Honda Classic 2015 live stream: How to watch online, TV coverage and more

The 2015 Masters Tournament is still more than six weeks away, but many of the top players in the world will officially begin gearing up for Augusta on Thursday when they tee off in the Honda Classic. The field at PGA National will be one of the best of the year and will be headlined by the 2015 PGA Tour debut of the No. 1 player in the world.

The last time Rory McIlroy teed up in tournament on American soil, he was busy finishing second in the Tour Championship. That capped an absurd 10-week stretch that included three wins -- including two majors -- to go along with three other top eight finishes in just seven events. Although he made a couple of starts in the Middle East, he will make his Tour debut at PGA National. It’s a course he knows well and a place he won in 2012. He nearly won the Honda Classic last year, but a few mistakes down the stretch on that Sunday cost him the win.

It’s a different McIlroy this time around, however, and with him being the odd-on favorite to win the Masters, it will be interesting to see where his form is currently. If his game is even remotely as sharp as it was to end last season, this week could be the start of the “Year of Rory, Part 2.”

While McIlroy may headline the field, he”ll be far from the only top player in action. A total of 27 of the top 50 players in the world will tee it up on Thursday, including four top-10 players. In addition to McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose and Martin Kaymer will all tee it up at PGA National. McIlroy will play with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka on Thursday with a 12:45 p.m. ET tee time. Rose will tee off one group prior, going off the first tee with Billy Horschel and Patrick Reed. Garcia and Kaymer will headline the morning action. They will be one of the first groups off with a 7:45 a.m. tee time, where they will be joined by Phil Mickelson.

With one of the better fields of the year also comes extended television coverage. NBC and Golf Channel will combine to provide the coverage from the Honda Classic with Golf Channel handling the television broadcast on Thursday. Television coverage is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. and will run until 6 p.m. That allows viewers to catch a good portion of the notable afternoon action.

Viewers will also have multiple options to follow the first round online, including a live simulcast stream of the television broadcast thanks to NBC Live Extra. Before that begins, however, PGATour.com will provide featured group coverage. When the television coverage begins, the featured group stream will flip to featured hole coverage of Nos. 14 and 15.

There will also be extensive radio coverage on Thursday with PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM broadcasting from noon to 6 p.m. Here is a complete look at the first-round coverage options. All times Eastern.

2 to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel