Key events
The first shot of the Tournament proper was hit by the 25-year-old Masters debutant John Keefer. He split the fairway at Tea Olive like Gary Player and Tom Watson before him. However he went on to miss a five-foot putt for his par and so registered the first bogey of the week as well. As for the first double bogey … that misfortune befell the 2025 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Adrich Potgieter. The 21-year-old South African zig-zagged his way down the 1st before blading a wedge through the green and into a gathering of startled patrons. He couldn’t get up and down from beside the bleachers at the back of the hole, and it’s very easy to do this at Augusta National. Hey, if Rory can do it on Sunday with everything on the line, then anyone can.
The Honorary Starters. Gary Player, who won this title in 1961, 1974 and 1978, took the first of the ceremonial tee shots down the 1st hole, Tea Olive. The 90-year-old sent his drive down the middle before performing a high kick that would be beyond many men half his age.
The 86-year-old Jack Nicklaus – the record six-time winner of 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986 – was up next, and showcased some sharp punditry skills. “Oh boy, watch out, and I don’t mean that facetiously,” he told the assembled patrons before sending a wild hook down the left. No high kick from the Golden Bear, who merely chuckled to himself.
Finally the 76-year-old Tom Watson, winner in 1977 and 1981, took his turn. He spotted that Nicklaus had left his tee stick in the ground. “May I use your tee?” Watson asked. “It’s why I left it,” Nicklaus replied. Watson striped his drive down the middle.
A combined 252 years, 140 Masters appearances and 11 Green Jackets between them. We’ll miss them terribly when they’re gone.
With the important stuff out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the Tournament. Here’s our other man in Augusta, Ewan Murray, with the big preview of the first Masters without either Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods since 1994.
Four long, lovely days stretch out ahead of us. No need to be racing out there first thing, let’s grab a spot of breakfast out on the porch. Here’s what our man in Augusta, Andy Bull, has plumped for. Iced Tea and one of the famous Egg Salad sandwiches. That’ll be $3.50 please. You have a nice day, now.
Preamble
Welcome, patrons, to the 90th staging of the Masters Tournament. And with Rory McIlroy having finally got his hands on his holy grail, as the man himself wondered: what is there left for us all to talk about now?
Well, how about … can world number one Scottie Scheffler, supposedly in crisis with just the one win on Tour this year (!) sort himself out in time to grab a third Green Jacket? Will Jon Rahm or Bryson DeChambeau chalk one up for LIV Golf? Can Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Åberg or Justin Rose, so often there or thereabouts at Augusta National, take the final step? Will Cameron Young repeat Rory’s feat last year of following up victory at the Players with success here? Would Tommy Fleetwood be the most popular winner? Or is that Bob MacIntyre? Oh, and what price Rory becoming only the fourth man, after Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods, to successfully defend his title? What about all of that?
It’ll all come out in the wash over the next four days. But first, some admin, and a reminder that the contestants are invited guests and should be treated with courtesy and respect. Although cheering and positive responses to great play are encouraged, unsolicited or consistent calls from the gallery are prohibited. Running is considered to be unacceptable behaviour. Prohibited items include Cell Phones, Beepers, Electronic devices, Tablets, any device with recording and/or transmission capability, Flags, Banners, Signs, Ladders, Periscopes and Weapons of any kind (regardless of permit). Pimento Cheese sandwiches are $1.50 and Iced Tea is two bucks. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is the favourite, all the tee times are below, and this is the famous CBS theme on a looooong loop to get you in the mood. It’s on! Masters fever is real; won’t someone please call Dr Golf?
First-round tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST, a denotes amateur)
1240 Johnny Keefer, Haotong Li (Chn)
1250 Max Homa, Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)|
1302 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa)
1314 Angel Cabrera (Arg), (a) Jackson Herrington, Sami Valimaki (Fin)
1326 Ryan Fox (Nzl), Max Greyserman, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
1338 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Matt McCarty, Vijay Singh (Fij)
1350 Casey Jarvis (Rsa), Kurt Kitayama, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor)
1402 Nicolas Echavarria (Col), (a) Brandon Holtz, Bubba Watson
1419 Sam Burns, Jake Knapp, Cameron Smith (Aus)
1431 Keegan Bradley, Ryan Gerard, Nick Taylor (Can)
1443 Jason Day (Aus), Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry (Irl)
1455 Akshay Bhatia, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Patrick Reed
1507 Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele
1519 Russell Henley, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa
1531 (a) Mason Howell, Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Cameron Young
1543 Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Alexander Noren (Swe)
1603 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sam Stevens
1615 Brian Campbell, Tom McKibbin (NIrl), Andrew Novak
1627 Wyndham Clark, (a) Mateo Pulcini (Arg), Mike Weir (Can)
1639 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Zach Johnson, Michael Kim
1651 (a) Ethan Fang, Davis Riley, Danny Willett (Eng)
1703 Daniel Berger, Brian Harman, Adam Scott (Aus)
1715 Fred Couples, (a) Pongsapak Laopakdee (Tha), Min-Woo Lee (Aus)
1727 Jacob Bridgeman, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng)
1744 Michael Brennan, Corey Conners (Can), Harry Hall (Eng)
1756 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Maverick McNealy, JJ Spaun
1808 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Chris Gotterup, Jon Rahm (Spa)
1820 Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose (Eng), Jordan Spieth
1832 Ben Griffin, Sepp Straka (Aut), Justin Thomas
1844 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Scottie Scheffler, Gary Woodland
1856 Harris English, Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Marco Penge (Eng)