Nick Faldo predicts who is going to win The Masters this year instead of Rory McIlroy

FootballSports
13 Apr 2026 • 1:10 AM MYT
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Image from: Nick Faldo predicts who is going to win The Masters this year instead of Rory McIlroy
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Anything can happen on Masters Sunday, this year more than ever.

It threatened to be a procession when Rory McIlroy took the biggest-ever 36-hole lead in Masters history, but his six-stroke lead evaporated after a third round of 73, and now it’s anyone’s game.

McIlroy enters the final round tied at 11-under with Cameron Young, who shot an incredible 65 to earn a place in the final pairing. Scottie Scheffler also threw his hat in the ring with a 65 of his own.

There are eight players within four shots of each other with 18 holes to play, and three-time Masters winner Sir Nick Faldo picked one of them to beat McIlroy to the Green Jacket this year.

Image from: Nick Faldo predicts who is going to win The Masters this year instead of Rory McIlroy
Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Sir Nick Faldo picks Justin Rose to win The Masters before final round

Faldo, who came back from six strokes down to beat Greg Norman in 1996, picked Justin Rose to win The Masters from three shots behind.

Speaking on Sky Sports, he said, “It’s tough isn’t it? I think Rose might be the most complete if he gets the putter going.

“Coming from three back, it’s freedom. Go and play the front nine, as I say, come up for air, have a look at the leaderboard, and then it gets serious.”

Rose had 10 birdies in the final round last year to force a playoff with McIlroy, but he lost in a playoff hole at Augusta for the second time.

He’s been knocking on the door for two decades, but Faldo thinks that on the 21st time of asking, Rose will finally win his hard-earned Green Jacket.

Dame Laura Davies picks Rory McIlroy to win The Masters

Four-time major winner Dame Laura Davies disagreed with Faldo, saying that she thinks McIlroy will bounce back and win his second straight Masters. But the Northern Irishman isn’t who she wants to win it.

She said on Sky Sports, “I’d love to see Shane win it, but I’ve just got a feeling it might be Rory again.”

Lowry, who aced the sixth hole to become the first player to ace two different holes at The Masters, starts Sunday two shots back from the lead and ready to pounce on errors from his good friend McIlroy and American Young.

It would be his second major win, seven years on from the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Seeing McIlroy put the Green Jacket on his friend would be a fitting end to this incredible tournament.