Masters live coverage today: TV, tee times and 2023 top storylines for Round 1

It’s finally tournament time.

The 87th Masters begins Thursday with the first round of play here at Augusta National. And while rain in the forecast may sully some of the mood come this weekend, there’s plenty to be excited about at the first golf major of the year.

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2023 Masters:

Masters TV schedule

First round, Thursday, April 6 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Second round, Friday, April 7 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Third round, Saturday, April 8 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (CBS)

Fourth round, Sunday, April 9 ... 3-7:30 p.m. (CBS)

Live stream online

You can stream the tournament daily at Masters.com, starting with the honorary starters at 7:45 a.m. Thursday and continuing through the day and through the weekend. The Masters site includes streaming views of featured groups, Amen Corner and more.

The Masters will be available for streaming on ESPN+ as well as Paramount Plus.

Scores

Click here for a full Masters leaderboard from Thursday’s first-round action.

Scheffler and McIlroy among favorites

Any discussion of this year’s Masters tournament has to start with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.

Scheffler is seeking to become the first back-to-back champ at Augusta since Tiger Woods in 2000 and 2001. The sweet-singing Texan has held steady among the best player’s in the game since his incredible form at the 2022 Masters and enters this week ranked No. 1 in the official World Golf Rankings. Scheffler already has wins at the Waste Management Open and The Players Championship. He’ll almost assuredly be in the mix this week.

McIlroy, too, returns to Augusta after his own dramatic ending to the 2022 tournament, finishing solo second after an iconic chip-in birdie on 18. One of the favorites to win this week along with Scheffler and Jon Rahm, the Northern Irishman oozed confidence in his pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday. The green jacket is the only major missing from his trophy case. A title this week and McIlroy could become just the sixth player to complete the career grand slam (Gene Sarazan, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Woods).

Beyond the actual tournament, there’s a brewing battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf that’s set to play out at Augusta National. There are 18 players from the LIV tour in this week’s field, including 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith and 2020 Masters winner Dustin Johnson.

The LIV players have caught major flak for their departures from the PGA to the Saudi-backed renegade league in chase of no-cut tournaments and massive paydays. There will be pressure on the LIV guys to perform. If they don’t, expect there to be plenty more detractors for their “get paid more to play less often” model.

Featured Groups

10:18 a.m. — Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Tiger Woods

Woods is back at Augusta National ready to compete on his surgically repaired leg that he nearly lost in a major car accident in April 2022. The five-time Masters winner was introspective on Tuesday during his press conference, conceding he wasn’t sure how many more times he’ll tee it up competitively at Augusta. Making the cut would be a huge coup for one of golf’s all-time best.

10:42 a.m. — Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young

Rahm, like Scheffler and McIlroy, should be one of the three or four best players in the field this week. He’s only won one major (2021 U.S. Open) but has been near the top of just about every other prominent leaderboard the last five years.

Thomas and Young also bring their share of star power to this group. Thomas won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills last year in wild fashion, while Young nearly took home the Open Championship title in 2022. Thomas hasn’t finished worse than T22 at the Masters since his first go at Augusta in 2016.

1:36 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett

Scheffler, for all the reasons listed above, should and will be the favorite this week. He’s cemented himself as the best player in the world right now, and a return to Augusta has him thinking about a second green jacket.

Homa, too, has quickly climbed to one of the top players on tour the last two years and has finished 25th or better in 10 of his last 11 tournaments — including a win at the Farmers Insurance Open and six top 10s.

2 p.m. — Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau

Spieth has had plenty of success at Augusta, winning the green jacket in 2015 and finishing in the top three on four other occasions. The ex-Texas Longhorn missed the cut at the Masters last year for the first time in his career. Expect him to be in the mix after a down effort in 2022.

Finau hasn’t quite had his major breakthrough, but he’s been one of the more talented players on tour for a while now. He’s got three top 10s in his five Masters appearances, and there’s a feeling he could be in contention at Augusta this year.

