At The Masters, there are no VIPs at Amen Corner.

No suites. No phones. No shortcuts.

For four days at Augusta National, celebrities and fans experience the game the exact same way — side by side, in the moment.

Masters 2026: What we’re seeing, hearing on DeChambeau’s 3D club, Gerry McIlroy and more DeChambeau has a long history of experimenting with his equipment. The new 5-iron didn't help Thursday, though.

More on the convo w/ Holtz here, and other insights and tidbits from the day at Augusta National, here (read for free!): www.nytimes.com/athletic/718...

Saw mid-am champ Brandon Holtz hanging out by the oak tree. He changed into shorts after the round and promptly ordered himself a whiskey on the rocks.

He told me he's just going to chill at the course for the afternoon with friends. First Masters at 39 years old. Why not?

Rory McIlroy tells us his 5 best shots from the 2025 Masters Not necessarily the most famous or the flashiest. These are the ones that were the most important to him.

So we asked Rory McIlroy what ~his~ five favorite shots from the 2025 Masters were.

With @gabbyherzig.bsky.social, a deep dive on those five shots, some which might surprise you, and how he pulled off of one the wilder weeks in recent memory. @theathletic.com www.nytimes.com/athletic/717...

I will try to post more on here! I’m at the Masters and covering it all week for The Athletic.

‘Did you tell him you’re firing him yet?’ The brutal reality of golf’s most intimate partnership There’s no contracts. No job security. A caddie can get hired or fired at any time. But when a pair is together, they’re together.

come for Gabby's opening anecdote on the fickle world of player-caddie relationships. stay for a hell of a good read.

via @gabbyherzig.bsky.social ...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

In one infamous tale, a tour caddie takes a swing video for his player on the range, and a text pops up from the player's wife: "Did you tell him you're firing him yet?"

Exploring the brutal realities of the caddie-player relationship: www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

‘Did you tell him you’re firing him yet?’ The brutal reality of golf’s most intimate partnership There’s no contracts. No job security. A caddie can get hired or fired at any time. But when a pair is together, they’re together.

This rocked @gabbyherzig.bsky.social ‘Did you tell him you’re firing him yet?’ The brutal reality of golf’s most intimate partnership www.nytimes.com/athletic/710...

Trump threatens to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s public golf courses The Trump administration’s interest in Washington’s public golf courses is part of a larger plan to revamp the capital’s footprint.

New on @theathletic.com, w/ @gabbyherzig.bsky.social

Trump threatens to seize control of Washington, D.C.’s public golf courses
www.nytimes.com/athletic/688...

Charley Hull’s Instagram tells a story. A trip to her English home told the real one “People think I’m a party girl," Charley Hull admits, but her actual home life is nothing like that.

Charley Hull’s Instagram tells a story. So does that viral photo of her smoking at the U.S. Open.

This summer, I spent time with Hull at her home in England, and it revealed a different picture of the golfer — a much deeper one. www.nytimes.com/athletic/687...

Matt Berninger traded his notebook for a baseball. And the words kept coming For The National’s frontman, the way forward was written on rawhide.

A new story I'm pretty pumped to share. It's about words, and our pastime, and changing your traumas by changing your patterns.

On Matt Berninger, and the baseballs of writing:

I made a 12 during the biggest golf tournament of my life. Here’s what I learned The Athletic's Gabby Herzig recently competed in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur. She gained a deeper appreciation for the sport she covers.

morning read from @gabbyherzig.bsky.social that I deeply enjoyed — and the comments are generally lovely, to boot. www.nytimes.com/athletic/670...

Thank you Meg!

Tommy Fleetwood in a light blue polo celebrating with both hands in the air after winning the PGA Tour. Quote attributed to Fleetwood reads: "I can be proof that if you do all the right things and you just keep going, that it can happen."

From @theathletic.com: Tommy Fleetwood's win on Sunday was a long time coming. His arc, with 30 top-five finishes in eight years on the PGA Tour but zero wins, has been a relatable one because of how difficult it often felt to watch, our columnist writes. nyti.ms/4oQeZfy

Inside Tommy Fleetwood’s triumphant Tour Championship win Fleetwood learned from heartbreaking losses this summer, recognizing what he needed to do to win on the PGA Tour for the first time.

Tommy Fleetwood finally did it. On Sunday, he wasn’t just a winner on tour, he was *the* winner on tour.

I followed Tommy until I couldn’t anymore, as he went through all the stops, all the emotions of victory. For @theathletic.com: www.nytimes.com/athletic/657...

The latest sports scam:

Fans of a golfer are contacted by a fake account, lured to WhatsApp/Telegram, offered VIP access, dinner or investments for crypto or gift cards — then ghosted once payments stop.

Inside the social media scheme turning fans against athletes: http://dlvr.it/TMVp5j

One more story from the last of his kind Why is Art Spander, nearly blind and unable to type his own stories, still covering events at 86? Because he is the job. And because of Liz.

New for @theathletic.bsky.social and @nytimes.com

Art Spander has seen everything. The Miracle on Ice. Kirk Gibson. The Catch. But nowadays? The view is changing and time is moving.

On the life and love of a true original:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/643...

NFL executive Brian Rolapp leaving for PGA Tour CEO position Rolapp, responsible for the NFL's massive media rights deals, will lead the PGA Tour's for-profit arm.

NEWS: Brian Rolapp of the NFL is expected to be announced soon as the PGA Tour’s new CEO, sources confirmed to @gabbyherzig.bsky.social and @andrewmarchand.bsky.social:

He will lead the tour’s new for-profit arm, PGA Tour Enterprises.

More details:

What is Oakmont’s church pew bunker? History behind distinctive U.S. Open course feature The church pews — 13, long grassy tufts which act as islands within a seemingly endless pit of sand — were never part of the original design

You probably did not know that Oakmont’s famed church pews (possibly maybe probably) trace back to a course 20 miles outside Philadelphia and a pioneering woman in golf course architecture

Required pre-US Open reading from @gabbyherzig.bsky.social:

www.nytimes.com/athletic/641...

Dreaming in darkness: Luke Clanton’s journey to becoming the PGA Tour’s next big star

Plastic greens. A trip to Augusta National. Meditation in the dark.

Over several interviews these past two months, I learned about how Luke became Luke Clanton.

On the PGA Tour’s next star, for
@theathletic.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/athletic/640...

It still isn’t 🤣

Thank you Mitch

What’s it like to play Augusta National the day after Rory’s Masters win? I found out I have post-round depression, and in an attempt to alleviate it, here are answers to your questions about my day at Augusta National.

What’s it like to play Augusta National the day after Rory’s win at the Masters?

I found out.

3,200 words of Q&A on a day that simply felt fake.

I have never been so happy to share a scorecard with a 9 on it: www.nytimes.com/athletic/628...

Now read @gabbyherzig.bsky.social on Justin Rose's Indian summer
www.nytimes.com/athletic/627...

And @brodymiller.bsky.social on Angry Jon Rahm
www.nytimes.com/athletic/627...

And the great Justin Ray www.nytimes.com/athletic/627...

And today's live action
www.nytimes.com/athletic/liv...

Scottie Scheffler’s air of inevitability is on display again at the Masters After Scheffler rolled in a 62-foot birdie putt on the par-3 fourth hole Thursday, visions of another green jacket began arriving.

It's already inevitable. A Sunday that ends among familiar shadows, a long walk up Augusta’s 18th, a hat brim pushed up off his forehead, a final putt, a final roar, and a 44 Long.

Hyperbole, of course.

But not really.

On Scottie Scheffler:
www.nytimes.com/athletic/627...

How do you get over losing the Masters? Hypnosis, exposure therapy and ‘whatever helps’ "So many things have happened in my career and my life that I can sort of laugh about it now. But it’s still there.”

Is scar tissue real?

Ahead of the Masters, I talked to Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and top performance psychologists about confronting past failures — and the lengths players will go to process them.

Rory: “I’ve been put in hypnotic states.”
www.nytimes.com/athletic/626...

Why does Scottie Scheffler dominate the Masters? He’s ‘an incredible handyman’ Scheffler will try this week to become the first golfer to win back-to-back at Augusta National since Tiger Woods 23 years ago.

“I would equate Scottie Scheffler to an incredible handyman."

Why does Scottie thrive at Augusta National? It's a three-part answer, but it all starts with his full set of tools.

First 2025 Masters preview for @theathletic.bsky.social, here: www.nytimes.com/athletic/626...

Yasir al-Rumayyan, Donald Trump to meet with PGA Tour officials Thursday: Sources Jay Monahan, Tiger Woods and Adam Scott are also expected to attend the meeting at the White House, sources briefed on the plans confirmed.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods are all meeting with Donald Trump in the White House today.

News from @gabbyherzig.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/614...

They built golf’s most raucous party. Now they need everyone to be cool

In 2024, the WM Phoenix Open lost the plot.

Event leadership has made big changes, but they’ve also cultivated a raucous party culture for years.

Can “The People’s Open” really dial things back? www.nytimes.com/athletic/611...