Masters 2016: TV schedule and coverage for Thursday’s opening round

The most popular golf tournament in the world tees off Thursday morning. And as usual, you”ll be able to watch an obscenely limited amount of it on television.

The Masters is known for its many traditions, almost as much as it is the golf, and one of the critical tenets it has always operated by is that television coverage shall be limited. Granted, there is a lot more coverage now than when this policy was initially put in place by club co-founder Clifford Roberts. But adjusted for inflation, the 4.5-hour broadcast on Thursday’s round is offensively limited compared to the other major championships that let their broadcast partners run the cameras all day.

ESPN will have the coverage again for the first two rounds, coming on the air Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. The worldwide leader acquired the rights to the early round coverage in 2008, taking over for USA. The broadcast will run on ESPN, but for all intents and purposes, this is still a CBS show. It’s produced by CBS, uses their traditional graphics, and has their announcers. ESPN’s talent is interspersed throughout the broadcast but it has an entirely different feel from any other golf they might cover.

The main show in the afternoon side of the draw will be Rory McIlroy. The Ulsterman, in my opinion, remains the most compelling story at the Masters. It’s the one outstanding leg in the career slam, a feat only five others (Tiger, Jack, Player, Sarazen, and Hogan) have accomplished. To get it in his mid-20s would be all the more impressive, and loosen him up for that greater a run through the next 20 years. For many, he still possesses the most natural talent of anyone in the game but his year to date has been uneven. When he puts it together, he’s unbeatable. It may not all be clicking for him coming into this Masters, but he’s still the most interesting man in the field.

McIlroy will tee off at 2:01 p.m. in the final group of the day. That’s right -- you don’t just miss the morning wave with these limited broadcast hours -- you miss the entire first hour of the LAST group on the course. Young Rory should be about four holes into the round by then, and his every shot should be shown thereafter. Other big names who will still be out on the course during the broadcast window include Jason Day, Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia.

If you’re upset about missing Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and others during the morning, you will be able to watch in a few different ways on the Masters.com livestreams. The featured groups streams have been expanded this year to start coverage right from the 1st tee, which makes complete sense and should have been done a decade ago. Spieth and Fowler will headline that Featured Groups stream around 9:30 a.m. ET. There will also be the usual Amen Corner and Nos. 15/16 streams up and running before Noon, which will cover every shot coming through those five iconic holes on the second nine.

So there are some options if you can’t wait until the TV coverage in the afternoon. Here are all your options for the opener at Augusta:

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

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