The world’s best golfers are converging on Augusta National Golf Club for the 2025 Masters, which gets underway this week.
The season’s first major is a rite of passage and serves as an unofficial kickoff to the golf season in most of the United States, with viewers flocking to television sets and those with the highly coveted badges roaming the historic grounds of Augusta during tournament week.
If you’re looking to get your golf fix, want to know more about the tournament’s participants and how golfers actually qualify, we have all of that information right here.
When is the Masters tournament?
The first round of the 2025 Masters will get underway on Thursday, April 10 and will continue through the final round on Sunday, April 13.
How to watch the Masters
The first two rounds of the tournament will air on ESPN and ESPN Deportes beginning at 2 p.m. Central time on Thursday and Friday, with coverage running through 6:30 p.m.
Sports
Subscribers to ESPN+ can get livestreams of featured groups, along with specific sections of the golf course including the iconic “Amen Corner,” which features holes 11-13.
That coverage will air during live play on all four days of the tournament.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
Coverage of the final two rounds of the tournament on Saturday and Sunday will be expanded for 2025, and will get underway at 1 p.m. Central time and will continue through the conclusion of each round on CBS, which according to Golf Digest is airing the tournament for the 70th consecutive year.
On both Saturday and Sunday, Paramount+ will stream exclusive coverage of the tournament from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a first for the streaming service.
Who is the defending champion at the event?
Scottie Scheffler returns to Augusta as the defending champion, capturing his second green jacket in three tries when he won the 2024 event.
The No. 1-ranked player in the world, Scheffler is coming off a season where he picked up top-10 finishes at the PGA Championship and the Open Championship, along with a victory at the Players Championship. In all, he won seven events in the 2024 season, and finished atop the PGA TOUR’s money list.
Are there other former champions in the field?
Winners of the Masters receive a lifetime exemption in the tournament, though many have stopped playing in the tournament as the course has become longer and more difficult.
Jon Rahm, the 2023 winner, headlines a field that includes more than a dozen former champions. That list will not include Tiger Woods, who recently underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon.
Two-time winners Bubba Watson, José María Olazábal, and Bernhard Langer are all in the field, as is three-time champion Phil Mickelson, who last won in 2010.
Angel Cabrera, who won the 2009 tournament, is in the field for the first time since being convicted on charges in Argentina and was sentenced to a prison term.
Fred Couples, who won the 1992 Masters, is in the field, as are former champions Sergio Garcia (2017), Danny Willett (2016), Jordan Spieth (2015), Vijay Singh (2000), Adam Scott (2013), Dustin Johnson (2020), Zach Johnson (2007), Patrick Reed (2021), Charl Schwartzel (2011), Mike Weir (2003), and Hideki Matsuyama (2021).
How do players qualify for the Masters tournament?
There are a total of 20 ways to qualify for the Masters tournament, according to Augusta National Golf Club.
Masters winners get a lifetime invitation to the tournament. Winning the U.S. Open, the Open Championship or the PGA Championship earns participants a five-year invite, while winners of the Players Championship receive a three-year invitation.
The Olympic gold medalist gets an invite, as do the winner and runner-up in the U.S. Amateur of the previous year (if they retain amateur status). The winners of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, the Latin American Amateur, and the U.S. Mid-Amateur all get invites, as does the reigning winner of the NCAA Division I men’s individual championship.
Top-four finishers of the previous year’s other three majors all receive invites, as do the top-12 finishers in the previous year’s Masters.
Winners of most PGA TOUR events receive invitations, as do all 30 golfers who qualify for the TOUR Championship at the end of the season.
Finally, the Top-50 players on the Official Golf World Ranking make the field, as do the Top-50 golfers at the end of the previous calendar year.
