Masters officially underway

At 7:25 a.m. Eastern time, Augusta National began the week the same way it has trained golf fans to expect it: Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson walked to the first tee and opened the 2026 Masters with ceremonial shots before the field started Round 1. (golfweek.usatoday.com) That ritual is not filler before the golf starts. The 2026 tournament is the 90th Masters, and Augusta still uses the first minutes of Thursday morning to connect the current field to champions who built the place’s mythology over decades. (golfchannel.com) Nicklaus is the biggest piece of that history because he won six Masters titles, more than anyone else. Player won three green jackets, Watson won two, and the three honorary starters together account for 11 Masters victories. (usatoday.com) The ceremony also tells you what kind of event this is: the Masters is the smallest men’s major by field size, and this year’s tournament has 91 players. A smaller field means fewer traffic jams on the course and more pressure to avoid the one bad nine holes that can ruin a week. (pgatour.com) The first-round draw shows how carefully Augusta stages its opening day. Rory McIlroy, the defending champion, is paired in the traditional champions group with United States Amateur winner Mason Howell, while Scottie Scheffler goes out later in one of the day’s most watched blocks. (augustachronicle.com) (cbssports.com) Scheffler arrived as the betting favorite again, listed by ESPN Bet at +510 to win, which means oddsmakers see him as the man most likely to leave Sunday in the green jacket. Jon Rahm was next at +900, with Bryson DeChambeau at +1050 and McIlroy at +1175. (espn.com) That price on Scheffler is really a bet on fit. He already owns two Masters titles, and Augusta rewards players who know where to miss, where the slopes feed the ball, and which pins can turn a safe putt into a three-putt in seconds. (espn.com) (cbssports.com) McIlroy’s role is different this year because he is not chasing Augusta anymore; he is defending it. That changes Thursday from a fresh start into a protection job, because the defending champion goes out with the extra attention of being the player everyone else is measured against. (augustachronicle.com) (theathletic.com) Thursday at Augusta rarely decides the tournament, but it can sort the board fast because players who start on the wrong side of par spend the next three days trying to climb a course built to punish impatience. By breakfast, the old champions had already hit the first shots, and by midmorning the new ones had started trying to prove they belong in that same ceremony one day. (cbssports.com) (pgatour.com)