Masters 2015 Tee Times: Pairings and Predictions for Friday
A year ago, Jordan Spieth loudly announced his arrival on golf's biggest stage, sharing a 54-hole lead at Augusta before finishing tied for second. It appears Spieth's determined to make his second effort one for the ages.
The 21-year-old Dallas native shot an eight-under 64 on Thursday, giving him a three-stroke lead over four others heading into the second round. His excellent round was one off the Augusta course record and set the stage for what could be a historic weekend.
Behind Spieth is the foursome of Charley Hoffman, Ernie Els, Jason Day and Justin Rose. Each shot a five-under 67 to lead a group of other solid but not historically great performers. Rory McIlroy is seven strokes behind after shooting 71, and Tiger Woods appears headed for a weekend outside contention after battling his way to 73.
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With a round in the books, we now have a good idea which groups are worth keeping an eye on Friday. Here is a look at the complete tee times for Round 2 and outlook for the day's most notable groups.
| 7:45 a.m. | Ian Woosnam, Erik Compton, Marc Leishman |
| 7:56 a.m. | Trevor Immelman, Kevin Stadler, Scott Harvey |
| 8:07 a.m. | Ben Martin, Robert Streb, Cameron Tringale |
| 8:18 a.m. | Sandy Lyle, Seung-Yul Noh, Bradley Neil |
| 8:29 a.m. | Bernhard Langer, Bernd Wiesberger, Geoff Ogilvy |
| 8:40 a.m. | Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Ernie Els |
| 8:51 a.m. | Angel Cabrera, Louis Oosthuizen, Matias Dominguez |
| 9:02 a.m. | Mark O'Meara, Chris Kirk, Shane Lowry |
| 9:13 a.m. | Padraig Harrington, Ryan Palmer, Thomas Bjorn |
| 9:24 a.m. | James Hahn, Mikko Ilonen, Hunter Mahan |
| 9:35 a.m. | Matt Kuchar, Brooks Koepka, Graeme McDowell |
| 9:57 a.m. | Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Billy Horschel |
| 10:08 a.m. | Fred Couples, Branden Grace, Thongchai Jaidee |
| 10:19 a.m. | Luke Donald, Victor Dubuisson, John Senden |
| 10:30 a.m. | Tiger Woods, Jamie Donaldson, Jimmy Walker |
| 10:41 a.m. | Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler |
| 10:52 a.m. | Charley Hoffman, Brian Harman |
| 11:03 a.m. | Larry Mize, Danny Willett, Byron Meth |
| 11:14 a.m. | Tom Watson, Gary Woodland, Camilo Villegas |
| 11:25 a.m. | Mike Weir, Ben Crane, Corey Conners |
| 11:36 a.m. | Vijay Singh, Russell Henley, Darren Clarke |
| 11:47 a.m. | Jose Maria Olazabal, Brendon Todd, Kevin Na |
| 12:09 p.m. | Jonas Blixt, Kevin Streelman, Stephen Gallacher |
| 12:20 p.m. | Patrick Reed, Keegan Bradley, Ian Poulter |
| 12:31 p.m. | Miguel Angel Jimenez, Lee Westwood, Anirban Lahiri |
| 12:42 p.m. | Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Gunn Yang |
| 12:53 p.m. | Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson, Antonio Murdaca |
| 1:04 p.m. | Morgan Hoffmann, Steve Stricker, Matt Every |
| 1:15 p.m. | Ben Crenshaw, Bill Haas, Jason Dufner |
| 1:26 p.m. | Webb Simpson, Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey |
| 1:37 p.m. | Charl Schwartzel, Joost Luiten, Sangmoon Bae |
| 1:48 p.m. | Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Ryan Moore |
| 1:59 p.m. | J.B. Holmes, Martin Kaymer, Brandt Snedeker |
Groups of Note
Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Billy Horschel (9:57 a.m. ET)
After capping the daylong telecast Thursday, Spieth will have a good idea of where he stands for the weekend by lunch time. The leader enters having played an almost peerless round of gold, carding nine birdies against a lone bogey.
Spieth said, per Sky Sports:
"The greens were softer and slower than they will be the rest of the week. It allowed us to fire shots into the hole and not have to worry too much about downhill putts which were somewhat makable anyway. Last year in Round 1 I was tentative, making sure I got my pars, but this time I was a little more ready to ride off some of the momentum and fire at the pins knowing the greens were receptive.
"
Spieth played his round without any one aspect of his game standing out. He was near the top or above average everywhere, ranging from his greens in regulation percentage to his accuracy off the tee. It looked as if Spieth were a Masters veteran rather than someone playing in just his second major at Augusta.
Things were less historically great for Horschel and Stenson, but both should avoid the cut line. Horschel was deadly accurate all day, hitting better than 90 percent of his greens and fairways. Had he merely putted better, Horschel could have been competing with Spieth atop the leaderboard.
Stenson was four over at one point in his round but recovered to shoot 73. He'll look to carry that momentum Friday, where he hopes to improve his final standing at Augusta for the fourth straight year.
Tiger Woods, Jamie Donaldson, Jimmy Walker (10:30 a.m. ET)
None of this trio played well Thursday, and I don't expect any of them to be in contention deep into the weekend. That said, the most intriguing subplot of this tournament behind Spieth is Tiger and whether he can make the cut.
Woods is firmly ahead of the curve after shooting 73 on Thursday, but that was an exhausting 73. Everything understandably looked and felt labored with the former world No. 1 playing his first competitive round of golf in months. Drives and irons sprayed all over the course—we even got a patented Tiger Curse—and he averaged 2.5 putts per green in regulation.
"It was a good day," Woods said, per Gary Morley of CNN. "I just made a couple of dumb mistakes out there. We all struggled with the slow greens in our group, none of us were sure how hard to hit it."
Woods is only two shots ahead of where the expected cut line would be heading into Friday, so eyes will be fixated on him to see if he can secure a couple of weekend rounds. He has never been cut and has finished 22nd or better in all but one of his tournaments at Augusta as a professional.
No pressure or anything.
Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Rickie Fowler (10:41 a.m. ET)
Day and Garcia went a combined nine-under in Round 1 and appear to be in it for the long haul. Day carded five straight birdies at one point on the back nine, though they were bookended by a pair of bogeys, on his way to a five-under afternoon. Garcia had only a single bogey in his round of 68, beautifully avoiding dropped strokes despite quite a few misses with his irons.
Fowler was the lone straggler in the group, struggling mightily off the tee en route to shooting 73. Barring a turnaround, it's not looking like Fowler will be as ascendant in major tournaments this year as he was in last. Top fives in all four tournaments had some wondering if 2015 would finally be the year Fowler reached the pinnacle of his potential.
But he's been off his game all year, and it's carrying over to Augusta. Fowler is still ahead of the cut line and should see the weekend. I just wouldn't expect much beyond his pre-2014 results, where his best was a tie for 27th.
As for Day and Garcia, though, both should be in contention for their first major championship through the weekend. Day, who finished second here in 2011, is especially poised for a run and might wind up being Spieth's biggest challenger.
Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Ryan Moore (1:48 p.m. ET)
Mickelson and McIlroy are six and seven shots behind, respectively, but they're still close enough to the leaderboard you can't count them out. Lefty managed to shoot 70 despite carding three bogeys and putting 31 times, nailing an eagle on No. 18 and adding three birdies.
“I hit the ball really well today. I didn’t really get anything going on the greens,” Mickelson said, per Michael Whitmer of The Boston Globe. “It was a good way to start the tournament. I feel good with the way the game is, and if I could just, over the course of the next three days, get hot with the putter a time or two, I should be able to make a run.”
McIlroy was deadly accurate off the tee but saw his round fall off a bit when it came to his irons. He hit only 66.7 percent of his greens in regulation despite finding fairway better than 90 percent of the time and added 2.4 putts per GIR.
"It was a solid start. It could have been better, but it could have been worse," McIlroy said, per Jim Slater of Yahoo Sports. "If I can hit a few iron shots closer and convert on a few of those opportunities, I'll be right there."
McIlroy is still yet to card a finish better than seventh at Augusta. His 2011 final-round collapse remains the one bugaboo he's yet to get over for his career, the one thing keeping him from completing the career Grand Slam. With Spieth running roughshod over the field, it appears McIlroy will need a collapse from another young great to finish the job.
| 1 | Jordan Spieth | -10 |
| 2 | Jason Day | -7 |
| T-3 | Justin Rose | -5 |
| T-3 | Sergio Garcia | -5 |
| T-3 | Dustin Johnson | -5 |
| T-6 | Rory McIlroy | -4 |
| T-6 | Phil Mickelson | -4 |
| T-6 | Adam Scott | -4 |
| T-6 | Ernie Els | -4 |
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