Masters 2026: 4 early observations from the ground at Augusta National

The golf world is back in Augusta for the 90th Masters. Getty Images AUGUSTA, Ga. — It is the first and most essential fact of golf’s first major: Nothing ever changes at the Masters.

Unless, of course, you’ve been lucky enough to step foot on the ground at Augusta National more than once. It’s around this time you realize that everything changes at the Masters, all the time, from the enormous, white-shuttered structures that rise and fall without a whisper, to the shapes and pigments and angles and contours of the golf course that has hosted the tournament annually for nine decades. Yes, change is the way of the world — and especially so at Augusta National on Masters Monday, the same day the golf world arrives for the first time after 360 some-odd lonely days without it.

And after a 4 a. m. wakeup, 6 a.

m. flight, 2. 5-hour drive and brief changing session in the parking lot, change is what I found on this Masters Monday, a surprisingly mild one from Augusta National.