McIlroy has been handed a late-early draw for his 15th Masters appearance and latest opportunity to end his major drought, with the world No 2 going out at 1.48pm local time (6.48pm BST) on Thursday before tee off at 10.42am (3.42pm BST) on Friday.

The Northern Irishman won three times on the PGA Tour last year and began 2023 with DP World Tour victory at the Dubai Desert Classic, with McIlroy now looking to build on his runner-up finish at Augusta in 2022 and become just the sixth player in history to win all four majors.

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McIlroy would become the first player to complete the Grand Slam since Tiger Woods, who is on the opposite side of the draw alongside Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele - who finished tied-second in 2019 when Woods won his 15th major title.

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler begins his title defence alongside US Amateur champion Sam Bennett and compatriot Max Homa, while three-time winner Jordan Spieth is out alongside former major runners-up Tommy Fleetwod and Tony Finau.

World No 3 Jon Rahm joins reigning PGA champion Justin Thomas and rising star Cameron Young over the first two days, with Open winner Cameron Smith - one of 18 LIV players involved - in the same threeball as Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama.

Thursday's key tee times (all BST)

1518 Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Xander Schaffuele

1530 Adam Scott (Aus), Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama

1542 Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm (Esp), Cameron Young

1824 Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris

1836 Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett*

1848 Tom Kim (Kor), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Sam Burns

1900 Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Tony Finau

Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson will serve as the Honorary Starters once again, with the ceremony scheduled to begin at 7.40am local time on Thursday. The trio combined are the winners of 11 Masters Tournaments and have made 140 tournament appearances.

McGinley: Draw 'dampens strong sentiment' between PGA Tour and LIV

None of the world's top 15 has been grouped alongside a LIV player, with tournament organisers seemingly limiting any potential issues between the most vocal supporters of the PGA Tour and those from the breakaway circuit.

"I think what they've done is dampen the field and any kind of strong sentiment of players that has been fed over the last 12 months," former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley told Sky Sports News. "The big thing the players have to prepare for more than anything over the next few days is that inclement weather.

"They've done that on purpose and that's great, so the golf can do the talking. There's been too much talk about the LIV, so let's move on, let's do our thing and we're here to enjoy. These guys are here to win the Masters and carry on with it.

"I like that they've done that and they haven't created a certain group which has got animosity in it because a lot of words have been said to one another over the past 12 months. They've separated them out and they've quietened things down."

When is The Masters on Sky Sports?

Sky Sports has almost 70 hours of live coverage throughout tournament week, with round-the-clock coverage from the 87th edition of The Masters live on Sky Sports Golf.

Wall-to-wall coverage from the tournament begins at 2pm over the first two rounds, with Featured Group action and regular updates from around the course available to enjoy on Sky Sports Golf until the global broadcast window begins at 8pm on Thursday and Friday.

There will be lots of extra action throughout all four days via the red button on Sky Sports Golf, along with Sky Q and Sky Glass, providing plenty of bonus feeds and allowing you to follow players' progress through various parts of Augusta's famous layout.

The notorious Amen Corner stream will also be available for all four rounds and focuses on the famous three-hole stretch from the 11th, with that coverage also live - for free - on the Sky Sports Golf YouTube channel and Sky Sports App.

The same additional feeds and coverage will be available from 3pm over the weekend via the red button, with Sky Sports Golf showing build-up content and occasional live updates from the course until full coverage can begin on Saturday from 8pm and Sunday from 7pm.

Who will win the Green Jacket? Watch The Masters throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf! Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 2pm on Sky Sports Golf.