Masters ceremonial tee shot 2023: When will the first shot be taken?

The 2023 Masters starts on Thursday, April 6, at 7.40 a.m. A total of 90 players are invited to compete against each other for the prestigious green jacket.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson, who have 11 green jackets amongst them, will his the Masters ceremonial tee shot will take place at 7.40 a.m.

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History of Masters ceremonial tee shots

The historic Masters ceremonial tee shots date back to 1963. Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod were the first to get an incite at the Augusta National Golf Club for honorary starts.

The duo continued to start the tournament for nearly a decade. They used to play a round of nine or 18 holes before withdrawing to start off the tournament. McLeod served in the position as an honorary starter until 1976, while Hutchison held it until 1973.

After 1976 the Augusta Masters saw a four-year break from this tradition until 1981. Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen were invited as the new honorary starters. Nelson skipped the 1983 ceremonial tee shot to attend to his sick wife Louise.

That year, Ken Venturi, a two-time Masters runner-up, stepped in for Sarazen. Sam Snead eventually joined the ensemble in 1984. Sarazen was an honorary starter on the last occasion in this group in 1999, and he passed away four months afterwards.

Byron Nelson continued till 2001 and Sam Snead till 2002. Later that year, between 2003 and 2006, the Masters again saw a halt to this tradition.

The tradition resumed with Arnold Palmer, who was considered the most charismatic golfer of his time, taking over the duties in 2007. He continued alone before Jack Nicklaus joined him in 2010.

Just two years later, Gary Player joined them to reform the 'Big Three' as an honorary starter.

Later on, in 2021, Lee Elder joined Nicklaus and Player to hit the Masters ceremonial tee. In 2022, Tom Watson replace Elder to become the new honorary starter.

Nicklaus, Player, and Watson are set to reprise their roles in Masters 2023 as well.

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Round 1 tee timing for Masters 2023

The first round of the 87th edition of the Masters tournament will take place on April 6, Thursday. Here are the tee timings and pairing of round 1,

• 07:40 a.m. Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson (Honorary starters)
• 08:00 a.m. - Mike Weir, Kevin Na
• 08:12 a.m. - Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Matthew McClean
• 08:24 a.m. - Sandy Lyle, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
• 08:36 a.m. - Fred Couples, Russell Henley, Alex Noren
• 08:48 a.m. - Adrian Meronk, Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen
• 09:00 a.m. - Larry Mize, Min Woo Lee, Harrison Crowe
• 09:12 a.m. - Sergio Garcia, Kazuki Higa, Keith Mitchell
• 09:24 a.m. - Patrick Reed, Adam Svensson, Sahith Theegala
• 09:36 a.m. - Shane Lowry, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters
• 09:48 a.m. - Bubba Watson, Seamus Power, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
• 10:06 a.m. - Abraham Ancer, Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
• 10:18 a.m. - Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
• 10:30 a.m. - Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama
• 10:42 a.m. - Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young
• 10:54 a.m. - Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im
• 11:06 a.m. - Jose Maria Olazabal, Cameron Champ
• 11:18 a.m. - Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Moore, Aldrich Potgieter
• 11:30 a.m. - J. T. Poston, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau
• 11:42 a.m. - Bernhard Langer, Mito Pereira, Ben Carr
• 11:54 a.m. - Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka
• 12:12 p.m. - Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, Kyoung-Hoon Lee
• 12:24 p.m. - Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
• 12:36 p.m. - Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox
• 12:48 p.m. - Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Gordon Sargent
• 01:00 p.m. - Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
• 01:12 p.m. - Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose
• 01:24 p.m. - Matthew Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
• 01:36 p.m. - Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett
• 01:48 p.m. - Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
• 02:00 p.m. - Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau