Masters 2015 Tee Times: List of Pairings and Schedule Info for Thursday
The first major of the golf season is finally here as the Masters kicks off Thursday.
While there are certainly favorites heading into the biggest event of the year, the field is truly wide open as dozens of competitors have a realistic chance of taking home the green jacket. To make things even more exciting, many of these top players will be grouped together in some very intriguing pairings.
Whether you will try to follow the entire tournament or see what a few groups are up to on each hole, here is a look at the top groups to watch Thursday.
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| 9:02 a.m. | Patrick Reed | Keegan Bradley | Ian Poulter |
| 9:24 a.m. | Bubba Watson | Justin Rose | Gunn Yang |
| 9:35 a.m. | Adam Scott | Dustin Johnson | Antonio Murdaca |
| 10:08 a.m. | Ben Crenshaw | Bill Haas | Jason Dufner |
| 10:19 a.m. | Webb Simpson | Hideki Matsuyama | Paul Casey |
| 10:41 a.m. | Phil Mickelson | Rory McIlroy | Ryan Moore |
| 10:52 a.m. | J.B. Holmes | Martin Kaymer | Brandt Snedeker |
| 12:09 p.m. | Zach Johnson | Jim Furyk | Ernie Els |
| 12:20 p.m. | Angel Cabrera | Louis Oosthuizen | Matias Dominguez |
| 1:04 p.m. | Matt Kuchar | Brooks Koepka | Graeme McDowell |
| 1:15 p.m. | Jordan Spieth | Henrik Stenson | Billy Horschel |
| 1:48 p.m. | Tiger Woods | Jimmy Walker | Jamie Donaldson |
| 1:59 p.m. | Jason Day | Sergio Garcia | Rickie Fowler |
Full list of tee times available at Masters.com.
Top Groups to Watch
Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Ryan Moore
One of these players has won this event three times. Another one is the favorite to win his first this year.
Phil Mickelson has been one of the most successful golfers ever at Augusta with titles in 2004, 2006 and 2010 while finishing in the top 10 an incredible 14 times. Even after missing the cut last year, he has to have confidence coming back to a place where he has fared well so many times.
Still, he believes Rory McIlroy is someone with a great chance of taking home the title. Mickelson explained why the No. 1 player in the world is built for this course, via Sky Sports:
"I think the Masters is very well suited for Rory. He almost won here a couple of years ago - he was leading heading into the back nine. The type of length and ball-striking that he has, I think this a course that he is going to be tough at for the rest of his career.
Whether it’s this week or not, you never know - you always need a bit of luck, a bit of a break to win any tournament and maybe he gets it this week, maybe he doesn’t.
Over the course of 15, 20 years, he’ll get those breaks and he’ll win the Masters.
"
McIlroy has won the past two major titles at The Open Championship and PGA Championship, and there is no reason for him to slow down now.
Meanwhile, Ryan Moore has gotten off to a solid start to the year and could be able to keep up with his competitors over the first couple of days.
Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Billy Horschel
There are no major winners among this group, but not many players have performed better over the last two years than this trio.
Henrik Stenson has especially excelled at majors lately with four top-five finishes in his last six tournaments. Although he has never put up great numbers at Augusta, he certainly won't be afraid of the moment.
Billy Horschel is also coming off an incredible 2014 season where he won the FedEx Cup title and took home quite a bit of money throughout the year. He doesn't have any wins yet this year but finished third in his most recent appearance at the Valero Texas Open.
This leaves us with Jordan Spieth, who is one of the favorites at this event after his incredible recent run, as described by Shane Bacon:
The 21-year-old phenom seems primed to be the next big star in this sport, which could start with a championship this weekend. In reality, it wouldn't be surprising to see all three of these players end up in the top 10 by Sunday.
Tiger Woods, Jimmy Walker, Jamie Donaldson
The crowds will follow this group for Tiger Woods. The former No. 1 golfer is still one of the greatest of all time, even if he isn't currently in the Top 100 of the world rankings.
Interestingly, the superstar has still had success at this tournament even without winning, via ESPN Stats & Info:
However, the real contender in this group is Jimmy Walker. The current FedEx Cup leader is off to a great start to the season with two victories already. He has also been one of the more consistent performers on tour, whether people know him or not, as Jason Sobel of ESPN noted:
Out of the 10 experts on PGATour.com, two of them picked Walker to win this entire tournament, which tied with McIlroy for the most common answer.
Woods is certainly the crowd favorite, but both Walker and Jamie Donaldson have a good chance of finishing above him on the leaderboard.
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