Defending champion Padraig Harrington will partner former US Open champions Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy in the first two rounds of the British Open. Harrington’s bid for a ‘three-peat’ gets underway at Turnberry this on Thursday.
Harrington’s attempt to win the Claret Jug for the third year running, something not achieved in any of the four majors since Peter Thomson in 1956, does not start until 2.20pm.
Rory McIlroy, making his first appearance in the British Open as a professional, will play alongside Anthony Kim for the second major in succession. The two youngsters played together in the US Open and Bethpage and are joined on this occasion by Retief Goosen.
Elsewhere, qualifier David Higgins was drawn with Jeremy Kavanagh and Daniel Gaunt, Darren Clarke is joined by former Ryder Cup teammate Luke Donald while Graeme McDowell will have Vijay Singh and Bubba Watson for company.
Lee Westwood will go head-to-head with Tiger Woods on the opening two days— just as he did on the final day of the US Open last year.
Westwood matched the world number one’s score that day, both going round Torrey Pines in two over par 73s, but the big difference was that Woods started with a one-stroke lead.
And while he went into a play-off with fellow American Rocco Mediate and won his 14th major despite a left knee so bad he did not play again all season, Westwood had to content himself with coming closer than he ever has to his first major title.
A massive gallery is sure to follow the pair when they tee off in the opening round at 9.09am — and the number of television cameras trained on them could be a record because the third member of the group is 17-year-old Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa.
Woods completed his second practice round just after 10am today — and described Turnberry as “a lot more difficult than people are letting on.”
The world number one had never seen the Ayrshire links until yesterday, but he had not visited Hoylake before the 2006 Open either and won there by two from fellow American Chris DiMarco.
“You’ve just got to do your homework,” added Woods after a round that began around 6.30am.
The victory three years ago was notable for the fact that he used his driver only once in the entire championship — and playing partner Nick Faldo reckoned that there was no need for it even then.
After recent rain — there were more showers this morning — Turnberry is not as fast-running as Royal Liverpool and he has still to decide his strategy.
“I’ve got the driver in (his bag), but I don’t know how it’s going to be used.”
Thomas Levet, meanwhile, has gained a late entry after America’s Brett Quigley turned down his exemption.
Quigley automatically qualified for the Open after tying for second at the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois on Sunday but declined to take up his spot.
Levet, 40, secured the berth as the next available player based on the official world rankings.
The Frenchman, ranked 82nd, lost out in a four-way playoff for the 2002 British Open at Muirfield, won by South African Ernie Els, but has failed to qualify for the championship for the last three years.
Levet clinched his fifth European Tour title at the Spanish Open in May.
Tee-times for the first two rounds of the British Open
(Irish & Gbr unless stated, Irish in bold)
0630 & 1141Michael Campbell (Nzl), Paul Broadhurst, Mark Calcavecchia (USA)
0641 & 1152Jeff Overton (USA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Gary Orr
0652 & 1203Anthony Wall, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind)
0703 & 1214Nick Watney (USA), Graeme Storm, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)
0714 & 1225Rafael Echenique (Arg), Richard Finch, Mark O'Meara (USA)
0725 & 1236Nick Dougherty, David Duval (USA), Adam Scott (Aus)
0736 & 1247Kenny Perry (USA), Greg Norman (Aus), Oliver Wilson
0747 & 1258Henrik Stenson (Swe), Steve Stricker (USA), Wen-chong Liang (Chn)
0758 & 1309Tom Watson (USA), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Metteo Manassero (Ita)
0809 & 1320Peter Hanson (Swe), Dustin Johnson (USA), Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa)
0820 & 1331Vijay Singh (Fij), Bubba Watson (USA), Graeme McDowell
0831 & 1342Camilo Villegas (Col), Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Sean O'Hair (USA)
0842 & 1353Azuma Yano (Jpn), Luke Donald, Darren Clarke
0858 & 1409Justin Leonard (USA), Robert Allenby (Aus), Anders Hansen (Den)
0909 & 1420Tiger Woods (USA), Lee Westwood, Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn)
0920 & 1431Richard Green (Aus), Chad Campbell (USA), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa)
0931 & 1442David Howell, Stewart Cink (USA), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)
0942 & 1453Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Ken Duke (USA), Mathew Goggin (Aus)
0953 & 1504Briny Baird (USA), Mark Brown (Nzl), Johan Edfors (Swe)
1004 & 1515D.J. Trahan (USA), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), Markus Brier (Aut)
1015 & 1526Chris Wood, Boo Weekley (USA), Rodney Pampling (Aus)
1026 & 1537Jaco Ahlers (Rsa), Bryce Molder (USA), