AUGUSTA , Ga. — Tiger Woods’ first competitive round of golf this year will begin at 1:42 p.m. ET Thursday alongside K.J. Choi and Matt Kuchar.
The threesome is the second-to-last group to tee off on the first hole at Augusta National, where Woods will make his much-anticipated return to golf after nearly five months away from the game.
The group will tee off at 10:35 a.m. ET Friday.
Woods
Choi
Kuchar
Choi, 39, from South Korea, is a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour. Kuchar, 31, is a two-time winner. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion in 1998, he was paired with Woods, the reigning Masters champion, in the opening round.
Woods’ opening shot will be shown live Thursday on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Full television coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.
There will be an hour of coverage online (Masters.com, ESPN.com) beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
“I think this is the best event in the world to be paired with anybody,” Padraig Harrington said about the possibility of being in Woods’ group. “It’s like your own little world when you’re out there between the ropes. It’s definitely the easiest event of all the events to be paired with Tiger.”
Tiger’s Past Pairings
Tiger Woods’ playing partners for the first round of the Masters since he turned pro in 1997, and the tee time (a – amateur):
• 2009 — 1:52 p.m.: Stewart Cink, Jeev Milkha Singh
• 2008 — 10:45 a.m.: Angel Cabrera, Stuart Appleby
• 2007 — 1:52 p.m.: Paul Casey, Aaron Baddeley
• 2006 — 10:23 a.m.: a-Edoardo Molinari, Robert Allenby
• 2005 — 1:33 p.m.: Darren Clarke, Carlos Franco
• 2004 — 1:30 p.m.: a-Casey Wittenberg, Thomas Bjorn
• 2003 — 10:44 a.m.: a-Ricky Barnes, Angel Cabrera
• 2002 — 10:53 a.m.: a-Bubba Dickerson, Toshi Izawa
• 2001 — 12:57 p.m.: a-Mikko Ilonen, Mike Weir
• 2000 — 10:58 a.m.: a-Aaron Baddeley, Stewart Cink
• 1999 — 10:38 a.m.: a-Sergio Garcia, Tim Herron
• 1998 — 1:30 p.m.: a-Matt Kuchar
• 1997 — 1:44 p.m.: Nick Faldo
— (Source: AP)
Unlike at a PGA Tour event, the Masters does not allow media, photographers or other officials inside the ropes. That typically makes for a hectic scene at every tournament in which Woods plays.
But at Augusta, it will just be the players and caddies, which makes for a better experience for the golfers.
“Of all the tournaments, I think this is the one tournament where it’s not as bad,” Woods said during his Monday news conference. “The media is not allowed inside the ropes. You don’t have like at the U.S. Open and British Open, we have over 100 people inside the rope that are moving around.
“It’s going to be a lot more at ease this week than most weeks. If there is one week you’d rather have a pairing with me, considering the circumstances, it would probably be this week.”
Still …
“It’s never easy being paired with Tiger in terms of your whole tournament,” said Harrington, a three-time major champion. “I’m sure the stats will show this out, but guys who are paired with Tiger on Thursday and Friday … they may beat him on Thursday and Friday but they don’t have as good of a weekend because that’s a lot of energy used up.
“There’s more focus and more stress and there will be questions about how do you feel about playing with Tiger … They are all questions that are adding a bit more stress to the week.”
Woods’ playing partners in their first round of the Masters have played to a scoring average of 74.71, or 2.71 shots above par. Only three times since Woods turned pro has a playing partner shot a lower score than him in the first round — Ricky Barnes in 2003, Darren Clarke in 2005 and Stewart Cink last year.
Perhaps even more daunting is being in the group that plays directly in front of Woods.
Those players have to constantly deal with spectators who are rushing ahead on the course to try to gain a prime vantage point for when Woods’ group arrives.
Japan’s Yuta Ikeda, England’s Ian Poulter and Steve Stricker will be in the preceding threesome that tees off at 1:31 p.m. ET
