The Masters live on Sky Sports: Key TV times, ways to watch extended coverage from Augusta National

The men's major season begins this week at The Masters, with extended coverage from Augusta National exclusively live on Sky Sports.

Hideki Matsuyama returns to defend his title after becoming the first Asian winner of the Green Jacket in last year's contest, while Rory McIlroy has another chance to complete the career Grand Slam and Jon Rahm looks to reclaim his world No 1 ranking from Scottie Scheffler.

Sky Sports will once again be the home of The Masters, with over 70 hours of live coverage from Georgia across a nine-day period from Saturday April 2 to Sunday April 10.

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Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament itself will begin again at 2pm on Friday, with Featured Group coverage and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm.

A special live build-up programme from 3pm over the weekend will keep you up-to-date with the early play over the final two rounds and look ahead to the main action, with the global broadcast window beginning at 7.30pm on Saturday and 6.30pm on Sunday.

There will be lots of extra action throughout all four days via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, along with Sky Q and Sky Glass, providing plenty of bonus feeds and allowing you to follow players' progress through various parts of Augusta's famous layout.

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, with another stream then covering the 15th and 16th holes. The notorious Amen Corner stream will also be available for all four rounds and focuses on the famous three-hole stretch from the 11th, with that coverage also live - for free - on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.

If that wasn't enough, Featured Group coverage will be on the red button for all four rounds, with two marquee groups in each half of the draw, while the On the Range feed will give you a behind-the-scenes look at players preparing for their rounds.

TV schedule

Friday April 8

1400-1930 - Featured Groups LIVE!

1512 Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa

1545 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy

1841 Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen, Joaquin Niemann

1852 Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, James Piot

1930-0030 - The Masters: Day two LIVE!

Red button - 1330 On the Range, 1445 Holes 4-6, 1545 Amen Corner, 1645 Holes 15-16, 1830 Featured Groups

Saturday April 9

0900-1200 - Masters Breakfast LIVE!

1500-1930 - The Masters build-up LIVE!

1930-0030 - The Masters: Day three LIVE!

Red button (exact timings TBC) - 1515 Featured Groups, 1530 Holes 4-6, 1600 On the Range, 1645 Amen Corner, 1730 Holes 15-16

Sunday April 10

0900-1200 - Masters Breakfast LIVE!

1500-1830 - The Masters build-up LIVE!

1830-0030 - The Masters: Day four LIVE!

Red button (exact timings TBC) - 1515 Featured Groups, 1530 Holes 4-6, 1600 On the Range, 1645 Amen Corner, 1730 Holes 15-16

What about before The Masters?

The Augusta National Women's Amateur marks the start of nine consecutive days of live coverage from Augusta National, with the final round live on Saturday on Sky Sports Golf and also live - for free - on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel.

Sunday's offering includes five hours of action Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals and marks the triple-header of live golf on Sky Sports Golf, with the conclusion to the Chevron Championship - the opening women's major of the year - and the final round of the Texas Open - where the winner can secure a last-minute invite to The Masters - are also available to enjoy.

The two-hour "On The Range show" is live from 5pm on Monday and 4pm on 2pm on Tuesday, while Live from The Masters will offer extended news, interviews and storylines for several hours each day in the build-up to the tournament. Sky Sports Golf will also show live coverage from the traditional Par-3 contest on Wednesday from 7pm, returning after a two-year absence.

What other extra coverage is there?

Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley will debate the biggest talking points from The Masters each day during tournament week, with that show on from 1pm on Tuesday to Friday and then 8am over the weekend.

Masters Breakfast over the weekend will look back at the best of the previous round's action, plus see guests go head-to-head in the Shot Centre and look to the next day's play, with three hours of coverage running from 9am on Saturday and Sunday.

Sky Sports News will show a special countdown show live from 6.30pm on Monday to Wednesday, while Skysports.com and the mobile app will deliver news, interviews, highlights, clips and leaderboard scores throughout the week. There will also be a dedicated blog that offers live text commentary of all four rounds.

Watch The Masters this April exclusively live on Sky Sports Golf!