Augusta weather forecast

According to National Weather Service

• Thursday: Mostly cloudy, high near 86.
  
  

• Friday: Showers likely (70%). Mostly cloudy, high near 73.

• Saturday: High near 53. Chance of precipitation 100%.

• Sunday: Rain likely (50%). Mostly cloudy, high near 59.

Amateurs

The seven amateurs in the 2023 field are Sam Bennett (United States); Ben Carr (United States); Harrison Crowe (Australia); Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Argentina); Matthew McClean (Northern Ireland); Aldrich Potgieter (South Africa); and Gordon Sargent (United States).

Three of the amateurs play college golf in the SEC. Sargent, 19, attends Vanderbilt. Bennett, 22, is at Texas A&M. Fernandez de Oliveira, 23, is at Arkansas. (Carr, also 22, attends Georgia Southern.)

Tee Times (Thursday/Friday)

7:40 a.m.: Gary Player (Honorary Starter), Jack Nicklaus (Honorary Starter), Tom Watson (Honorary Starter)

8:00 a.m./11:06 a.m. Mike Weir (Canada), Kevin Na

8:12 a.m./11:18 a.m. Vijay Singh (Fiji), Scott Stallings, *Matthew McClean (N. Ireland)

8:24 a.m./11:30 a.m. Sandy Lyle (Scotland), Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch

8:36 a.m./11:42 a.m. Fred Couples, Russell Henley, Alex Noren (Sweden)

8:48 a.m./11:54 a.m. Adrian Meronk (Poland), Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa)

9:00 a.m./12:12 p.m. Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee (Australia), *Harrison Crowe (Australia)

9:12 a.m./12:24 p.m. Sergio Garcia (Spain), Kazuki Higa (Japan), Keith Mitchell

9:24 a.m./12:36 p.m. Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson (Canada), Sahith Theegala

9:36 a.m./12:48 p.m. Shane Lowry (Ireland), Mackenzie Hughes (Canada), Thomas Pieters (Belgium)

9:48 a.m./1:00 p.m. Bubba Watson, Seamus Power (Ireland), *Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Argentina)

10:06 a.m./1:12 p.m. Abraham Ancer (Mexico), Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley

10:18 a.m./1:24 p.m. Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland (Norway), Xander Schauffele

10:30 a.m./1:36 p.m. Adam Scott (Australia), Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama

10:42 a.m./1:48 p.m. Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm (Spain), Cameron Young

10:54 a.m./2:00 p.m. Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Cameron Smith (Australia), Sungjae Im (Korea)

11:06 a.m./8:00 a.m. Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Cameron Champ

11:18 a.m./8:12 a.m. Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Taylor Moore, *Aldrich Potgieter (South Africa)

11:30 a.m./8:24 a.m. J. T. Poston, Francesco Molinari (Italy), Bryson DeChambeau

11:42 a.m./8:36 a.m. Bernhard Langer (Germany), Mito Pereira (Chile), *Ben Carr

11:54 a.m./8:48 a.m. Danny Willett (England), Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka

12:12 p.m./9:00 a.m. Sepp Straka (Austria), Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Korea)

12:24 p.m./9:12 a.m. Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim (Korea)

12:36 p.m./9:24 a.m. Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox (New Zealand)

12:48 p.m./9:36 a.m. Zach Johnson, Jason Day (Australia), *Gordon Sargent

1:00 p.m./9:48 a.m. Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann (Chile), Tyrrell Hatton (England)

1:12 p.m./10:06 a.m. Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners (Canada), Justin Rose (England)

1:24 p.m./10:18 a.m. Matthew Fitzpatrick (England), Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris

1:36 p.m./10:30 a.m. Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, *Sam Bennett

1:48 p.m./10:42 a.m. Tom Kim (Korea), Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland), Sam Burns

2:00 p.m./10:54 a.m. Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood (England), Tony Finau

* Denotes amateur