2025 Masters: 3 Dark Horses who could surprise the world and win the Green Jacket

You never know who could emerge victorious at The Masters.

Within the last 20 years, Patrick Reed, Danny Willett, Charl Schwartzel, Trevor Immelman, and Zach Johnson are all names that arrived under the radar and won the Green Jacket.

Who are three players that could join this list?

Find out below.

Since Mike Weir became the first lefty to win The Masters in 2003, fellow southpaws Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson have won five combined Green Jackets since.

Could Robert MacIntyre join them?

The Scotsman absolutely can. Outside of a missed cut at the Genesis Invitational, in which he received a poor draw with the weather, MacIntyre has finished T-6, T-11, and solo ninth over his last four starts dating back to the WM Phoenix Open. MacIntyre is fifth on the PGA Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green this year. But the biggest blemish with him is his putter. The flat stick has let him down so far in 2025, but that could all change if he could find something with it this week. MacIntyre will join Sandy Lyle as the only Scots to win at Augusta if he does.

The Australians seem to always play at Augusta National, a course with plenty of features resembling the famous Sandbelt region in and around greater Melbourne. Granted, Adam Scott is the only one from the Land Down Under who has slipped into a Green Jacket, but that does not take away from the fact that The Masters Leaderboard has featured the Australian flag plenty of times over the years.

Jason Day is one of those players, as the 2015 PGA Championship winner has four top-10 finishes at The Masters.

Like many others who have succeeded on this golf course, Day has long been heralded as a terrific ball striker. He typically finishes among the top 10 when his irons are dialed in. His last top-10 at Augusta came in 2019, when he tied for fifth. But this season, Day has not yet missed a cut. He also has two top-10s and most recently tied for 27th at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, where he shot three sub-70 rounds to finish at 9-under. His putter was inconsistent that week, but like anyone else, if the flat stick catches fire, watch out for Day.

After his T-3 finish at the Valero Texas Open, Maverick McNealy has entered the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) for the first time in his career. He has played marvelous golf for the past year, which includes his first PGA Tour career victory at the RSM Classic in November.

That win earned him a trip to Augusta National, where he is making his Masters debut this week. Although only one rookie has ever won The Masters in their first start — Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 — McNealy has what it takes to join him in the history books. He is a solid iron player and is a tremendous putter, a pair of attributes that often lead to success on this golf course. He has four top-10 finishes already this season, too.

And considering the value of McNealy this week, you have nothing to lose by taking a flyer on the former Stanford Cardinal.