PGA Championship 2018 Tee Times: Groupings and Predictions for Thursday Schedule

Marquee groups will be scattered across Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis for the first two days of the 2018 PGA Championship. 

Some of the top contenders for the Wanamaker Trophy take the course early Thursday morning, with Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama and Phil Mickelson a part of the early threesomes. 

The group to watch contains Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, while the afternoon set of tee times features a marquee threesome of the season's three major winners, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari. 

With many of the world's top players expected to be in contention for the title, a fast start for some will be required in order to earn an early advantage at the 100th PGA Championship.

Thursday Tee Times

All Times ET 

7:50 a.m.: Michael Block, Eddie Pepperell, Ryan Fox

7:55 a.m.*: Jamie Lovemark, Rich Berberian Jr., Shugo Imahira

8:01 a.m.: Austin Cook, Craig Hocknull, Alexander Bjork

8:06 a.m.*: Brandt Snedeker, Sean McCarty, Haotong Li

8:12 a.m.: Yusaku Miyazoto, Bob Sowards, Scott Brown

8:17 a.m.*: Jim Furyk, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele

8:23 a.m.: Rafa Cabrera Bello, Thomas Bjorn, James Hahn

8:28 a.m.*: Davis Love III, Martin Kaymer, Rich Beem 

8:34 a.m.: Billy Horschel, Byeong Hun An, Shane Lowry

8:39 a.m.*: Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter

8:45 a.m.: Brian Harman, Yuta Ikeda, Adam Hadwin

8:50 a.m.*: Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett, Pat Perez

8:56 a.m.: Padraig Harrington, Jimmy Walker, Vijay Singh

9:01 a.m.:* Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Keegan Bradley

9:07 a.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Andy Sullivan, Kiradech Aphibarnrat

9:12 a.m.*: Shubhankar Sharma, Jordan Smith, Scott Piercy

9:18 a.m.: Ryan Armour, Cameron Smith, Peter Uihlein

9:23 a.m.*: Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy

9:29 a.m.: Paul Dunne, J.B. Holmes, Dylan Fritteli

9:34 a.m.*: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Webb Simpson, Jhonattan Vegas

9:40 a.m.: Charles Howell III, Jason Schmuhl, Brian Gay

9:45 a.m.*: Stewart Cink, Branden Grace, Ryan Moore

9:51 a.m.: David Muttitt, Ollie Schniederjans, Troy Merritt

9:56 a.m.*: Ross Fisher, Alexander Levy, Patton Kizzire

10:02 a.m.: Shawn Warren, Mikko Korhonen, J.J. Spaun

10:07 a.m.*: Julian Suri, Sungjae Im, Craig Bowden

1:15 p.m.*: Danny Balin, Chesson Hadley, Russell Henley

1:20 p.m.: Johan Kok, Brandon Stone, Whee Kim

1:26 p.m.*: Marty Jertson, Luke List, Kevin Chappell

1:31 p.m.: Matt Wallace, Matt Dobyns, Beau Hossler

1:37 p.m.*: Jaysen Hansen, Nick Watney, Kyle Stanley

1:42 p.m.: Chris Wood, Alex Noren, Matt Kuchar

1:48 p.m.*: Ted Potter Jr., Emiliano Grillo, Jorge Campillo

1:53 p.m.: Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott

1:59 p.m.*: Ryan Vermeer, Paul Broadhurst, John Daly

2:04 p.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, Satoshi Kodaira, Marc Leishman

2:10 p.m.*: Si Woo Kim, Brice Garrett, Tyrrell Hatton

2:15 p.m.: Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari

2:21 p.m.*: Y.E. Yang, Jason Dufner, Shaun Micheel 

2:26 p.m.: Gary Woodland, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Kisner

2:32 p.m.*: Thorbjorn Olesen, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Cantlay

2:37 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose

2:43 p.m.*: Brendan Steele, Adrian Otaegui, Kevin Na

2:48 p.m.: Aaron Wise, Paul Casey, Zach Johnson

2:54 p.m.*: Chez Reavie, Charley Hoffman, Russell Knox

2:59 p.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Thomas Pieters, Bill Haas

3:05 p.m.*: Zach J. Johnson, Michael Kim, Seungsu Han

3:10 p.m.: Jason Kokrak, Joaquin Niemann, Daniel Berger

3:16 p.m.*: Brian Smock, Anirban Lahiri, Mike Lorenzo-Vera

3:21 p.m.: Omar Uresti, Justin Harding, Andrew Landry

3:27 p.m.*: Ben Kern, Chris Kirk, Ryuko Tokimatsu

3:32 p.m.: Matthew Borchert, Chris Stroud, Andrew Putnam

*Starts round on 10th hole

Predictions

Furyk, Finau, Schauffele Group Produces Early Leader

With plenty of high-profile groups teeing off in the morning, the trio of Jim Furyk, Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele won't receive a ton of attention. 

With the spotlight away from their threesome, the trio of Americans will put together solid rounds, with one of the players ending up as the leader on the course.

Furyk, who is one of the most experienced players in the field, has the worst chance of topping the leaderboard out of his group because he hasn't contended for a major title since the 2016 U.S. Open, when he ended up in a tie for second. 

Although it's easy to discount the 48-year-old, he's still capable of producing a strong round that steals the attention from the top players.

Finau is most known for dislocating his ankle during the Masters Par-3 Contest, but he's been one of the most consistent golfers at major tournaments in 2018. 

Peter Morrison/Associated Press

The 28-year-old has three top-10 finishes, with his best placing coming at the U.S. Open, and while he doesn't have the best history at the PGA Championship, he's expected to be near the top of the leaderboard because of his results this season. 

Schauffele is in a similar position to Finau, as he hasn't received a ton of buzz entering Bellerive despite a pair of top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. 

The 24-year-old contains a bit of extra motivation to start strong at Bellerive, as he finished the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a final-round 78. 

Woods Struggles In Opening Round 

If we're being honest, the only golfer we legitimately care about for four rounds is Tiger Woods.

Even if the 42-year-old struggles with the course and ends up in the bottom half of the leaderboard, he'll be the focal point of the tournament coverage. 

David Dermer/Associated Press

Woods might not turn in a disastrous first 18 holes at Bellerive, but he won't start strong enough to be considered a true contender after the opening round. 

A combination of rough play on the front nine and other golfers producing low scores will put the American in a less-than-ideal position heading into Friday's second round. 

A bad start won't be anything new for Woods, who carded a 71, 73 and 78 in the first round of the first three majors of the season. 

Just as he did at The Masters and The Open, Woods will be forced to rally and could end up as a player to watch at the weekend because of a few low rounds. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90

Statistics obtained from PGATour.com