Masters 2016: Live updates, scores, leaderboard, highlights and more from Augusta National

Hello, friends. The 2016 Masters Tournament is here.

From the world-famous Augusta National Golf Club, 83 of the world’s top professionals and six amateurs will tee it up for the first round of the 80th edition of Bobby Jones’ tournament on Thursday morning. A total of 24 nations will be represented in the field of 89 -- which is the lowest number of players competing in the tournament since 2002. But if you’re looking to spend the entire day planted in front of the television watching the action, we’ve got bad news. The Masters is nearly as famous for its restricted TV viewing hours as it is for its pimento cheese sandwiches -- TV coverage on ESPN only begins at 3 p.m. on Thursday, after roughly half the field will have exited the golf course for the day. Good news? You can still watch featured groups and assorted coverage from the back nine right here courtesy of the Masters & CBS on Thursday morning.

Casual fans shouldn’t be mistaken. The Masters Tournament isn’t regarded as the toughest test in golf or the most difficult major to win -- the USGA and the US Open are happy to take that title. It’s far from golf’s oldest championship -- The Open Championship (or British Open, depending on where you reside) is nearly twice its age. It’s rarely even regarded as the favorite course setup for scoring for players (the PGA Championship generally takes that title) and only recently matched the The Players Championship & PGA as having the biggest payout in the game.

Still, if you poll Tour players, it’s a safe bet that most would still want a Green Jacket more than any other prize in golf. And that, contrasted with the tournament’s relative youth compared to its counterparts, might be most indicative of the prestige of the Masters.

A tournament that featured the world’s best at a club more exclusive and a course more pristine than any other was the idiosyncratic Bobby Jones’ vision when he founded The Masters and Augusta National in the 1930s -- and that’s exactly what the event has become in 2016. Garnering an invitation to the tournament is an award in and of itself -- with the field assembled using the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings, top finishers at the year’s past majors, PGA Tour event winners, past Masters champions and the winners of top selected amateur competitions throughout the world. You can find the full field -- with a breakdown of each player’s strengths and weaknesses and odds to win right here in our Masters preview.

The storylines are plentiful in this year’s edition -- and the favorites will be the household names even the most casual golf fans should recognize. A win from Jason Day would make it back-to-back major wins and three straight wins overall, drawing him nearer to the shadow cast by his good friend Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy can complete the career grand slam. Could Bubba Watson continue his every-other-year pattern of Masters victory to the tune of his third green jacket to join a revered group including Gary Player, Nick Faldo, Sam Snead and Phil Mickelson? Could Jordan Spieth be the first to defend his title successfully since Tiger Woods in 2002? Or could Adam Scott add his third win of the season and a second green jacket to his closet? All those big names will be key to watch throughout the week in Augusta.

A big part of the prestige of the Masters is that it’s the only non-rotating major championship. Augusta National is the most famous golf course in the world at this point, and the audience has a built-in library of memories at many spots on the course. As noted above, it’s a layout that is not always set up to brutalize the field -- quiet the opposite on Sunday, actually, when the green jackets would like to see some leaderboard movement and exciting birdies. Here’s a hole-by-hole guide of Augusta National, with many of those memorable moments from each throughout the years.

Jordan Spieth is your leader at the Masters yet again. The 22-year-old defending champion went out in the early portion of the draw on Thursday and snuck in a 66, getting absolutely everything out of the round that he could. It was an impressive display, especially up on the greens where he repeatedly saved par and stole birdies. It had to be discouraging for the rest of the field to see the guy who owned this place last year shoot right back to the top.

The highlight, or lowlight, of the day was Ernie Els’ ghastly 7-putt, which later became a 6-putt, for a 9 on his very first hole of the tournament.

Thursday morning is all about the honorary starters, and Jack Nicklaus teared up with Arnold Palmer on the first tee.

Jason Day was on fire early in his round, nearly holing out twice on the same hole.

The conditions on Friday brutalized the field at Augusta, with no one breaking 70 for the first time since 2007. But what we ended up with was a dream leaderboard. Jordan Spieth leads Rory McIlroy by a shot and they will play together in the final weekend pairing at a major championship. Yes yes yes yes.

McIlroy made his late charge on the par-5s and with this bomb of a putt.

Tom Watson made his final emotional walk up the 18th in his 43rd Masters.

Phil Mickelson, a trendy pick to win, flamed out late and somehow missed the cut.

Ian Poulter executed a fantastic helicopter club toss after shanking one into the woods.

Jordan Spieth will go to bed with the 54-hole lead for the second straight Masters, although the circumstances are much, much different this time around. Spieth played his final two holes on Saturday night 3-over, finishing with a ghastly double bogey that brought a whole swath of people back into contention for the final 18 holes.

Spieth and Rory McIlroy got all the pub, but 58 year old Bernhard Langer was probably the story of the day.

The winds brutalized the field, even blowing one ball right off the green and into the water.

Jason Day lurked and lurked and got himself back into at the end with this 69-foot putt.

Legend Jeff Knox showed up, bombed in this birdie, and strutted for the crowd.

The final round did not exactly go as planned and left the golf world in shock. Danny Willett emerged as the 2016 Masters winner thanks to a round of 5-under 67, which matched the lowest score of the day. Willett’s round was beautiful but he still needed help from Jordan Spieth, who delivered with an ugly turn on the second nine on Sunday.

Spieth’s quadruple bogey at the 12th was one of the hardest meltdowns ever to watch.

Willett was happy to accept his green jacket in a rough Butler Cabin ceremony.

There was a wild stretch of holes-in-one, including this bank shot from Louis Oosthuizen.

Willett took home the richest payday of his career.

On a stunning Sunday at Augusta National, Danny Willett topped the leaderboard to become just the second Englishman to win the green jacket.

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