Tiger Woods will play with the top two players in the world next week when he renews his quest for a 15th major title at the U.S. Open.
Woods will tee it up at Shinnecock Hills in Southampton, N.Y., 10 years after winning his third U.S. Open title at Torrey Pines. During the first two rounds he’ll play alongside Dustin Johnson, who earned his first career major title two years ago at Oakmont, and Justin Thomas, the reigning PGA champion who recently ascended to the top spot in the world rankings.
Here’s a look at some marquee, early-round tee times next week at the season’s second major (all times ET):
7:51 a.m. Thursday, 1:36 p.m. Friday: Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Charl Schwartzel: Reed will play in a major as a major champ for the first time, as his Masters win in April ensures he’s the only person still in the running for the single-season Grand Slam. Johnson finished T-48 at Shinnecock in 2004 in his tournament debut, while Schwartzel cracked the top 10 in both 2011 and 2015.
8:02 a.m. Thursday, 1:47 p.m. Friday: Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth: This is the close-but-not-quite trio, with all three men one leg short of the career Grand Slam. Only Mickelson can round it out at Shinnecock Hills, as he returns to the U.S. Open after skipping Erin Hills last year. McIlroy earned his first major title seven years ago at Congressional while Spieth took home the title in 2015 at Chambers Bay.
8:13 a.m. Thursday, 1:58 p.m. Friday: Hideki Matsuyama, Marc Leishman, Rickie Fowler: This group will feature plenty of well-struck iron shots, with 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Fowler leading the charge. He also finished second at the Masters earlier this year, while Leishman will look for his first top-10 finish in his seventh appearance while Matsuyama hopes to improve on last year’s T-2 finish in Wisconsin.
First- and second-round tee times for the 2018 U.S. Open
1:14 p.m. Thursday, 7:29 a.m. Friday: Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm, Rafael Cabrera-Bello: This trio includes the only three Spaniards ranked inside the top 75 in the world, led by Rahm who missed the cut last year at Erin Hills but will have a chance to reach No. 1 next week. Garcia has five top-10 finishes highlighted by a T-3 back in 2005, while Cabrera-Bello has made the cut in three of four prior appearances.
1:47 p.m. Thursday, 8:02 a.m. Friday: Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas: Woods is a three-time tournament champ but is making his first appearance since 2015 and just his fourth since a T-4 finish at Pebble Beach in 2010. Johnson’s missed cut last year was his first finish outside the top 5 in four years, while Thomas shot a tournament-record 63 last year at Erin Hills.
1:47 p.m. Thursday, 8:02 a.m. Friday: Adam Scott, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer: Scott struggled to qualify for this week’s field, but after a successful trip to sectional qualifying he will make his 68th straight start in a major. Stenson’s best finish came at Pinehurst in 2014, where he finished T-4 while Kaymer cruised to his second major title.
Source: Internet
