Major champion Geoff Ogilvy joins ESPN as SportsCenter Analyst for the Masters

Par 3 Contest Adds Player “Walk and Talks” and Tee Shot Tracing

Four Days of Featured Groups, Holes, Two Practice Round Shows Streaming on ESPN+, ESPN App

ESPN will present extensive, multiplatform viewing options and coverage of the 88^th Masters Tournament from Augusta National Golf Club the week of April 8-14. In ESPN’s 17^th year of live play coverage of the Masters, viewers will be able to watch golf on both television and digital platforms, with a robust slate of surrounding offerings.

Among new enhancements and additions to ESPN’s coverage of the Masters, former major champion and eight-time PGA TOUR winner Geoff Ogilvy is joining the coverage team and will appear as an analyst on SportsCenter all week from the event.

ESPN will again televise live play in the first and second rounds of the Tournament on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, as it has since 2008. The telecasts from 3-7:30 p.m. ET also will air in Spanish on ESPN Deportes, with ESPN Deportes also televising live third and final round coverage.

The popular and family-friendly Masters Par 3 Contest will again air live on ESPN on Wednesday, April 10, from 3-5 p.m., with additional live streaming of the Contest on ESPN+ from noon until 3 p.m. This year’s Par 3 Contest coverage will be enhanced with the addition of “walk and talk” interviews with microphoned players during their rounds and the first use of tee shot tracing (on the 9^th hole).

Returning for its second year will be Welcome to the Masters, a two-hour program that will lead into ESPN’s live telecasts of the first and second rounds of the Tournament on Thursday and Friday. Airing from 1-3 p.m. on ESPN, Welcome to the Masters will be hosted by Laura Rutledge and will include features, interviews and special guests as well as live look-ins and in-progress highlights of Tournament play.

For all days of Masters Tournament play, viewers will again have the opportunity to watch four Featured Groups per day and Featured Holes coverage of Holes 4, 5 and 6, Amen Corner and Holes 15 and 16. The offerings will be streaming on ESPN+.

To help golf fans get ready for the start of the Masters, ESPN+ will have live streams of two-hour practice round programs at noon on Tuesday, April 9, and at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 10.

ESPN’s signature news and information program SportsCenter will have dedicated coverage from the Masters all week, including a one-hour preview show on Wednesday at 5 p.m. following the Par 3 Contest. Prior to the lead-in shows and the live television windows Thursday and Friday, SportsCenter will be the premier destination for golf fans to receive live Masters updates, including highlights of play, between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thursday and 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday. SportsCenter will be the only place on U.S. television that viewers will be able to see golf shots prior to the 1 p.m. lead-in shows and the 3 p.m. start of live coverage. SportsCenter reports from the Masters begin on Monday afternoon and continue through the end of the Tournament.

ESPN will have prime time encore presentations of the first and second rounds on Thursday and Friday nights at 8 p.m. and a prime time encore presentation of the Part 3 Contest will air on ESPN2 at 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

A rundown of Masters Tournament coverage across ESPN platforms:

Live Television Coverage on ESPN and ESPN Deportes

• ESPN and ESPN Deportes live 3-7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12.
• Scott Van Pelt will host ESPN’s telecasts with ESPN golf analyst Curtis Strange. Van Pelt, Strange and Michael Eaves, who will conduct player interviews, will join CBS’ golf announcer crew for the telecasts. Van Pelt and Strange also will call the action on the 18^th hole from 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.
• Prime time encore presentations of the first and second rounds with second encores in overnight hours.
• John Sutcliffe will call the play for the ESPN Deportes live telecasts with analysts Hernán Rey and Matias Anselmo.
• ESPN Deportes also will air live coverage of the third (5-6 p.m.) and final (5-7 p.m.) rounds of the Tournament in Spanish.

Masters Par 3 Contest

• Television coverage on ESPN from 3-5 p.m. following streaming coverage on ESPN+ from noon – 3 p.m.
• Sean McDonough will call the play with analyst Curtis Strange. Marty Smith will conduct interviews.
• New enhancements this year: “walk and talk” interviews with microphoned players during their rounds and the first use of tee shot tracing (on the 9^th hole).
• Prime time encore presentation at 10 p.m. on ESPN2.

