AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The 88th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club is underway after inclement weather Thursday delayed the start of the first round by 2½ hours.

In the first group of the day, Erik van Rooyen and Jake Knapp teed off around 10:30 a.m. ET after being scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Honorary starters Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson, who combined to win 11 Masters titles in 140 starts in the tournament, hit their ceremonial tee shots to open the year's first major.

The final group of the day -- Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood -- is now scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET. The delay means those players starting late are unlikely to finish their opening rounds before sundown. If they don't finish, they would complete their opening rounds Friday morning.

The round was delayed due to a strong band of heavy rain and thunderstorms, with wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph, along a cold front that was initially forecast to hit Augusta, although the majority of the heavy rain and winds tracked south of the course.

Mostly sunny and warm conditions are expected from Friday to Sunday.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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