US Open 2013 Pairings: Power Rankings This Year's Top Groups

The U.S. Open is always among the most difficult and entertaining tournaments on golf's annual calendar. The 2013 edition won't be any different as the field boasts all of golf's biggest stars angling to add a major to their resume. 

As the first two days of the tournament get underway, the pairings have been announced by the Open's official website. 

While the field will be reordered once the cuts are made, fans will need to pay special attention to a few groups that happen to be heavy on intriguing contenders. Here's the full list of groupings along with the three top groups to watch based on their overall chances of producing a winner. 

Group	Golfers	Time (ET)
1	Cliff Kresge, Roger Tambellini, Ryan Yip	6:45 a.m.
2	Rikard Karlberg, Yui Ueda, John Parry	6:56 a.m.
3	Nick Watney, Peter Hanson, Hunter Mahan	7:07 a.m.
4	Lucas Glover, Paul Casey, Bill Haas	7:18 a.m.
5	Aaron Baddeley, Rory Sabbatini, David Lingmerth	7:29 a.m.
6	George Coetzee, Martin Laird, Marcel Siem	7:40 a.m.
7	Jerry Kelly, Charley Hoffman, John Huh	7:51 a.m.
8	Henrik Stenson, Ryan Moore, Robert Garrigus	8:02 a.m.
9	Ryan Palmer, Simon Khan, Ted Potter Jr.	8:13 a.m.
10	Shawn Stefani, Michael Kim, Nicholas Thompson	8;24 a.m.
11	Chris Doak, Andrew Svoboda, Douglas LaBelle II	8:35 a.m.
12	Kevin Sutherland, Matt Weibring, Randall Hutchison	8:46 a.m.
13	Cory McElyea, Ryan Nelson, John Hahn	8:57 a.m.
14	David Toms, Darren Clarke, Jose Maria Olazabal	12:30 p.m.
15	Geoff Ogilvy, Angel Cabrera, Paul Lawrie	12:41 p.m.
16	Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer	12:52 p.m.
17	Jim Furyk, Graeme McDowell, Zach Johnson	1:03 p.m.
18	Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott	1:14 p.m.
19	Thongchai Jaidee. G. Fernandez-Castano, Thorbjorn Olesen	1:25 p.m.
20	Webb Simpson, Steven Fox, Ernie Els	1:36 p.m.
21	Kyle Stanley, Joe Ogilvi, Luke Guthrie	1:47 p.m.
22	Josh Teater, Yoshinobu Tsukada, Eddie Pepperell	1:58 p.m.
23	Edward Loar, Morten Orum Madsen, Jung-Gon Hwang	2:09 p.m.
24	Max Homa, Russell Knox, Matt Bettencourt	2:20 p.m.
25	Adam Hadwin, John Nieporte, Jim Herman	2:31 p.m.
26	Brandon Brown, Grayson Murray, Jesse Smith	2:42 p.m.
27	Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Nicolas Colsaerts	7:00 a.m.
28	Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Keegan Bradley	7:11 a.m.
29	Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker	7:22 a.m.
30	Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Tim Clark	7:33 a.m.
31	Sergio Garcia, Stewart Cink, Padraig Harrington	7:44 a.m.
32	Ian Poulter, Jason Dufner, Boo Weekley	7:55 a.m.
33	Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, Jason Day	8:06 a.m.
34	Y.E. Yang, Fredrik Jacobson, Hiroyuki Fujita	8:17 a.m.
35	Scott Stallings, John Peterson, Robert Karlsson	8:28 a.m.
36	Jay Don Blake, Brandt Jobe, Michael Campbell	8:39 a.m.
37	David Hearn, Mike Weir, Jaco Van Zyl	8:50 a.m.
38	Kevin Phelan, Wil Collins, Harold Varner III	9:01 a.m.
39	Cheng-Tsung Pan, Mackenzie Hughes, Geoffrey Sisk	9:12 a.m.
40	Justin Hicks, David Howell, Brian Stuard	12:45 p.m.
41	Brendan Steele, Estanislao Goya, Peter Hedblom	12:56 p.m.
42	Marc Leishman, John Senden, Marcus Fraser	1:07 p.m.
43	Scott Langley, Chris Williams, Morgan Hoffmann	1:18 p.m.
44	Michael Thompson, Michael Weaver, Casey Wittenberg	1:29 p.m.
45	K.J. Choi, Francesco Molinari, Carl Pettersson	1:40 p.m.
46	Scott Piercy, Kevin Chappell, Jamie Donaldson	1:51 p.m.
47	Bo Van Pelt, Kevin Streelman, D.A. Points	2:02 p.m.
48	Branden Grace, Sang-Moon Bae, Russell Henley	2;13 p.m.
49	Hideki Matsuyama, Billy Horschel, Jordan Spieth	2:24 p.m.
50	Mathew Goggin, Steven Alker, Alistair Presnell	2:35 p.m.
51	Matt Harmon, Gavin Hall, Bio Kim	2:46 p.m.
52	Zack Fischer, Ryan Sullivan, Brandon Crick	2:57 p.m.

No. 3—Group 16: Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer

This is a strong group of European contenders. Donald and Westwood are the bigger names, but Kaymer has a major to his name with his 2010 PGA Championship. 

Donald has the best odds of the bunch at 16-1, according to Bovada. He is short on prior success at the tournament, but he's fourth on the tour in total putting. That alone makes him a contender anytime he's playing. 

Westwood withdrew from the Memorial Tournament after firing a 76 in the opening rounds, but he had a streak of four top-10 finishes in a row before then. He should be a contender this weekend. 

No. 2—Group 29: Matt Kuchar, Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker

This group may not have the star power of the top group in the power rankings, but all three players have a good shot at competing. Given the lack of limelight they'll have to deal with comparatively, it could be an advantage to be in this group.

Kuchar is fresh off of a win at the Memorial Tournament and has two wins to his name. He also finished T-8 at the Masters, so we know that he can be a strong competitor at a major. Though he hasn't won one yet, this may be his best chance. 

Rose is a nice dark-horse pick to win at Merion. He's only behind Tiger Woods in the PGA Tour's All Around Ranking metric and is first on the tour in total driving. His accuracy should play well on the unforgiving East course, and he has four top-10 finishes this season. 

Snedeker was a contender throughout the Masters and finished T-6. He's also another player whose accuracy should give him a leg up on a course like Merion. 

No. 1—Group 18: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott

There's no question which trio will be garnering the most attention on Thursday and Friday. This is the most star-studded group by far. 

Woods enters the tournament as the odds-on favorite to walk away the winner at Merion and already has three U.S. Open titles to his name. While he hasn't won the event since 2008, his hour PGA Tour wins this year indicates he may be ready to end his drought at the majors. 

Also in the group is world No. 2 Rory McIlroy. While he hasn't been playing lights out this year, he still has the second-highest odds to win the tournament at 9-1, according to Bovada. 

Playing the role of third banana will be Adam Scott. All he's done was win the Masters this year, so he's kind of a big deal too. 

If you had to put money on any of the groupings producing the winner at Merion, there's no other group to bet on than this one.