The world’s finest golfers face off on the famous fairways and greens of Augusta National for the 2020 edition of the Masters and Sky Sports will be the only place to watch live coverage of all four days.
The coronavirus pandemic means this year’s tournament has been moved from its traditional slot in April and now takes place in November for the first time, without any patrons in attendance.
Despite the autumnal switch, the battle for the green jacket is expected to be as fierce as ever across an elite-level playing field.
The famous Augusta course last year witnessed one of the greatest comeback stories in sporting history.
After suffering career-threatening injuries and a very public fall from grace, Tiger Woods spectacularly won in his fifth Green Jacket and fifteenth overall major victory.
Woods shot a two-under round of 70 to emerge from a tightly-packed leaderboard to win his first major title in 11 years and claim his first green jacket since 2005.
He is now just one win short of Jack Nicklaus’ all-time record of six Masters wins and leads a star-studded field this week in Georgia, which includes Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, plus the most recent men’s major winner Bryson DeChambeau.
Fans can follow all four days of what this year is the final men’s major on the rejigged 2020 golf calendar, which for the first time this year is being exclusively live via Sky Sports’ dedicated Masters channel.
Unlike other tournaments, the Masters Committee traditionally imposes tight restrictions over the amount of live TV coverage available to all broadcasters worldwide, meaning that fans will not be able to watch every shot from the whole tournament live from start to finish.
Full play-by-play TV coverage will not be available until the final few hours of play each day, when American networks CBS and ESPN begin their main transmission. These timings adjusted this year due to the unique November date for this year’s tournament, with full coverage of the first three rounds starting at 6pm UK time, while the final round’s coverage gets underway at 3pm.
As in previous years, the Masters will once again make available additional live streams, including Amen Corner, extra holes and featured groups, throughout each day’s play, with all of these available to view across Sky Sports’ digital platforms.
Scroll down below for full details of the 2020 Masters on Sky Sports and BBC Sport, including coverage details and TV timings (all subject to change).
For all the latest Masters news, tournament information, tee-times and live leaderboard, visit the official website – masters.com.
The men’s major golf season reaches its climax at The Masters with extended live coverage from Augusta National only on Sky Sports.
The pay-TV broadcaster covers its tenth Masters in 2020 and takes over exclusive live coverage of the entire tournament for the first time this year.
Sky Sports’ dedicated Masters channel will provide all the available live coverage to UK viewers throughout the week, with plenty of extra feeds available during the tournament and a host of bonus content to enjoy throughout the week.
This year’s contest has a new place in the schedule and a slightly different feel due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning Sky’s coverage and the key timings will differ to what fans may previously be used to.
The core Sky Sports on-air team will be based at Sky Studios in West London, including presenters Nick Dougherty and Sarah Stirk, as well as commentators Ewen Murray, Paul McGinley and Andrew Coltart, while Butch Harmon will be also be part of the coverage via video link from his home in Las Vegas, and Rich Beem and reporter Cara Banks will be on-site at Augusta.
This November Masters has resulted in Sky’s live coverage starting earlier than ever before, with Featured Groups coverage getting under way from 12.30pm on Sky Sports’ Masters channel for the first two days, ahead of full play-by-play coverage from 6pm, all of which will also be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event.
Limited daylight means the action will not run through to the early hours in the UK like previous years, with an hour-long Live from the Masters show looking ahead to that day’s play over the weekend before full coverage from 5pm on Saturday and 3pm for the final round on Sunday.
The Featured Groups option is one of several extra feeds available to Sky Sports viewers watch throughout the tournament, with those marquee players on the red button from 6pm over the first two days, 3pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday.
Fans can follow players’ progress through Amen Corner – Augusta’s signature three-hole stretch (holes 11 to 13) – on the red button or for free via skysports.com and the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel, while there are extra streams on the red button covering the 4th, 5th and 6th holes, as well as the 15th and 16th holes.
Rounding off Sky Sports’ coverage of each day’s play will be a live one-hour Verdict show, which will air straight after the conclusion of each round with a discussion of the key talking points from that day.
Along with live tournament coverage, Sky Sports’ Masters channel will also feature special documentaries and highlights from the Masters archives, plus a three-hour preview show from Monday to Wednesday to bring you the latest news and interviews from Augusta.
There will be two-hour highlights shown each morning to look back at the previous day’s play, while the final round will be repeated in full the day after the Green Jacket has been awarded.
How The Masters Was Won will review the week at 8pm on Monday, 16 November and special Masters programming will be available to download throughout the tournament via Sky Sports On Demand, while Sky Q customers can catch up with clips, highlights and entertaining features.
Live text commentary from first tee to last will be available on skysports.com and Sky Sports’ mobile apps, with live clips available via Sky Sports’ Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
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THURSDAY 12th NOVEMBER
MASTERS: DAY 1
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ADDITIONAL LIVE COVERAGE via Red Button
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FRIDAY 13th NOVEMBER
MASTERS: DAY 2
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ADDITIONAL LIVE COVERAGE via Red Button
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SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER
MASTERS: DAY 3
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ADDITIONAL LIVE COVERAGE via Red Button
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SUNDAY 15th NOVEMBER
MASTERS: DAY 4
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ADDITIONAL LIVE COVERAGE via Red Button
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BBC Sport will broadcast comprehensive free-to-air highlights throughout the 2020 Masters.
The 84th edition will be the first in almost 60 years to not be broadcast live on terrestrial television in the UK, however the BBC will broadcast extended nightly highlights on BBC Two shortly after the conclusion of each day’s play.
The opening three days will be covered in a 90-minute programme each night, while all the drama of the final day’s play will be encapsulated in a bumper two-hour highlights show airing from 10.30pm.
Eilidh Barbour presents the BBC’s coverage over the weekend from corporation’s Salford studios, with Katherine Downes deputising for the opening day’s highlights show, due to Barbour presenting Sky Sports’ coverage of Scotland’s Euro 2020 play-off final.
Commentary comes from the regular BBC team of Ken Brown and Andrew Cotter, with 5 live golf correspondent Iain Carter joining the TV team this year, while the BBC’s veteran ‘voice of golf’ Peter Alliss will also feature throughout the BBC’s coverage.
The 89-year-old will be commentating on the action from his Surrey home, with a source telling the Daily Telegraph: “It was thought important to have Peter commentating because he has become synonymous with the BBC’s broadcasts from Augusta over all those years and he is a comforting and familiar voice in unsettling times. It can only be hoped that the link between Surrey and Salford goes without a glitch.”
BBC Two’s highlights programmes will also be available live on the BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer, with each programme available to stream on iPlayer shortly after broadcast.
Alongside TV highlights, the BBC will broadcast live radio coverage across BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 live Sports Extra throughout the week, while there will also be live text commentary, reaction and analysis on the BBC Sport website – bbc.co.uk/golf – and mobile app every day of the tournament.
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THURSDAY 12th NOVEMBER
Golf: The Masters – Day 1
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FRIDAY 13th NOVEMBER
Golf: The Masters – Day 2
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SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER
Golf: The Masters – Day 3
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SUNDAY 15th NOVEMBER
Golf: The Masters – Day 4
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