Masters week is finally upon us. The long wait between July, when the last men’s major championship was contested, and the second weekend in April is almost over. In Ryder Cup years like 2025, that wait is marginally less painful. But even still, those months between October and April hit all the same.
This Thursday, when the Masters officially begins, it’ll look and feel a bit different to the fans watching at home. That’s because for the first time ever, in its 70th year televising the tournament, there will be a main broadcast feed available beginning at 1 p.m. ET during the first and second rounds.
For years, fans have had to wait until 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, when ESPN formally began its coverage, to watch a professionally produced Masters telecast that wasn’t limited to a few specific holes or groupings. That all changes this year. Prime Video will stream the Masters beginning at 1 p.m. ET for the first two rounds, leading directly into ESPN’s coverage.
This is delightful news for golf fans. While Augusta National Golf Club, the tournament’s organizer, has long been lauded for its early embrace of technology, and the availability of several different free feeds and streams on its website starting with the debut of Amen Corner Live in 2006, it has slowly fallen behind the times when it comes to expectations that hardened golf fans have for tournament coverage.
See, golf fans have become accustomed to accessing the so-called “main feed,” a professionally produced broadcast that spans the entire course, at all hours of the day, no matter the size or consequence of the tournament. Run-of-the-mill PGA Tour events often have main feed coverage on PGA Tour Live that starts whenever the first group tees off, often around 7 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, with coverage extending well into the evening when Golf Channel signs off, often with the final group of the day.
We’re spoiled, but that’s the world we live in now.
But for the most important tournament of the year, golf fans will still have to wait over five hours from the first tee shot before any main feed becomes available during this week’s Masters. The 1 p.m. ET start time on Prime Video is improvement from the old status quo, but it continues to leave plenty on the table.
Perhaps there’s a level of strategy at play here. Augusta National knows it has a superior product, and making it artificially scarce can drive interest up even further. Just like every NFL game is an event because each team only plays 17 games, limiting the main broadcast feed of the Masters provides a level of scarcity that makes watching the tournament even more desirable.
Whatever they’re doing is working. Year after year, the Masters is the most-watched of the four golf majors.
The other three majors take a noticeably different approach to TV scheduling. Last year, the PGA Championship began its main feed coverage at 7 a.m. ET on ESPN+, with the ESPN linear channel picking up the feed at noon ET and concluding at the end of play. The U.S. Open began coverage at 6:30 a.m. ET on USA Network, running a main feed until 5 p.m. ET on that channel before switching over the Peacock for the final three hours. The Open Championship went with a similar strategy, starting with the main feed on Peacock from 1:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET before USA Network took over coverage until the end of play.
Each of these majors offer a main feed throughout the entirety of tournament play. The Masters do not.
It’s certainly not a decision made for lack of capability. There could be an explosion on the 12th green Friday night and Augusta National would have it repaired in time for play on Saturday morning. The lack of main feed coverage is deliberate.
And it’s hard to doubt that the green jackets running the tournament are making the wrong decision. Their formula has worked for decades. In many ways, for the week-to-week golf fans that habitually throw on PGA Tour Live early on Thursday and Friday morning, the Masters is a bit of a throwback. Not too long ago, waiting until the afternoon for main feed coverage was the norm.
In a traditionally slow-moving sport like golf, maybe we should just appreciate the incremental gains we’re getting this year. Two more hours of main feed coverage on Thursday and Friday doesn’t sound so bad, even if some of us will still be breaking out in hives waiting five hours for it to start.
One day, maybe Augusta National will fall in line with the rest of golf broadcasting. But not this year, and probably not for many years to come.
