Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler will be joined by fifth-ranked Max Homa while world No 2 Rory McIlroy opens alongside Tom Kim and Sam Burns when the 87th Masters begins on Thursday.
Augusta National revealed the pairings on Tuesday with no shocking moves involving LIV Golf players, who were scattered among the field alongside PGA Tour rivals throughout the six-hour span.
Scheffler, who won last month’s Players Championship, will be joined by Homa, who won his sixth PGA Tour title in January at Torrey Pines, and reigning US Amateur champion Sam Bennett.
Four-time Major winner McIlroy, trying to complete a career Grand Slam, will play the first two rounds alongside 20-year-old South Korean Kim, who won two PGA Tour titles last year, and 11th-ranked American Burns, who won the WGC Match Play two weeks ago.
Scheffler’s group tees off 1:36pm (7:36pm SA time) in Thursday’s opening round, 12 minutes ahead of the McIlroy trio in the day’s penultimate group.
Canada’s Mike Weir will hit the first competitive shot at 8am (2pm SA time) playing alongside US LIV Golf player Kevin Na.
Louis Oosthuizen will be the first South African to tee off, at 8:48am (2:48pm SA time), along with Poland’s Adrian Meronk and America’s Kevin Kisner.
Reigning Open champion Cameron Smith, the world No 6 and LIV Golf player from Australia, will tee off at 10:54am (4:54pm SA time). Thursday alongside 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae.
Starting in the group just ahead of them at 10:42 (4:42pm SA time) will be 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas, Spain’s third-ranked Jon Rahm and American Cameron Young, the 2022 PGA Rookie of the Year.
Tiger Woods, a 15-time Major winner and five-time Masters champion, tees off at 10:18am (4:18pm SA time). alongside Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.
2011 Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and African Amateur champion Aldrich Potgieter will start their first rounds at 11:18am (5:18pm) in a group that also features the USA’s Taylor Moore.
Six-time Major winner Phil Mickelson of LIV will be joined by South Korean Kim Si-woo and American Tom Hoge in the 12:24pm (6:24pm) group.
Reigning US Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick of England will open at 1:24pm (7:24pm SA time). Thursday alongside Americans Will Zalatoris and Collin Morikawa.
The group ahead of them will feature England’s Justin Rose, LIV Golf’s former Masters champion Dustin Johnson and last week’s PGA Texas Open winner, Corey Conners of Canada.
© Agence France-Presse
