Masters 2017 Tee Times: Pairings and Predictions for Thursday
The PGA Tour announced the tee times for the first two rounds of the 2017 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, on Tuesday, and there are plenty of intriguing groups.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson will serve as the de-facto grand finale alongside two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson in the final group Thursday. Elsewhere, Jason Day will play with notable names in Justin Rose and Brandt Snedeker, while Rory McIlroy will try to match drives with Jon Rahm.
With that in mind, here is a look at the full list of pairings for Thursday's first round, per the PGA Tour's official website, as well as some predictions for those notable groups.
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Thursday Pairings
| 8 a.m. | Daniel Summerhays | Russell Henley | |
| 8:11 a.m. | Trevor Immelman | Brendan Steele | Jhonattan Vegas |
| 8:22 a.m. | Mike Weir | Billy Hurley III | Scott Piercy |
| 8:33 a.m. | Larry Mize | Brian Stuard | Stewart Hagestad (A) |
| 8:44 a.m. | Soren Kjeldsen | Kevin Chappell | Jim Furyk |
| 8:55 a.m. | Sandy Lyle | Sean O'Hair | Scott Gregory (A) |
| 9:06 a.m. | Zach Johnson | Louis Oosthuizen | Adam Hadwin |
| 9:17 a.m. | Tommy Fleetwood | Gary Woodland | J.B. Holmes |
| 9:28 a.m. | Adam Scott | Kevin Kisner | Andy Sullivan |
| 9:39 a.m. | Francesco Molinari | Daniel Berger | Thomas Pieters |
| 10:01 a.m. | Fred Couples | Paul Casey | Kevin Na |
| 10:12 a.m. | Russell Knox | Rickie Fowler | Hideki Matsuyama |
| 10:23 a.m. | Branden Grace | Brooks Koepka | Jeunghun Wang |
| 10:34 a.m. | Jordan Spieth | Martin Kaymer | Matthew Fitzpatrick |
| 10:45 a.m. | Phil Mickelson | Rafael Cabrera-Bello | Si Woo Kim |
| 10:56 a.m. | Brandt Snedeker | Justin Rose | Jason Day |
| 11:07 a.m. | Rod Pampling | William McGirt | |
| 11:18 a.m. | Mark O'Meara | Hudson Swafford | Roberto Castro |
| 11:29 a.m. | Ian Woosnam | James Hahn | Brad Dalke (A) |
| 11:40 a.m. | Ross Fisher | Pat Perez | Byeong-Hun An |
| 11:51 a.m. | Jose Maria Olazabal | Ryan Moore | Webb Simpson |
| 12:13 p.m. | Ernie Els | Jason Dufner | Bernd Wiesberger |
| 12:24 p.m. | Danny Willett | Matt Kuchar | Curtis Luck (A) |
| 12:35 p.m. | Vijay Singh | Emiliano Grillo | Toto Gana (A) |
| 12:46 p.m. | Angel Cabrera | Henrik Stenson | Tyrrell Hatton |
| 12:57 p.m. | Charl Schwartzel | Steve Stricker | Mackenzie Hughes |
| 1:08 p.m. | Charley Hoffman | Chris Wood | Yuta Ikeda |
| 1:19 p.m. | Sergio Garcia | Lee Westwood | Shane Lowry |
| 1:30 p.m. | Bernhard Langer | Alex Noren | Patrick Reed |
| 1:41 p.m. | Rory McIlroy | Hideto Tanihara | Jon Rahm |
| 1:52 p.m. | Marc Leishman | Bill Haas | Justin Thomas |
| 2:03 p.m. | Bubba Watson | Dustin Johnson | Jimmy Walker |
Predictions for Notable Groups
Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker
At this stage, Johnson is an unstoppable force, and he will look to continue his incredible pace at golf's most famous event.
Johnson enters the Masters with three straight tournament wins at the Genesis Open, World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship and World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. One reason he has been so dominant is his ability to shorten golf courses seeing how he is No. 1 in driving distance and greens in regulation percentage, per his official PGA Tour profile.
He will draw a sizable gallery Thursday because of his standing as the world's No. 1 player. What's more, those who want to see him blast the ball down the fairway will be there in droves.
Veterans Watson and Jimmy Walker won't be intimidated by the additional scrutiny with the large Masters galleries. Watson is a two-time winner (2012 and 2014), and Walker finished in eighth place in 2014 and a solid 38th in 2015 and 29th in 2016.
Walker boasts four top 25 finishes this season, while Watson will be chasing a 10th career victory and dream on top of a third green jacket.
"My dream has always been to win 10 times," Watson said, per David Westin of Augusta.com. "If I can get another victory, it would be a dream come true. I've always thought about it. To win out here on tour is pretty tough."
Johnson is the main attraction in this group, but the threesome will all impress Thursday.
Prediction: Johnson continues his torrent pace by leading the field after the first round, but Watson and Walker will rely on their veteran guile and experience at Augusta National to place in the top 20 before challenging in the later rounds.
Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker and Justin Rose
This is the group of talented golfers who are all looking for their first Masters triumph.
Day is consistently one of the best golfers in the world and checks in at No. 3 in the official world golf rankings, but he is yet to break through with a green jacket. He tied for second in 2011, finished in third in 2013 and tied for 10th last year.
Snedeker has never won the Masters either despite finishes in the top 10 in 2008, 2013 and 2016. Rose has come close as well with top 10 finishes in 2007, 2012, 2015 (tied for second) and 2016.
Despite the lack of a title at Augusta National, Day, Snedeker and Rose can all fall back on their past success at the marquee event. They are all veterans who understand the importance of putting themselves in an ideal position after the first round and will play accordingly Thursday.
They won't be caught off guard by the magnitude of the moment or the pressure of the Masters seeing how they have all challenged for championships on Sundays, and they will use that experience to guide impressive opening rounds.
Prediction: All three golfers in this group break 70 and put themselves in solid position to challenge during the weekend.
Rory McIlroy, Hideto Tanihara and Jon Rahm
Kyle Porter of CBS Sports ranked this as one of the five best pairings for Thursday:
"Rahm and McIlroy are stratospheric off the tee, and Tanihara just beat Spieth at the WGC-Dell Match Play. It will be interesting to see how the weather and the course affect the afternoon golfers compared to the morning as the wind is supposed to whip on Thursday. This could be the wrong side of the draw for McIlroy.
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As Porter mentioned, strong winds could play a serious factor for those booming drives.
According to Rahm's PGA Tour profile, he is 22nd in driving distance at 302.7 yards and third in strokes gained off the tee at 1.050. McIlroy's PGA Tour profile lists his driving distance at 318.8 yards and strokes gained off the tee at 1.342, although he is not ranked in either presumably because he hasn't played enough events.
With the driving potentially impacted, look for putting to be a deciding factor in this group.
Rahm is just 56th in strokes gained putting at .352 and 35th in putts per round at 28.56, while McIlroy averages 28.33 putts per round this season. Those are solid but not eye-popping numbers.
Enter Hideto Tanihara.
According to his PGA Tour profile, he is a mere 171st in strokes gained off the tee but fifth in putts per round and sixth in three-putt avoidance.
While McIlroy and Rahm deal with the potential winds off the tee, Tanihara will play consistent golf, take advantage of his putting opportunities and spearhead the group's effort.
Prediction: Tanihara turns in the best Thursday score of this group.
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