Masters 2026: Meet the amateurs playing at Augusta, including the high schooler set for his ‘full-circle’ moment with Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy once gave a young Mason Howell a golf ball at the Tour Championship. Now the 18-year-old U. S.
Amateur champion will be playing in the same pairing with Rory at Augusta
AUGUSTA, Ga. — It’s a cliché to say any amateur competing in the Masters is living out a dream. It’s also quite true.
For reigning U. S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, the chance to play in the same pairing as reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy makes the experience even more surreal.
His favorite player growing up was McIlroy, ever since Rory gave him a golf ball at the 2013 Tour Championship when Howell was only 6. “I went to watch and he gave me his golf ball on like the fourth hole, and I’ve kept it ever since, so it’ll be kind of a full-circle moment,” Howell said on a recent podcast. “Some people say, like, who do they look up to?
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