Masters opening tee‑time snapshot
Round 1 at Augusta National began with first‑round tee times starting at 7:40 a.m. ET, and Scottie Scheffler was scheduled to tee off at 1:44 p.m. ET — useful if you’re tracking televised coverage or fantasy lineups. These published times tell you when to tune in for marquee groups. ( )
The first clue for how Thursday at Augusta was going to feel came before breakfast: the opening group went off at 7:40 a.m. Eastern time, which is when the 90th Masters officially started Round 1 at Augusta National Golf Club. The name most fans were waiting on was Scottie Scheffler, and his Thursday start was set for 1:44 p.m. Eastern time with Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland. Yahoo Sports listed that trio as one of the late featured groups for Round 1. Rory McIlroy, the defending champion after winning the 2025 Masters in a playoff over Justin Rose, was scheduled much earlier at 10:31 a.m. Eastern time. His Thursday group paired him with Cameron Young and amateur Mason Howell. That split matters if you were planning your afternoon around television windows, because the main first-round broadcast on ESPN was scheduled for 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time. Scheffler’s 1:44 p.m. start put most of his round inside that window, while McIlroy’s 10:31 a.m. start pushed much of his action into streaming coverage and featured-group feeds. ESPN’s Thursday streaming schedule started even earlier than the television show, with featured holes at 8:45 a.m. Eastern time, featured groups at 9:15 a.m., Amen Corner at noon, and holes 15 and 16 at noon. CBS Sports also highlighted featured-group coverage for Thursday, which is why the published tee sheet doubles as a viewing guide. The early-late split also shapes fantasy and betting decisions, because weather, green firmness, and leaderboard pressure can change across a 6-hour start window. CBS Sports’ full Round 1 schedule showed the field spread from 7:40 a.m. into the late afternoon in threesomes rather than twosomes. Several other marquee groups were stacked around the middle of the day: Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Xander Schauffele at 10:07 a.m.; Jon Rahm, Chris Gotterup, and Ludvig Åberg at 1:08 p.m.; and Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, and Brooks Koepka at 1:20 p.m. If you tuned in after lunch, Augusta’s biggest names were arriving almost back-to-back. The tee times also framed the week’s central chase: McIlroy arrived as the defending green-jacket winner, while Scheffler entered as the betting favorite and world No. 1. Thursday’s sheet was not just a schedule; it was the map for when the tournament’s two biggest storylines would actually hit the course.
