The essentials
When: Thursday through Sunday.
Site: Augusta, Ga.
Course: Augusta National Golf Club (par 72, 7,475 yards).
Purse: To be determined ($11 million in 2018).
Field: 86 players (80 professionals, six amateurs).
Cut: Top 50 and ties, and anyone within 10 shots of the lead.
TV: ESPN and Ch. 4.
Last year: Patrick Reed closed with a 71 for a one-shot victory over Rickie Fowler for his first major.
Notes
• Justin Rose goes into a major for the first time ranked No. 1 in the world. Only three players have won the Masters while No. 1 since the ranking began in 1986 (Ian Woosnam, Fred Couples and Tiger Woods).
• Woods has gone 14 years since winning the Masters in 2005. This is his 22nd Masters.
• The fifth hole has been lengthened by 30 yards, the only significant change to the course since last year's tournament.
• Reed will try to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Woods as the only back-to-back champions.
• Rory McIlroy needs a Masters title to complete the career Grand Slam. This is his fifth try at it.
• The past seven Masters champions were among the top 25 in the world when they won.
• Eight of the top 10 players in the world already have won on the PGA Tour this season.
• Jordan Spieth has never finished worse than a tie for 11th in five Masters.
• Seventeen players will be making their Masters debut.
• Rickie Fowler has never won a major championship in 34 tries. He has a runner-up three times.
• Bryson DeChambeau has won five times in the past year, rising to sixth in the world rankings.
• The final three groups on Thursday are Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Day; Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas; and Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey and Brooks Koepka.
• Alvaro Ortiz will become the first player from Mexico to compete in the Masters since Victor Regalado in 1979.
News services
