Scottie Scheffler won the Masters at Augusta in 2024. That Thursday he teed off at 13.12, local time in Augusta. He shared the tee time with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. A year later the Masters winner was Rory McIlroy, the defending champion. Rory teed off on Thursday 2025 at 13:12, local time in Augusta. Same hour, same minutes. He shared the time time with Ludvig Aberg and Akshay Bhatia. Join us on the 13:12 train, a curious and fun look back at the Masters’ tee times over the past 25 years. Or, in other words, all of those in the 21st century
It should be said at the outset that Masters tee times are not always the same. That is to say, it is already a remarkable coincidence that they were the same in 2024 and 2025. They vary each year according to daylight, the number of players and, above all, the weather conditions (which can delay the start because of rain or fog). The dates of the Masters follow a basic rule. It is held each year so that the final Sunday is the second of April. This means that, at the earliest, it will be played from 5 to 8 April and, at the latest, from 11 to 14 April. Those days make the difference depending on the dawn
This year, for example, there is no tee time at 13:12, although the first tee time is at 7:40, the same as last year. The difference is that in 2026 the second group will tee off 10 minutes later and thereafter every twelve minutes, whereas last year they were every eleven. That is where the mismatch comes from. Thus, the 2026 tee time closest to 13:12 is 13:08. And who plays in that group, the 27th of the day? Well, Jon Rahm, Chris Gotterup and Ludvig Aberg. If we follow a simple superstition, it turns out that Aberg will be the Masters winner. They can start ordering him the Green Jacket already. Scheffler teed off at 13:12 in 2024 alongside McIlroy and won the Masters. McIlroy teed off with Aberg in 2025 at 13:12 and won the Masters and now it would be the Swede’s turn
If only it were that easy to predict the Masters winner, but you cannot deny that at least it is an entertaining sequence. For those who believe in such things, there you have it. For those who don’t, at least we hope it brought a smile. It’s the 13:12 train
The analysis of tee times over the last 25 years yields some very curious data:
– Nobody has won the Masters in the 21st century having teed off on Thursday before 9:17 (always local time in Augusta). This would remove from the equation the first eight groups of this Thursday, a total of 23 players, among them Ryan Fox, Rasmus Hojgaard, Neergaard Petersen, Olazábal, Ortiz, Homa or Potgieter, among others
– Zach Johnson is the player who has won the Masters in the last 25 years having teed off the earliest on Thursday. He did so at 9:17 in 2007
– The ‘safest’ time to win the Masters is to tee off either between 10:00 and 11:00 or between 13:00 and 14:00. In the first group we have had eight winners since 2001, the same number as in the second. That is to say, of the last 25 Masters winners, a total of 16 have teed off in those two time slots
– The 21st century has only seen two Masters winners tee off before 10am: the aforementioned Zach Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama
– A very unfavourable hour to win the Masters is between 12:00 and 13:00. In that interval we have had only two winners: Dustin Johnson (2020) and Tiger Woods (2001)
– Only three winning tee times have been repeated in this last quarter of a century. At 13:12 with the aforementioned Scheffler and McIlroy; at 13:15 with Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth (they were consecutive as well, 2014 and 2015) and at 10:12 with Ángel Cabrera (2009) and Phil Mickelson (2004)
– Jon Rahm teed off on Thursday at 10:42 when he won the Masters in 2023, while Sergio García did so at 13:19 in 2017
– The player who has most often played on Thursday in the champion’s group without himself donning the Green Jacket on Sunday is Rory McIlroy. In these 25 years he has been in three champion groups over the first two days: Scheffler (2024), Dustin Johnson (2020) and Bubba Watson (2012). Sergio García has been twice, with Bubba in 2014 and with Willett in 2016. Curiously, the year after Willett won, Sergio would win. More points for Aberg and his 13:12 train
It is worth clarifying with regard to this analysis of tee times that it makes sense that most of the winners over the last 25 years are concentrated either at 10:00 or 13:00. Basically because the Masters tends to schedule the largest number of favourites for the title at those times
