British Open 2015 Tee Times and Pairings for St Andrews Announced

The groups for the 2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews were announced Monday, featuring a number of the world's best players getting a chance to go head-to-head. 

Jordan Spieth will look to complete the third leg of the Grand Slam alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Dustin Johnson. Spieth is the youngest golfer in history to win the U.S. Open and Masters Tournament in the same year, and he's coming off a triumph this past weekend at the John Deere Classic. His decision to play stateside rather than overseas on a links course drew some criticism, but Spieth has maintained he would be prepared for St. Andrews.

"I will certainly have enough energy. I will certainly have enough rest, and I will be as prepared as can be, as I am for any other event, by the time I tee it up at St. Andrews," Spieth told reporters.

European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley disagreed, telling Ewan Murray of the Guardian: 

"

Spieth has played once [at St Andrews] so is he going to work it out? Jordan played 63 holes of practice around Chambers Bay the week before the US Open. He was more prepared than anyone in the field. He had a caddie who used to caddie there and was married there. Are you telling me that wasn’t the difference of one shot whether he won the US Open or not?

"

Of course, it was Johnson's gaffe on No. 18 at Chambers Bay that allowed Spieth to capture his first U.S. Open. Johnson, who finished tied for second at the 2011 Open Championship, now has nine top-10s at majors without a title.

"He looks at all those collectively as, 'I'm good in majors, I know how to play them, I put myself in position to contend,'" David Winkle, Johnson's agent, told Bob Gillespie of PGA.com. "With every one of those, he's more confident he can contend, and win. It's a process, learning how to prepare and play majors golf, and he's getting better and better."

Tee Time (ET, BST)	Group
3:33 a.m., 8:33 a.m	Ernie Els, Tom Watson, Brandt Snedeker
4 a.m., 9 a.m.	Ian Poulter, Charl Schwartzel, Bubba Watson
4:11 a.m., 9:11 a.m.	Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Patrick Reed
4:33 a.m., 9:33 a.m.	Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth
4:55 a.m., 9:55 a.m.	Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Day
7:50 a.m., 12:50 p.m.	John Daly, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jason Dufner
9:12 a.m. 2:12 p.m.	Adam Scott, Jimmy Walker, Martin Kaymer
9:34 a.m. 2:34 p.m.	Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson

Jason Sobel of ESPN weighed in on the pairing of Spieth and Johnson following the U.S. Open:

Coming off his best 72-hole performance of 2015, Tiger Woods tees off in the morning Thursday with Louis Oosthuizen and Jason Day. Woods, who has not won a major championship since 2008, has taken two of his three Open Championships at the Old Course. That said, Woods appeared surprised by the playing conditions at St. Andrews when he played the course over the weekend as part of a Nike golf camp.

"I was shocked," Woods said, per Bob Harig of ESPN.com. "I had seen photos of it a month ago. It was bone dry. It looked like it was going to be one of those dust bowls again; hard, fast, like the years I've played St. Andrews. It's changed. They got big rain and a lot of sun. It's totally changed."

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

Phil Mickelson, still looking for his first win since the 2013 Open Championship, will be part of an afternoon group with Matt Kuchar and Henrik Stenson. St. Andrews has been a bit of a mixed bag for Lefty over the years; the last time the Open was at the course, in 2010, he finished 48th.

Other notable groups for the first three days include Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Nick Faldo; Adam Scott, Martin Kaymer and Jimmy Walker; Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Patrick Reed; and Ian Poulter, Charl Schwartzel and Bubba Watson.

With Rory McIlroy forced to withdraw due to an ankle injury, there will be a new winner at the Open Championship. We'll just have to see whether it's from one of our featured groups or if a dark horse comes and surprises everyone.

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