how it feels or how you can do it in competition," Rahm said on Saturday. "Just a bit of what I did today. Probably what I'll do tomorrow. Hitting it on the range is one thing; doing it on the golf course is a different thing."

From different shots to trying new alignment options on the greens, Rahm spent the weekend searching for something positive to take forward. A Sunday 68 provided perhaps a glimmer of hope, but both of LIV's stars will have left this year's Masters a bit humbled and searching for their best form.

[Justin Rose's Masters prayer unanswered at Amen Corner as another green jacket slips away

Patrick McDonald

Hatton, Henley, Homa may emerge as perennial contenders

For McIlroy and past champions, the annual return to Augusta National is a chance to lean on great memories and experience. However, it's not only those who have donned the green jacket that can carve out a tremendous career at the Masters.

Justin Rose is the greatest current example, with this year producing yet another frustrating close call in the top five. This may have been Rose's last real chance at a green jacket (although we said that last year and here he was again in 2026), but some players seem ready to pick up the mantle as the next perennial contenders at the Masters who feel a tier below the true favorites each spring.

Tyrrell Hatton has made his frustrations with Augusta National known in the past, but he has now finished inside the top 14 in each of the last three Masters, producing a career-best T3 with his tremendous play on Sunday this year. Also making a final-round push was Russell Henley, who earned his second top-five finish in the past four years, as the veteran from Macon, Georgia, looks right at home in Augusta.

Then there's Max Homa, who has fallen out of his best form in recent years on the PGA Tour but has guaranteed an invite to the Masters for a second straight year based on performance. Homa's final round 67 pushed him into the top 10, and something about the creativity required by Augusta National brings out the best in his game. There's probably a lesson in there for Homa to embrace more of that artistry on regular PGA Tour stops rather than getting so focused on the minutiae of the golf swing, but at the very least, this particular place brings out his best.

Winning a green jacket is harder than ever with the level of talent in the world of golf right now, so it's hard to project any of this trio as a likely winner. That said, if you were coming up with dark horses who could become the next surprise Masters champion, it starts with them.

Morikawa finds needed confidence coming off back injury

On Thursday, Collin Morikawa said he woke up more nervous than he's ever been for a round of golf because of the uncertainty of his back injury. He spoke openly about the mental toll his injury suffered on the tee box at The Players took on him, noting the fear of it happening again was always lurking in the back of his mind.

Given how his biggest hurdle coming back from that injury seemed to be mental, not physical, the way he played throughout this week was massive for him. Morikawa had finally reclaimed the form that made him a two-time major champion earlier this season and looked poised to be a contender again. But after his back injury, we didn't know how big a setback that would become.

A strong weekend put him in the top 10 at this year's Masters, and he'll leave feeling like he's quickly picked that form back up. Perhaps most importantly, he'll have more confidence in his body and have that belief that he can physically execute the swings he wants to. That should propel him going into the PGA Championship, and adds another big name to the list of possible contenders for a major title in 2026.