Masters 2016 viewing guide: Coverage schedule and how to watch live from Augusta

The Masters is the most unique golf tournament in the world and one of the primary ways it sticks out from the others is how it’s covered by the media. They have their own specific, deep-rooted ways they want their tournament broadcast and while there have been several changes made, it’s still quite antiquated compared to the other majors.

As the Masters came to prominence, co-founder Clifford Roberts and his green-jacketed friends were adamant about limiting the TV coverage of their tournament. They did not want attendance impacted by broad TV coverage and so CBS, which has carried the tournament for 61 years, broadcast only a few morsels of the action for many years. There were not even cameras set up on the front nine at Augusta for a long time.

That concept and tradition of limited TV coverage still holds today, even though things have expanded significantly from those early days. Unlike the other three majors, which let their TV partners start almost as early as possible, the Masters does not permit the broadcast to come on the air until 3 p.m. ET (with an additional hour added for CBS’ Sunday broadcast). That’s, to put it bluntly, rather mad for modern golf broadcast standards, especially for the most popular tournament in the world that everyone wants to see. You cannot watch the morning wave of players each of the first two days, and a good chunk of the leaders’ start to the third round on Saturday.

The incredulous outcry about Augusta’s limited coverage is now an annual tradition. It was particularly bad when Tiger Woods would play most of his first or second round out of view and in obscurity. Last year, Tiger also caught fire to start his third round, posting birdies on three of his first four holes to make a big move up the leaderboard. But nobody could see it, so the usual angry tweets about Augusta and their crazy broadcast restrictions probably peaked at that point. There’s no Tiger this year so the wider, non-golf specific audience probably won’t be as angry about not being able to watch as much coverage as a major championship should actually get.

All the usual griping aside, Chairman Billy Payne did make a nice expansion of the digital streaming that Masters.com has controlled over the years. In the past, there would be two “Featured Groups Streams” that would go live at Noon on Thursday and Friday. This year they will be combined into one main stream and go live from the start of the first group’s round, adding about three more hours of coverage. It makes sense, but given where we were last year, this is still a big change.

We’ve been asking for this for so long, and now we finally get it. That means on Thursday, you’ll be able to watch Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and others from the first tee. Once those two groups finish up, the stream drops back to two later tee times for a second shift, and then again for a third shift until the conclusion of the round. Here are your featured groups for the first two days:

Those featured groups streams will cover just about everything you need. The big omission is probably missing Rory McIlroy on Friday. He is, in my opinion, the most compelling story at the Masters but we’ll miss most of his second round. He’s on the featured groups stream on Thursday, when he plays in the last tee time of the day. That group will obviously be a focal point of the ESPN afternoon broadcast. But on Friday, Rory goes out at 11:05 a.m., well before the TV coverage, and the only time we’ll see him is for a handful of holes on his second nine. Sad!

In addition to that featured groups stream, you’ll also be able to watch the traditional Amen Corner and Nos. 15/16 streams well in advance of the TV coverage. That provides all the shots at five of the second nine holes -- which are five of the most famous holes in golf.

Those are your three big streams to watch before the TV coverage, but once ESPN is live, you can also stream their coverage in the afternoon via WatchESPN. There are hundreds of hours of programming around the Masters, but only a few ways to watch the actual competitive golf. Here are your streaming, TV and radio options for this year’s tournament:

3-7:30 p.m.: Live first round coverage - ESPN
8-11 p.m.: Replay of first round coverage - ESPN

Available at Masters.com

9:26 a.m.-completion (~7 p.m.): Featured groups stream
10:45 a.m.-6 p.m.: Amen Corner live stream
11:45 a.m.-7 p.m.: Nos. 15 and 16 live stream

3-7:30 p.m.: Live second round coverage - ESPN
8-11 p.m.: Replay of second round coverage - ESPN

Available at Masters.com

9:26 a.m.-completion (~7 p.m.): Featured groups stream
10:45 a.m.-6 p.m.: Amen Corner live stream
11:45 a.m.-7 p.m.: Nos. 15 and 16 live stream

3-7 p.m.: Live third round coverage - CBS

Available at Masters.com

~10:30 a.m.-completion (~7 p.m.): Featured groups stream
Noon-6:30 p.m.: Amen Corner live stream
12:30 p.m.-7 p.m.: Nos. 15 and 16 live stream

2-7 p.m.: Live final round coverage - CBS

Available at Masters.com

~10:30 a.m.-completion (~7 p.m.): Featured groups stream
Noon-6:30 p.m.: Amen Corner live stream
12:30 p.m.-7 p.m.: Nos. 15 and 16 live stream
Conclusion of play: Green jacket ceremony

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