The Masters Begins Today

It’s one of the most prestigious sporting events of every year. The Masters is back and it starts today. The event is one of the four majors in professional golf: The Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and The Open. The Masters is always played in April and is the first of the four majors each calendar year.

The winner of the Masters wins the coveted green jacket. The awarding of the jacket began in 1949. The Masters champion must return the jacket one year after winning it. The jacket is then stored with all the other champion’s jackets in a special cloakroom at Augusta National, the site of the Masters every year. 

Augusta National Golf club hosts the Masters every year. The Masters was founded by legendary golf great Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts. Jones acquired the property that is now Augusta National and a course was built. The first Masters tournament was held in 1934.

The History of the Masters

Golf legend Jack Nicklaus has won the Masters more than any other golfer. Nicklaus won the event six times. Tiger Woods, who is in the 2024 Masters field, has won the event five times, including in back-to-back years in 2001 and 2002.

Arnold Palmer won the Masters four times between 1958 and 1964. Five players have won three Masters championships. One of those is Phil Mickelson, who is also in this year’s field. As former winners, Mickelson and Woods receive a lifetime exemption to play in the Masters. That means they can play every year if they so choose.

The Masters features a smaller field than other golf majors. Invitations go out to any golf major winner from the previous year. Golfers that win a major are invited to the Masters for the next five years. Last year’s top-12 at the Masters are also invited and any golfer currently in the World Golf Rankings Top 50 gets a slot at the Masters. 

Get Your Golf Picks

Sports Hub’s expert golf handicappers have been hard at work poring over the data. Our cappers have already put several picks for the Masters into the system already. You’ll find head-to-head matchup picks and more when you log into the members area and visit the picks database. Make your Masters golf betting easier with Sports Hub’s pros.

With a penchant for winning, our handicappers offer you the best chance of making the Masters a successful endeavor this weekend. Keep it tuned to Sports Hub for all of the best golf picks.

Now, let’s see how our guys did yesterday.

• Free expert picks: You can check out Sports Central in our members area. SC has been pretty consistent over the last month. Yesterday, Sports Central went 6-2 and took home $397 in profits. That puts SC up $1092 for the last 30 days. That ranks No. 7 on our 30-day leaderboard.
• Can you do this?: The Bookie nailed three picks – all MLB picks – and won $300 yesterday. Frankie the Fan, another Sports Hub expert, also hit his three picks, two of which were on the Rolex Masters tennis event.
• Picking winners: Scott’s Picks typical does a pretty good job of picking winners. Yesterday, Scott hit on 6 of 10 picks and added $291 to his bankroll. That gives him $622 in profits over the last three days.
• More experts: Logan Wilson and Mario Deluca are two more Sports Hub experts that you may have seen mentioned here quite a bit. Yesterday, they both went 2-0 with their picks. Logan hit a MLB team total at +110 to win $210 while Mario took home $200. Logan is now 6-1 with $502 in profits over the last three days. Mario is 5-2 in the same span and is up $265.

The Masters Start Is Delayed

Earlier this morning, weather delayed the start of the Masters. The first group will tee off at 10:30 a.m. ET. There is wind in the forecast too, which will make an already difficult course that much harder. There will also be some former athletes looking at some hard times ahead.

Let’s take a look.

• Federal charges for Mizuhara: Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, will face federal charges related to his theft of millions of dollars from the Dodgers superstar. Ohtani is off to a good start with his new team, hitting .333 with three home runs so far.
• McLemore in trouble: Ben McLemore last played in the NBA in 2022. It looks like he might be playing prison ball pretty soon. McLemore was arrested yesterday by U.S. Marshals in connection to a 2021 assault on a woman while McLemore was playing in Portland. 
• Arrest warrant issued for Rice: Kansas City Chiefs WR Rashee Rice faces eight charges including aggravated assault after he and another driver caused a chain reaction crash. Rice was a second-round draft pick out of SMU last season and became one of the Chiefs most dependable receivers.

NBA, NHL Seasons Still Working on Playoff Entries

Both the NBA and NHL seasons are winding down and there are still playoff spots up for grabs. There is a big NBA game in Sacramento tonight and a huge NHL clash in Pittsburgh. Don’t forget, with the postseason on the horizon, you can enter Sports Hub’s NBA Playoffs Bracket Contest for a chance to win up to 1,000 points.

Let’s check on the rest of today’s schedule.

1. NBA season continues to wind down: There are five games on the NBA schedule tonight and three of them will have an impact on the playoffs. Chicago and Detroit and Houston and Utah will play meaningless games tonight. The Knicks are in Boston tonight and have a chance to catch Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed. New Orleans is currently sixth in the West and plays in Sacramento tonight. New York-Boston and New Orleans-Sacramento makeup tonight’s TNT doubleheader.
2. Huge games tonight in the NHL: Six teams in the Eastern Conference have clinched playoff berths. The final two spots are still being determined and a huge game tonight in Pittsburgh will play a role. Detroit plays the Penguins and the winner will get one step closer to clinching a playoff spot. The Flyers, who aren’t dead yet, must play the No. 3 New York Rangers tonight. Philly is 1-6-3 in its last 10 games.
3. Rest day in MLB: Thursdays are typically lighter days on the MLB schedule as teams finish their early week series and prepare for the weekend. Tonight, there are six MLB games on tap. Baltimore (7-4) is at Boston (7-5) in the final game of their series. The Orioles have won the first two games of the series. Grayson Rodriguez (2-0, 2.19) gets the start for Baltimore against Boston’s Garrett Whitlock (1-0, 0.96).
4. The Masters: Yes, it’s back. The Masters was delayed earlier today due to weather conditions. The first group – Erik Van Rooyen and Jake Knapp – will tee off somewhere around 10:30 a.m. ET. The day’s final group – Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, and Tommy Fleetwood – will tee off around 4:30 p.m. The Masters will continue through Sunday.

5. UEFA Europa Soccer: Liverpool hosts Atalanta in UEFA Champions League soccer today. It’s one of four matches on the schedule. Aston Villa hosts Lille in UEFA Europa Conference League play. It is also one of four matches today. 
6. Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters: This ATP Tour event got real interesting. Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the event with a forearm injury. Daniil Medvedev, the No. 4 seed, was upset by Karen Khachnov 3-6, 5-7 earlier today. No. 1 Novak Djokovic is playing right now. He leads Lorenzo Musetti after capturing the first set.

Enjoy the Masters. It should be starting as you finish reading this. Remember, get your golf picks from the experts here at Sports Hub. Don’t forget to enter our NBA Playoffs Bracket Contest. That will get underway next week with the start of Round 1 of the NBA’s postseason.