The First Look: Masters Tournament

The first full week in April is defined by traditions. It doesn’t matter if you’re a pimento cheese or egg salad person, whether your favorite par-3 is Golden Bell or Redbud or you’ve been a patron or just a couch-sitting fan for years and years. The Masters is a special week for everyone.

Set on the site of a former plant nursery, Augusta National was purchased by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts in 1931, and Jones knew right away the land was special.

“And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course on it,” Jones said upon observing the land for the first time.

In a nod to its history, each hole at Augusta National is named after a distinctive plant. The golf course has changed over the years – and again for 2023 with a new tee on the par-5 13th among the modifications – but it still provides a unique test with its wide fairways and dramatic contours that give players space to exercise their creativity.

It's a Tradition Unlike Any Other, and it’s time for the first major championship of the PGA TOUR season.

FIELD NOTES: Scottie Scheffler looks to become the first player to go back-to-back at Augusta National since Tiger Woods in 2001-02… Speaking of Woods, he’s back in action. The five-time green jacket winner made the cut at The Genesis Invitational, shooting two under-par rounds to finish T45 at Riviera. His third-round 67 there is his lowest score since his comeback from his car accident. The Masters will mark his second start of the year… Rory McIlroy returns to Augusta National after a runner-up last year that was highlighted by an epic hole-out on the 72nd hole and a final-round 64… Eighty-eight players will tee it up at Augusta National, including Corey Conners, fresh off his victory at the Valero Texas Open. The Canadian is one of two players to finish in the top 10 the last three years in a row at the Masters… There will be 16 Masters debutants this year, highlighted by Tom Kim (twice a winner on TOUR last year), Kurt Kitayama, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and Sahith Theegala, who made his way into the TOUR Championship last season… PGA TOUR Champions regulars who also own a green jacket and are set to return to Augusta for 2023 including Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Fred Couples and Mike Weir… It’s the 20th anniversary of Weir’s win, and the 10th anniversary for Adam Scott… Aaron Wise announced he would be withdrawing from the Masters field this year as part of an ongoing commitment to working on his mental health… The 1987 (Larry Mize) and 1988 (Sandy Lyle) champions have both said this will be their final Masters.

NOTABLE ADDITIONS: Gordon Sargent, the reigning NCAA champion, and Kazuki Higa, a six-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour (including four times in 2022), were extended special invitations to participate in this year’s Masters. Sargent is the first amateur to accept a special invitation to the Masters since Aaron Baddeley in 2000. Sargent, a sophomore at Vanderbilt, has the second-most points in PGA TOUR University’s Accelerated program. He has 13 points, one less than Michael Thorbjornsen, and will earn PGA TOUR status if he can attain at least 20 by the end of his junior season. Sargent will receive one point for teeing it up at Augusta National and another point for making the cut. He’ll earn two additional points if he can crack the top 20… Sam Bennett of Texas A&M and Ben Carr of Georgia Southern are in the field as finalists at the U.S. Amateur. Bennett topped Carr, 1-up, in the final. Bennett is No. 4 in PGA TOUR University, while Carr ranks 21st… Harrison Crowe (Asia-Pacific Amateur), Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (Latin America Amateur), Aldrich Potgieter (British Amateur), and Matthew McClean (U.S. Mid-Amateur) round out the non-professional contingent. Fernandez de Oliveira is 14th in PGA TOUR University. Players in the top 10 of PGA TOUR University earn Korn Ferry Tour status, while Nos. 11-20 get status on PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamerica… Ryan Fox, a three-time winner on the DP World Tour, earned a spot in the Masters for the first time thanks to finishing in the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of last year, ditto Adrian Meronk. Meronk, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, was the first golfer from Poland to win on that circuit… Taylor Moore and Adam Svensson join Tom Kim and Kurt Kitayama as first-time PGA TOUR winners who are making their Masters debuts this year.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 FedExCup points.

COURSE: Augusta National Golf Club, par 72, 7,545 yards. The iconic Georgia layout saw a significant change for 2023, as the par-5 13th has been lengthened. Part of Amen Corner at the Alistair MacKenzie/Bobby Jones design, the 13th hole’s length has been increased by 35 yards to 545 for this year. The added distance is set to dissuade golfers from cutting the corner and challenging them with longer clubs for their approaches. The hole’s scoring average was just 4.83 last year – one of the easiest on the course. Augusta National lengthened the par-5 15th prior to 2022 and after that, no eagles were made on the hole for the first time since 1966. With the added length to No. 13, the back nine will now play to 3,780 yards. The 7,545 total yardage makes this year’s Augusta National the longest in tournament’s history.

STORYLINES:

1. WHAT WILL TIGER DO?

We rarely see Tiger Woods tee it up on the PGA TOUR these days, but when he does, it’s always a big question of how his body will hold up. Woods has long said he doesn’t enter events if he doesn’t think he can win, and all signs are pointing to his preparation as soon as the final putt dropped at The Genesis Invitational to be focused on this week in Georgia. Woods has never missed the cut at the Masters and while he may no longer be physically able to do the same things he’s always done, mentally he's just as motivated as ever to try to capture a sixth green jacket. This is the 25th Masters appearance for Woods, whose five victories trail only Jack Nicklaus’ six.

2. CAN RORY WIN THE GRAND SLAM

Rory McIlroy couldn’t have been more excited leaving the Masters a year ago. His dramatic bunker hole-out on the final hole has made every highlight reel around the world, and his closing 64 tied for the lowest final-round score in Masters history. It was too little, too late, however, as Scottie Scheffler didn’t open the door to his chasers in 2022. McIlroy rode the momentum from his Masters finish to his record-setting third FedExCup. Now he’s aiming for the career Grand Slam. He has finished in the top 10 six times in his previous eight trips around Augusta National, with a lone missed cut in 2021.

3. UNSTOPPABLE SCOTTIE?

Scottie Scheffler arrives at Augusta National as the only player other than Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus to hold the Masters and THE PLAYERS titles concurrently. And he is on a similar streak to the one he was on entering last year’s Masters. He successfully defended his title at the WM Phoenix Open and almost did so at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (T4). Then he won THE PLAYERS and, in his title defense at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, he advanced to the semifinals. Just as he did last year, Scheffler will arrive at the Masters as the No. 1 player in the world.

72-HOLE RECORD: 268, Dustin Johnson (2020)

18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Nick Price (3rd round, 1986), Greg Norman (1st round, 1996)

LAST TIME: Scottie Scheffler continued his fantastic start to 2022 by winning for the fourth time in three months and capturing his first major championship title at the Masters. Scheffler, whose only stumble came on the 72nd hole when he took four putts from 40 feet to win the tournament, closed with a 1-under 71 to win by three. Only 56 days prior to Scheffler’s Masters triumph the affable Texan was still searching for his first TOUR title. Rory McIlroy finished runner-up after holing out from the bunker on the par-4 18th for a record-tying final round of 64. Scheffler started the day with a three-shot lead, but his playing partner Sunday, Cam Smith, made two straight birdies to cut the deficit to one. However, Scheffler pitched in for an unlikely birdie on No. 3. It became a two-shot swing after Smith made bogey. Scheffler finished at 10 under for the week. Smith and Shane Lowry finished tied for third at 5 under, while Collin Morikawa – who played with McIlroy in the final round and also holed out from the same bunker on No. 18 – finished fifth at 4 under.

HOW TO FOLLOW:

Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN); Saturday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS)

Radio: Thursday-Sunday, 2 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (CBS Radio; Sirius 208, XM 92)

Stream: Various, available for viewers in the U.S. only via Masters.com (Starting times include: Thursday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. ET)

Editor's note: Augusta National, which owns and operates the Masters Tournament, controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights to this event. PGA TOUR LIVE coverage will resume next week at RBC Heritage