Masters champion Rory McIlroy has been given a prime mid-morning start time for the defence of his green jacket at Augusta.
The Northern Irishman, who completed the career Grand Slam with an emotional play-off victory over Justin Rose 12 months ago, will go out at 10.31am local time (3.31pm BST) with Players Champion Cameron Young and 2025 US Amateur winner Mason Howell.
McIlroy is seeking to become only the fourth man – and first in 24 years – after Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Sir Nick Faldo – to win back-to-back Masters titles.
He admitted that the feeling of being a defending champion at Augusta – and the schedule that comes with it – has led to a change in preparation but still feels confident going into Thursday.
“The best way I can describe it is I would never have gotten up (to Augusta) this early; never arrived on a Saturday, I’d usually arrive earliest Sunday night or Monday evening,” he said, having arrived at Augusta earlier to perform a number of ceremonial duties.
“For the past 17 years I just could not wait for the tournament to start and this year I wouldn’t care if the tournament never started.
“It’s completely different. I feel so much more relaxed as I know I’m coming back here for a number of years.
“It doesn’t make my any less motivated to go out and play the tournament.”
Ahead of him at 10.07am (3.07pm BST) are in-form duo Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Fitzpatrick and two-time major winner Xander Schauffele.
The 2023 champion Jon Rahm is out with Ryder Cup team-mate Ludvig Aberg, who has finished second and seventh in his two Masters so far, and Chris Gotterup, a two-time PGA Tour winner this year at 1.08pm (6.08pm BST).
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who has won the Masters twice in the last four years, goes off at 1.44pm (6.44pm BST) with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and recent Texas Children’s Houston Open winner Gary Woodland.
The event begins at 7.25am (12.25pm BST) with honorary starters Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson, who have a combined 11 green jackets between them over 140 combined appearances, teeing off at the first.
John Keefer and Haotong Li get the tournament proper under way at 7.40am (12.40pm BST) as a two-ball in a 91-man field.
Round one: Thursday, 9 April (all times BST)
*denotes amateur
12:40 John Keefer (US), Haotong Li (Chn)
12:50 Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Max Homa (US), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
13:02 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Aldrich Potgieter (SA)
13:14 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Sami Valimaki (Fin), Jackson Herrington (US*)
13:26 Charl Schwartzel (SA), Max Greyserman (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)
13:38 Vijay Singh (Fij), Matt McCarty (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)
13:50 Kurt Kitayama (US), Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Casey Jarvis (SA)
14:02 Bubba Watson (US), Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Brandon Holtz (US*)
14:19 Cameron Smith (Aus), Sam Burns (US), Jake Knapp (US)
14:31 Keegan Bradley (US), Ryan Gerard (US), Nick Taylor (Can)
14:43 Dustin Johnson (US), Shane Lowry (Ire), Jason Day (Aus)
14:55 Patrick Reed (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Akshay Bhatia (US)
15:07 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele (US)
15:19 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa (US), Russell Henley (US)
15:31 Rory McIlroy (NI), Cameron Young (US), Mason Howell (US*)
15:43 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Patrick Cantlay (US), Alex Noren (Swe)
16:03 Samuel Stevens (US), Sung-jae Im (Kor)
16:15 Andrew Novak (US), Tom McKibbin (NI), Brian Campbell (US)
16:27 Mike Weir (Can), Wyndham Clark (US), Mateo Pulcini (Arg*)
16:39 Zach Johnson (US), Michael Kim (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)
16:51 Danny Willett (Eng), Davis Riley (US), Ethan Fang (US*)
17:03 Adam Scott (Aus), Daniel Berger (US), Brian Harman (US)
17:15 Fred Couples (US), Min Woo Lee (Aus), Fifa Laopakdee (Tha*)
17:27 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng), Jacob Bridgeman (US)
17:44 Harry Hall (Eng), Corey Conners (Can), Michael Brennan (US)
17:56 JJ Spaun (US), Maverick McNealy (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
18:08 Jon Rahm (Spa), Chris Gotterup (US), Ludvig Aberg (Swe)
18:20 Jordan Spieth (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Brooks Koepka (US)
18:32 Sepp Straka (Aut), Ben Griffin (US), Justin Thomas (US)
18:44 Scottie Scheffler (US), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Gary Woodland (US)
18:56 Harris English (US), Marco Penge (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)
Round two: Friday, 10 April
*denotes amateur
12:40 Samuel Stevens (US), Sung-jae Im (Kor)
12:50 Andrew Novak (US), Tom McKibbin (NI), Brian Campbell (US)
13:02 Mike Weir (Can), Wyndham Clark (US), Mateo Pulcini (Arg*)
13:14 Zach Johnson (US), Michael Kim (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)
13:26 Danny Willett (Eng), Davis Riley (US), Ethan Fang (US*)
13:38 Adam Scott (Aus), Daniel Berger (US), Brian Harman (US)
13:50 Fred Couples (US), Min Woo Lee (Aus), Fifa Laopakdee (Tha*)
14:02 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng), Jacob Bridgeman (US)
14:19 Harry Hall (Eng), Corey Conners (Can), Michael Brennan (US)
14:31 JJ Spaun (US), Maverick McNealy (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
14:43 Jon Rahm (Spa), Chris Gotterup (US), Ludvig Aberg (Swe)
14:55 Jordan Spieth (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Brooks Koepka (US)
15:07 Sepp Straka (Aut), Ben Griffin (US), Justin Thomas (US)
15:19 Scottie Scheffler (US), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Gary Woodland (US)
15:31 Harris English (US), Marco Penge (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)
15:51 John Keefer (US), Haotong Li (Chn)
16:03 Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Max Homa (US), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
16:15 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Aldrich Potgieter (SA)
16:27 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Sami Valimaki (Fin), Jackson Herrington (US*)
16:39 Charl Schwartzel (SA), Max Greyserman (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)
16:51 Vijay Singh (Fij), Matt McCarty (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)
17:03 Kurt Kitayama (US), Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Casey Jarvis (SA)
17:15 Bubba Watson (US), Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Brandon Holtz (US*)
17:32 Cameron Smith (Aus), Sam Burns (US), Jake Knapp (US)
17:44 Keegan Bradley (US), Ryan Gerard (US), Nick Taylor (Can)
17:56 Dustin Johnson (US), Shane Lowry (Ire), Jason Day (Aus)
18:08 Patrick Reed (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Akshay Bhatia (US)
18:20 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele (US)
18:32 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa (US), Russell Henley (US)
18:44 Rory McIlroy (NI), Cameron Young (US), Mason Howell (US*)
18:56 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Patrick Cantlay (US), Alex Noren (Swe)
