The 2025 Masters tournament is done, and Rory McIlroy did the unthinkable finally completing the career grand slam by winning his first green jacket in his career. After the roller coaster tournament concluded, there are a lot of thoughts running through my head, and it is time to get them down on digital paper.

There are 18 holes on a golf course, so here are 18 thoughts after the 2025 Masters tournament has concluded, in no particular order after No. 1:

1 – Congrats to Rory

You have to start here, and you have to start by congratulating Rory for a job well done. I’m not a huge Rory McIlroy fan, but he showed he was able to overcome his many shortcomings throughout the tournament on his way to his first Masters victory. Congrats!

2 – What a rollercoaster ride

It wasn’t just Rory’s final round which was a roller coaster ride, the entire tournament had more ups and downs than I can ever remember. When you just look at the Sunday round, with Rory double bogeying the first hole, Bryson DeChambeau took a one stroke lead, McIlroy takes back the lead with Bryson falling off, and here comes Justin Rose to force a playoff. Just a tremendous tournament, and a fantastic finish to the first major of the year.

3 – Jordan Spieth is really hard to root for

As an American who loves the Ryder Cup, I always lean towards rooting for American players. It’s just in my nature. But I will say it is ridiculously difficult to root for Jordan Spieth anymore. Spieth has been through a lot since winning his last major, but the man doesn’t do himself any favors with his condescending remarks, his constant whining on the course, and blaming his caddy for issues which were only his own. Spieth is a tremendous talent, but he certainly doesn’t make it easy to pull for in tournaments.

4 – Inconsistent Scottie Scheffler

What’s going on with Scottie Scheffler? After returning to the tour Scheffler has been anything but the steady-Eddie player we got used to seeing in 2024. Scheffler isn’t built to come from behind, instead he’s the typical front-runner golfer. Get a lead, and par and birdie you to death on his way to victory. Scheffler’s putting hasn’t been good enough this season so far, and he has had some gaps in his approach game which is usually his calling card. We aren’t used to seeing Inconsistent Scottie.

5 – Not enough being said about Justin Rose

Rory winning is the headline, as it should be, but can we talk about the tournament Justin Rose played? He led the tournament Thursday and Friday, lost the lead on Saturday and came storming back on Sunday, erasing a huge deficit, to force a playoff. And it wasn’t like in the playoff he made a huge mistake to make the win easy for McIlroy. He made par, missing a birdie putt, and Rory’s two-footer ended the playoff after one hole. Needless to say, Justin Rose had a tremendous Masters and deserves some credit for his play last week.

6 – I didn’t like the Sunday pin placement on No. 16

Augusta National moved the pin placement on No. 16 to the Sunday placement from 1975 when Jack Nicklaus won. I didn’t like it. I like the Sunday pin placement in the back left where the players can use the funnel to make the hole incredibly tantalizing before the difficult 17th and 18th. Hopefully they change it back in 2026.

7 – Bryson vs. Rory a new rivalry?

The internet wants to make this a rivalry, but can they legitimately do this with them only playing each other four times a year? I don’t think so. When you consider the best golf rivalries, they played regularly, and not just in the majors. They’ll be a huge storyline anytime they play against one another, but this isn’t the next Tiger vs. Phil.

8 – Bryson just couldn’t scramble anymore

DeChambeau got into the final paring Sunday with his pure scrambling skills. His yardages with his irons were off all week, but he was scrambling his butt off to remain in contention. His put on 18 Saturday was electrifying, and gave golf fans hope of a huge Sunday. Sunday you could see Bryson just couldn’t scramble anymore, and the course got him on more than one occasion. He did get into the final pairing without his best stuff, which is incredible. He’ll be back.

9 – Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed wondering “What if?”

There are always those “what if” moments in golf, but two which were sticking out to me were Brooks Koepka quadruple bogeying the 18th hole Friday to miss the cut, and Patrick Reed three putting from 5-feet to bogey when he finished just shy of the playoff. Incredible gut punches for these two LIV golfers.

10 – Fred Couple and Bernhard Langer as to why the Masters is great

Why is the Masters great? Because legends who have won the tournament in the past can still hang around the cut line. Both Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer were close to making the cut this year, and they beat several younger, more talented, players. The Masters isn’t just about skill, it’s about playing the course. Knowing the track. Love watching these older players still hanging around.

11 – Taking a leak in Rae’s Creek?

Jose Luis Ballester is an amateur playing in his first Masters tournament, but is anyone buying him “not knowing” he wasn’t supposed to relieve himself in the middle of Rae’s Creek on Amen Corner? I don’t care if it’s your first Masters, or your first time on the golf course, everyone knows Augusta. Everyone knows Amen Corner. Everyone knows Rae’s Creek. You can’t claim ignorance in this situation. He eventually apologized, but he hopefully learned to ask someone where the nearest port-a-potty is before peeing in a tributary.

12 – Ludvig Aberg struggles again

Another Masters, another Ludvig struggle down the stretch. His triple bogey on 18 didn’t just eliminate him from potentially being in a playoff, which was unlikely anyways, it also cost him over $500k in prize money. Aberg is young, and uber talented, but this course continues to sneak up and bite him. He’ll learn, and I’m sure he’ll claim victory at Augusta at least once.

13 – The Max Homa resurgence was awesome

Max Homa’s issues have been well documented. Changing swing coaches, going to Cobra from Titleist, and even having his caddy leave his side before the Masters tournament. Homa has missed more cuts than he’s made this season, but his T-12 finish was a pleasure to watch. I love watching a redemption story, and we’ll see if Homa figured something out at Augusta, or if he’ll fall back to where he was for the rest of the 2025 season.

14 – Nick Dunlap’s 2025 Masters was…something

Homa’s fall from grace was crazy, but it wasn’t posting a 90 on Round 1 of the Masters like Nick Dunlap did. Dunlap told media he had his caddy go to a local store and buy two bags of balls and he pounded them into the woods after Thursday’s round. He bounced back with a 71 on Friday, but Dunlap openly talked about how painful the tournament was for the youngster.

15 – The mysterious Augusta National member to play in the Masters

Not sure if anyone heard this story before, but with an odd number of players on the weekend, Augusta puts a member out with one of the playing pros so they have a playing partner. You never see a shot of this person, you never hear his score, and they aren’t allowed talking to the media. Just an incredible experience, and something I’m determined to learn more about.

16 – The Masters App vs. CBS Broadcast

The Masters app, which is free, is amazing. It has everything you would want right there in one location. You can watch featured groups, Holes 4,5,6, Amen Corner, and even players on the range. You can utilize the app to see so much of the tournament. Then you get to the CBS broadcast. I know they want to show the leaders at all times, but at what point do they start to show more shots? Players like Patrick Reed, Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg were storming up the leaderboard, and there were times we didn’t get to see every shot. I don’t care if it’s a tape delay, I want to see these other players’ shots, not Rory walk around the green looking at a putt for 3 minutes. The broadcast still has a lot to learn.

17 – Rory let down upcoming? Or the Year of Rory continues?

Rory has had a tremendous season already, but I’m curious what the rest of the season will look like for him. Will getting the win at Augusta for the first time allow him to play more free, or will he be exhausted now that he finally slayed that proverbial dragon? We’ll see if the Year of Rory continues, or if the Masters is where he leaves it all for a time.

18 – Calling it now, Scottie Scheffler wins the Masters in 2026

Scottie Scheffler is too good not to bounce back, and he has a knack for winning every other year. He won in 2022, Jon Rahm won in 2023, Scottie wins in 2024 and Rory wins in 2025. I’m calling it now, Scheffler wins his 3rd green jacket in 2026.

Jeff Hartman is the host of the Fairways & Dreams podcast, and you can hear the latest podcast in the podcast player below: