Defending champion Rory McIlroy will be joined at The Masters for the first two rounds by an unlikely playing partner: 18-year-old Mason Howell.
Howell is making waves in amateur golf, having qualified for the 2026 Masters after winning the U.S. Amateur in August 2025, clinching the title with a dominant 7&6 victory over Jackson Herrington in the final at The Olympic Club.
The high school senior – who has yet to play collegiate golf but is committed to joining the Georgia Bulldogs this September – became the third-youngest U.S. Amateur champion in history with that win.
Although full tee times for the season’s first major have not yet been announced, Howell’s pairing with McIlroy is already confirmed. A long-standing Augusta tradition ensures the U.S. Amateur champion is grouped with the reigning Masters winner.
The duo will play together over the opening two rounds at Augusta National Golf Club, beginning Thursday, April 9, and then on Friday, April 10.
And for the 6ft 4in Howell, the chance to play alongside one of his heroes represents a full-circle moment.
Howell is making waves in amateur golf, the 6ft 4in 18-year-old having qualified for the 2026 Masters following his victory at the 2025 U.S. Amateur
Howell’s pairing with McIlroy is already confirmed, thanks to Augusta National’s long-standing tradition of pairing the U.S. Amateur champion with the defending Masters champion
‘I have one of his golf balls sitting in my room right now from the (2016) Tour Championship up in Atlanta,’ Howell told GOLF.
‘I went to watch and he gave me his golf ball on like the 4th hole, and I’ve kept it ever since. He was like my favourite player growing up.
‘Some people say, like, who do they look up to? Like Tiger and people like that. Rory was my guy because he was the best golfer for me growing up.’
As for the round itself, there’s only one thing Howell says he’s thinking about when it comes to playing alongside the world No 2: ‘I’ll be super excited but at the same time I’ll be super nervous. I think just controlling my emotions and sticking to my game plan and just having fun.
‘I can’t ogle at his game too much. I got to focus on myself. It’ll be fun.’
McIlroy, 36, secured his place in history last year courtesy of a play-off birdie over Justin Rose.
The Northern Irishman became just the sixth player in the modern era to achieve the career Grand Slam, alongside golfing legends such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – as well as the first European to achieve the feat.
The 36-year-old’s cathartic fifth major title came 14 years after his breakthrough at the 2011 US Open, and some 3,899 days – and 21 major top-10s – on from his 2014 PGA Championship success.
He has since admitted he ‘didn’t make it easy’ for himself during that dramatic week etched in sporting history – his 17th career appearance at The Masters – where McIlroy came out on top after what he described as a ‘roller-coaster’ Sunday.
