The Masters 2020: Live updates

Play resumed at the opening round of the Masters around 10:22 a.m. Thursday, after a rain delay of about three hours. The unusual autumn major championship had barely gotten underway at Augusta National Golf Club before it was halted, and the delay will prevent the first round from finishing on Thursday. Both defending champion Tiger Woods and pre-tournament favorite Bryson DeChambeau teed off shortly after play resumed. Follow along for live updates.

Defending champion Tiger Woods was 1 under par through four holes at the Masters. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

What you need to know

• How to watch: Thursday’s first round will be televised by ESPN from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. Masters.com and the Masters app began streaming coverage early Thursday morning. Full broadcast and streaming details for all four days can be found here.
• Scheduled round 1 tee times, plus explanations of other twists that make this a Masters unlike any other, can be found here.
• Only nine golfers had recorded scores before play was halted while a few others were on their first holes of the day. Anyone who did not tee off before the stoppage will have their tee times delayed exactly three hours, and the first round almost certainly will be completed on Friday.
• The live leader board can be found here. At 12:40 p.m., Lee Westwood and Paul Casey shared the lead at 4 under par.

12:20 PM: Tiger Woods notches his first birdie of the first round

After starting the tournament with three straight pars, defending Masters champion Tiger Woods carded his first birdie of the day at the par-5 13th hole.

After finding the second cut of rough with his tee shot, Woods could only find the front edge of his green with his approach. His 45-footer for eagle was close enough, and Woods tapped in for his first birdie of the tournament.

Getting through Amen Corner at 1 under par will put a spring in anyone’s step, but Woods’s next tee shot at No. 14 went left into the woods.

By: Matt Bonesteel

12:01 PM: Bryson DeChambeau finds trouble at his first par 5

© Jamie Squire/Getty Images
It’s been a rough start for Bryson DeChambeau.

Bryson DeChambeau’s first par 5 was one of the more anticipated tee shots of Thursday’s first round, with the golf world waiting to see just how far the bulked-up U.S. Open champion would clobber the ball down the fairway at the 510-yard 13th hole (he started on the back nine). But things went immediately awry for the PGA Tour’s driving distance leader, his tee shot going into the pine straw down the right side.

Things only got worse from there. DeChambeau hit his second shot into the bushes behind the green, and his provisional from the pine straw found a tributary of Rae’s Creek (it was his second provisional of the day). So began a search for DeChambeau’s ball.

Forced to drop, DeChambeau flubbed his chip only a few feet forward. By the end of the hole, DeChambeau had carded a double-bogey 7. He was the first player (of 14 to finish the hole) who made a score over par at No. 13. That made the tournament favorite 2 over par through four holes. DeChambeau did, however, recover with birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 to get back to even par.

Still, a double bogey on a par 5 is an ominous sign. Fox Sports’ Shane Bacon notes that no Masters winner has carded a 7 on a par 5 since 1972, when Jack Nicklaus double-bogeyed the par-5 15th in the second round.

By: Matt Bonesteel

11:45 AM: Masters golfers won’t see the blooms, but they will really miss hearing the roars

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Among the missing at this unique Masters: blooms on the azaleas, ropes to rein in the crowds, lines for pimento cheese sandwiches, roars that rattle through the Loblolly pines, buzz around the putting green, business under the clubhouse’s 150-year-old oak tree, kids caddying at the Par 3 Contest and, come Sunday at sundown, anyone remaining on the course at Augusta National Golf Club because the tuh-na-mint, as they say in these parts, will have wrapped up hours earlier.

Take one of those essential elements away, and maybe no one would notice. Swipe them all, turn an event that normally signifies the arrival of spring into an appetizer for Thanksgiving, and the 2020 Masters will have an entirely unprecedented feel, a pandemic-enforced flavor and visuals all its own.

“I don’t know if it’s the look that I’ll miss,” said Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, again one of the pre-tournament favorites, “or if it’s the atmosphere. It’s the buzz; it’s the excitement; it’s the anticipation.”

