The Masters of Augusta 2026 is underway in Georgia, and Carlos Ortiz arrived with the same questions he always carries onto the course: where to hit it, how the putts are breaking and how much room there really is for error. The Mexican golfer took part in the Par 3 Contest before the tournament began, using the final stretch before the first round to study a course that does not forgive loose shots.
“La verdad que buenos amigos los tres y es un lujo jugar en un día como este. Todo el tiempo les pregunto de dónde jugar y cómo están en estos putts,” Ortiz said. He added that Augusta National’s greens are “rapidísimos,” and that they may not play quite the same way they once did. “Dicen que está rapidísimo… te pueden decir ‘este putt cae más o cae menos’, pero igual creo que han cambiado los greens,” he said, pointing to changes he has noticed on holes 11, 14 and 16.
That matters at Augusta because the course rewards precision and punishes mistakes from the opening shot, making strategy fundamental, especially on the first holes. Ortiz said his own routine has not changed. “Para mí no ha cambiado nada, me junto con las mismas personas con las que estaba en el PGA Tour… el ambiente es exactamente el mismo,” he said, describing a familiar rhythm even in one of golf’s most exacting settings.
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He is now in the same pre-tournament atmosphere as Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, who returned to Georgia carrying the green jacket. McIlroy said, “No puedo creerlo… poder regresar con el saco verde se siente muy bien. Es un sueño hecho realidad.” At Augusta, where every slope and speed change can alter a round, the players who read the week best are likely to separate quickly from those still guessing.
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For Ortiz, the first challenge is not temperament or form. It is figuring out how much Augusta National has shifted under his feet, and whether the old answers still work when the greens are this fast.
