The 2026 Masters, which will start this Thursday, will already present something different: For the first time since 1994, both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson will not be present at the same event, protagonists of the greatest golf rivalry in the first two decades of this century. At that time, 32 years ago, the Californian was still in his last year of high school at the age of 18, while the left-hander from San Diego had broken the femur in his left leg skiing in March of that ’94 season, but he had already debuted in 1991 at Augusta National, being the best amateur on the leaderboard.
Unfortunately, The images that were seen of Tiger Woods in recent days were worrying. Once again, the former world No. 1 was in the news for extra-golf issues, when he was seen “heading” inside his vehicle and almost groggy under the effects of hydrocodonethe painkiller police found in his pocket shortly after his March 27 car accident on Jupiter Island, Florida. Faced with a health situation that requires maximum attention, the following Tuesday announced that it would be an “indefinite leave” in the circuit to receive treatmentafter his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
The incident occurred just as Tiger He was preparing a new comeback after his Achilles tendon rupture suffered in March 2025. A few weeks ago he had played the TGL finals, an indoor virtual golf competition, and did not rule out being present again at the Masters, after his last appearance on the PGA Tour, during the 2024 British Open, where he didn’t make the cut.
It is a constant in the case of Woods: when it is sensed that he is getting back on track to return to activity, he suffers a new ailment in his body or stars in some complicated episode off the courts. Logically: at 50 years old and with all his physical problems on his back, His professional career is becoming increasingly difficult.
Indeed, Tiger had embodied a surprising return to glory at Augusta in 2019, in one of the most shocking sporting resurrections of all time. It was when he won the Masters for the fourth time and broke an eleven-year drought without majors, after his conquest at the 2008 US Open, after defeating Rocco Mediate in a grueling playoff where he was seen limping. In addition to that feat seven years ago, Woods put on the green jackets in 1997 – the year in which he surprised the world as the new star of golf -, in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
Phil Mickelson’s situation is different, because It contains a certain secrecy and exceeds its person. The three-time champion (2004, 2006 and 2010) alleged a personal health problem with his family that prevented him from participating in all but one of this year’s LIV Golf events. “Unfortunately, I will not be able to participate in Masters next week and will be out for an extended period while my family continues to deal with a personal health issue.”the left-hander posted on social media last week.
Mickelson called the Masters “without a doubt the most special week of the year,” and his record reflects it. It will be an unparalleled tournament for him, because The 2004 victory meant obtaining the first major of his career, when he had already been dealing with the nickname “second man” for many seasons, because he always emerged as a strong candidate and in the end, for one reason or another, he could not win in the Grand Slam events. Finally, he won his first green jacket by beating South African Ernie Els by one stroke, with a putt for birdie on the 72nd hole. In the retinas, that jump on the 18th green still remains as a celebration that represented a true relief.
Mickelson also won in 2006 and 2010, making him one of only eight players to win the Masters at least three times in history. Faced with this current contingency with his loved ones, Fred Ridley, president of Augusta National, showed “total support” to the golfer from the club while he is focused on overcoming that family problem.
The southpaw sat out four LIV events at the start of the year and returned in South Africa three weeks ago, tying for 48th out of 57 entrants. In addition to what happened to him in 1994 in the snow, the other time Mickelson missed the Masters was in 2022, when He preferred to withdraw from the field after some incendiary comments while the LIV circuit, financed by the Saudi fund, was preparing for its launch. He had said he was “aware of the horrible human rights record” of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.but he was willing to help the new league because it was a “Once in a lifetime opportunity.”
Beyond his later apologies, those statements cost him corporate sponsorships and the player joined LIV later that same year. But his record at Augusta National is very positive: he achieved 16 top 10s in his 30 starts.
With seven titles in total, both Tiger and Mickelson wrote very important pages in the contemporary history of the Masters. But the furious current events indicate that The two top contenders are Rory McIlroy, defending champion, and his predecessor at the awards ceremony, Scottie Scheffler, who won it in 2022 and 2024. However, the Northern Irishman and No. 1 do not arrive in the best way at the Masters for different reasons.
McIlroy has already done the hardest job: getting rid of the thorn of winning the only major he needed to complete the so-called “Grand Slam”, consecration in the four major tournaments of the season. But now, he deals with health problems: He had been playing solid before his back injury relapsed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. When he retired that Saturday morning from the tournament he was in the fight to win at Bay Hill, but he had to stop as a precaution. He was expected to compete with a chance at The Players the following week, but his time at TPC Sawgrass ended up being a bad experience due to his lack of pace and he finished 46th. He was expected to add one more tournament to his calendar before the Masters, but Rory has not played since the second week of March and his current level is a big unknown.
For his part, Scheffler is healthy, but his problem lies in his game and lies in his irons, from his wedges to his long irons. He led the PGA Tour in approach shots in the last three seasons, although in 2026 he ranks 80th in that item. Normally, playing with irons was his strong point and fundamental pillar at the beginning of his career, when his performance on the greens was very irregular. But now it doesn’t seem as effective and that uneven performance is reflected in its results. When it comes to No. 1 and his impressive winning streaks in 2024 and 2025, he has only won one tournament so far this year (the American Express in La Quinta, California) he likes little for the great dominator of the circuit.
