Masters Round 1 times set
Round 1 of the 90th Masters kicked off with first tee times at 7:40 a.m. ET, and Scottie Scheffler was scheduled to start mid‑afternoon at 1:44 p.m. ET while Rory McIlroy enters the week as the defending champion. Those start windows matter if you follow fantasy or live coverage, because morning and afternoon conditions at Augusta can differ sharply. (cbssports.com) (sports.yahoo.com)
The first shot of the 2026 Masters was scheduled for 7:40 a.m. Eastern time, and the last big wave did not start until early afternoon, which means one field at Augusta National was really playing two different days in the same round. Scottie Scheffler was set for 1:44 p.m. Eastern time with Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland, so his opening nine was likely to come after the course had baked for hours under a dry Georgia sky. Rory McIlroy came in as defending champion after winning the 2025 Masters in a playoff and completing the career Grand Slam, so every tee time around him carried extra attention before the first leaderboard even settled. Augusta National is one of the few major venues where a two-hour difference can change the course itself, because the greens are built to be fast and the slopes turn small misses into long, nervy putts. This year’s forecast made that split even sharper, because AccuWeather projected a warm, rain-free tournament and said Augusta was on track for its first completely dry Masters since 2011. Dry air and no rain usually mean firmer fairways, faster greens, and more bounce on approach shots. That is why the opening draw matters for more than television planning. A player who starts at 7:40 a.m. can see softer greens and calmer air, while a player who starts after 1 p.m. can get a course that releases like a parking lot on the first hop. The pairings added another layer, because the Masters sends players out in threesomes for the first two rounds, and that can stretch the rhythm of a round closer to a long traffic crawl than a quick walk. Scheffler’s group at 1:44 p.m. sat near the back of the draw, so he was scheduled to finish with the light changing and the leaderboard already crowded with posted scores. For anyone following fantasy golf or live betting, that timing changes what you are watching. Morning starters can post a number before the wind and firm conditions show up, while afternoon favorites often have to chase on a course that gets less forgiving by the hour. The television windows were built around that staggered day, with streaming coverage beginning before the main afternoon broadcast, so the story of Round 1 was never just who played well. It was also who got Augusta before Augusta turned into Augusta.
