Masters 2012 Pairings: Updates on Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and More

The 2012 Masters Tournament is in the practice rounds part of the week, but today's announced player pairings brings several interesting groupings.

Tiger Woods will attempt to win his first green jacket since 2005 when he tees off with Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) and Sang-Moon Bae (Korea). They're set to tee-off at 10:35 AM in group 15 of the 32-group field of 96. This is Bae’s first Masters appearance.

Craig Stadler will start this year’s tournament, hitting the first shot at 7:50 AM on Thursday. 2011 champion Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) will be playing in the group ahead of Woods.

Luke Donald won the Par-three contest last year. His bid to be the first player to follow that up with a Masters win came up short when he found water on the 12^th hole on day-four. He’ll keep a close eye on Tiger on day one, as he headlines the group that follows Woods out of the box.

The other favorites this weekend, Rory McIlroy (N. Ireland) and Phil Mickelson, headline the final two groups. Hunter Mahan is expected to finish in the top-10 and will join Mickelson, along with Peter Hanson (Sweden), for the 1:53 PM final group.

McIlroy has one of the more interesting groups, heading out with Angel Cabrera (Argentina) and Bubba Watson. Cabrera is a 90/1 longshot, but won his first Masters title in 2009. Watson is coming off a solid 2011 season, his first with multiple wins.

The schedule is certainly set to be favorable for a televised audience. While a few former greats like Tom Watson and Ben Crenshaw join Stadler in the early rounds, the real contenders start with Schwartzel’s at 10:24 AM.

Group 22 will also attract some followers. Lost among several other also-ran sets, 2007 winner Zach Johnson will tee off with Ian Poutler (England). They will be joined by UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay, who earned a spot in the field by taking second in the 2011 US Amateur. He was the low amateur at the 2011 US Open, and is making his first appearance in a Masters.

Complete listings for the first two days are available at masters.com.