Masters 2020 Tee Times: Pairings and Predictions for Thursday

Seven months after the Masters was originally scheduled to take place, the tournament will serve as the final major of the 2020 men's golf season. 

Tiger Woods will start his title defense on Thursday alongside Shane Lowry and amateur Andy Ogletree.

Although Woods took first during a wild final round last year, he is not expected to be in contention for the green jacket on Sunday afternoon.

Bryson DeChambeau, who was tied for the first-round lead in 2019, is the tournament favorite and will get a chance to showcase his long-drive ability on Thursday morning with Louis Oosthuizen and Jon Rahm playing alongside him. 

2020 Masters Thursday Tee Times

Predictions

Tiger Woods Struggles in 1st Round of Title Defense

Based off his recent results, Woods is expected to go through some tough times at Augusta National. 

The 15-time major winner did not make the cut at the U.S. Open and only broke 70 in one of four rounds at the Zozo Championship. 

In his last four starts, Woods carded three rounds of 70 or better. He finished outside the top 50 at both FedEx Cup events he entered and landed in a tie for 72nd at the Zozo Championship. 

Since winning at Augusta, the 44-year-old has not finished inside the top 20 at a major championship and has four opening rounds scores of 70 or higher. 

In his last three starts at Augusta, Woods has an average first-round score of 72. If he hits that again on Thursday, he could be five or six shots back of the leader.

In the last two years, the first-round leader has produced a six-under 66. Jordan Spieth led after 18 holes in 2018, while DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were tied for first in 2019. 

If Woods fails to break 70, he could put himself at a disadvantage that he can't recover from in the following three rounds. 

Bryson DeChambeau Challenges for 18-Hole Lead

DeChambeau's opening-round 66 at Augusta last year started a run of four of six major first rounds with a score in the 60s. 

The 2020 U.S. Open champion shot a 69 to start off his run at Winged Foot Golf Club and opened the PGA Championship with a 68. 

At those two tournaments, DeChambeau showed off his long-drive ability that was aided by his muscle gain during the PGA Tour shutdown. 

During the 2019-20 PGA Tour season, the 27-year-old ranked first in strokes gained off the tee and driving distance at 322.1 yards. He was also fifth in total strokes gained at 1.566. 

If he produces plenty of accurate long drives off the tee, DeChambeau could take advantage of the par-five holes and gain one or two strokes on the field in the first 18 holes. 

If his driving ability pays off at Augusta, we could see a similar performance to what he put in at Winged Foot, when he cleared the field by six strokes to win the title.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.

Statistics obtained from PGATour.com.