US Open 2012 Tee Times: Dynamic Pairings Sure to Impress

The 2012 US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco is sure to be one for the ages.

There are plenty of great pairings to watch in the opening round on Thursday, so make sure you don't miss the action.

Here are three pairings that will provide the most excitement in the first round of the US Open.

Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson (10:33 a.m., No. 9 Tee)

The trio of Mickelson, Woods and Watson is the best storyline that the PGA Tour has going into the opening round at the Olympic Club.

Mickelson is coming off one of the worst performances of his career at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. Lefty shot a 79 in the opening round, the worst of his career at the Memorial. 

Before that debacle, though, Mickelson had finished in the top seven in three of his last five tournaments. He'll be looking to bounce back this weekend and has been afforded the tournament's biggest stage to do so.

Watson has had one of the best seasons out of any player on the PGA Tour. Excluding his poor outing at the Memorial when he missed the cut, Watson has finished in the top 20 in every tournament he has played.

Most notably, he won the Masters Tournament by beating Louis Oosthuizen in the second hole of their playoff. Watson will have all eyes on his performance, as he is looking to win his second major tournament this year.

There's not much to say about Woods that hasn't been said this past week. He's been the topic of the golf universe since he won the Memorial, and rightfully so.

The question on everyone's mind is as follows: Is the old Tiger Woods back? 

It would seem that way, now that he has finished atop the field on two occasions in 2012. He's looked a lot better this year on the tour, and the entire field needs to watch out for Tiger if he truly has reverted to his old self.

Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood (4:29 p.m., No. 1 Tee)

This trio doesn't have the same star power that the above group does, but it still has plenty of quality golfers, but you don't need someone to tell you that.

McIlroy will be trying to defend his US Open title, where he ran away from the field and finished at 16-under par. He's won just one tournament this year, but has finished amongst the top of the field in most of the tournaments he has been at.

The 23-year-old Northern Irishman started the season off in stellar fashion, finishing second, first and third in his first three outings, respectively. He's hit a rough patch lately, though, missing the cut in two of his last three tournaments.

Hopefully a seventh-place finish at the FedEx St. Jude Classic will serve to get him back on track in his title defense.

After a 32nd and a 37th-place finish at the Masters and the RBC Heritage Tournaments, Donald has gotten hot in his last three performances.

He notched a third-place finish in the Zurich Classic, followed by a sixth-place result in The Players Championship and rounded out the three-tournament stretch with a 12th-place finish at the Memorial Tournament. 

He hasn't missed a cut this year, and has just as good a chance as anybody to compete for this U.S. Open title.

It's been a month since Westwood played in a PGA Tour event. He finished 61st in The Players Championship on May 13, and hasn't participated in an outing since.

That was a rough weekend for Westwood, but he was playing pretty well before that. He finished third in the Masters and fifth at the Wells Fargo Championship.

However, he won the Nordea Masters on the European Tour last weekend, and looked great doing it. Westwood has played in his fair share of major tournaments and knows how to carry himself in one.

He's not likely to overcome the likes of McIlroy, Woods, Mickelson and Watson, but look for him to hang with the pack through the first couple of rounds at least.

Here is a link to all the tee times for Thursday's opening round.