Bolton: Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler set to duel at Augusta National

Who ya got – Scottie or Rory?

While you can have both Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy rostered for the Masters Tournament in PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore, you still need to choose a captain, and you can count on most gamers having reduced their options to that shortest of lists.

So, what should you do?

Find peace in accepting that whomever you choose won’t make or break anything right now, just as long as you don’t omit both of them for defensive purposes alone.

The Masters is the fifth tournament of 11 in Segment 2. Three more majors, four Signature Events and the juiced-up trio of stops in the FedExCup Playoffs all remain through the conclusion of the season, so take it easy on yourself and stick to the script that got you here. Get cute another time. The winner of the Masters will receive 75 FedExCup bonus points. If he’s your captain, it’s 150. Keep your eyes on that target.

That philosophy aligns with the fact that Augusta National Golf Club is the easiest course on which to predict success all season. It should be when you marry a major at which every professional golfer thirsts for victory arguably more than anywhere else with a course that hosts the tournament every year.

Put all of it in a vacuum and Scheffler is my pick, which is how he’s defaulted to me, anyway (more on this below.) He’s the defending champion and winner of two of the last three editions. While he hasn’t won in 2025, I've never held winlessness against any golfer. He made it look way too easy in 2024 amid a series of extracurricular challenges.

It’s like how my grandma taught me to receive compliments as a kid: Accept them but never expect them.

If you side with McIlroy, you’re piggybacking his quest for the career Grand Slam. That can be awesome and a story to tell if he connects, but assuming he performs as his planet-best form of 2025 portends, there likely will come a moment when he’ll need to fend off the daydream of what the career achievement means in the history of the sport to focus on his next shot. Scheffler will not wrestle with that dynamic.

Captain

Scottie Scheffler … This is specific to my situation. I’m in second place in my little league of experts and Mike Glasscott has opted for McIlroy.

Just before Christmas when I dove into the possibilities in my primer in which I fantasized about designating Scheffler as my captain up to nine times across three segments, I’m beyond thrilled that this is how it’s lined up for me at the Masters. Of course, that was also before Scheffler injured his hand, so now you can appreciate the impact of the butterfly effect over time.

Other considerations

• Rory McIlroy ... Toss out the significance of the career Grand Slam and he’s a beaut. He’s in exactly the form that he wants and with the mindset required to fulfill the goal.
• Collin Morikawa … As these things stack up, there is a chasm between the coin flip for the first two and this guy, but it’d be a full-circle journey that began with a resurgent T3 at Augusta National a year ago (despite a closing 74).

Rounding out the roster

With so many non-members poised to be available for the Masters and the PGA Championship in Segment 2, do not hesitate to reach into that subset to spell starts for members who could be more attractive in the next three Signature Events that also contribute to Segment 2.

The construct relies on Scheffler and McIlroy at its base. Then map out potential starts for members across the next six tournaments. This is how I landed on Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas over non-members. (Remember that the Truist Championship will be contested at a relatively unknown Philadelphia Cricket Club so that the PGA Championship can be held at Quail Hollow Club. Despite the familiarity of the latter, it’s a neutral site in the context of that major.)

On an important aside and baked into the success among returning participants is the learning curve for first-timers. There are 21 in this year’s class, all of whom should be avoided no matter your ownership philosophy, the makeup of your roster and if you’re pacing or chasing.

My starters

• Bryson DeChambeau
• Jon Rahm
• Scottie Scheffler (C)
• Justin Thomas

My bench

• Rory McIlroy (1)
• Collin Morikawa (2)

Careful

For almost every tournament, a usually impressive subset of the field warrants avoiding, and it might be represented in my Power Rankings which is not written in the context of any fantasy golf format. In this section, I single out who demands pause and why.

Xander Schauffele ... No. 11 in my Power Rankings. He was my captain in his last start at the Valspar Championship and did OK with a T12, but it’s fair to question how ready all of him is for this test. On one hand, it could be exactly the kind of platform on which his experience and success will be rewarded without surprise. On the other, despite his positive rhetoric, we don’t and maybe he doesn’t know if he can play as freely as necessary to do damage. I would never bet against him but I’m forever on the record as a conservative playing the long game.

Ludvig Åberg ... Among my last cuts for the Power Rankings despite a trend-busting solo second in his debut last year. We can put to rest worry over his surgically repaired left knee and illness that disrupted his West Coast Swing because he authored a statement victory at The Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines just under two months ago. However, he’s been anything but consistent in three starts since, and that’s not nothing. Stick with veterans longer in the tooth this week.

Hideki Matsuyama ... Similarly to the Swede, Matsuyama has scuffled uncharacteristically upon arrival with consecutive missed cuts for the first time in two years. He’s also broken par in just four of his last 12 rounds, a noticeable drought for his talent no matter the difficulty of the courses. And while the weather will be ideal, his track record for a last-minute malady cements him into the column of the cautious.

Viktor Hovland ... It’s objectively hilarious that he prevailed in his last start at the Valspar Championship what with all of the uncertainty concerning his swing and those who he allows to toy with it. We’re about to find out if it was merely the best kind of anomaly or the next in a series of reminders that he’s that good. He’s making his sixth start at Augusta National where the knock on him is how weaknesses in his short game can be exposed, but my volley is that it won’t matter if he doesn’t miss any greens in regulation. Has just one top 20 thus far, though – a T7 in 2023.

Jordan Spieth ... My supportive analysis concerning him in 2025 has highlighted how well he’s performed in the wake of surgery on his left wrist. Chalk up last year’s missed cut at the Masters to the irksome joint at the time. While values in DFS and, say, the Top 20 market won’t be automatic for you to consider, those are better fits as he continues his pursuit of something special.

Patrick Cantlay ... Forever a quality roster complement no matter your format and especially in a major, but he has only five top 10s in a career 31 starts in the series. His best at the Masters was but a T9 in 2019.

Notable W/Ds

Tiger Woods ... Out indefinitely after having surgery to repair his left Achilles tendon on March 11. The five-time Masters champ hasn’t laced it up in official competition since The Open Championship last July.

Vijay Singh ... His decision not to play due to an undisclosed injury ends his consecutive starts streak in the Masters at 31, but he’s still commemorating the 25th anniversary of his victory at Augusta National.

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