It was only in 1963 that this Masters tradition began, and it is only relatively recently that it was past champions given the honour, but three golfing greats have officially got proceedings underway with the ceremonial tee shot. Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson have belted (or, at least, caressed elegantly) their ball in the direction of the first fairway – we are up and underway.

Some former Masters champions are in the opening few groups. Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal (1994, 1999), Argentina’s Angel Carrera (2009) South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel (2011) and Fiji’s Vijay Singh (2000) all return to Augusta.

12:40 John Keefer (US), Haotong Li (Chn)

12:50 Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Max Homa (US), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)

13:02 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Aldrich Potgieter (SA)

13:14 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Sami Valimaki (Fin), Jackson Herrington (US*)

13:26 Charl Schwartzel (SA), Max Greyserman (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)

13:38 Vijay Singh (Fij), Matt McCarty (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)

It’s a lovely morning at Augusta, the morning dew just starting to burn off with temperatures rising up into the low 20s today. It’ll be a little warmer over the weekend, while forecast winds should further dry out the surfaces. It could be a tough weekend on firm and fast greens - it’s nine years since our last winner in single figures (Sergio Garcia at -9), but we could be in that sort of territory here.

Augusta National really is a special place – as Ed Malyon details after a stroll around the immaculate course yesterday:

Here is a look at the round-one pin locations.

The left pin on three could see a few players decide to lay up rather than go for the green on that short par-four. The 15th looks tricky too – any tee shot down the left will be blocked out by trees. Twelve is right in the heart of the green, where most players tend to aim, so perhaps we’ll see some birdies there.

One of the great sights of every Masters is the ceremonial tee-off. With 11 green jackets between then, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson will return to Augusta and have the honour of opening this year’s tournament.

Patrick Reed feels like a renewed force.

The 2018 Masters champion has spent the last four years playing on the LIV Golf Tour having resigned from the PGA Tour in June 2022 before making a turnaround in January of this year and announcing his return to America’s main tour card.

He is eligible to return for invitational events from late August this year and on a full-time basis in 2027 due to his past champion status.

Since leaving LIV, Reed has played on the DP World Tour in Europe and has won twice and finished second in three tournaments since the start of the year.

His form, plus his previous results at Augusta National, is also a huge factor into why he is being marked as a contender for this week’s first major of the season.

Augusta is expecting warmer weather than usual this week - will a firmer course lead to lower scoring? Here’s what the defending champion thinks.

“I think this week is going to be dry, already it’s a little windy, and the course is already firming up,” Rory McIlroy said yesterday.

“If the conditions continue to be the way they are, double digits under par would be an amazing score.

“It’s not going to be a low-scoring Masters and that’s going to be fun for everyone.”

Fans in the UK can watch The Masters on Sky Sports, with coverage underway from 2pm BST on Thursday.

Featured Group action and updates around the course are available on Sky Sports Golf until 6pm BST, when the global broadcast window opens up. That time is brought forward at the weekend, for rounds three and four, at 5pm BST.

Sky Sports+ will have live coverage of the Featured Holes/Amen Corner from 3:45pm BST on Thursday and Friday, 5pm BST on Saturday and 4:45pm BST on Sunday.

Fans can subscribe to Sky, or use Now TV with a day or month pass.

Justin Rose insists the Masters does not owe him anything after a number of near-misses at Augusta National.

The Englishman lost out to Rory McIlroy in a play-off a year ago, his third second-place finish at the tournament and his second to a Ryder Cup teammate after being edged out by Sergio Garcia at an extra hole in 2017.

Rose also has four other Masters top-10s but he insists the experience has not scarred him, even if he said having a ringside seat to see McIlroy win the green jacket and complete the career grand slam was “surreal” and “a little bit deja vu”.

“I’m very aware that I’ve been close here,” he said. “I’m very aware that I’ve had tough, tough losses here.

“I also am aware that I enjoy this place so I don’t want to feel that those three second-place finishes need to create a different sort of feeling for me.

“I don’t feel like it owes me anything. I hope it only boosts my belief I can go ahead and do it. I just haven’t walked over the line. I feel like I’ve executed well enough to have done the job.”