Masters 2024 preview: Full schedule and how to watch golf major action live
The 88th Masters Tournament gets underway at Georgia’s Augusta National on Thursday (11 April) with Jon Rahm defending his Green Jacket.
Much of the build-up to the first men’s golf major of 2024 has revolved around the Spaniard who signed a multi-million dollar deal in December to leave the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
Last June, the rival tours had announced plans for a merger. But negotiations remain ongoing with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monaghan admitting last month that a deal would take time.
Rahm has joined fellow major winners Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith in the three-day team format although LIV results are still not recognised in the Official Golf World Rankings.
And the former world number one, who played a key role in Europe’s triumph at last October’s Ryder Cup in Rome, risks losing his DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) card which would make him ineligible for the next edition in September 2025.
One of the traditions of Masters week is that the defending champion chooses a menu for the Champions Dinner on the Tuesday. With the help of world-famous chef and humanitarian Jose Andres, Rahm is serving up a veritable Basque feast including his own grandmother’s ‘Classic Lentil Stew’.
Augusta will be the first time Rahm has teed it up alongside his former PGA Tour colleagues this year. Since his departure, Scottie Scheffler has consolidated his position at the top of the world rankings with seven top-10 finishes including back-to-back wins in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the PLAYERS Championship.
Scheffler, who won the Masters in 2022, became the first golfer to retain the PLAYERS Championship title after a final round 64 saw him overturn a five-stroke deficit to reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.
Amen Corner, the infamous stretch of Augusta’s back nine from the 11th to the 13th, has been key to the destination of the Masters title in the past.
The 13th, known as 'Azalea', was lengthened ahead of last year's tournament and became the toughest of the four par-5s on the course. Expect Amen Corner to witness more drama this year in the battle for the Green Jacket.
Who is playing at the 2024 Masters golf tournament?
Unlike the other three men’s majors, the Masters is an invitation event which means no qualifying tournaments or alternates.
Automatic invites go to the top 50 in the world plus previous Masters champions and winners and high-finishers in recent professional and amateur competitions as well as last year’s majors.
Schauffele and Rio 2016 gold medallist Justin Rose are both in the field thanks to being ranked in the world’s top 50.
Germany’s two-time winner Bernhard Langer, who had previously announced that this would be his last Masters, misses out having torn an Achilles tendon while playing pickleball in February.
Five years after his last of five triumphs at Augusta, Tiger Woods could make his 26th Masters appearance despite having played just once this year - a short-lived outing at February’s Genesis Invitational where the 48-year-old pulled out during round two with influenza.
PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA - MARCH 24: Xander Schauffele of the United States reacts on the 17th green during the final round of the Valspar Championship at Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club on March 24, 2024 in Palm Harbor, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
2024 Masters Tournament - Schedule
Wednesday 10 April: Par 3 contest starts at 12pm (Eastern Daylight Time/EDT).
Thursday 11 April: First round, start time to be announced, preceded by honorary starters hitting opening drives
Friday 12 April: Second round, followed by the cut after 36 holes, with only the top 50 players and ties making the weekend.
Saturday 13 April: Third round. First tee-time will be around 10am in Georgia.
Sunday 14 April: Fourth round, followed by Green Jacket ceremony and trophy presentation after the final player has completed the 18th hole.
2024 Masters Tournament - Players to watch
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler remains in incredible form this year. Having retained his PLAYERS Championship title, he almost made it three wins in as many tournaments at the Texas Houston Open before losing out by one shot to Germany’s Stephan Jaeger.
The 27-year-old holds a comfortable lead at the top of the world rankings from Rory McIlroy, but his 2022 Masters win remains his only major triumph.
When it comes to ball-striking, Scheffler is simply peerless in this era. Only Tiger Woods has gained more strokes from tee to green over a two-year span, and had a better PGA Tour season average than Scheffler’s 68.63 in 2023.
As McIlroy told Golf.com in February, “He’s hit the ball as good, if not better, than Tiger hit it in 2000, which is the benchmark for all of us.”
For the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler - whose putting had long been the weakest part of his game - switched to a mallet putter. And the man who was ranked just 144th out of 186 in putting strokes gained on last year’s PGA Tour was suddenly transformed.
He did not miss a single putt from inside 15 feet on the weekend as he surged to victory, and then followed up in the PLAYERS Championship despite a neck injury which stopped him swinging the club at full speed.
Based on his recent showings, and form over the past couple of years, he will take some stopping in Augusta.
Ludvig Åberg
With Rahm’s form something of an unknown, McIlroy failing to make the top-10 since his win in January’s Dubai Desert Classic, and Viktor Hovland out of form, Europe’s best hope at the Masters could be tournament debutant Ludvig Åberg.
After turning professional last June, the 24-year-old Swede - who was named best college player in the United States two years in a row - won two tournaments in the second half of 2023. His first, at the RSM Classic, saw him tie the lowest total in PGA Tour history (253) and set a new record for three consecutive rounds (64-61-61).
This year, he was second in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and eighth in the PLAYERS Championship. His accuracy and length off the tee plus a solid all-round game look tailor-made for the Augusta National.
In August 2023, he told DP World Tour, ”In the next three years, I would like to be a winner on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. I would love to be a top-10 player in the world and I would love to play the Ryder Cup.”
Åberg's eighth place at the PLAYERS Championship saw him rise to number nine in the world rankings, and ensured he ticked off all of those goals just over nine months after turning pro.
Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979 was the last of three men to win the Masters on debut with Keegan Bradley, at the 2011 PGA Championship, the last of six players to triumph in their first major appearance. And Åberg, a serial winner at amateur and professional level, has as good a shot as anyone of joining them.
Hideki Matsuyama
Japan’s only male major champion is back to try and regain the Green Jacket he won in 2021.
After his fifth place at last year’s PLAYERS Championship, Hideki Matsuyama went 21 tournaments without a top-10 finish and dropped outside the top 50.
But playing pain-free after a neck injury which had hampered him for two years, he ended that run in style with victory at February’s Genesis Invitational. Trailing by six strokes after 54 holes, Matsuyama carded a 62 - the second-lowest round in course history - to clinch his first title for over two years by three shots.
Having finished tied for 16th last year, even with a bad neck, the 32-year-old from Shikoku Island could well be in the mix again on Masters Sunday.
2024 Masters Tournament - Tee times
The full schedule of groups and their starting tee times will be confirmed by Masters organisers on the eve of the first round.
Further information of the pairings can be found on the official Masters website.
2024 Masters Tournament - How to watch live action
Event coverage is available in over 200 countries with digital livestreams and TV broadcasts in most regions.
In the United States, ESPN will broadcast the first two rounds with CBS screening highlights. For rounds three and four, CBS takes over the live coverage. Masters.com will live stream featured groups and Amen Corner, plus action from other holes, with some of those streams available to viewers outside of the host nation.
In the UK, Sky Sports are the exclusive rightsholders. Check local listings for details elsewhere.