Russell Henley putts at UGA Tee Off Club’s 2025 Dawg Fight event in Athens, GA on Nov. 14, 2025 (Photo/Will Hearn).
Golf’s most prestigious event is upon us. This year features five former Bulldogs as well as one who has yet to step on campus as a student, Mason Howell. In this article, I’ll be making predictions at which of these Dawgs will perform best at the 2026 Masters.
- Russell Henley
Russell Henley has the second-best Masters finish on the list, behind none other than Bubba Watson. In 2023, Henley had his best finish at the Masters, tied for fourth. He currently sits at 12th on the Official World Golf Ranking, according to the PGA Tour website. Henley tends to play well at Augusta National and has played to his standard thus far this season. He has five top-20 finishes this season in just seven tournaments played. Henley is the betting favorite to win out of the players Georgia has in the event, and with his consistency, he’s expected to have the best performance.
Prediction: -3
- Harris English
Harris English is coming off of his best performance yet in the Masters tournament. Last year, he tied for 12th. At 20th, he sits close behind Russell Henley in the Official World Golf Ranking. English has seven top-30 finishes this season in eight tournaments played. English is currently one of the most consistent players the Bulldogs have in the event. One could even argue he’s played better golf than Henley this season, as he has missed one cut compared to Henley’s two missed cuts. Yet, Henley’s recent performances at Augusta National lead me to believe English will finish in a close second to Henley’s score.
Prediction: -1
- Sepp Straka
Sepp Straka missed the cut last year, but he played his best yet at Augusta at the 2024 Masters. He sits at 13th in the Official World Golf ranking. Straka has made the cut in five of seven tournaments this season. With that, this season, he has four top-20 finishes including a tied-for-second finish at the WM Phoenix Open. I think Straka will finish just behind Henley and English, with the three having relatively similar scores.
Prediction: E
- Brian Harman
Last year, Brian Harman made the cut for the first time in three years. Harman sits at 50th in the Official World Golf ranking. This season, he has two top-20 finishes and has made the cut in six of the eight tournaments he has played in. Harman doesn’t traditionally put up his best performances at the Masters, but he’s flying under the radar as a competitor that has any real chance at winning.
Prediction: +3
- Bubba Watson
The two-time green jacket winner tied for 14th at the Masters leaderboard last year after missing the cut the two years prior. So far this LIV season, Watson has yet to finish higher than tied-28th through five events. His chances of reaching the top may be a long shot. Besides from his 14th-place finish last year, Watson has not been a serious factor at the Masters in a few years.
Prediction: MC
- Mason Howell
18-year-old Mason Howell is getting ready for the biggest stage of his life. Howell committed to Georgia in September of 2024. Since then, he became one of five from Atlanta to qualify for the 2025 U.S. Open, and he won the 2025 U.S. Amateur in August. With this win, he qualified for the Masters, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Howell was quoted on UGA Golf’s Instagram saying, “It’s a long week, but I’m keeping it to nine a day, focusing on myself and then whenever Thursday comes, I know I’ll be pretty nervous but excited at the same time so if I keep a smile on my face, I think the rest will take care of itself.”
Prediction: MC