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The first of the year’s four major golf tournaments, the Masters is a fixture of the spring sporting calendar, timed to come to a head when the azaleas are in full bloom in Georgia.
When does the Masters start?
This year’s tournament runs from Thursday, April 11 to Sunday, April 14.
Officially, there are three days of practice and build-up to the opening round, including the Par 3 contest on Wednesday, April 10, featuring the families of some of golf’s top players. There have been 107 holes in one made at the Par 3 contest since it was inaugurated in 1960.
How can I watch the Masters on TV?
In the UK, the Masters is broadcast exclusively on Sky Sports Golf.
Free-to-air coverage is also broadcast on the Masters website, where viewers can watch every individual shot a few minutes after it happens and also catch rolling coverage of select groups and holes.
Radio coverage of the tournament in the UK will be on Talksport.
In previous years the Masters has been shown on free-to-air television in the UK, either live or as highlights. Last year, however, the BBC cut ties with the tournament completely.
Where is the Masters played?
The Masters is the only one of golf’s four majors that is played at the same course each year.
Augusta National Golf Club is in the north east of Georgia, close to the border with South Carolina. Augusta National is one of the most exclusive golf clubs in the world. There are understood to be only about 300 members, among them Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The only way to play the course is by invitation of a member.
There is a more pernicious side to the club’s exclusivity, though. Augusta did not permit an African American member until 1990, while there were no female members until 2012 when Condoleezza Rice joined.
What is the Masters prize money?
This year’s total purse is expected to be $18 million, the same as it was last year. The winner takes $3,240,000, with incrementally less prize money for each of the top 50 finishers.
The winner also get a replica of the official trophy (which never leaves the club). The champion golfer also receives a gold medal and, most coveted of all, a green jacket.
There are also trophies for finishing second, being the leading amateur golfer, recording the lowest score of the day, hitting a hole in one, hitting an eagle and hitting a double eagle.
How do players qualify for the Masters?
Technically speaking, players receive an invite to play in the Masters. Unlike the US Open or the Open Championship, there is no ‘open’ qualification process.
There are 20 different ways to make sure an envelope from Augusta drops through your letterbox. The simplest way is to be in the top 50 of the world rankings on January 1.
All previous Masters champions can play, should they choose to take up the invitation, as well as those players who finished in the top 12 of the previous year’s tournament.
Any player who won a major or a fully-sanctioned PGA Tour event the previous season will also book their place for Augusta. The same goes for any player who achieved a top-four finish in any of the previous season’s majors, while major winners secure their Masters berth for five years.
Any player in the world’s top 50 the week before the Masters who has not qualified by any other measure will also be invited. The Masters also reserves the right to invite wildcard players.
The rest of the field is made up of the winners of the amateur game’s most distinguished events. The Masters is a smaller field than the other three majors, with around 90 players usually in attendance.
Will LIV golfers be at the Masters?
Yes, but probably in lower numbers than last year. The main problem for LIV golfers is that tournaments on the breakaway circuit do not offer world ranking points, which are the route by which most players qualify for the Masters (see above).
Among the LIV golfers who will be at the 2024 Masters are Bryson DeChambeau (because he won the 2020 US Open), Cam Smith (who won the 2023 Open Championship), Brooks Koepka (who won the PGA Championship in 2019), Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Charl Schwartzel, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson (who are all previous Masters champions), Tyrrell Hatton and Adrian Meronk (who were in the world’s top 50 earlier this year) and Joaquin Niemann (who received a special invitation).
How do you get tickets for the Masters?
If you want at ticket for this year’s tournament, you’re well out of time. Tickets go on sale the previous year, and the application deadline expires in June. Tickets are allocated by ballot, with applicants told in July whether they have been successful.
A ticket for one of the three days of practice costs $100. A ticket for one of the tournament days is $140.
