BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//sporting-events.org - ECPv6.17.4.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:sporting-events.org
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://sporting-events.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for sporting-events.org
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:UTC
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
TZNAME:UTC
DTSTART:20250101T000000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC:20260409T000000
DTEND;TZID=UTC:20260412T235959
DTSTAMP:20260404T221651Z
CREATED:20260404T214256Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260404T221651Z
UID:12-1775692800-1776038399@sporting-events.org
SUMMARY:The Masters
DESCRIPTION:The Masters returns to Augusta National Golf Club from 9 to 12 April 2026 for the 90th edition of golf’s most prestigious invitational tournament. Rory McIlroy defends the green jacket he won in dramatic fashion last year\, while world number one Scottie Scheffler heads the betting as favourite. Here is everything you need to know about the first men’s major championship of 2026\, including the full schedule\, how to watch\, key contenders\, ticket information\, and the tournament’s storied history. \nWhat is The Masters?\nThe Masters is one of the four men’s major championships in professional golf\, alongside the PGA Championship\, the US Open\, and The Open Championship. It is the only major played at the same venue every year: Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta\, Georgia. The tournament has been held annually since 1934\, when Horton Smith won the inaugural edition. \nThe Masters is an invitational event\, meaning players must qualify through specific criteria rather than simply entering. This gives it the smallest field of any major\, typically fewer than 90 players. The 2026 edition will see 22 golfers making their Masters debut. Augusta National updated its qualification criteria in August 2025\, removing FedEx Cup Fall winners and replacing them with winners of several national open championships. \nThe champion receives the iconic green jacket\, first awarded to Sam Snead in 1949\, along with a lifetime invitation to compete at Augusta. Winners also earn automatic entry to the other three majors for the following five years. The 2026 total purse stands at $20\,000\,000\, with the winner collecting $3\,600\,000. \nThe Masters 2026 Schedule\nMasters Week follows a well-established rhythm. The key dates for 2026 are: \nMonday 6 April: Players arrive at Augusta National. Practice rounds begin.\nTuesday 7 April: Practice rounds continue. The Masters Champions Dinner takes place in the evening\, with defending champion Rory McIlroy selecting the menu.\nWednesday 8 April: Final practice rounds. The traditional Par 3 Contest is held on Augusta’s par-three course.\nThursday 9 April: First round.\nFriday 10 April: Second round. The cut is made after play concludes.\nSaturday 11 April: Third round (Moving Day).\nSunday 12 April: Final round\, followed by the green jacket ceremony. \nPlay typically begins in the early morning (Eastern Time) with the first groups teeing off around 8:00 a.m. ET\, and the final groups finishing in the late afternoon. \nWhere is The Masters Held?\nAugusta National Golf Club sits on Washington Road in Augusta\, Georgia\, on land that was once a plant nursery called Fruitland Nurseries. The club was co-founded by legendary amateur golfer Bobby Jones and businessman Clifford Roberts\, with the course designed by Jones and architect Alister MacKenzie. It opened for play in January 1933. \nThe course plays as a par 72 at 7\,565 yards for the 2026 tournament. One notable change this year is that the 17th hole (Nandina) has been shortened by 12 yards at the front. A new three-storey Player Services Building also debuts in 2026. \nAugusta National is renowned for its immaculate presentation\, with each hole named after the trees and shrubs that line the fairways: Magnolia (hole 5)\, Juniper (hole 6)\, Azalea (hole 13)\, and many more. The back nine features Amen Corner\, the treacherous stretch of holes 11\, 12\, and 13 that has decided countless Masters tournaments. \nEstimated daily attendance during the tournament rounds is between 35\,000 and 40\,000 patrons (the term Augusta National uses for spectators). Practice days tend to draw larger crowds\, with up to 50\,000 patrons on the grounds. The club does not officially disclose attendance figures. \nKey Contenders\nScottie Scheffler arrives as the clear betting favourite at around +500. The world number one opened his 2026 season with a four-stroke victory at The American Express\, claiming his 20th PGA Tour title before the age of 30. While he has had some inconsistent results since\, including a tied-24th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational\, Scheffler’s Augusta record is formidable: he has never finished outside the top 20 at The Masters and recorded four consecutive top-10 finishes\, including his 2024 victory. \nRory McIlroy is the defending champion at +1200. The Northern Irishman completed the career Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters in dramatic style\, defeating Justin Rose on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off after missing a putt on the 72nd hole. McIlroy birdied the first extra hole to claim his first green jacket and end years of near-misses at Augusta. \nBryson DeChambeau is joint second favourite at +1000 alongside Jon Rahm. DeChambeau’s power game suits Augusta’s wide fairways\, while Rahm\, the 2023 Masters champion\, brings proven experience around the course. \nXander Schauffele (+1600) and Collin Morikawa (+3500) are both chasing a green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam. Schauffele has won two of the other three majors\, as has Morikawa\, who holds a PGA Championship and an Open Championship. Morikawa has been notably consistent at Augusta\, performing better here than at any other major. \nMatt Fitzpatrick has surged into contention after climbing to number five in the Official World Golf Ranking. A seven-for-seven streak of made cuts\, five top-25 finishes\, a Valspar Championship victory\, and a runner-up finish at The Players Championship give the Englishman genuine form heading into Masters Week. \nLudvig Aberg (+1600) represents the new generation. The young Swede continues to establish himself among the world’s elite and has the length off the tee to take on Augusta’s par fives. \nHow to Watch The Masters 2026\nThe 2026 Masters features four US broadcast partners for the first time\, with Amazon Prime Video joining the coverage. \nUnited States: \n\nThursday and Friday (Rounds 1 and 2): Amazon Prime Video provides exclusive live coverage from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. ESPN takes over for the remainder of the afternoon and evening broadcast.\nSaturday and Sunday (Rounds 3 and 4): CBS broadcasts the weekend rounds from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET.\nStreaming: ESPN+ and Paramount+ offer featured group coverage\, Amen Corner streams\, and featured hole coverage throughout all four days.\n\nUnited Kingdom and Ireland: \n\nSky Sports provides more than 70 hours of live coverage from Augusta National across the week.\nThursday and Friday: The Prime Video window runs from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. BST\, with ESPN coverage following from 8:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. BST.\nSaturday and Sunday: Early coverage via Paramount+ from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. BST. Main CBS broadcast from 7:00 p.m. BST onwards.\n\nRest of World: The Masters is broadcast in over 200 countries. Masters.com offers free live streaming of featured groups\, Amen Corner\, and holes 4\, 5\, and 6 globally throughout the tournament. \nHistory and Records\nThe Masters has been played 89 times since its founding in 1934. It was not held from 1943 to 1945 due to the Second World War\, during which Augusta National was used as a cattle farm to support the war effort. \nJack Nicklaus holds the record for the most Masters victories with six titles (1963\, 1965\, 1966\, 1972\, 1975\, 1986). Tiger Woods is second with five (1997\, 2001\, 2002\, 2005\, 2019). Arnold Palmer won four times\, as did the club’s most enduring figure in the early years. \nNicklaus also holds the record as the oldest Masters champion\, winning his sixth green jacket in 1986 at the age of 46 years and 82 days in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in sporting history. At the other end\, Woods became the youngest winner at 21 years and 104 days in 1997\, when he also set the record for the largest winning margin: 12 strokes. \nThe lowest 72-hole score belongs to Dustin Johnson\, who shot 268 (20 under par) during his 2020 victory\, played in November that year due to the pandemic. Jordan Spieth holds the 54-hole record of 200 (16 under) from his 2015 triumph. \nFive golfers have won the Masters wire-to-wire: Craig Wood (1941)\, Arnold Palmer (1960)\, Jack Nicklaus (1972)\, Raymond Floyd (1976)\, and Jordan Spieth (2015). \nTickets and Attendance\nMasters tickets are known as “patron badges” and are among the most coveted in all of sport. A four-day series badge for the 2026 tournament costs $525\, a $75 increase from 2025 and the first time the price has exceeded $500. \nThe official ballot (lottery) for daily tournament badges is managed through masters.com. Applications typically open in the summer for the following year’s tournament\, and demand far exceeds supply. The waitlist for series badges\, which grant access to all four competition days\, has been closed since 2000. \nPractice round tickets are somewhat easier to obtain through the ballot system. Monday\, Tuesday\, and Wednesday badges offer the chance to walk the course\, watch players prepare\, and enjoy the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday afternoon. \nAugusta National strictly prohibits the resale of badges. Patrons found to have purchased tickets from third-party sellers risk being denied entry and having their patron privileges permanently revoked. Despite this\, secondary market prices remain extremely high\, with weekend badges often listed at several thousand dollars on resale platforms. \nHospitality packages are available through authorised providers and typically include off-site viewing facilities near the course\, as Augusta National does not permit corporate hospitality structures on its grounds. \nFrequently Asked Questions\nWhen does The Masters 2026 start?\nThe first round of The Masters 2026 takes place on Thursday 9 April. Masters Week begins on Monday 6 April with practice rounds. \nWhere is The Masters held?\nThe Masters is held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta\, Georgia\, United States. It is the only men’s major championship played at the same venue every year. \nHow can I watch The Masters 2026?\nIn the US\, coverage is shared between Amazon Prime Video\, ESPN\, Paramount+\, and CBS. In the UK and Ireland\, Sky Sports provides over 70 hours of live coverage. Free streams of featured groups and Amen Corner are available worldwide via masters.com. \nWho won The Masters in 2025?\nRory McIlroy won the 2025 Masters\, defeating Justin Rose in a sudden-death play-off to complete the career Grand Slam of all four men’s major championships. \nHow do I get tickets to The Masters?\nPatron badges are allocated through an annual ballot (lottery) system via masters.com. The waitlist for series badges has been closed since 2000. Resale of badges is strictly prohibited by Augusta National. \nWhat is the prize money for The Masters 2026?\nThe total purse for the 2026 Masters is $20\,000\,000\, with the winner receiving $3\,600\,000 along with the iconic green jacket.
URL:https://sporting-events.org/event/the-masters/
CATEGORIES:Golf,The Masters
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://sporting-events.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/istock-1398515971.jpg
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR