AUGUSTA, Ga. — The 90th playing of the Masters is almost here, and the first-round masters tee times put Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm in the center of the spotlight at Augusta National this week.
McIlroy opens Thursday at 10:31 a.m. with Cameron Young and Mason Howell as he tries to defend the green jacket he won in a playoff last season. Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the field and the betting favorite again, goes at 1:44 p.m. with Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland after spending Sunday at Augusta with his newborn son, Remy, who was born nine days earlier.
DeChambeau, who was in contention for much of last year’s Masters, starts at 10:07 a.m. with Matt Fitzpatrick and Xander Schauffele. Rahm, who has already won on LIV Golf this season after a dry spell on the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit, is in the 1:08 p.m. group with Chris Gotterup and Ludvig Åberg. Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka tee off at 1:20 p.m. in another marquee pairing.
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Augusta’s early schedule keeps the biggest names on a narrow clock. The second round begins Friday at 7:40 a.m. with Samuel Stevens and Sungjae Im, and McIlroy and Scheffler are again on the same side of the draw later in the day, with McIlroy’s group listed at 10:31 and Scheffler’s at 1:44.
The setup adds a familiar tension to a tournament that rarely needs help creating it. Scheffler has not played in several weeks, but his place atop the rankings and in the betting market makes him the player everyone else is chasing. McIlroy arrives with the jacket on his shoulders. DeChambeau arrives with last year’s memories still fresh. Rahm arrives with a win already in hand. By Sunday evening, one of them will leave with the most famous prize in golf.
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The competition starts Wednesday, April 8, with the Par 3 Contest on from 2-4 p.m. Round 1 follows Thursday, April 9, with coverage on Amazon Prime Video from 1-3 p.m. and from 3-7:30 p.m. Round 2 is Friday, April 10, on the same schedule. CBS takes over for the weekend rounds on Saturday, April 11, and Sunday, April 12, after early coverage on Paramount+.