Welcome to the Masters

• In its second year after debuting in 2023, the two-hour Welcome to the Masters program will lead into ESPN’s live telecasts of the first and second rounds of the Tournament on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, from 1-3 p.m. on ESPN.
• Hosted by Laura Rutledge, with Marty Smith.
• The show will welcome special guests and will include features, live look-ins, player interviews, in-progress highlights and more from ESPN’s set at Augusta National.

The Masters on ESPN+

• Exclusive to ESPN+ — two-hour practice round programs Tuesday at noon and Wednesday at 10 a.m. including discussion and analysis, player press conference coverage and for the Wednesday show, players on the course in their practice rounds. Michael Eaves anchors the programs, joined by ESPN golf analysts and reporters. Andy North will be inside the ropes during Wednesday’s shows to talk with players during their practice rounds.
• Live streams of Featured Groups, Holes 4, 5 and 6, Amen Corner and Holes 15 and 16 during live play on all four days on ESPN+.
• On-demand collection on ESPN+ of 50 official Masters Films from past Tournaments going back to Gary Player’s second win in 1974. The collection also includes The One in November, which documents the making of the 2020 Masters.

SportsCenter at the Masters

• SportsCenter reports from the Masters every day the week of the Tournament beginning Monday, April 8, including dedicated programs Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
• SportsCenter at the Masters one-hour preview show (5 p.m., ESPN) on Wednesday.
• Highlights of play in the morning and up to 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, the only place on U.S. television that viewers can see golf shots prior to Welcome to the Masters at 1 p.m. and the beginning of live coverage at 3 p.m.
• Coverage of the Honorary Starters Ceremony with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson on Thursday morning.
• Michael Eaves, Matt Barrie, Laura Rutledge and Scott Van Pelt anchor SportsCenter from the Masters.
• Analysts Andy North, Curtis Strange and Geoff Ogilvy; reporters Marty Smith, Michael Collins and Jeff Darlington.

The Masters on ESPN.com

• Exclusive news, columns and analysis from ESPN.com writers before, during and after the Tournament.
• Writers Mark Schlabach, Paolo Uggetti and Elizabeth Baugh on location at the Masters.

The Masters on Other ESPN Programs

• ESPN golf analysts and reporters will appear across ESPN programs from the Masters the week of the event.
• Among the programs expected to have guests from the Masters – Get Up!, First Take, PTI and possibly others.

The Masters on ESPN Audio

• Live interviews from the Masters with ESPN’s golf analysts and reporters on ESPN Radio programs during the week.

The Masters on ESPN’s International Platforms

This year, 53 countries will see the Masters on ESPN platforms and can follow the event on ESPN’s television, online, mobile and broadband platforms.

• In Latin America and the Caribbean, all four rounds plus the Par 3 Contest, official Masters Films, highlights and news and information coverage to 52 countries.
• All four rounds of the Masters and exclusive digital coverage of “Amen Corner,” Featured Groups of the day, Holes 4, 5 and 6, and Holes 15 and 16 will be streamed live in Latin America via the ESPN app on STAR+ in Spanish & Portuguese language; and in the Caribbean region via ESPN Play in English.  In addition, starting at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, live Featured Groups coverage will also be televised on select linear channels in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• In Canada, TSN and RDS will air the Par 3 Contest and all four rounds of the Masters, with the third and final rounds also airing live on CTV. TSN will also have live complimentary wrap around coverage including the daily program TSN At The Masters, nightly encores, and a daily prime time wrap-up show. RDS will deliver a live preview show from Augusta National before each round of action. TSN+ and RDS digital platforms will stream exclusive live coverage of “Amen Corner,” a Featured Group of the day, Holes 4, 5 and 6, and Holes 15 and 16.

Continuing a theme started in 2019, ESPN partnered with musical artist Kane Brown to record a version of Georgia on My Mind for its Masters advertising campaign this year. The spots with the song began airing April 1 across ESPN television and digital platforms. A diamond-selling artist, Brown is the latest performer to collaborate with ESPN, who in addition to usage of the original version of the song by Ray Charles when the campaign began in 2019, have worked on versions with India.Arie, Lady A’s Charles Kelley, Chloe x Halle and Leon Bridges.

The Masters Tournament – Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.

All Masters television programming on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes also will stream on the ESPN App

Click HERE to visit ESPN’s online golf media kit containing commentator bios, schedules and more.

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Media Contact: Andy Hall, [email protected]