World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is primed to be one of McIlroy's main competitors for the title, while the likes of Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa are also being tipped to go close over the four days. With plenty of build-up to get stuck into, follow Express Sport's live Masters updates below...

This trio is sandwiched by a couple of star-studded groupings, including Collin Morikawa, Joaquín Niemann and Min Woo Lee, who look to excite the Augusta National patrons at 9:47 a.m. The afternoon wave features a tremendous grouping of Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg and Akshay Bhatia with three fan favorites teeing off at 1:12 p.m.

Welcome to the opening round of the Masters. You can check out my best bets in my betting preview, but here we're going to focus on the opening round. Specifica

Scottie Scheffler will begin the defense of his second Masters title paired with good friend and two-time major champion Justin Thomas. The two American Ryder Cup stars will play alongside amateur Jose Luis Ballester as the first- and second-round pairings and tee times were announced for the 89th playing of the Masters Tournament on Tuesday.

Picks for even more 2025 Masters golfers and the Masters favorite to win ahead of the year's first major at Augusta National

Masters first-round leader Justin Rose will be among the early groups for Friday's second round tee times at the Augusta National Golf Club.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler will tee off Thursday morning while Rory McIlroy begins his Masters in the afternoon.

Rory McIlroy comes into the tournament scorching hot, as he hasn’t finished worse than 17th in 2025 and outlasted J.J. Spaun in a playoff to take home The Players Championship win in mid-March. Only two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler (+450) has shorter odds at BetMGM to win this week than McIlroy at +650.

LIVE: Rory McIlroy underway and looks to chase Scottie Scheffler on leaderboard - Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy enter the first golf major of the year as favourites with PGA Tour and LIV golfers

The 89th playing of the Masters got off to a blazing start at Augusta National Golf Club on Thursday, with Englishman Justin Rose ending the day atop of the leaderboard.

Justin Rose got out to one of the biggest 18-hole leads in Masters history, while reigning champ Scottie Scheffler posted a strong opening round.

Round 1 schedule and start time including Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler - Scheffler is aiming to defend his title while McIlroy is desperate to finally land that elusive green jacket