The Masters begins on Thursday, with players teeing off at Augusta National as early as 8 a.m. ET. Most of the first round will appear out of televised view, of course.
Masters tee times 2017: Pairings, featured groups for Thursday’s round
Dustin Johnson, the world No. 1, is among the players featured.
Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
The Masters bills itself as a tradition unlike any other, and it definitely is. Some of that’s good; Augusta is the most beautiful course in the world, for my money. Some of it’s bad, and some of it’s frustrating for golf fans who want nothing more than to watch every second of the most famous tournament in the world. That’s impossible.
At the Masters, the tournament’s TV partners don’t hit the air with live broadcasts until 3 p.m. ET from Thursday through Saturday, then they go live at 2 p.m. on Sunday. That means a lot of TV-less hours of play, which can be a tough pill to swallow.
Fortunately, the tournament’s modernized a little bit in the last few years. There’s now a range of ways to stream the tournament, so you’re not strictly limited to what the networks can show you. That’s been a positive change. A key element has been the introduction of “featured groups,” whose rounds are viewable online.
You can stream the rounds of Thursday’s featured groups at Masters.com. ESPN’s television broadcast, which is simulcast on WatchESPN and the Masters site, doesn’t begin until 3 p.m. ET. So for about seven hours, you can only watch online. The Masters also has a phone app that you can download at your respective store.
Thursday’s featured groups at the Masters
All times are Eastern:
9:06 a.m.: Zach Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Hadwin
9:28 a.m.: Adam Scott, Kevin Kisner, Andy Sullivan
1:41 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Hideto Tanihara, Jon Rahm
2:03 p.m.: Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker
That’s a good group, though a bunch of the top players in the field won’t be featured. Here’s a full tee times list, which will show that Jordan Spieth, Adam Scott, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and plenty of other elite players won’t have most of their Thursday rounds on TV or online. Such is life at this golf tournament.
Also streaming at Masters.com throughout Thursday:
7:45 a.m.-8:30 a.m.: Honorary starters
8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.: Masters on the Range
9:15 a.m.-7:30 p.m.: Featured groups
10:45 a.m.-6 p.m.: Amen Corner
11:45 a.m.-7 p.m.: Holes No. 15 and 16
3 p.m.-7:30 p.m.: TV broadcast
The times on these streams depend on the pace of play, and they’re approximations that are subject to change. But they’re your best chance to see the most golf.
Thursday (ET) | Friday (ET) | Player | Player | Player |
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