The Masters golf LIVE: Odds, tee times and latest updates as storms ...

It’s hard to miss Christo Lamprecht. At six-foot-eight, the giant 23-year-old towers over most of his golfing rivals, an example of super-sized South African megafauna. But tournament by tournament, Lamphrect is developing a reputation to match his massive frame.

Born on the Western Cape, Lamprecht makes his debut in The Masters this week to take another huge stride towards the PGA Tour. One of the world’s leading non-professionals, the youngster secured victory at The Amateur Championship last year at Hillside Golf Club on Merseyside to secure entries into the sport’s three most prestigious majors.

The Masters is one of the highlights of the sporting calendar and you can read our three outright selections for the green jacket by clicking on this link.

Here, though, the focus is on the dozens of specials markets for the first major of the year, which starts on Thursday (from 1.30pm, Sky Sports Golf)

The Masters par 3 contest took place yesterday and featured five holes-in-one, including this from Gary Woodland as he continues his golf comeback following brain surgery.

The fractured sport of golf holds a temporary truce this week when the world’s best players come together for the first major of the year.

Jon Rahm returns as the highest profile of the 13 LIV golfers playing at Augusta National, bidding to become the first player to successfully defend his Masters title since Tiger Woods in 2002.

Rahm has yet to win since last year’s four-shot victory over Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, but is priced at around 12/1 to add a third major to his name behind hot favourite Scottie Scheffler and 10/1 shot Rory McIlroy, who is trying to become the sixth player to bag a career grand slam.

Ahead of Thursday’s first tee-off, we’ve taken a long hard look at golf betting sites to pick out three Masters tips from the outright winner market.

The news we feared. The start at Augusta has been delayed by at least an hour until 9am local time (2pm BST) due to the storms in the area. We’ll keep you updated if we hear more

Tiger Woods reiterated his belief that Rory McIlroy will definitely win the Masters during his career to complete the grand slam as McIlroy kept his own media duties to a minimum.

McIlroy was the last player to register at Augusta National around 30 minutes before his scheduled press conference, which started early and saw the world No 2 answer just seven questions.

One of those was in response to Woods having earlier insisted it was just a “matter of time” before McIlroy earns a green jacket to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods himself in having won all four major titles.

“It’s flattering,” McIlroy said. “It’s nice to hear, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game say something like that.

“Does that mean that it’s going to happen? Obviously not. But he’s been around the game long enough to know that I at least have the potential to do it. I know I’ve got the potential to do it too. It’s not as if I haven’t been a pretty good player for the last couple of decades. But, yeah, it’s nice to hear it when it comes out of his mouth.”

Jon Rahm insists his competitive edge has not been dulled by his move to LIV Golf as he bids to become just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters titles.

Rahm’s shock move to the Saudi-backed breakaway competition came after he had previously pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour and criticised LIV’s 54-hole format, with no cut and a shotgun start as “not a golf tournament”.

The two-time major winner has failed to win any of the five LIV events he has played but travelled to Augusta on the back of finishing fourth in Miami on Sunday and winning the team event at Doral.

“I’ve had a lot of fun playing in those events,” Rahm said. “The competition’s still there. Yeah, they’re smaller fields but you still have to beat some of the best players in the world and you still have to play at the same level you have to play on the PGA Tour to win those events.”

Tiger Woods insists he can win a sixth green jacket and 16th major title, despite detailing the pain he faces on the vast majority of shots at Augusta National.

Woods has played fewer than five-and-a-half competitive rounds since undergoing ankle surgery in April last year after withdrawing from the Masters during the third round. The 48-year-old returned to action in the Hero World Challenge in December and completed all 72 holes, but was forced to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational in February due to illness after six holes of the second round.

Woods had also suffered a back spasm which led to a dreaded shank on the 18th hole in round one, but stuck to his tried and tested answer when asked what he thought he could achieve this week. “If everything comes together, I think I can get one more,” Woods said, adding with a smile: “Do I need to describe that any more than that, or are we good?”

Yet that question and answer came just minutes after Woods had candidly described the issues that the litany of injuries he has suffered over the years – including almost losing his right leg following a car accident in 2021 – cause him on anything but a perfectly flat lie.

Golf fans hoping to tune in to The Masters will again have to wait for full television coverage to begin as organisers stick with their traditional broadcasting model.

Established in 1934, the first men’s major of the year is held at Augusta in Georgia, with about 90 of the world’s best golfers battling to pull on the famous green jacket.

Sky Sports continues to be the exclusive live broadcast partner of the event in the United Kingdom, but while the first golfers will tee off at about 1pm BST in rounds one and two, it is not until 7.30pm that viewers will be able to watch every group live.

The best golfers in the world descend on Augusta for The Masters, the first men’s major of the year. Twelve months on from pulling on the famous green jacket, Jon Rahm returns to defend his title with intrigue added by his blockbuster defection to the breakaway LIV Golf series.

Negotiations continue between the PGA Tour and LIV’s Saudi Arabian backers over a possible partnership but for now, all eyes will be on the course as Rahm and his fellow rebels take on those who have remained on Tour. They include 2022 winner Scottie Scheffler, the dominant player in men’s golf this year and the favourite for victory.

Here’s how to watch and everything you need to know: