Louis Oosthuizen will have to wait until the first round’s penultimate tee time for his Masters 2018 bid to get under way.
The groupings were confirmed on Tuesday with Oosthuizen off in the second to last group at 19:49 alongside American Jordan Spieth and Swede Alex Noren.
Oosthuizen regained his place as the top South African according to the rankings and is determined to go one better than his second place in 2012. [Read that story HERE!]
The South African will have his game under the microscope with a huge following likely, with Spieth the drawcard. The Texan has quickly moved into a player with plenty of ‘Augusta know-how’ after his runaway win in 2015 and two runner-up finishes on either side of that.
Noren, who no longer flies under the radar after five wins in the last two years, completes the three-ball.
Before the Spieth group, Rory McIlroy will begin his quest to complete the career slam with Jon Rahm and 2013 champion Adam Scott forming one of the marquee groups over the first two days.
The final tee time on Thursday belongs to Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Rafael Cabrera Bello.
Rose will start as the favourite in that group after his playoff loss last year and his stellar run of form in late 2017/early 2018 which has yielded a number of wins and an improved world ranking. At No 5, Rose is four behind Johnson but, despite the big-hitting blasting his way to a win in 2018’s first event, he has struggled to replicate the form that made him the overwhelming favourite this time last year.
An unfortunate injury suffered on the eve of The Masters opened the door for the field which Sergio Garcia took full advantage of.
The Spaniard, no longer the world’s best player without a Major win, will defend his title with Justin Thomas (FedExCup champion) and Doc Redman (US Amateur champion) joining him for the first two rounds.
Dylan Frittelli is the first South African off on Thursday in the fourth group (15:03) with former winner Jose Maria Olazabal and Kevin Chappell.
At 16:31, Branden Grace will tee off as the only non-Major winner in a group that contains Martin Kaymer and Zach Johnson. Grace is trending positively since his Nedbank Golf Challenge win and is ready for a strong showing this week. [We spoke to Grace on Monday, read his thoughts HERE!]
Masters 2008 champion Trevor Immelman will play on Thursday (17:48) and Friday in the group that features last man into the field Ian Poulter and American Patrick Cantlay.
Webb Simpson and Lin Yuxin (China), who plays this week after winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, join 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel on Thursday at 18:54.
Selected groups:
16:42 – Tiger Woods, Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood
17:04 – Bubba Watson, Henrik Stenson, Jason Day
19:27 – Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar
