For the 82nd time, the Masters Tournament gets underway this week at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, and it promises to be one of the most-thrilling Masters in recent memory. The season’s first major always provides excitement, but this year feels different, featuring a field stacked with superstars, one of them being the legendary Tiger Woods, who will make his first start at Augusta since 2015.
Woods, who became one of the tournament favorites thanks to his promising start to 2018, can add a fifth green jacket to his collection with a win this week, making him just one of two players to win more than four and putting him one away from Jack Nicklaus’ total of six. Many like his chances not just because of his play so far during his comeback, but because of his history at Augusta, where he’s played 20 times in his career, missing just one cut and finishing T-8 or better 13 times. As always, all eyes will be on the 14-time major champion.
To win, Woods will have to beat one of the strongest, albeit smallest, Masters fields in his career at Augusta, one that includes Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm. And that’s before even mentioning a few past champions like Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth, all of whom are coming into the week in fine form.
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TV Coverage
The first and second rounds of the Masters will be broadcast live on ESPN Thursday and Friday beginning at 3 p.m. ET. CBS will carry live coverage on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. and on Sunday at 2 p.m. Masters.com will also provide live coverage throughout the week, including featured group coverage as well as coverage of Amen Corner and the 15th and 16th holes.
For the first time, AT&T/DIRECTV customers will be able to watch the Masters in stunning 4K High Dynamic Range (HDR). This will include live coverage of Amen Corner from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET on Thursday and Friday on DIRECTV channel 105 and holes 15 and 16 from 11 a.m. to 6:45 p.m ET on DIRECTV channel 106. On the weekend, Amen Corner coverage will begin at 12 p.m. and coverage of holes 15 and 16 at 12:45 p.m.
Leader board
Follow all the action from Augusta on the Golf Digest Masters leader board.
Thursday Tee Times
8:30 a.m. — Austin Cook, Ted Potter, Jr., Wesley Bryan
8:41 a.m. — Ian Woosnam, Ryan Moore, Jhonattan Vegas
8:52 a.m. — Mike Weir, Brendan Steele, Matt Parziale (a)
9:03 a.m. — Jose Maria Olazabal, Kevin Chappell, Dylan Frittelli
9:14 a.m. — Bryson DeChambeau, Bernd Wiesberger, Matthew Fitzpatrick
9:25 a.m. — Mark O’Meara, Brian Harman, Harry Ellis (a)
9:36 a.m. — Vijay Singh, Satoshi Kodaira, Daniel Berger
9:47 a.m. — Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Pat Perez, Francesco Molinari
9:58 a.m. — Danny Willett, Kyle Stanley, Jason Dufner
10:09 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Patton Kizzire, Paul Casey
10:31 a.m. — Zach Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Branden Grace
10:42 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood
10:53 a.m. — Sergio Garcia, Justin Thomas, Doc Redman (a)
11:04 a.m. — Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Jason Day
11:15 a.m. — Patrick Reed, Charley Hoffman, Adam Hadwin
11:26 a.m. — Billy Horschel, Chez Reavie, Cameron Smith
11:37 a.m. — Sandy Lyle, Si Woo Kim, Doug Ghim (a)
11:48 a.m. — Trevor Immelman, Ian Poulter, Patrick Cantlay
11:59 a.m. — Angel Cabrera, Ross Fisher, Jimmy Walker
12:10 p.m. — Fred Couples, Haotong Li, Joaquin Niemann (a)
12:32 p.m. — Larry Mize, Russell Henley, Shubhankar Sharma
12:43 p.m. — Bernhard Langer, Tony Finau, Yuta Ikeda
12:54 p.m. — Charl Schwartzel, Webb Simpson, Yuxin Lin (a)
1:05 p.m. — Kevin Kisner, Thomas Pieters, Xander Schauffele
1:16 p.m. — Gary Woodland, Yusaku Miyazato, Tyrrell Hatton
1:27 p.m. — Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar
1:38 p.m. — Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm
1:49 p.m. — Jordan Spieth, Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen
2:00 p.m. — Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson, Rafa Cabrera Bello
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