Masters start times and pairings confirmed as Rory McIlroy learns his two partners
The 2026 Masters gets underway on Thursday, and pairings for the first two rounds have been confirmed.
Rory McIlroy has been grouped alongside Cameron Young and Mason Howell for the first two rounds of his title defence at the Masters. McIlroy finally ascended to the pantheon of golfing Grand Slam greats by getting his hands on a Green Jacket last year.
And the Northern Irishman will be playing alongside Young and amateur Mason Howell when the action gets underway at Augusta on Thursday. McIlroy is on the early-late side of the draw and will tee off at 10.31am local time, which is 3.31pm UK time, on Thursday.
The 36-year-old joined Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in an elite group of golfers to have won every major with a play-off victory against Justin Rose at last year's event. While Young will be looking to become the third successive player to win The Players and the Masters in the same season.
A field of 91 players are scheduled to contest the opening major of the year. Current world No.1 Scottie Scheffler is on the opposite side of the draw and has been partnered with Robert MacIntyre and Gary Woodland.
They will tee off at 1.44pm local time, 6.44pm UK time, while last year's runner-up Justin Rose will be with Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth, and they will begin their round slightly earlier, beginning at 1.20pm local time, which is 6.20pm UK time.
Bryson DeChambeau, meanwhile, goes out at 10.07am local time, 3.07pm UK time, with Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick, while Shane Lowry will play alongside Dustin Johnson and Jason Day.
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Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson will return for the Honorary Starters ceremony on Thursday morning at 7.25am local time, 12.25pm UK time, ahead of John Keefer and Haotong Li getting the opening round under way 15 minutes later
Tommy Fleetwood will get his bid for his first maiden major title underway with Akshay Bhatia and Patrick Reed. The trio are set to tee off at 2.55pm local time.
Since Phil Mickelson won his third green jacket in 2010, there have been only three champions who are multiple winners: Bubba Watson (2014), Woods (2019) and Scheffler, which is why McIlroy is relaxed about his defence.
Coverage of The Masters gets underway on April 9 and golf fans can watch it live with Sky's Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle.
This includes 135 channels, nine from Sky Sports, plus HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu.
He said: “This is going to be the first time I drive down Magnolia Lane and it’s all going to be about enjoying my week, enjoying the perks that come along with being a Masters champion.
“The thing is I know I get to go back to the Masters tournament for the rest of my life and that’s quite a freeing feeling.
“I honestly think that I’ve done it once and it’s not as if I have to win it again to win the Grand Slam.
“I think it was sort of two things won; I obviously wanted to win the Masters so badly but then obviously at the same time knowing what the Masters would give me and the people that it would put me alongside.
“So I think now going to win the Masters just to win the Masters is a nice thing but I think that I’ve won it once and I feel like that will make it a bit easier for me to win again.”
