The 2023 Masters Tournament is set to begin with Kevin Na and 2003 champion Mike Weir teeing off first in Thursday's opening round at the famed Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.
Before play in the 87th Masters officially gets underway, the traditional opening ceremony will have honorary starters Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson hitting drives off the first tee.
Five-time champion Tiger Woods, last year's winner Scottie Scheffler and three-time champ Phil Mickelson are among the stars in the field, which includes both PGA Tour and LIV golfers.
Follow along for the latest action, leaderboard updates, highlights and more.
LIVE LEADERBOARD: 2023 Masters updates
Live Leaderboard: Latest Masters Tournament Scores, Schedules, Pairings and more
TEE TIMES: Pairings for Thursday's first round
What time does Tiger Woods tee off on Thursday?
Tiger Woods tees off at 10:18 a.m. ET in Thursday's first round. He's paired with Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland.
Playing in his 25th Masters, Woods is looking to win his sixth green jacket, which would tie Jack Nicklaus for the most wins in Masters history.
How to watch Tiger Woods in first round of 2023 Masters
Fans will be able to watch Tiger Woods entire round on ESPN+ as coverage will follow his featured group. ESPN will broadcast live 2023 Masters Tournament coverage at 3:00 p.m. ET.
The 2023 Masters can also be streamed on the ESPN app, Masters.com and fuboTV.
How many times has Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament?
Tiger Woods has won the Masters Tournament five times. His last victory came in 2019 as he captured his 15th major golf championship.
TV schedule for 2023 Masters
The first and second rounds of the 2023 Masters will be broadcast on ESPN. The main coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET.
This weekend, the 2023 Masters coverage will shift to CBS. The coverage will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday and the final round will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Round 1 hole locations at the 2023 Masters
The 2023 Masters will feature the best golfers around the world. Here is a look at the first-round hole locations.
Amateurs in 2023 Masters
There are seven amateur golfers in the 2023 Masters field. The group includes Sam Bennett, Ben Carr, Harrison Crowe, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Matthew McClean, Aldrich Potgieter and Gordon Sargent.
Amateur golfer Matthew McClean takes early lead
Scoring has started at the 2023 Masters Tournament. In the first wave of players on the course, amateur golfer Matthew McClean has an early lead. He is the lone player to be in red numbers so far.
McClean birdied the first hole on the course. It's still early but a pretty cool accomplishment for the amateur golfer at Augusta National.
Fun Fact: McClean is a 29-year-old optometrist. He will earned a spot in the Masters by winning the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur Tournament.
Kevin Na, Mike Weir find fairway to begin 2023 Masters
LIV golfer Kevin Na and 2003 champion Mike Weir launched their drives down the first fairway at Augusta National, signaling the official start of the 87th Masters.
Na is one of 18 players from the polarizing Saudi Arabia-backed golf league participating in the event, which is almost certain to make this “a tournament unlike any other.”
-- Associated Press
REACTIONS: Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player enjoy emotional start
The start of the four-day event came after honorary starters and longtime fan favorites Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson thrilled the crowd with their traditional tee shots on hole No. 1.
Player was greeted on the tee with a smile by Masters Chairman Fred Ridley a week after the tournament’s first international champion told the Times of London he did not feel welcome at Augusta National.
Player said he had to "beg a member to play with us" when he wanted to play a round with family members, and that "if it wasn’t for the players, it would be just another golf course in Georgia."
Nicklaus, who walked with a noticeable limp, joked with the crowd before bending over to put his tee in the ground saying. “that’s the hardest part.”
Headliners in this year’s tournament are scheduled to tee off later today.
-- Associated Press
LIVE at the Masters: Jack Nicklaus hits ceremonial tee shot
The 2023 Masters has officially begun as golf legend Jack Nicklaus hits the ceremonial first tee shot. Nicklaus has won the Masters six times and has the most Major championships in the sport.
Nicklaus is joined by honorary golfers Tom Watson and Gary Player as they open the competition for the 2023 Masters.
Masters featured morning groups, tee times and pairings
The 2023 Masters will begin with a pair of top groups looking to win the illustrious green jacket. After the twosome of Kevin Na and Mike Weir gets things started, players will be going out in groups of three through 2:00 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Patrick Reed draws an early 9:24 a.m. ET start. He is in a pairing with Adam Svensson and Sahith Theegala. Meanwhile, two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson will tee off at 9:49 a.m. ET.
Scottie Sheffler will begin defense of his 2022 Masters title at 1:36 p.m. ET.
Here's the complete list of tee times for Thursday's opening round.
European tour wins case with LIV Golf after panel ruling
LONDON – The European tour was within its rights to sanction members who competed on the Saudi-funded LIV Golf without permission, an independent tribunal ruled on Thursday.
An appeal panel at Sports Resolutions found that a number of players, including Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood, committed “serious breaches” of the European tour’s code of behavior by playing in LIV Golf events last year despite requests to be released having been refused.
The ruling allows the European tour to impose fines of 100,000 pounds ($125,000) on players who competed, and will compete, in the rival league without a conflicting events release.
Keith Pelley, the European tour chief executive, welcomed the tribunal’s decision.
"We are delighted that the panel recognized we have a responsibility to our full membership to do this and also determined that the process we followed was fair and proportionate," Pelley said.
"In deciding the level of these sanctions last June, we were simply administering the regulations which were created by our members and which each of them signed up to."
It was the first court decision since LIV Golf began in June, and will likely mean Westwood, Poulter, Sergio Garcia and others are likely to resign their European tour membership.
-- Associated Press
Masters weather forecast
Augusta National can be one of the trickiest golf courses for the best players in the world, but that difficulty reaches a new level when the weather fails to cooperate.
In the case of rain or unseasonably cool weather in Augusta, Georgia, players participating in the Masters are forced to make adjustments.
The overall forecast for the 2023 Masters features chances of thunderstorms, rain showers and cool temperatures. Thursday is expected to be mostly cloudy during the first round with a slight chance of rain in the morning and afternoon hours. There's a chance of isolated thunderstorms in the evening hours.
— Richard Morin
Is this Tiger Woods' final Masters?
Woods acknowledged on Tuesday the 2023 tournament could be his last at Augusta. He made the cut and finished 47th in 2022 in his first Masters appearance since suffering severe injuries in a 2021 car crash.
"Last year was kind of ... didn't know if I was going to play again at that time," Woods told reporters. "For some reason, everything kind of came together and I made the cut, which was nice. But I don't know how many more I have in me. Just being able to enjoy my time here and the memories."
— Richard Morin
Can LIV golfers play in the Masters?
Yes, they can. The PGA Tour considers the Masters an official event, but the field is determined by the Augusta National Golf Club and is by invitation only.
There are 18 LIV golfers in the 2023 Masters field, six of whom have previously won a Green Jacket:
- Phil Mickelson (2004, 2006, 2010 Masters champion)
- Bubba Watson (2012, 2014 champ)
- Dustin Johnson (2020 champ)
- Patrick Reed (2018 champ)
- Sergio Garcia (2017 champ)
- Charl Schwartzel (2011 champ)
- Brooks Koepka
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Cameron Smith
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Mito Peirera
- Joaquin Niemann
- Kevin Na
- Abraham Ancer
- Thomas Pieters
- Harold Varner III
- Jason Kokrak
- Talor Gooch
Masters officials are giving into Saudis' sportswashing scheme
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Augusta National Golf Club was very pleased to display a photo of its Masters Champions Dinner Tuesday night on social media for all the world to see. Thirty-four men in green jackets, decades worth of Masters champions surrounding club chairman Fred Ridley, all of them smiling for the camera enjoying a celebration of the most famous brotherhood in golf.
You know who else was especially thrilled to see that photo spreading across the globe?
Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, the mastermind of the killing and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, as well as his golf-bro buddies in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the nation responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States nearly 22 years ago and the abysmal human rights violations against women and the LGBTQ community in particular to this day.
— Christine Brennan
How can I watch the Masters on TV?
ESPN will provide live coverage of the first two rounds of the Masters on Thursday and Friday from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m . ET.
CBS will take over coverage of the third and fourth rounds on Saturday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.
How can I stream the 2023 Masters online?
All network coverage of the Masters can be streamed online at Masters.com.
ESPN broadcasts can be streamed live on ESPN.com and on the Watch ESPN app.
CBS broadcasts can be streamed on CBSSports.com and Paramount +.
Masters.com and the Masters app will also stream a Featured Groups channel. Thursday's Featured Groups will be:
10:18 a.m. ET
- Tiger Woods
- Xander Schauffle
- Viktor Hovland
10:42 a.m. ET
- Justin Thomas
- John Rahm
- Cameron Young
1:36 p.m ET
- Scottie Scheffler
- Max Homa
- Sam Bennett
2:00 p.m. ET
- Jordan Spieth
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Tony Finau
Who are the announcers for this year's Masters telecast?
Once again, Jim Nantz will lead CBS's coverage of the Masters. He will be joined by Trevor Immelman in the 18th hole tower.
Other announcers include: Ian Baker-Finch, Frank Nobilo, Verne Lundquist and Andrew Catalon.
Dottie Pepper is the on-course reporter, while Amanda Renner will be conducting interviews.
On ESPN, Scott Van Pelt and Curtis Strange will be the main hosts.
Ian Baker-Finch, Dottie Pepper, Frank Nobilo, Verne Lundquist and Andrew Catalon will provide analysis.
Michael Eaves will conduct interviews.
