The tournament was the 31st staging of the competition and was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events in the 2004/2005 season.

In the semi-finals Higgins beat Peter Ebdon 6–3 and O'Sullivan defeated Jimmy White 6–1.

Ding Junhui made the tournament's highest break of 141 in his first round match against Ken Doherty.

[2] The 2005 tournament, held between 13 and 20 February at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events of the 2004/2005 season, following the Malta Cup and preceding the Irish Masters.

[3] The defending Masters champion was Paul Hunter, who defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in the 2004 final.

[2] Sponsored by the national sports member company Rileys Club for the first time,[2] it had a total prize fund of £400,000,[4] and the host broadcasters were the BBC and Eurosport.

[6] While Hunter had a poor form since making the semi-finals of the Grand Prix tournament, he said he was unworried, "I have been preparing for events in the same way and I'm not going to change my game.

[2][6] Maguire had won the UK Championship the previous November and was making his Masters debut.

[9] Graeme Dott was 2–1 behind fellow Scot Maguire when he clinched five of the next seven frames with breaks of 98, 92, 83, 62 and 54 to win 6–4.

[11] In his first round match world number 13 and three-time Masters champion Steve Davis overhauled Hunter 6–5.

A brief safety shot exchange ensued before Davis undercut the final red ball 12 ft (140 in) down the side cushion and into the top right-hand corner pocket.

White then compiled a break of 115 to force a final frame decider in which he outscored Stevens 88–0 to progress into the quarter-finals.

Higgins lost the chance of a maximum break in frame six when he missed the sixth black ball shot while on 65 points.

Williams compiled breaks of 67, 54, 116 and a 66 clearance to defeat McManus 6–3 after the latter missed a straightforward red ball shot in the eighth frame.

[21] Lee stated afterwards that he was considered ending his snooker career had he not improved his confidence and playing ability.

After some advanced tactical play on the table Ebdon opened out an early lead of 3–0 with breaks of 60, 62 and 78.

[26] Williams spoke to referee Paul Collier to suggest that the table's top cushion had too much bounce and White concurred.

[27] The WPBSA issued a statement that examination of the table confirmed that there was no change in playing conditions and stated it would investigate whether static in the arena affected it.

[30] Trailing 2–1 O'Sullivan won the following five frames with breaks of 77, 92, 123 and 67,[29][30] saying afterwards, "With two players capable of scoring heavily there is always a danger of one of them running away with the game.

[32] O'Sullivan produced two consecutive breaks of 76 and 97 in the first three frames to lead 3–0 as White did not strike a single ball for 35 minutes.

[35] In the best-of-19 frame final,[5] held before 2,500 people,[36] O'Sullivan defeated Higgins 10–3 to win second Masters title and his first since the 1995 tournament.

[37] He joined Cliff Thorburn, Alex Higgins, Hendry, Davis and Hunter as the sixth player to win the Masters more than once.

[36] In the afternoon session, O'Sullivan took the first frame with a break of 95,[39] after jousting with Higgins in a safety shot battle for a quarter of an hour.

Although O'Sullivan obtained the necessary points, Higgins won the frame on the blue ball to leave it 5–3 at the conclusion of the first session.

"[37] Higgins labelled O'Sullivan "a total genius" due to his high level of playing standard, "Somehow the rest of us have got to try and catch up.

The competition's highest break, a 141, was made by Ding in the opening frame of his first round match against Ken Doherty.