The Masters Tournament

The top golfers in the world will converge on Augusta National for the Masters, golf’s first major championship of 2023. With former Masters champions like Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson joining the Saudi-sponsored LIV Golf breakaway tour, the past year has been turbulent for the sport. 

Thursday, April 6, marks the official start of the tournament, and Sunday, April 9, marks the conclusion. However, when players show up to play practice rounds on Monday, preparations will get serious. An amusing Wednesday competition on the par-three course is a yearly tradition. A "curse" that has become part of tournament legend states that no player has ever won the Par-3 course and gone on to win the Masters.

The Augusta National Golf Club is situated in Georgia's northeastern region, not far from the Savannah River and South Carolina's border. One of the world's most exclusive and private golf clubs is Augusta National. There are only about 300 members, including Peyton Manning, Warren Buffet, and Bill Gates. The only way to play the course is on a member's invitation.

Masters Tournament History

Bobby Jones came up with the concept for Augusta National because he wanted to construct a golf course after quitting the sport. Clifford Roberts, who later took over as the club's chairman, provided him with advice. In Augusta, Georgia, they came across a plot of land, and Jones remarked:  "Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it." 

The area had been a plant nursery since 1857 and an indigo plantation in the early nineteenth century. The project started in 1931 after Jones hired Alister MacKenzie to assist with course design. Although MacKenzie passed away before the first Masters Tournament was played, the course was officially opened in 1933.

Horton Smith took home the $1,500 first prize after winning the inaugural "Augusta National Invitation Tournament," as the Masters were formerly known, on March 22, 1934. In 1939, the current name was chosen. The first competition was held with holes 10 through 18 as the first nine and 1 through 9 as the second nine; however, for the 1935 competition, the layout was permanently switched.

The initial field for the “Augusta National Invitation” was made up of Bobby Jones' close friends. Jones had asked the USGA to hold the U.S. Open at Augusta, but the USGA rejected the request, citing the challenging playing conditions that the hot Georgia summers would bring.

Gene Sarazen's double eagle on the par-5 15th hole in 1935 was known as the "shot heard round the world." This put Sarazen and Craig Wood in a tie, and Sarazen won the subsequent 36-hole playoff by five strokes. Due to World War II, the tournament was not played from 1943 to 1945. 

Recent Past

Jordan Spieth tied Tiger Woods' record for the highest 72-hole scoring in 2015, becoming the second-youngest winner (behind him) in just his second Masters. In a playoff, Sergio Garcia defeated Justin Rose in 2017 to win his first major championship after a long wait. Tiger Woods won the 2019 Masters, his first major championship since 2008 and his first victory at Augusta National in 14 years.

The 2020 Masters Tournament, which was initially slated to take place April 9–12, was moved to November due to the then-ongoing coronavirus outbreak. By a margin of five strokes, Dustin Johnson prevailed in the competition. Hideki Matsuyama won in 2021 with a one-stroke (3 under par) margin of victory. In 2022, Scottie Scheffler won by three strokes (10 under par).

Masters Tournament 2023 Schedule

Masters Tournament 2023 Course

Masters Tournament 2023 Field

Only those who have received an invitation may compete in the Masters Tournament, which also has the smallest field of all the major tournaments. Invitations are given based on a number of factors, such as past winners, recent major champions, top finishers in the majors the year prior, top players on the PGA Tour the year before, winners of full-point tournaments on the PGA Tour the year before, and top players in the Official World Golf Ranking.

After LIV Golf was introduced in 2022 and the PGA Tour responded by suspending players in the new series, there was media speculation that the exemption and qualification requirements for any major championships might change. Augusta National declared on December 20, 2022, that the Masters Tournament's current requirements would not change and that qualified LIV players would be invited.

Players who have qualified for Masters 2023

The 2023 Masters field includes the golfers listed below who have already met the requirements for invitations:

• Abraham Ancer

• Sam Bennett, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns

• Patrick Cantlay, a-Ben Carr, Cameron Champ, Corey Conners, Fred Couples, Harrison Crowe

• Bryson DeChambeau

• Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, Tony Finau, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Ryan Fox

• Sergio Garcia, Talor Gooch

• Brian Harman, Tyrrell Hatton, Russell Henley, Kazuki Higa, Tom Hoge, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Viktor Hovland, Mackenzie Hughes

• Sungjae Im

• Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson

• Si Woo Kim, Tom Kim, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Kurt Kitayama, Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak

• Bernhard Langer, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Shane Lowry, Sandy Lyle

• Hideki Matsuyama, a-Matthew McClean, Rory McIlroy, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Larry Mize, Francesco Molinari, Collin Morikawa

• Kevin Na, Joaquin Niemann, Alex Noren

• Jose Maria Olazabal, Louis Oosthuizen

• Mito Pereira, Thomas Pieters, J.T. Poston, a-Aldrich Potgieter, Seamus Power

• Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose

• Gordon Sargent, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Cameron Smith, Jordan Spieth, Scott Stallings, Sepp Straka, Adam Svensson

• Sahith Theegala, Justin Thomas

• Harold Varner III

• Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Danny Willett, Aaron Wise, Gary Woodland, Tiger Woods

• Cameron Young

• Will Zalatoris

Masters Tournament Winners List

Since the Masters Tournament began in 1934, the winner's list includes 86 Masters winners through 2022 (excluding 1943-1945, due to World War II), but there are more repetitions than the total of 86 golfers. 17 golfers have 45 victories to their names, which are listed below.

1. 6, Jack Nicklaus, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986

2. 5, Tiger Woods, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2019

3. 4, Arnold Palmer, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964

4. 3, Jimmy Demaret, 1940, 1947, 1950

5. 3, Sam Snead, 1949, 1952, 1954

6. 3, Gary Player, 1961, 1974, 1978

7. 3, Nick Faldo, 1989, 1990, 1996

8. 3, Phil Mickelson, 2004, 2006, 2010

9. 2, Horton Smith, 1934, 1936

10. 2, Byron Nelson, 1937, 1942

11. 2, Ben Hogan, 1951, 1953

12. 2, Tom Watson, 1977, 1981

13. 2, Seve Ballesteros, 1980, 1983

14. 2, Bernhard Langer, 1985, 1993

15. 2, Ben Crenshaw, 1984, 1995

16. 2, Jose Maria Olazabal, 1994, 1999

17. 2, Bubba Watson, 2012, 2014

Masters Tournament 2023 Broadcasting Details

The Masters Tournament 2023 will be broadcast on ESPN and CBS in the United States. On the first few days, Augusta is quite strict about how much coverage they allow, with full coverage beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. 

More coverage will be provided throughout the weekend. The global broadcast window opens at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday and 6.30 p.m. on Sunday, with some coverage beginning as early as 3 p.m.