Masters opens at Augusta

The quiet part of Masters week is over now: Augusta National moved from rumor and practice rounds to live scorecards on Thursday, April 9, with the 90th Masters beginning its first round in Georgia. (golf.com) That changes what fans watch for. Before the opening tee shot, the story was predictions; once Round 1 starts, every bogey on the back nine and every birdie chance at Amen Corner starts rearranging the board in real time. (golfchannel.com) Augusta National is the one major championship course that barely changes on the calendar but still changes the tournament every year. The Masters returns to the same club in Augusta, Georgia, every April, so viewers learn the holes the way football fans learn a stadium, and that makes early-round swings feel bigger. (golf.com) The player carrying the biggest target is Rory McIlroy, because he arrived as defending champion after winning the 2025 Masters. A title defense at Augusta is different from a normal tour stop, because the winner comes back to the same course, the same green jacket ritual, and the same pressure point a year later. (skysports.com) Scottie Scheffler is the other name sitting over the tournament, because he came in chasing a third Masters title. Augusta tends to reward players who already know where to miss and where not to miss, so repeat contenders matter more here than they do at plenty of other majors. (washingtonpost.com) That is why so much of the broadcast is built around specific groups instead of just the main telecast. The 2026 setup again includes featured groups, featured holes, and an Amen Corner feed, so fans can follow one contender shot by shot instead of waiting for the network to cut there. (golf.com) The viewing window is wider than it used to be. Golfweek reported that Amazon Prime Video added first-round and second-round streaming from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time, before ESPN’s television coverage takes over from 3 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. (golfweek.usatoday.com) That matters at Augusta because the course tends to reveal itself in layers. Morning groups often get softer greens and calmer air, while later groups can face firmer approaches and more wind, so a leaderboard at noon can mean something different by dinner. (usatoday.com) The field is also small by major-championship standards, which makes every early move easier to see. Sports Illustrated listed 91 players in the 2026 field, so one hot round can push a player from the middle of the pack to the front page faster than it would in a 156-man event. (si.com) So the first Thursday at the Masters is not really about who wins by lunchtime. It is about which names survive the course they were expected to master, which favorites look comfortable on the greens, and which outsider turns a familiar April stage into a new leaderboard by sunset. (cbssports.com)