Masters 2015 leaderboard: Justin Rose equals Charley Hoffman to share clubhouse lead

Keep up-to-date with the latest scoreboard from the 79th edition of The Masters

A shot of the Augusta National course (Getty Images)

Bubba Watson begins his defence of The Masters Championship on Thursday as Augusta National springs into life with the world's best golfers battling it out for the first major of the year.

Rory McIlroy is the bookmakers' red-hot favourite as he looks to clinch a third consecutive major championship following success in last year's Open and US PGA Championship. However, the Northern Irishman has never won at Augusta, and will complete a career Grand Slam if he does so this year.

Tiger Woods also makes his return, with all eyes set to the on the former world No 1 to see whether his crown has truly passed on to McIlroy. Other leading contenders include youngster Jordan Spieth, three-time winner Phil Mickelson and the returning Dustin Johnson.

But could one of the outsiders spring a surprise? Follow the latest scores below to find out.

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Woods's return grips Augusta but McIlroy eyes destiny

Tee-times:

12:45 (Thurs), 15:52 (Fri): Charley Hoffman, Brian Harman

12:56, 16:03: Larry Mize, Danny Willett (Eng), (a) Byron Meth

13:07, 16:14: Tom Watson, Gary Woodland, Camilo Villegas (Col)

13:18, 16:25: Mike Weir (Can), Ben Crane, (a) Corey Conners (Can)

13:29, 16:36: Vijay Singh (Fij), Russell Henley, Darren Clarke (NI)

13:40, 16:47: Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Brendon Todd, Kevin Na (Kor)

13:51, 17:09: Jonas Blixt (Swe), Kevin Streelman, Stephen Gallacher (Sco)

14:02, 17:20: Patrick Reed, Keegan Bradley, Ian Poulter (Eng)

14:13, 17:31: Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Lee Westwood (Eng), Anirban Lahiri (Ind)

14:24, 17:42: Bubba Watson, Justin Rose (Eng), (a) Gunn Yang (Kor)

14:35, 17:53: Adam Scott (Aus), Dustin Johnson, (a) Antonio Murdaca (Aus)

15:19, 18:26: Webb Simpson, Hideki Matsuyama (Jap), Paul Casey (Eng)

15:30, 18:37: Charl Schwartzel (SA), Joost Luiten (Ned), Sangmoon Bae (Kor)

15:41, 18:48: Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy (NI), Ryan Moore

15:52, 18:59: J. B. Holmes, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Brandt Snedeker

16:03, 12:45: Ian Woosnam (Wal), Erik Compton, Marc Leishman (Aus)

16:14, 12:56: Trevor Immelman (SA), Kevin Stadler, (a) Scott Harvey

16:25, 13:07: Ben Martin, Robert Streb, Cameron Tringale

16:36, 13:18: Sandy Lyle (Sco), Seung-Yul Noh (Kor), (a) Bradley Neil (Sco)

16:47, 13:29: Bernhard Langer (Ger), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)

17:09, 13:40: Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els (SA)

17:20, 13:51: Angel Cabrera (Arg), Louis Oosthuizen (SA), (a) Matias Dominguez (Chi)

17:31, 14:02: Mark O'Meara, Chris Kirk, Shane Lowry (Ire)

17:42, 14:13: Padraig Harrington (Ire), Ryan Palmer, Thomas Bjorn (Den)

17:53, 14:24: James Hahn (Kor), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Hunter Mahan

18:04, 14:35: Matt Kuchar, Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell (NI)

18:15, 14:57: Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Billy Horschel

18:26, 15:08: Fred Couples, Branden Grace (SA), Thongchai Jaidee (Thai)

18:37, 15:19: Luke Donald (Eng), Victor Dubuisson (Fra), John Senden (Aus)

18:48, 15:30: Tiger Woods, Jamie Donaldson (Wal), Jimmy Walker

18:59, 15:41: Jason Day (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Rickie Fowler