The stakes are the same. The vibe just isn’t. The visuals in person are so striking, it’s hard to say where to start. The azaleas that line, among other places, the 13th hole would be an obvious choice. But there have been springs where that hasn’t happened, too. So where else?

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By: Barry Svrluga

11:04 AM: At the Masters, Tiger Woods walks in two worlds: Yarn-spinning legend and defending champ

© Mike Segar/Reuters
Tiger Woods on his appearance this week at the Masters: “Do I expect to contend? Yes, I do.” (Mike Segar/Reuters)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — He is both a legend who can sit in a rocking chair at Augusta National Golf Club telling stories about late icons no longer with us and the defending champion of the Masters. Tiger Woods simultaneously walks in both worlds. His surgically repaired body limits him. His unparalleled mind opens all possibilities. A quarter-century after his first Masters, he is here both as a contender and a curiosity who conjures the simplest question: Can he do it one more time?

“Do I expect to contend?” Woods said Tuesday. “Yes, I do.”

Simple and succinct, as almost all of his answers have been for 25 years.

What we have here with Woods, though, is a leading man in transition, and it’s impossible to pin down where he is on his own arc. He began his Tuesday news conference at Augusta recalling two events. The first was last year’s victory, his fifth Masters title and 15th major, a memory at which he teared up — pretournament moistness that would have been unimaginable from the autotron of most of the 2000s. The second was a joyful recounting of his debut here as a 19-year-old Stanford freshman — “a little punk college student,” he said — playing a practice round with none other than Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, 10 green jackets between them.

Woods began his first round shortly before 11 a.m. on Thursday.

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By: Barry Svrluga

10:41 AM: Bryson DeChambeau, with a scientist’s mind in a linebacker’s body, takes on Augusta National

© Charles Krupa/AP
Bryson DeChambeau captured his first major in September at the U.S. Open. (Charles Krupa/AP)

The most peculiar of Masters weeks boasts the most peculiar of leading men, a character who looks at the vast splendor of Augusta National Golf Club and sees not a canvas upon which to paint but a math problem that must be solved. Bryson DeChambeau’s nickname is “The Scientist,” but that’s really more than just a cute moniker. It’s not a role he’s playing. It’s who he is.

“He always had the brain of a scientist,” said Jodi Cooley, the director of the undergraduate physics program at Southern Methodist University when DeChambeau was a student there.

“He and I used to joke that he had taught himself quantum mechanics,” said Emily Cobb, an academic adviser in SMU’s athletic department.

DeChambeau, 27, is the winner of the most recent major in this discombobulated golf season, the U.S. Open in September at Winged Foot. That accomplishment made him the betting favorite heading into the first November Masters in history, even though he has never finished in the top 20 in three previous tries at Augusta.

DeChambeau teed off around 10:30 Thursday morning.

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By: Barry Svrluga

10:36 AM: After rain delay, how will they fit everything in?

With the rain moving out at Augusta, Masters play resumed at 10:22 a.m. Eastern after a delay of 2 hours 47 minutes. Only nine golfers had recorded scores before play was halted while a few others were on their first holes of the day, and anyone who did not tee off before the stoppage will have their tee times delayed exactly three hours.

Considering the tight window created by the limited November daylight, the delay means the first round has no chance of being completed by sunset at around 5:30. The first groups of the afternoon wave now will tee off at 2:15, giving them about three hours on the course when five usually are needed to complete a round. The final group will tee off at 3:32, so they might be able to get in nine holes.

This will create a ripple effect that will be felt through Saturday. The players who still are on the course when darkness falls Thursday evening will need to finish their rounds Friday morning, delaying the start of the second round. Likewise, the second round seems unlikely to finish on Friday, which would delay the start of Saturday’s third round.

Saturday was scheduled to be the most “normal” Masters day of the week, at least as far as tee times are concerned, with the top 50 players and ties (who will make the cut) likely hitting the course midmorning. That schedule would give tournament officials a few hours in the early morning to finish up the second round and get right to the third. It would make for a long day, but should allow things to get back on schedule, meaning we won’t see the first Monday finish since 1983.

Luckily, the weather for the rest of the weekend looks superb. Springlike, even.

