Rory McIlroy's best finish in the past decade was second in 2022 but he has missed the cut in two of the past four years.

This year he arrives at Augusta in majestic form with two signature wins on the PGA Tour already under his belt in 2025.

Those victories - in composed fashion at Pebble Beach in February and then under pressure in a play-off at The Players in March - make it his most successful pre-Augusta ever.

Trending firmly in the right direction.

11.

That's how many years Rory McIlroy has attempted to complete the career Grand Slam by winning here at Augusta.

Barely believably, that is also the number of years since he won a major - the 2014 PGA Championship.

This is a man with 39 career wins, countless weeks in the world's top five and a resume to rival anyone in the game.

Victory here would make him only the sixth man in history to win all four majors.

The only niggle - everyone else has completed the career Grand Slam in three or fewer attempts.

Time for McIlroy to make history?

Image source, Getty Images

Amid the myriad of storylines, two golfers stand clear as favourites for this week.

Before we get stuck into why, quick straw poll.

Thumbs up if you think either Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy will win.

Thumbs down if you're backing someone else from the pack.

Nicolai Hojgaard led the Masters for a time on Saturday last year, but he's made a horrid start to his second trip to Augusta by going bogey-double bogey in his first two holes.

The Dane, who with brother Rasmus will be the first twins to play at the same Masters this year, found the bunker on the first before pulling his tee shot miles left on the second.

A penalty drop was needed before he then three-putted on the green for a seven on a hole we know is the easiest on the course. He hit seven birdies in an opening 67 on his debut last year, he will need to find a few now to get back into it.

Matt Taylor
BBC Weather

After the storms of recent weeks, most of the time it will be dry.

However, some rain is likely during Thursday night and there is a very low chance of showers/thunderstorms on Friday afternoon.

Image source, Getty Images

Part of what makes Augusta National and the Masters tournament special every year is the familiarity.

But things look a little different this year after the course felt the impact of Hurricane Helene last autumn.

Significant tree loss will likely affect play and impact on sightlines around the course.

A prime example of that is on the 10th, where a cluster of trees fell to the left of the tee, opening up a small window for players to cut off the corner and reduce distance on the dogleg par four.

Some of the overhanging branches also went down the left of the third which might entice more players to chase that angle with their driver.

Trees have also gone down the corridors of the second and ninth holes, which in theory should make the tee shots on those holes easier.

It was pretty special watching Poppy McIlroy casually knock this 25-foot putt in during the par-three contest yesterday. She's four...

It got us thinking - what are your best parent-child golfing memories?

Winning a foursomes event against a friend and their child?

Reluctantly accepting that your son/daughter can outdrive you before they even turn 11?

Perhaps watching your little one sink a hole-in-one over a bridge, round a windmill and through the head of a shark at a crazy golf course on holiday?

Tell us via #bbcgolf

Our leader Davis Riley is flying now as he cards the first birdie of this year's Masters tournament on the par-five second hole.

It ranks as the easiest hole on the golf course throughout Masters history, and is seen as the key to getting off to a good start, with it being easily reachable in two for these players.

And Riley has taken advantage.

Jack Nicklaus has probably got a wardrobe just for them.

The great Bobby Jones, founder of the Augusta National Golf Club in 1933 and co-founder of the Masters which began in 1934, came up with the idea of a members' jacket.

He took his lead from Royal Liverpool after winning The Open in 1927 as he liked the red hunting jacket worn by the club's former captains.

Red, yellow and 'Georgia peach' colours were all floated between Jones and his business partner Clifford Roberts before the latter, inspired by the colour of the leaves on the azalea bushes that dominate Augusta National, suggested green.

The idea was that members wore the jacket and were therefore easily recognisable by spectators visiting the course.

Sam Snead was the first Masters winner to be awarded a Green Jacket in 1949.

It is made of an inexpensive wool-polyester mix and costs about £195 to make each one. The colour is known as 'Pantone 342'.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Speaking of Masters champions, here's the record holder with six titles, Mr Jack Nicklaus getting the tournament going just under an hour ago.

Eighty five years of age and still tonking it down the fairway.

Image source, Getty Images

There are 112 invitees and a starting field of 95 players for the 2025 Masters.

