The Masters is here, and Brandel Chamblee was as sharp as ever in our annual discussion.

In our 2026 Masters Q&A, Chamblee broke down why Bryson DeChambeau’s swing is fighting Augusta’s DNA, whether it was right not to give Anthony Kim a special invite, pinpointed the hole where green jackets are lost more than won and much more.

Check out the full Q&A below.

Gianni: Rory McIlroy’s been managing a back injury recently, and you’ve said you don’t even recognize Scottie Scheffler’s swing right now. How do you assess the chances of the two betting favorites heading into Augusta?

Brandel: Both Scottie and Rory are off their game’s compared to the form they had coming into the 2025 Masters, but not sufficiently so that they shouldn’t be considered the two favorites. Having said that, I am a little worried about Scheffler’s ball striking. By his standards he has missed an inordinate number of shots to the right, hence the fall off in his iron game as he currently ranks 80th in Strokes Gained: Approach.

As for Rory, he currently leads the tour in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green, with his only question mark being an uncooperative putter thus far in the season.

Gianni: With question marks over them, it looks like it may open the door for Bryson. He’s been dominant on LIV this season but has never won at Augusta. What does Bryson need to do differently to win a green jacket this week?

Brandel: Bryson has finished 5th and 6th in the last two Masters, and comes into this year’s first major having won a couple times on the Saudi-backed LIV tour. That bodes well for his chances, but Augusta is still not a great fit for his in-to-out golf swing and his very linear approach to the game.

Bryson has averaged hitting just under 44 greens in regulation in his previous nine Masters, about eight less than the winner’s average, which puts pressure on his short game and putter, and one or the other has let him down in past Masters. 

Gianni: Anthony Kim came from five back to beat Rahm and DeChambeau at LIV Adelaide for his first win in 16 years. He still holds the Masters record for most birdies in a single round, and Augusta has given special invitations before – notably twice to Joaquin Niemann. Is the decision not to give Anthony Kim a special invite a missed opportunity or the right call?

Brandel: Anthony Kim is ranked 455th in the world by Data Golf, which unlike the OWGR has been awarding ranking points to the LIV Tour all along. Kim’s win resonated with a number of people in the golf world because of his personal struggles and going back almost two decades, his past popularity and disappearance from the game.

Had he carried on playing great immediately after that victory, (he’s finished 31st, 17th and next to last in the three events after his win), he may have garnered the attention of the invite committee as Joaquin Niemann did with his consistent play and in winning the Australian Open in 2024. 

Gianni: Brooks Koepka had a rough start to the season but had been quietly trending with a top 10 at the Cognizant and a top 15 at the Players before a missed cut at Houston. What have you made of where his game is right now, and how dangerous is he heading into Augusta?

Brandel: I think it is great that Brooks Koepka has left the Saudi-backed Tour to come back to the PGA Tour and it will likely be great for his game as well. With only one exception, playing on the LIV tour has been detrimental to the game’s of its players when they come back to the elite level of the game. Case in point, before Koepka left for LIV he had played in 33 majors, where he had won four times, had sixteen top 10s and twelve top 5s.

After going to LIV he played in 13 majors winning one time and finishing second another. He was on his way to being considered one of the greats of all time but he traded that pursuit for something far more certain but certainly less enduring.

His game, and in particular, his iron game, are sharp enough that it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he contended, but I wouldn’t put him amongst the favorites.

Gianni: Augusta has subtly lengthened the course multiple times to keep up with how far these guys hit it. Where does that battle stand right now, and where does it go from here?

Brandel: With all due respect to the USGA and the R&A, the proposed roll-back will not sufficiently slow the best players down, as they will recoup the distance lost very quickly, especially if the current trend in the game to widen corridors, cut down the trees and rough continues.

The average clubhead speed on the PGA Tour is around 116 mph, but there are people who can swing upwards of 150 mph, and that gap is going to close inexorably going forward. This is a way of saying that the only way to slow the best players down and bring back longer more momentous shots, is to either bifurcate the game, or have an Augusta National golf ball made that must be used in the tournament. I don’t see the latter happening, and the former would take a decade or more to implement, unfortunately.

Having said that, there is no golf course that I know of that has kept in step with the technological advances in equipment and the physical changes in the players better than Augusta National. Thankfully, more often than not, the Masters still gives us the most compelling and dramatic Sundays in golf. 

Gianni: Is there a specific hole at Augusta that you think does more to decide the winner than any other?

Brandel: Every Masters has its moment and more often than not, it happens at 12. One need only think back to cadre of contenders who rinsed their tee shots in 2019, or Jordan Spieth looking for a second straight Masters title and finding the water at the 12th in 2016, or Rory Mcilroy continuing his slide there in 2011 and, of course, Greg Norman in 1996.

There are other holes on the back nine where players make a push and go on to win subsequently, but the 12th hole is where the Masters is most often lost.

Gianni: Finally, who are your top 3 picks for this week and why?

Brandel: My three favorites are Scottie Scheffler, Rory Mcilroy and Collin Morikawa.

Scottie because of his obvious ability to work the ball in every direction and high towering cut shots into the demanding greens, but also because one needs to get up and down at about a 70% clip to win the Masters and his short game has few rivals.

Rory because he leads the tour in Strokes Gained Tee to Green, mostly because of his improved iron play, which could lead to him winning going away this year.

Collin Morikawa comes with some caveats, as do almost all the favorites, but he needs to have a decent week with the putter and avoid a disaster at the 11th hole which has plagued him (he’s +14 on that hole) in a career of contending almost every year at Augusta.