Rory McIlroy has been grouped alongside Cameron Young and amateur Mason Howell for the first two rounds of his title defence at The Masters.

The world No 2 completed the career Grand Slam with last year’s dramatic play-off win at Augusta National and is now looking to become just the fourth player in history to win back-to-back editions of The Masters.

McIlroy is in the early-late side of the draw and will tee off at 10.31am local time (3.31pm UK and Ireland) on Thursday alongside Young, who is looking to become the third successive player to win The Players and The Masters in the same season.

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Howell – the youngest player in the field – completes that threeball, with tournament officials continuing the tradition of pairing the previous year’s winner with the reigning US Amateur champion.

A field of 91 players are scheduled to contest the opening major of the year, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler on the opposite side of the draw alongside Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre and former US Open champion Gary Woodland.

Last year’s runner-up Justin Rose also faces a late-early start with 2015 champion Jordan Spieth and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, while Bryson DeChambeau goes out at 10.07am local time (3.07pm UK and Ireland) with Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson will return for the Honorary Starters ceremony on Thursday morning at 7.25am local time (12.25pm UK and Ireland), ahead of John Keefer and Haotong Li getting the opening round under way at 7.40am.

Tommy Fleetwood begins his bid for a maiden major title in the morning wave with Akshay Bhatia and 2018 champion Patrick Reed, with Ryder Cup team-mate Shane Lowry in the previous threeball alongside former world No 1s Dustin Johnson and Jason Day.

“I definitely feel like this year you have 10 to 12 guys who have a really legitimate opportunity to win the Green Jacket,” Reed said. “It just makes this event a little bit more special and even more fun going out there and playing against the best.”

Thursday’s key R1 tee times

USA unless stated; (x) denotes amateur

1443 Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry (Irl), Jason Day (Aus)

1455 Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Akshay Bhatia

1507 Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Xander Schauffele

1519 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Collin Morikawa, Russell Henley

1531 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Cameron Young, Mason Howell (x)

1808 Jon Rahm (Esp), Chris Gotterup, Ludvig ??berg (Swe)

1820 Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose (Eng), Brooks Koepka

1844 Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Gary Woodland

When is The Masters live on Sky Sports?

Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm on Thursday, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 6pm.

The same timings will apply on Friday, before an earlier start kicks in for the weekend – with coverage starting at 4.30pm ahead of full coverage getting under way at 5pm and lasting until long after the final putt is holed.

The notorious Amen Corner stream will also be available, focusing on the famous three-hole stretch from the 11th, with that Featured Group offering also available on the Sky Sports+ channel.

A feed of the fourth, fifth and sixth holes will go live each day as soon as the opening group reach that part of the course and another stream covers the 15th and 16th holes, with Featured Groups also available on Sky Sports+.

Who will win The Masters? Watch the opening major of the year exclusively live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the first round begins on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract.