Rory McIlroy will begin his Masters title defence in the company of Cam Young and teenage amateur Mason Howell for the opening two rounds at Augusta National.
Twelve months on from ending his major drought in barely believable fashion by beating Justin Rose in a play-off to win the 89th Masters and complete the career grand slam, the 36-year-old will tee off at 3.31pm Irish time (10.31am) on Thursday in his 18th tournament start.
McIlroy is seeking to become only the fourth man – and first in 24 years – after Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo – to win back-to-back Masters titles.
Joining him in the 15th grouping are United States pair Young and 18-year-old Howell. Young has top-10 finishes in two of his last three Masters tournaments, while Howell is making his debut courtesy of victory in the US Amateur at the Olympic Club in California.
Shane Lowry is the first of the Irish trio in action when he tees off at 2.43pm alongside 2020 champion Dustin Johnson and Australian Jason Day, who has finished inside the top 10 at Augusta National five times, including runner-up in his tournament debut in 2011.
The Offaly man is making his 11th Masters start in 2026, with a best placed finish of tied for third in 2022.
Tom McKibbin will become the 18th Irishman to grace golf's most famous tournament when he tees off at 4.15pm.
The 22-year-old will be in a grouping with another debutant in Andrew Novak of the United States and Brian Campbell, who is back for his second appearance after last year’s maiden outing.
The 2023 champion Jon Rahm is out with Ryder Cup team-mate Ludvig Aberg, who has finished second and seventh in his two Masters so far, and Chris Gotterup, a two-time PGA Tour winner this year at 6.08pm
World number one Scottie Scheffler, who has won the Masters twice in the last four years, goes off at 6.44pm with Scotland's Robert MacIntyre and recent Texas Children’s Houston Open winner Gary Woodland.
The event begins at 12.25pm (7.25am local time) with honorary starters Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson, who have a combined 11 green jackets between them over 140 combined appearances, teeing off at the first.
John Keefer and Haotong Li get the tournament proper under way at 12.40pm as a two-ball in a 91-man field.
Round One - Thursday, 9 April (all times Irish)
12.40pm John Keefer (US), Haotong Li (Chn)
12.50pm Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Max Homa (US), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
1.02pm Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Aldrich Potgieter (SA)
1.14pm Angel Cabrera (Arg), Sami Valimaki (Fin), Jackson Herrington (US*)
1.26pm Charl Schwartzel (SA), Max Greyserman (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)
1.38pm Vijay Singh (Fij), Matt McCarty (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)
1.50pm Kurt Kitayama (US), Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Casey Jarvis (SA)
2.02pm Bubba Watson (US), Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Brandon Holtz (US*)
2.19pm Cameron Smith (Aus), Sam Burns (US), Jake Knapp (US)
2.31pm Keegan Bradley (US), Ryan Gerard (US), Nick Taylor (Can)
2.43pm Dustin Johnson (US), Shane Lowry (Republic of Ireland), Jason Day (Aus)
2.55pm Patrick Reed (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Akshay Bhatia (US)
2.07pm Bryson DeChambeau (US), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele (US)
2.19pm Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa (US), Russell Henley (US)
3.31pm Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Cameron Young (US), Mason Howell (US*)
3.43pm Viktor Hovland (Nor), Patrick Cantlay (US), Alex Noren (Swe)
4.03pm Samuel Stevens (US), Sung-jae Im (Kor)
4.15pm Andrew Novak (US), Tom McKibbin (Nortnern Ireland), Brian Campbell (US)
4.27pm Mike Weir (Can), Wyndham Clark (US), Mateo Pulcini (Arg*)
4.39pm Zach Johnson (US), Michael Kim (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)
4.51pm Danny Willett (Eng), Davis Riley (US), Ethan Fang (US*)
5.03pm Adam Scott (Aus), Daniel Berger (US), Brian Harman (US)
5.15pm Fred Couples (US), Min Woo Lee (Aus), Fifa Laopakdee (Tha*)
5.27pm Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng), Jacob Bridgeman (US)
5.44pm Harry Hall (Eng), Corey Conners (Can), Michael Brennan (US)
5.56pm JJ Spaun (US), Maverick McNealy (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
6.08pm Jon Rahm (Spa), Chris Gotterup (US), Ludvig Aberg (Swe)
6.20pm Jordan Spieth (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Brooks Koepka (US)
6.32pm Sepp Straka (Aut), Ben Griffin (US), Justin Thomas (US)
6.44pm Scottie Scheffler (US), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Gary Woodland (US)
6.56pm Harris English (US), Marco Penge (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)
* denotes amateur
Round Two - Friday, 10 April
12.40pm Samuel Stevens (US), Sung-jae Im (Kor)
12.50pm Andrew Novak (US), Tom McKibbin (Northern Ireland), Brian Campbell (US)
1.02pm Mike Weir (Can), Wyndham Clark (US), Mateo Pulcini (Arg*)
1.14pm Zach Johnson (US), Michael Kim (US), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den)
1.26pm Danny Willett (Eng), Davis Riley (US), Ethan Fang (US*)
13:38 Adam Scott (Aus), Daniel Berger (US), Brian Harman (US)
1.50pm Fred Couples (US), Min Woo Lee (Aus), Fifa Laopakdee (Tha*)
2.02pm Sergio Garcia (Spa), Aaron Rai (Eng), Jacob Bridgeman (US)
2.19pm Harry Hall (Eng), Corey Conners (Can), Michael Brennan (US)
2.31pm JJ Spaun (US), Maverick McNealy (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
2.43pm Jon Rahm (Spa), Chris Gotterup (US), Ludvig Aberg (Swe)
2.55pm Jordan Spieth (US), Justin Rose (Eng), Brooks Koepka (US)
3.07pm Sepp Straka (Aut), Ben Griffin (US), Justin Thomas (US)
3.19pm Scottie Scheffler (US), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Gary Woodland (US)
3.31pm Harris English (US), Marco Penge (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)
3.51pm John Keefer (US), Haotong Li (Chn)
4.03pm Naoyuki Kataoka (Jpn), Max Homa (US), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
4.15pm Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den), Aldrich Potgieter (SA)
4.27pm Angel Cabrera (Arg), Sami Valimaki (Fin), Jackson Herrington (US*)
4.39pm Charl Schwartzel (SA), Max Greyserman (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)
4.51pm Vijay Singh (Fij), Matt McCarty (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den)
5.03pm Kurt Kitayama (US), Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Casey Jarvis (SA)
5.15pm Bubba Watson (US), Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Brandon Holtz (US*)
5.32pm Cameron Smith (Aus), Sam Burns (US), Jake Knapp (US)
5.44pm Keegan Bradley (US), Ryan Gerard (US), Nick Taylor (Can)
5.56pm Dustin Johnson (US), Shane Lowry (Republic of Ireland), Jason Day (Aus)
6.08pm Patrick Reed (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Akshay Bhatia (US)
6.20pm Bryson DeChambeau (US), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele (US)
6.32pm Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa (US), Russell Henley (US)
6.44pm Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Cameron Young (US), Mason Howell (US*)
6.55pm Viktor Hovland (Nor), Patrick Cantlay (US), Alex Noren (Swe)
* denotes amateur
Follow live updates of the 2026 Masters on rte.ie/sport from opening tee on Thursday 9 April.
