Masters 2024 start time: Thunderstorms delay round one at Augusta National

Thursday's opening round of the Masters was delayed by thunderstorms at Augusta National in the United States.

The opening tee shots, due at 08:00 local time (13:00 BST), were pushed back by heavy rain and 40-45mph winds.

The first round began at 10:30 (15:30 BST), after the ceremonial tee shots from past champions Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson.

The final group - Tommy Fleetwood, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa - will go out at 16:30 (21:30 BST).

With sunset just before 20:00 in Georgia, it looks likely that a number of first rounds will have to be finished on Friday.

• Thursday's updated tee-times

The weather is forecast to be better on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Speaking on Wednesday after the players were told about a potential delay, American Luke List, who had on 08:36 tee time (13:36 BST), said: "Not much we can do about it. It's kind of just see how much it dumps and how it will change.

Sergio Garcia, who won the Masters in 2017, said he expected scoring to be significantly affected by the inclement conditions on day one.

"On a course like this, where you have to be so precise in every single shot that you hit, when you play with that amount of wind, it becomes very, very challenging," said the Spaniard.

Rain severely disrupted last year's tournament, with play stopped on Friday after three pine trees fell close to the 17th tee.

Several golfers were left with close to two rounds to play on the final day.

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