By: Matt Bonesteel

10:16 AM: Play scheduled to resume at 10:22 am. after rain delay

AUGUSTA, Ga. — A wall of thunderstorms sent players and caddies scurrying for cover at 7:35 a.m., delaying the first November tournament in the club’s history.

Play is scheduled to resume at 10:22 a.m., according to the PGA. Though scattered thunderstorms are projected in the area through the late morning, the rain is projected to have moved through by noon. Pretournament favorite Bryson DeChambeau was scheduled to begin in the next group before the delay, with defending champion Tiger Woods two groups behind him.

Because this Masters — rescheduled from its traditional April date due to the novel coronavirus pandemic — is being played during a time of year when there’s less daylight, accommodations have already been made to try to ensure the completion of each of the four rounds. The 92-player field — which is more than 40 fewer than a typical major championship — is beginning rounds from both the first and 10th tees, another Masters first.

The final group in both the first and second rounds had been scheduled to tee off at 12:32 p.m., and officials hoped to have play completed by 5:30 p.m. on both Thursday and Friday.

The forecast for Friday and through the weekend does not portend any problems, with temperatures in the 70s and as high as 80 on Sunday, when the final round is scheduled to conclude between 2:30 and 3 p.m.

By: Barry Svrluga

10:01 AM: First-round trends to keep in mind

© Rob Carr/Getty Images
Rain, rain go away.

Here are few first-round trends to chew over as we twiddle our thumbs for a bit during the morning weather delay.

The last 14 Masters champions all shot under par in the first round and each of those winners was no worse than a tie for 11th after 18 holes. The last Masters winner to shoot over par in the first round was none other than Tiger Woods in 2005, who shot a 2-over 74 to dig himself an early seven-stroke hole after the first round. Woods followed that up with a 6-under 66 on Friday and would eventually fend off Chris DiMarco in a playoff.

The worst first round by an eventual Masters winner was the 75 carded by Craig Stadler in 1982, when bad weather also was an issue on Thursday and Friday.

That said, only three of the past 36 winners have led or shared the lead after the first round: Jordan Spieth in his wire-to-wire 2015 win, Trevor Immelman in 2008 and Ben Crenshaw in 1984.

By: Matt Bonesteel

8:23 AM: Jon Rahm’s pond-skipping hole-in-one in practice round has been done before but was still incredible

© Rob Carr/Getty Images
Jon Rahm celebrates his hole-in-one at the 16th Tuesday during a practice round for the Masters. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

It’s worth noting right off the bat that what Jon Rahm did Tuesday at Augusta National has been done before. At least a couple of other competitors practicing for the Masters have managed to skip a ball across the pond at the 16th hole and nestle it into the cup.

There’s no need to be a killjoy about any of this, though. Rahm’s successful trick shot was majestic, masterful and mesmerizing. Let’s watch while we wait for the action to restart:

That’s one 4-iron, three hops off the water, a few more up the embankment and onto the green, and then a gorgeous, counterclockwise sweep into the cup. It wasn’t even the first practice-round hole-in-one this week for Rahm, who used a 5-iron at the fourth hole Monday to drain that ace.

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By: Des Bieler

7:59 AM: Masters delayed with rain moving in

© Mike Segar/Reuters
Players leave the course after play is halted at the Masters.

The horn sounded at 7:35 a.m. Eastern time Thursday, calling players off the course at Augusta National because of the weather before even one birdie was recorded.

According to the leader board, nine players had finished at least one hole, with a handful of golfers in the midst of their first trips down the fairway when play was halted.

Radar shows some heavier rain moving over Augusta, borne out of a line of wet weather that initially looked to be scooting past to the northwest. It looks to be moving pretty quickly to this amateur weather observer, but we’ll see.

Kevin Roth, everyone’s favorite sports-event meteorologist, says we might be in a holding pattern for a little bit:

By: Matt Bonesteel

7:48 AM: Watching the radar as Masters Thursday gets going

Hello, friends. Welcome to Masters Thursday, which is looking to be a wet Masters Thursday. The National Weather Service in nearby Columbia, S.C., has issued a flash flood watch through 7 p.m. for Augusta, Ga., and is predicting two to three inches of rain, much of it coming in the morning. With 2½ fewer hours of daylight in November as compared with April, any weather delays will be problematic for tournament officials as they try to squeeze in each threesome before the sun sets at around 5:30.

The first groups of the day are on the course despite rain in the area. All first-round tee times have been pushed back 10 minutes, however.

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit their tee shots as the tournament’s honorary starters.

“I was pleased that it was dark so you couldn’t see where my ball went,” Nicklaus joked.

By: Matt Bonesteel

7:46 AM: Masters picks: The best bets to put on the green jacket

© Jamie Squire/Getty Images
A tradition unlike any other. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Hello, gambling friends. It’s the second week in November, so naturally in this weird 2020 sports calendar that means it’s time for the Masters. But more importantly, it’s time to bet on the Masters.

What’s that? You’re not betting on golf? Why not? With a football game, your bet purchases three to four hours of action and that’s it. With golf, you can have four days of sweat.

So here are few things to keep in mind as you go about making your wagers this week — or even just trying to impress your friends. Unless noted, all odds to win were taken Wednesday from golfodds.com.

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By: Matt Bonesteel

7:33 AM: In a grim year, a November Masters is something to be thankful for

Though it is counterintuitive, our busted-up, anxious and bizarre 2020 sports calendar may have meant more to many of us than the normal ones in any other year of our lives.

Sports, such as they are, have been my MVP. When little else could, games gave me calm distraction, good cheer or an emotional reset.

Starting Thursday, I plan to watch almost every minute of the Masters — perhaps I will take breaks to eat — and probably enjoy the golf as much on television in stark November as in person in azalea April.

But, I suspect, what sports have given me does not begin to approach what it has meant to others.

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By: Thomas Boswell

7:05 AM: Who’s in the field? And who is not?

Sergio Garcia will miss the tournament after testing positive for the coronavirus. (David J. Phillip/Associated Press)

Though Masters officials delayed the tournament by seven months, this year they declined to change the qualification requirements to account for this summer’s play, instead basing the invite-only field mainly on achievements from the 2019 season and early in 2020. So the field will comprise the golfers who had qualified for the Masters by the March cutoff date, with a number of golfers who have played well in the PGA Tour’s return from its coronavirus hiatus sitting things out.

Those invited to the Masters are past champions, recent major champions, recent PGA Tour winners and golfers in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings as of March 15, among others.

On Monday, the field shrank by one when tournament organizers announced that 2017 champion Sergio Garcia will miss the tournament after testing positive for the coronavirus. Rising star Joaquin Niemann, the first Chilean to win on the PGA Tour, previously withdrew because of a positive test.

Other than Garcia, Daniel Berger is the most notable — and controversial — absence this week. He was well outside the top 50 of the rankings at the established cutoff point in March but had risen to 13th as of last week, with a post-hiatus win, three other top-three finishes and a tie for 13th at the PGA Championship in August.

Other notable absences include Viktor Hovland (No. 24 in the world as of last week), Harris English (35th in the world, fourth at the U.S. Open in September, eight top-20 finishes since the restart) and Ryan Palmer (33rd in the world, four top-10 finishes since the restart).

One note about the cut: Starting this year, only the low 50 players and ties will advance to the weekend. From 2013 to 2019, anyone within 10 strokes of the leader made the cut, along with the top 50 and ties.

By: Matt Bonesteel

6:35 AM: Who can win the Masters, who can but won’t and who to pick in your pool

© Rob Carr/Getty Images
Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlory remain threats to win at every major championship. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters, an April tradition known as much for heralding the arrival of spring as for its role as golf’s first major of the calendar year, will instead be contested in November this year, with no fans, colder temperatures and a different array of colors lining the fairways. But with many of the world’s best players entering the event in fine form, identifying the winner could be as tricky as ever.

Here are five players who can win the tournament, five who can but won’t and three under-the-radar picks who might surprise the rest of your pool.

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By: Barry Svrluga