What happened Thursday and Friday at the 2024 Masters

Great news. We now know the official start time for this year's Masters after those forecast thunderstorm delays.

• The first round will begin at 10.30am ET (3.30pm BST) off the first tee.
• The Honorary Starters Ceremony will take place 20 minutes earlier, from 10.10am (3.10pm).

The good news for those at Augusta is that the gates will open at 9.30am ET.

Scottie Scheffler arrives at Augusta as the strong favourite to win a second green jacket after his first victory in 2022. He admitted feeling confident after wins this season in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill and the Players' Championship at Sawgrass.

Here's what he said leading up to today's first round:

💬 "I'm excited about how I've been playing to begin this year. I had two nice wins which was a bunch of fun. It's just one of those deals where all I'm trying to do is put myself in contention for the tournament and hopefully finish it off.

"(Looking into the future) does not really occupy my thoughts day to day. I'm an extremely competitive person, I like competing out here and hopefully I'll be out here competing for a long, long time."

The 27-year-old also touched on his 2022 triumph:

💬 "It was a good experience. It was a ton of fun to be able to win here and sometimes I still can't believe it myself walking into that champions' locker room.

"To me, it's just a special place. It's the Mecca for us growing up here in the States. Being Americans, this is the tournament we all look for and to be every year is extremely special. It all stands out, everything is done so well here.

"It's just a joy to play this tournament."

💬 Jon Rahm: “I had heard from other players, a few Masters champions and a few that have won other majors. They said there's something different, something special when you win this one and I can confirm it is absolutely true. The jump from no majors to (winning the) US Open was smaller than what it was from the US Open to the Masters.

“It is the biggest tournament in the world, with no offense to anything else. It's probably the most followed by people that don't even play golf. That's what makes the difference, where your notoriety goes up a bit.

“But it's also the tradition, right? By being the only venue, we keep coming back year after year. All the traditions. All the shots. All the stories. They make it so, so special.

“In my case, last year being Seve Ballesteros' birthday, Easter and all the many coincidences to happen on that Sunday, is what made it so special.

“Obviously all the family moments at the end were great but I still have a picture where I'm holding my son and I'm giving a hug to my dad, my son is between us and just to see that moment of me and my dad having my son, it was quite special. That's why I say it's hard to put it into words; I really can't describe it.”

What is it like and what does it mean to win the Masters?

The most recent player to experience that feeling is the reigning champion, Jon Rahm, and he spoke beautifully on the subject ahead of his return to Augusta.

Rather than attempting to paraphrase his words, they will follow in here for you all in a moment.

Wednesday's Par 3 tournament may have been won by Rickie Fowler - well done him - but the highlights reel was owned by someone a fair bit younger.

Step forward Dakota Watson, daughter of former Masters champion Bubba Watson. She tucked away three delicious puts on her way round that dad would've been proud to muster for himself. All in front of a significant crowd.

Remember the name.

💬 Bob N: “First timers have NO chance at winning at Augusta.”

💬 Anon: “Golfers build up Augusta National as the Mecca of golf. In a certain sense that is understandable. But it also makes it harder for a first-time player at the Masters to perform at their highest level because they are in such awe of the place.

“Scottie Scheffler still has some mental issues with his putting. If he can chase those demons away he is definitely a favorite. I also expect John Rahm and Brooks Koepka to be in the mix. All these guys are experienced and battle tested. My dark horse is Hideki Matsuyama, he's done it before and he's got a win this year at Riviera, a quality golf course.”

💬 Jules P: “I can’t see past Scottie Scheffler for this one. He already has a jacket and will be playing without pressure. Compare that to Rory McIlroy who always looks as though he arrives at Augusta with the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

We’ll have plenty for you through our comprehensive Masters 2024 coverage over the coming four days - but I also want to open the floor to you. Whether it’s:

• Your picks to shine around Augusta
• The subplots you’ll be keeping a close eye on
• The questions you love an answer for
• Anything else!

You can email us your thoughts for our consideration and inclusion. Simply email them to: [email protected]

I’ll keep my eyes on the inbox and in the meantime, we've got some of the early thoughts of our subscribers on the way.

Good day from The Athletic HQ. This is Michael Bailey, here to steer us through the build-up to the start of the 2024 Masters at Augusta National.

That start is weather-allowing, of course. We will keep you up to date on exactly when the action will begin after this year's tournament was delayed due to forecast thunderstorms.

We’ll have plenty for you in the meantime so stay tuned. We’ve got you covered from here.

As it stands, LIV players’ entry to the Masters is mostly limited to past major success. The only way for a LIV player to land a spot is by holding past champion status at Augusta (lifetime) or another major (five-year exemption) or finishing in the top four of a previous year’s major.

While individual winners of full-point PGA Tour events are awarded Masters invitations, LIV winners are not. And while PGA Tour players can accumulate Official World Golf Rankings points based on their finishes, LIV is not recognized by the OWGR and not awarded points.

That means that only 13 LIV golfers will be teeing it up at Augusta today, down from 18 last year. Jon Rahm, last year’s champion, is in attendance, along with fellow former winners Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson.

The much-fancied Joaquin Niemann also received an invite, while Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk and Cameron Smith all fall into at least one of the exemption categories.

While 13 of the 89 players in this year’s Masters field are members of LIV Golf, including defending champion Jon Rahm, five of the top 10 finishers in the 2023 LIV standings will spend this week at home as Augusta National Golf Club wrestles with questions of access to its field amid professional golf’s divide.

While the pathway is clear for PGA Tour players, it remains limited for those on LIV.

Furthermore, that dynamic doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon. Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley was noncommittal yesterday when asked about potential criteria being created specifically for the Saudi Arabian-owned tour.

“I think it will be difficult to establish any type of point system that had any connection to the rest of the world of golf because they’re basically, not totally, but for the most part, a closed shop,” Ridley said at his annual Masters news conference.

The last time Rickie Fowler teed it up at Augusta was during the November Masters in 2020. Fowler played well at the Masters in the past — he has three top-10 finishes including a runner-up result in 2018. Last year, Fowler ascended back to the forefront of the pro golf scene, winning at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, his first victory since the 2019 Phoenix Open. He was back in the final group on Sunday at the U.S. Open before finishing T5 and made the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Fowler is currently trying to rekindle that magic. In 2024, he’s played eight events, making six cuts but zero finishes in the top 25. His negative strokes gained off the tee (171st on tour), approaching the green (146th) and putting (120th) are concerning at a golf course like Augusta.

Rickie Fowler wasn’t having any talk of the par-three ‘curse’ after his victory yesterday.

“The Par-3 contest is something special,” he said. “You know, the tradition of the Masters and being able to go out there, and now being able to spend it with my family.

“Been around plenty of the little kids over the years but a little different when we have our own out there.”

Play had initially been scheduled to start at 8am ET (1pm BST). Erik van Rooyen, Jake Knapp were the first players due to tee it up.

The honorary starters — Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson — had been scheduled to take their shots from 7.40am ET (12.40pm BST).

But all of that will be delayed, with Augusta confirming the 2024 Masters will not start until 9am ET (2pm BST) at the earliest.

The first round of the 2024 Masters has been delayed.

Augusta National have just said in a short statement: “We continue to monitor the weather closely. Gate openings and tee times have been delayed until further notice. The first round will not begin before 9am.”