Masters Schedule

Monday and Tuesday are the Practice Rounds where the pros play around the course and work on their game. The practice rounds (including Wednesday’s Par 3 contest) are the only time cameras are permitted on the course, so it’s a good opportunity to take some pictures of the event and see the pros in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Wednesday afternoon is the Par 3 contest, which is played on a separate 9-hole / par-27 course on the northeast corner of Augusta National. Players often have family members or even their children caddy for them during this contest. An interesting piece of trivia is that no player has ever won the Wednesday Par 3 contest and then gone on to win the Masters tournament itself in the same year. In fact, some players even consider it bad luck to win the Par 3 contest. For many years, arguably the three greatest golfers of their generation, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player would be grouped together to play the Par 3 contest.

On Thursday, the first tournament round begins with an honorary tee-off to start the competition. Last year the honorary starters were Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player.

Friday is the second tournament round. The first two rounds typically start around 8:00 a.m. and the full field of golfers are playing those days, usually in threesomes. After Friday’s competition, they cut the competition to only the top 50 scores (including ties) and/or any golfer within 10 strokes of the leader.

Rounds three and four on Saturday and Sunday start a little bit later in the morning (usually around 10:00 a.m.) and the players tee off in reverse order of their scores: the golfers furthest behind the leader tee off earlier, and the leaders tee off last.

On Sunday, the leaders usually tee off around 2:00-3:00 p.m. and the tournament normally finishes between 6:00-7:00 p.m. with the presentation of the green jacket to the winner. Typically Saturday and Sunday rounds are played with two players per group.