Viktor Hovland just compared himself to Eminem – and other magic moments from Tuesday at The Masters

Tuesday at Augusta might be “just” a practice day, but it always delivers on the vibes. And 2025 was no different. Between Hovland channeling Eminem, Rory getting poetic about heartbreak, and Bryson comparing major wins to hitting a shot over his house, it was a goldmine for storylines. Here’s a quick dive into the best moments that stood out to me.

Tuesday may only see range sessions and practice rounds at Augusta, but that leaves plenty of time for interviews that never fail to deliver some gems – and Tuesday at the 2025 Masters was no exception.

From Eminem metaphors to heartache, world rankings to YouTube swings – it feels like every player has something to prove or share this week.

Tee times announced

The Masters is like Christmas for golf fans – even without Tiger adding red to the verdant green of Augusta this year. If Monday of Masters week feels like the last day of school before the holidays (and it absolutely does), then the tee time announcement for rounds one and two is the moment your parents (sorry, Santa) sneak the presents under the tree. It’s the switch-flip moment. The anticipation spikes, the countdown feels real, and you suddenly know exactly when and where to find the stars.

This year’s draw doesn’t disappoint. You can see the full list of Thursday and Friday tee times here, but these are some of the standout opening-day groups:

• 9:36am: Robert MacIntyre (Scotland), Billy Horschel, Nick Dunlap
• 9:47am: Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Min Woo Lee (Australia)
• 10:15am: Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, *Jose Luis Ballester (Spain)
• 10:26am: Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim (Korea), Tyrrell Hatton (England)
• 12:50pm: Brooks Koepka, Russell Henley, Sungjae Im (Korea)
• 1:01pm: Adam Scott (Australia), Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland (Norway)
• 1:12pm: Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland), Ludvig Aberg (Sweden), Akshay Bhatia
• 1:23pm: Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry (Ireland)
• 1:34pm: Jon Rahm (Spain), Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood (England)

Viktor Hovland compared himself to Eminem in 8 Mile and I’m 100% here for it

The Norwegian has struggled for form in recent years and was asked whether it might help him to be less open about his swing changes, coaching shakeups, and the general grind of trying to rediscover his best golf.

“That’s a great question. It probably would benefit me to shut my mouth a little bit more. But I don’t know, I don’t mind being honest. I think if you hold it in, it almost becomes… the fear almost becomes bigger. When you speak the truth, you kind of desensitize it in a way.

“Maybe it’s not the best analogy, but if you’ve seen 8 Mile with Eminem, it’s like before his final rap battle, he kind of disses himself. It’s like: Here I am, what else you got on me?

“I don’t know. I think it kind of puts it out there so you can just focus on the things that I need to focus on – just get back to work and get a little bit better. Yeah. I don’t know what else to say.”

I love the honesty, and the 8 Mile reference from a man who was five years old when that film came out. Hovland might be fighting his way back, but he’s doing it with clarity and now maybe a little swagger, too – probably fuelled by his mom’s spaghetti.

Rory McIlroy is keeping his head down

Every Masters week starts with the same question: Is this Rory’s year? Can he finally complete the career Grand Slam, or is there just too much scar tissue from years of near misses?

McIlroy, 35, isn’t buying into the noise.

“No. It’s just narratives. It’s noise. It’s just trying to block out that noise as much as possible. I need to treat this tournament like all the other tournaments that I play throughout the year.

“Look, I understand the narrative and the noise, and there’s a lot of anticipation and buildup coming into this tournament each and every year, but I just have to keep my head down and focus on my job.”

… but his heart open

Last month, after winning The Players, Rory talked about how important it is to be willing to fail. To put it all on the line, even when you know it might end in heartbreak. That same theme came up again at Augusta:

“I think it’s a self-preservation mechanism. You’re just trying to not put 100 percent of yourself out there because of that.

“It happens in all walks of life. At a certain point, someone doesn’t want to fall in love because they don’t want to get their heart broken. As human beings, we hold back sometimes because of the fear of getting hurt – whether that’s a conscious decision or subconscious – and I think I was doing that on the golf course a little bit for a few years.

“But I think once you go through that – those heartbreaks, as I call them – you get to a place where you remember how it feels and you wake up the next day and you’re like, ‘Yeah, life goes on. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be’.

“It’s going through those times, especially recently, where I’ve had chances to win some of the biggest tournaments in the world and it hasn’t quite happened. But life moves on. You dust yourself off and go again.

“I think that’s why I’ve become a little more comfortable in laying everything out there and being somewhat vulnerable at times.”

Jon Rahm still sees himself as a top-10 player – rankings be damned

The Spaniard has tumbled from world number three to 80th since joining LIV, thanks to a mix of no ranking points on golf’s breakaway tour and a forgettable run in last year’s majors (including missing the PGA cut and skipping the US Open with injury).

Still, don’t expect a crisis of confidence.

“Where am I in the world rankings at this point? Am I out of the top 100 yet?” he asked.

Told he’s still in the top 100, Rahm didn’t hesitate.

“A couple weeks to go and I’ll be gone. I mean, I’m not going to say exactly a number, but I would still undoubtedly consider myself a top-10 player in the world. But it’s hard to tell nowadays.”

Collin Morikawa stands by his ‘I don’t owe the media anything’ comments

After The Players, Morikawa raised eyebrows with his comments about media coverage and criticism. Some accused him of being oversensitive. He’s not backing down.

“I was not upset by it,” he said. “I think everyone took it in a wrong direction.

“I could have said it differently, but I stand by what I said. I was in the moment. We talk about giving people space to be who they are, and at that time, it was for me to be who I was – and I didn’t want to be around anyone. I didn’t even want to be around my wife. I said hi to her after, we hugged, and I just went straight to the locker room.

“There needs to be a balance. I do want to be here for you guys. But here’s the thing: I’ve been in the top 5 in the world before, and people don’t come up to me and ask me questions. You can’t just ask me when I’m playing well. You guys should be asking the top 10 players every single week, every single day, and just document it. Then you get a sense of who we are and you get a flow of how that comes to be.

“If you want to tell our stories properly, follow us consistently – not just when we’re hot. If you don’t want to ask me, fine – it’s not my job to go out and tell you my story. Sometimes it is, sure, but that also comes through social media or by winning tournaments.”

If he ends up in a Green Jacket on Sunday, something tells me he won’t mind answering a few questions.

Is Bryson DeChambeau’s YouTube career a distraction?

“I think there are times I’ve gotten a little overzealous and been like, ‘Wow, I need to focus on my game a little bit’,” said the man with two US Open trophies and 1.81 million YouTube subscribers.

“Sometimes the content I create actually helps me focus for the next week. Sometimes the content helps me focus for the next week. For example, a course record series – it gets me in that mindset of, ‘Hey, I’ve got to absolutely play my best golf to break the course record’.

“But I’ve built my content creation around how I get better.

“Early on, it was difficult. I didn’t know what to do. I was like, ‘What am I doing to create, what am I going to do, how does it relate to golf?’ But over time, I’ve become more efficient with my team. We’ll still do the quirky stuff – Amazon sets, Wal-Mart sets – but I know when to lock in now.

“And I love it. I won’t stop. I’ll continue to do it because I think it’s hopefully inspiring for people. That’s all I care about.”

One thing I didn’t have on my Masters bingo card for this week was DeChambeau describing hitting a hole-in-one over his house as 90 percent as cool as winning a major, but here we are:

“When I hit the ball over my house and made the hole-in-one, I was definitely excited. I had the adrenaline running through my body, chills in my body because we just knew it was going to be a cool piece of content.

“Not as cool as winning a major championship, but it’s up there. I’d say it’s 90 percent there.”

… and he’s still searching for a driver that makes Augusta a par 67 for him

The 31-year-old equipment obsessive was seen testing a fleet of drivers on the range, marking them with red Sharpie as he went.

“It’s just trying to get that dialed-in head – that perfect head,” he explained. “We’ve been working on some equipment stuff, and we’re super close.

“But for my speeds, everything has to be so precisely measured. It’s tough. The manufacturing process is not easy. I’m testing different heads to see how it reacts, how it feels in my hands. I’m swinging it really good right now – just trying to find the most precise setup for this week.”

Asked what the red Sharpie markings meant, Bryson explained:

“Just notes – that one spins too much, or it misses left, or it’s hanging out to the right, so I can identify this one probably has too much CG here or whatnot.

“Just trying to find the driver that felt like the one I shot 58 with at Greenbrier. If that driver, that would be great. But I don’t want to use it because I don’t want to change the face curvature and change the dynamics. I want to have that head just as it is. I don’t want it to change.”

Can anything stop Scottie? Maybe an azalea

Defending champ Scheffler looked relaxed on Tuesday despite battling a bit of Augusta’s infamous pollen. When asked if he was under the weather, he shrugged it off with a grin:

“Yeah, this rain and pollen out here. I get out of my car in the morning, my eyes start watering. It’s a little bit worse than normal years. But I feel good.”

When asked if he was 100 percent fit, the world number one offered a line that could be golf’s version of Rocky Balboa’s famous ‘It ain’t how hard you hit’ speech:

“Yeah, I’m feeling good, ready to roll. Sniffles aren’t going to stop me.”

• Hear more from Scheffler ahead of his Masters defense here.

Jason Day’s Malbon drip got the Masters memo

Day was one of the most talked-about looks at Augusta last year, rocking bold Malbon scripting that had Augusta traditionalists doing double takes. This time around, it sounds like the fashion police – or someone in the approval chain – suggested he tone it down.

“We kind of did [have outfits planned], but we kind of cut everything in half. With what we’re supposed to wear they said that’s a little bit much, but that’s okay.”

Apparently, he’s now red-flagged and has to have his outfits approved like a teenager whose dad says “You’re not wearing that!” to the school disco.

“I think I’m on the short list of guys that have to send their scripting in now. I get it. It was a little bit much on Thursday, so just a shirt and not the pants.”

Still, no hard feelings from Day, who’s embracing the balance between fashion and tradition:

“We’re here to play the tournament and I understand. We’ll do what we can with what we have fashion-wise and enjoy playing the tournament.”

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