The Open Championship 2013 Schedule: When to See Day 1's Most Exciting Pairings

Although it’s very much an individual’s game at the heart of things, golf is still that much more exciting to watch when some of the world’s biggest talents paired alongside one another.

Joined with the same goal but with deep-seated competition posed between each other, these partnerships can sometimes make the watching of a tournament just that much more entertaining.

With our Day One tee times already announced, the following lists some of the highest profile pairings, who promise great things between them as they head towards the start of this year’s Open Championship.

For a full list of tee times, Mike Chiari has you covered here.

When: Thursday, July 18, 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET/9 a.m. to 8 p.m. BST

Where: Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland

Watch: ESPN (US), BBC One and BBC Two (UK)

Live Stream: WatchESPN, BBC Sport

Real-Time Leaderboard Updates: The Open

Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Brandt Snedeker

Day One Tee Time: 4:11 a.m. ET/9:11 a.m. BST

Brandt Snedeker might feel slightly dwarfed in amongst his Day One pairings, given that he’s the only one of the three not to have won a golf major as of yet.

However, the American will seek to right that particular wrong in the coming days having finished third in last year’s Open Championship, falling off slightly in the last day but impressing nonetheless.

Ernie Els accounts for four fifths of the group’s major count, while Justin Rose pitches in with the one remaining, the US Open he secured but a month ago.

Els returns to this course as the last Open Championship victor of Muirfield and, having a decent penchant for links golf, will hope to earn the third Claret Jug of his career this weekend.

Rose can become the first Briton to win back-to-back majors since the 1800s with a triumph this weekend, giving the Johannesburg native that extra bit of incentive to etch his name into history.

Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson

Day One Tee Time: 4:44 a.m. ET/9:44 a.m. BST

This group has a bit of everything: the young, the old and the even younger.

Phil Mickelson may not take kindly to it, but is almost the sum total of the ages of two players he’s been paired with, meaning Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama will have a pointer or two to take off of “Lefty” in the ensuing days.

All jokes aside, though, the latter two have some amazing credentials of their own and will seek to show that age really is just a number, promising some risky strategy perhaps from the starlet duo.

Easily the wisest head of the group, Mickelson’s three Masters titles stand out amongst the three, with McIlroy’s US Open and PGA Championship not exactly that far behind.

At just 21 years of age, Matsuyama is yet to win his maiden major, but already has two wins from Japan this year and comes to his first British Open hoping to make a real splash.

Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar, Luke Donald

Day One Tee Time: 9:12 a.m. ET/14:12 p.m. BST

The only Day One pairing to have all of its members in the world’s top ten at the moment, the star-studded ensemble of Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar and Luke Donald, is potentially the group to watch.

Realistically, any participant of the Open Championship can of course win this tournament, but the odds of that winner coming from this particular group would be seriously increased.

Reigning Masters champion, Adam Scott, will come back to The Open Championship with the mentality that he should already have this title to his name were it not for an almighty collapse on the final day of last year’s tournament.

Now, with his first major under his belt, the Australian will seek to claim what he’ll feel might already have been his.

Luke Donald knows the feeling all too well, and despite some impressive performances at the top level, is yet to earn his first major victory.

The Englishman tied for fifth at the British Open last year and should seek to use home advantage as a tool.

Like Donald, Kuchar is also yet to win a major but is in decent form having won The Memorial Championship just last month. Kuchar also did well at last year’s Open, eventually settling for ninth, making for a very promising round of scores from these three especially.

Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen

Day One Tee Time: 9:45 a.m. ET/14:45 p.m. BST

The group with the tournament’s favourite, Tiger Woods will start off as part of the afternoon groups when the masses will see if the veteran looks up to the task of winning his first major for nearly six years.

With three Claret Jugs to his name already, the three-time Open champion should be in the mix come Sunday, but has a weight of pressure on his shoulders.

Graeme McDowell is also among the favourites to do well at Muirfield, despite having chosen to abstain from last week’s Scottish Open at Castle Stuart.

Instead, the Northern Irishman travelled to Paris where he won the Alstom Open de France, making for some good preparation for this weekend’s trial.

It’s unknown as to just how Louis Oosthuizen will play on the links course of the Open Championship, but having won the competition in 2010, playing on British shores is obviously not too much of a challenge for the South African.

With 16 majors between them (14 of which are owned by Woods), this trio should be out to impress at Muirfield.