Everything to know about the 2024 Masters, from tee times to pairings
Professional golf makes its annual visit to Augusta National with this week’s Masters. Here’s a look at the first major of the season, which begins Thursday.
When is the Masters?
The Masters begins Thursday and ends Sunday.
How can I watch or stream the Masters?
TV schedule
Thursday-Friday: Noon-4:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming
ESPN Plus will stream the par-3 contest Wednesday beginning at noon. (It will air on tape delay on ESPN at 3 p.m.) ESPN+, Masters.com, Paramount+, CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app also will have special streaming channels devoted to featured groups and holes beginning at 8:15 a.m. Thursday, 8:30 a.m. Friday, 10:30 a.m. Saturday and 10:20 a.m. Sunday.
Masters.com will stream the main ESPN/CBS broadcasts of each round. ESPN+ also will stream the ESPN broadcast Thursday and Friday. Paramount+ will stream the CBS broadcast Saturday and Sunday.
Who is the defending Masters champion?
Jon Rahm trailed Brooks Koepka by four strokes when rain-delayed play began Sunday last year, but the Spaniard led by two at the turn and cruised to a four-stroke win over Koepka and Phil Mickelson.
What is the size of the Masters field?
The Masters field is smaller than most tournaments on the PGA and European tours, usually numbering between 85 and 100 players. This year, there are 89. There are numerous paths to qualifying for the tournament, among them are the following:
• Former Masters champions receive lifetime invitations. This year, the former champions in the field are Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson, Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Patrick Reed, Sergio García, Danny Willett, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, Zach Johnson, Mike Weir, Vijay Singh, José María Olazábal and Fred Couples.
• Winners of the U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship receive five-year Masters exemptions. Winners of the Players Championship receive three-year exemptions. This year, that qualifies Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, Bryson DeChambeau, Gary Woodland, Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Smith, Brian Harman, Koepka and Justin Thomas.
• Winners of five national amateur competitions in the United States, England, Asia and South America, along with the runner-up from the previous year’s U.S. Amateur, are invited. This year, that brings in Nick Dunlap, Neal Shipley, Christo Lamprecht, Jasper Stubbs, Santiago de la Fuente and Stewart Hagestad. Dunlap has since turned pro.
• The top 12 and ties from the previous year’s Masters, which includes Russell Henley, Cameron Young, Viktor Hovland, Sahith Theegala and Xander Schauffele.
• The top four and ties from the previous year’s U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship, which includes Rory McIlroy, Sepp Straka, Jason Day, Tom Kim, Kurt Kitayama and Cameron Davis.
• Winners of full-field PGA Tour events played since last year’s Masters. That lengthy list includes Tony Finau, Emiliano Grillo, Nick Taylor, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Lee Hodges, Lucas Glover, Luke List, Erik van Rooyen, Camilo Villegas, Ludvig Aberg, Chris Kirk, Grayson Murray, Matthieu Pavon, Jake Knapp, Austin Eckroat, Peter Malnati, Stephan Jaeger and Akshay Bhatia.
• Golfers who qualified for the previous year’s Tour Championship: Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Schenk, Sam Burns, Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton, Si Woo Kim, Sungjae Im, Corey Conners and Taylor Moore.
• Golfers in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking on two dates: as of Dec. 31 of the previous year and as of April 1. LIV golfers have plummeted in those rankings, so the list includes Ryan Fox, Min Woo Lee, Denny McCarthy, Will Zalatoris, Justin Rose, Harris English, Eric Cole, J.T. Poston, Adrian Meronk, Adam Hadwin, Nicolai Hojgaard and Byeong Hun An.
• Golfers who receive special invitations from Augusta National, this year including Thorbjorn Olesen, Ryo Hisatsune and Joaquín Niemann.
What is the weather forecast?
It should be smooth sailing once we get past Thursday, when the forecast calls for morning rain and thunderstorms that should taper off to showers by lunchtime. The wind could be up all day. Friday looks to be sunny but breezy, with wind gusts to 20 mph in the afternoon. The weekend looks divine, with temperatures in the high 70s to low 80s and light winds.
Have there been any course changes at Augusta National?
There has been only one change to Augusta National since the last Masters: Club officials have moved the tee box at the par-5 second hole 10 yards back and to the left, meaning the hole will play at a course-long 588 yards. No. 2 has been Augusta National’s easiest hole in each of the past three Masters and has been the second-easiest hole in the tournament’s history. The change was made presumably to force the golfers to worry more about a bunker along the right side of the fairway on their tee shots.
What is the cut line?
After two rounds, the top 50 and ties advance to play the weekend. This is different from a normal PGA Tour event, at which the top 65 and ties usually advance after two rounds.
What is Amen Corner?
The stretch known as Amen Corner consists of the second half of the par-4 11th hole, the entire par-3 12th hole and the tee shot at the par-5 No. 13. It was given its name by Sports Illustrated writer Herbert Warren Wind in 1958 and eventually became shorthand for the portion of the course where green jackets often are won or lost as the players navigate tricky breezes and Rae’s Creek, which comes into play on all three holes.
“Everyone called it ‘the Corner,’ like I’ll see you at ‘the corner,’ ” Wind told the New York Times in 1993. “So I was trying to think of something like the hot corner in baseball or the coffin corner in football.”
The “amen” portion came from “Shoutin’ in That Amen Corner,” a jazz song Wind liked from the 1930s.
Is Tiger Woods playing in the Masters?
Woods will return to Augusta National for the 26th time. The five-time green jacket winner has played sporadically since his 2021 car crash and has withdrawn from the past two full-field tournaments he has played, one of them last year’s Masters, but he will tee it up again this week. Woods has made 23 consecutive cuts at Augusta National, which is tied with Gary Player and Couples for the longest streak in Masters history.
Are LIV golfers playing in the Masters?
There will be 13 LIV golfers in the Masters field. Seven of them (García, Mickelson, Johnson, Watson, Reed, Schwartzel and Rahm) are former Masters champions and receive lifetime invitations. Three more (DeChambeau, Smith and Koepka) got in because of recent wins at major championships. Two others (Hatton and Meronk) were ranked in the top 50 at the end of last year. Augusta National extended Niemann a special invitation to play in this year’s Masters.
What does the Masters winner receive?
Along with a lifetime invitation to play in the Masters, the winner receives the green jacket, which he keeps for one year before returning it to be stored at Augusta National for his use when on club grounds; nearly $3 million; a replica of the Masters champions trophy that permanently resides at Augusta National; and a gold medal.
Who are the favorites to win the Masters?
Scheffler is the overwhelming favorite to win the Masters at DraftKings Sportsbook, at +450 odds (a successful $100 bet returns $450 in profit). McIlroy (+1100), Rahm (+1100), Schauffele (+1400), Koepka (+1800) and Matsuyama (+2000) round out the top of the odds board. Here are our best bets to win the tournament.