British Open 2012: Tee Times & Pairings for Round 1

Big pairings often times steal the show at majors, and that will be no different at the British Open.

Look, for instance, at the U.S. Open last month.

The pairing of the week was obviously the trio of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson. Even though Mickelson and Watson played two horrendous rounds of golf, this trio got a large amount of the attention throughout Thursday and Friday. 

Sometimes, even more attention than the leaders.

This week at Royal Lytham and St. Annes there will be no super group to dominate the storylines of the British Open, but there will be some intriguing pairings nonetheless. 

For a complete look at the pairings and tee times for Rounds 1 and 2, check out ESPN. What follows is a look at the groupings you won't want to miss. 

Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia: 4:42 a.m. EST

Woods, the odds-on favorite to win the tournament, is obviously the player everyone will have their eyes on, but Rose and Garcia aren't players to dismiss, either.

The 32-year-old Rose has one win and has made the cut at every tournament he's participated in this year. Garcia hasn't been all that active on the PGA Tour, but as always, he'll bring his A-game to the storied major.

Whenever you get the world No. 4, No. 9 and No. 23 in the same group, it's worth watching. 

Lee Westwood, Yoshinori Fujimoto, Bubba Watson: 4:20 a.m. EST

Teeing off just 22 minutes earlier is what I like to call the group of misfits. 

First you have Westwood, the third-ranked golfer in the world, the 39-year-old veteran, the calm Brit who is a clear favorite to win this tournament on his home soil. 

Then you have Watson. His name is Bubba, and while I'm not really sure what this means, his style of play fits his name. The 33-year-old is aggressive. He leads the tour in driving distance, and while he doesn't have a pretty swing, it works for him. He is ranked sixth in the world.

After those two absolute studs, you have Yoshinori Fujimoto, the 22-year-old that no one really knows. He has only won one career event on the Japan Tour and ranks 10th in his country. 

Knowing how the last few majors have generally went, Fujimoto will probably out-play both of them. 

Luke Donald, Phil Mickelson, Geoff Ogilvy: 9:43 a.m. EST

This group is clearly headlined by Donald, the No. 1 ranked player in the world who has secured four Top-10 finishes in just 10 starts on the PGA Tour this year. 

But while Donald is the world No. 1, Phil Mickelson, a usual crowd favorite, might just draw most of the attention. Lefty, ranked No. 16, has been up and down this year, but you can never count him out at majors, even at the age 42. 

Finally you have Ogilvy. The Australian is obviously an underdog, but he has quietly made 12 of 14 cuts this year and has finished in the top 25 six times. 

The 2006 U.S. Open champion has failed to finish in the top 10 so far this year, but playing with two stars like Donald and Mickelson could very well help him up his game to the next level. 

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