Masters 2016: TV schedule and coverage for Saturday’s round

We’re halfway home at the 2016 Masters and the best is yet to come. There are a few small ways the third round could be set up better for hype and anticipation, but not many. Let’s not get greedy -- we have Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth playing together on the weekend for the first time ever at a major championship. Oh, and they’re also 1-2 on the leaderboard playing in the final tee time of the day.

This is close to perfect. Sure, it might be nice to have Tiger Woods, the ultimate boost in ratings and hype, on hand and somewhere in the picture. Jason Day is a few shots back and not yet joined the battle. Phil Mickelson has gone home. But these are peripheral parts to the rivalry we’d all hoped would materialize and may now be starting at the very first major of the year. Spieth leads for the sixth straight round at the Masters, a new tournament record. But he’s just one shot clear of McIlroy, who turned it on over his final seven holes Friday afternoon to finish 3-under.

And unlike Friday, we’ll get to watch the entire round of both! The Masters is notorious for limiting the coverage their TV partner, CBS, can provide. The broadcast at the other majors will come on the air at 8 or 9 a.m., but the Masters makes you sit around in agony until 3 p.m. ET each of the first three rounds. Both McIlroy and Spieth were caught in the middle of the tee sheet and played a good chunk of their second round out of view of the TV broadcast. Rory was well into his back nine and Spieth was eight holes into his round. It’s inexcusable, even if it is tradition, at the most popular golf tournament on the schedule.

The lack of TV coverage for the two biggest names in the field was compounded by the fact that neither was playing on the featured groups stream either. So there was no way to watch their round until ESPN came live at 3 p.m. ET. On Saturday, they tee off just 10 minutes before the TV window so you’ll get almost the full 18-hole battle.

Prior to the TV broadcast, there will be three primary ways to watch golf in the morning and early afternoon. The featured groups stream, the Amen Corner stream, and the Nos. 15/16 stream will all be up and running on Masters.com. Spieth has said that anyone outside the top 25 could come from behind and lead by multiple shots tomorrow -- it’s that bunched up and the conditions are supposed to punish the field yet again. So some of those early groups will have an opportunity to make a move on these streams before the TV coverage goes live. Here are all your media options for Saturday at Augusta:

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

Be sure to subscribe to SB Nation’s YouTube channel for highlight videos, features, analysis and more