The Masters 2018: Tee times, featured pairings, and how to watch

The Masters have announced the opening pairings and tee times for Thursday and Friday. We’ve got the breakdown of the all the schedule highlights at Augusta National here.

The Masters have announced their first-round tee times and pairings for Thursday, and as usual, they have not let us down. Since the first day of the Masters isn’t a national holiday – yet – we’ll take a deeper look at the schedule, so you can plan your day accordingly.

As usual, the honorary starters will kick things off at 8:15 AM Eastern at Augusta National. It promises to be another bittersweet moment, as Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player tee off without the third member of the “Big Three”. Although the sting of Arnie’s passing isn’t as fresh, it will still be a touching moment.

The first official grouping to begin play at 8:30 will be the trio of Wesley Bryan, Ted Potter, Jr., and Austin Cook. Bryan and Cook are each making their first start at Augusta, while Potter, Jr. returns after missing the cut in 2013.

The opening phase of ten groups will tee off every 11 minutes through 10:09. U.S. Mid-Am champ Matt Parziale will play with 2003 Masters winner Mike Weir alongside Brendan Steele at 8:52. 2017 British Amateur winner Harry Ellis goes off at 9:25 with Brian Harman and 1998 Masters champion Mark O’Meara.

The other three amateurs will also be playing in their traditional groupings with previous Masters winners later in the day. Joaquin Niemann (Latin America Am) tees off with Haotong Li and Fred Couples at 12:20 PM. U.S. Amateur runner-up Doug Ghim is playing with Sandy Lyle in the 11:37 AM pairing. Finally, U.S. Amateur champion Doc Redman has the featured tee time at 10:53 AM, alongside Justin Thomas and defending champion Sergio Garcia.

Hey, nobody said this was going to be easy.

Featured Groups

For the sake of this article, we’ll cover the high-profile groupings to watch for throughout the day, and also the ones that will be highlighted on Masters.com digital coverage. These four groups will be available on the Masters site for all 18 holes on Thursday:

10:09 AM – Hideki Matsuyama, Patton Kizzire, Paul Casey

10:42 AM – Tiger Woods, Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood

1:38 PM – Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm

2:00 PM – Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Rafa Cabrera Bello

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Have some firepower, right? I know only two things here. First, I’ll obviously be glued to my computer all day. Second, I hope that Augusta National’s people are prepared for the most web traffic they’ve ever had.

The digital coverage will continue to cover play at Amen Corner throughout the day, as well as the pivotal 15th and 16th holes.

Here’s a brief look at some of the other notable pairings throughout the day.

9:58 AM – Danny Willett, Kyle Stanley, Jason Dufner
11:04 AM – Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Jason Day
12:43 PM – Bernhard Langer, Tony Finau, Yuta Ikeda
1:27 PM – Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar
1:49 PM – Jordan Spieth, Alex Noren, Louis Oosthuizen

Have we mentioned the stacked field? Yeah, I think so.

How can you watch?

Masters coverage this year will be as stout as ever. Golf Channel will be hosting their “Live From” series at Augusta National all week, through the green jacket ceremony on Sunday. ESPN will be broadcasting live action from the par-3 contest on Wednesday from 3-5 PM Eastern, before taking over tournament action from 3-7:30 on Thursday and Friday.

CBS and Jim Nantz will take over their traditional weekend coverage duties on Saturday from 3-7. For Sunday’s final round, they’ll kick off an hour earlier, coming on-air at 2 PM Eastern and staying through the end of play.

All TV coverage will be simulcast on Masters.com all week, and some action will be replayed on CBSSports.com and CBS Sports Network.

Next: Masters Power Rankings

It’s shaping up, as always, to be a great week among the magnolias and azaleas of Augusta National. It’s time for the Masters, and we couldn’t be any more ready.

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