There are 21 first-time players, consisting of five amateurs and 16 professionals.

On the first two days of play, each amateur is paired in a group with a Masters champion

Six of the previous 10 winners of the Masters have been from the United States, although there is a sprinkling of European names on this list as well.

Big question is whether Rory McIlroy can get himself on that roll of honour and join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in golf's most exclusive club, with a career Grand Slam.

2024: Scottie Scheffler (US)

2023: Jon Rahm (Spa)

2022: Scottie Scheffler (US)

2021: Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)

2020: Dustin Johnson (US)

2019: Tiger Woods (US)

2018: Patrick Reed (US)

2017: Sergio Garcia (Spa)

2016: Danny Willett (Eng)

2015: Jordan Spieth (US)

Well, to be fair, only two players have completed the first hole at Augusta National, but it is factually correct as Davis Riley made par despite finding the trees down the left off the first tee.

Patton Kizzire went wide right with his opening drive and could only make bogey after being forced to just dig out a chip back onto the fairway.

But the main point here is that the 2025 Masters is up and running!

Image source, Getty Images

There are more big beasts out later on.

Jon Rahm, the 2023 champion, will play with England's Tommy Fleetwood and American Wyndham Clark from 18:34.

17:33 - Patrick Cantlay (US), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng)

17:50 - Brooks Koepka (US), Russell Henley (US), Sungjae Im (Kor)

18:01 - Adam Scott (Aus), Xander Schauffele (US), Viktor Hovland (Nor)

18:12 - Rory McIlroy (NI), Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Akshay Bhatia (US)

18:23 - Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Bryson DeChambeau (US), Shane Lowry (Ire)

18:34 - Jon Rahm (Spa), Wyndham Clark (US), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)

Image source, Getty Images

But what's on the menu for us?

Rory McIlroy will begin his latest attempt to win the Masters at 18:12 BST on Thursday.

The Northern Irishman will play the first two rounds with last year's runner-up Ludvig Aberg and American Akshay Bhatia in one of four marquee groups.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is out earlier in round one at 15:15 with fellow American Justin Thomas and Spanish amateur Jose Luis Ballester.

Here are the early groups to watch out for:

14:47 - Collin Morikawa (US), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Min Woo Lee (Aus)

14:58 - Phil Mickelson (US), Jason Day (Aus), Keegan Bradley (US)

15:15 - Scottie Scheffler (US), Justin Thomas (US), *Jose Luis Ballester (Spa)

15:26 - Jordan Spieth (US), Tom Kim (Kor), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)

Sadly, there is no Tiger Woods this week..

The 15-time major winner was the last man to successfully defend his Masters title back in 2002, but is continuing to recover from surgery on a ruptured Achilles tear, which could well put him out of action for the rest of 2025.

The 49-year-old even missed the Champions Dinner at Augusta National on Tuesday and would probably have enjoyed Scottie Scheffler's menu.

However, the bites were a humorous nod to Scheffler's Christmas Day injury - which caused him to miss a few events earlier this season - when he cut himself with a wine glass while attempting to make homemade ravioli.

Maybe Woods might have been tempted to leave well alone.

Image source, @Masters

If you're here already, excellent work. We're just warming up.

BBC Sport will have live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra across all four days.

There will also be live text commentary, in-play clips, video highlights, reaction and analysis on the BBC Sport website and app.

Today that looks like:

12:30 - 01:00 BST - live text commentary on round one on BBC Sport website, with in-play clips.

20:00 - 01:00 - live radio commentary on 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds.

We're putting in some hours this week, boss...

The annual par-three contest really was getting down with the kids on Wednesday...

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

We've seen some emotions on the greens at Augusta down the years.

This one is right up there.

The traditional Par 3 tournament is always a joyful precursor to the Masters and yesterday's edition was right up there.

Check out these magnificent holes in one from US trio Brooks Koepka, Keegan Bradley and Tom Hoge.

And for those of you worried about the curse for those who win the par three not going on to take the Green Jacket, yesterday's unfortunate champion was Colombia's Nicolas Echavarria, who beat American JJ Spaun in a play-off.

Read our report