Tune into Gem for live coverage of the first round of The Masters from 5am on Friday!
Less than five months after world No.1 Dustin Johnson claimed his first green jacket, the world’s best golfers are back at Augusta from today, going at it again for the sport’s most prestigious prize.
After the 2020 schedule was ruined by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Masters is back to its traditional April slot, with the famous course predicted to play quite differently to how it presented in November.
Five Australians — Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Matt Jones — are in the field, however with Day and 2013 Masters champion Scott both falling down the rankings in the last couple of years, none of them are considered to be among the favourites.
Perhaps the best placed of the Aussies leading into The Masters is Smith, who, at 27, is starting to come into his prime and has taken the mantle of Australia’s leading player (mullet haircut and all). He has long been considered a major champion in waiting and looks the best chance of the five to win Australia’s first major title since Day claimed the PGA Championship in 2015.
Standing in his way is a powerful American contingent, led by Johnson and world No.2 Justin Thomas.
While Tiger Woods will be a notable absentee after he was hospitalised by a shocking car crash in late February, his absence comes at a time when the top of the tree in world golf is littered with Americans, with a host of them top chances to pull on the green jacket.
Johnson and Thomas are the top two picks for the bookies, but tucked in close behind them are Bryson deChambeau and a resurgent Jordan Spieth who broke his long PGA Tour drought with victory in Texas last week.
HOW TO WATCH
All four days of The Masters will be broadcast on Gem starting from 5am AEST on the first three days of the tournament and at 4am on Monday, when the winner of the green jacket will be determined.
The tournament will also be streamed on 9Now, with three special supplementary streams showing Amen Corner, feature groups and the 15th and 16th holes.
TV START TIMES (all times AEST)
Round One, Friday, April 9: Coverage from 5am
Round two, Saturday April 10: Coverage from 5am
Round three, Sunday April 11: Coverage from 5am
Round four, Monday April 12: Coverage from 4am
STAYING UP TO DATE WITH THE LEADERBOARD
Wide World of Sports has you covered, with our match centre, which will be updated in real time and include the latest video highlights.
HOW MUCH PRIZE MONEY IS ON OFFER?
Make no mistake, the players who take the course for The Masters are there for one of sport’s most prestigious prizes, the green jacket. However, the healthy prize purse provides its own motivation.
For this year’s tournament the total purse is north of $15 million (AUD), with the winner taking home just over $2.7 million.
The top five will all pocket more than $500,000 for their four days’ work and even those who miss the cut and are home before the weekend (US time) leave Augusta with more than $35,000 each.
TEE TIMES (THURSDAY AEST)
ROUND 1
10pm Michael Thompson, Hudson Swafford
10.12pm Sandy Lyle, Matt Jones, Dylan Frittelli
10.24pm Ian Woosnam, Jim Herman, Stewart Cink
10.36pm Sebastian Munoz, Henrik Stenson, Robert Streb
10.48pm.Bernhard Langer, Will Zalatoris, Joe Long
11pm Brian Harman, Ian Poulter, Brendon Todd
11.12pm Charl Schwartzel, Si Woo Kim, Corey Conners
11.24pm.Danny Willett, Joaquin Niemann, Kevin Kisner
11.36pm Jason Day, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Champ
11.48pm.Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English, Abraham Ancer
12.06am Friday Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland
12.18am Sergio Garcia, Webb Simpson, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12.30am Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Tyler Strafaci
12.42am Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy
12.54am Patrick Reed, Daniel Berger, Paul Casey
1.06am Vijay Singh, Martin Laird
1.18am Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Brian Gay
1.30am Carlos Ortiz, Mackenzie Hughes, Bernd Wiesberger
1.42am Mike Weir, C.T. Pan, Robert MacIntyre
1.54am Jose Maria Olazabal, Matt Wallace, Lanto Griffin
2.12am Victor Perez, Jason Kokrak, Marc Leishman
2.24am Fred Couples, Francesco Molinari, Charles Osborne
2.36am Zach Johnson, Kevin Na, Gary Woodland
2.48am Shane Rose, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar
3am Billy Horschel, Tyrell Hatton, Ryan Palmer
3.12am Phil Mickelson, Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler
3.24am Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im, Matt Fitzpatrick
3.36am Adam Scott, Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa
3.48am Tony Finau, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Thomas
4am Jordan Spieth, Cameron Smith, Collin Morikawa
ROUND 2 (FRIDAY AEST)
10pm Vijay Singh, Martin Laird
10.12pm Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Brian Gay
10.25pm Carlos Ortiz, Mackenzie Hughes, Bernd Wiesberger
10.36pm Mike Weir, C.T. Pan, Robert MacIntyre
10.48pm Jose Maria Olazabal, Matt Wallace, Lanto Griffin
11pm Victor Perez, Jason Kovrak, Marc Leishman
11.12pm Fred Couples, Francesco Molinari, Charles Osborne
11.24pm Zach Johnson, Kevin Na, Gary Woodland
11.36pm Shane Rose, Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar
11.48pm Billy Horschel, Tyrell Hatton, Ryan Palmer
12.06am Saturday Phil Mickelson, Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler
12.18am Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im, Matt Fitzpatrick
12.30am Adam Scott, Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa
12.42 am Tony Finau, Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Thomas
12.54am Jordan Spieth, Cameron Smith, Collin Morikawa
1.06am Michael Thompson, Hudson Swafford
1.18am Sandy Lyle, Matt Jones, Dylan Frittelli
1.30am Ian Woosnam, Jim Herman, Stewart Cink
1.42am Sebastian Munoz, Henrik Stenson, Robert Streb
1.54am.Bernhard Langer, Will Zalatoris, Joe Long
2.12am Brian Harman, Ian Poulter, Brendon Todd
2.24am Charl Schwartzel, Si Woo Kim, Corey Conners
2.36am Danny Willett, Joaquin Niemann, Kevin Kisner
2.48am Jason Day, Matthew Wolff, Cameron Champ
3am Hideki Matsuyama, Harris English, Abraham Ancer
3.12am Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Viktor Hovland
3.24am Sergio Garcia, Webb Simpson, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
3.36am Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Tyler Strafaci
3.48am Xander Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy
4am Patrick Reed, Daniel Berger, Paul Casey
ODDS (via Sportsbet)
$10: Dustin Johnson
$11: Justin Thomas
$12: Bryson DeChambeau, Jordan Spieth
$13: Jon Rahm
$17: Rory McIlroy
$23: Patrick Cantlay
$26: Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele
$29: Collin Morikawa
$34: Viktor Hovland
$36: Patrick Reed
Australians
$31: Cameron Smith
$51: Jason Day
$61: Adam Scott
$101: Marc Leishman
$151: Matt Jones
WINNERS SINCE 2000 (find out more about each of these here)
2000: Vijay Singh
2001: Tiger Woods
2002: Tiger Woods
2003: Mike Weir
2004: Phil Mickelson
2005: Tiger Woods
2006: Phil Mickelson
2007: Zach Johnson
2008: Trevor Immelman
2009: Angel Cabrera
2010: Phil Mickelson
2011: Charl Schwartzel
2012: Bubba Watson
2013: Adam Scott
2014: Bubba Watson
2015: Jordan Spieth
2016: Danny Willett
2017: Sergio Garcia
2018: Patrick Reed
2019: Tiger Woods
2020: Dustin Johnson
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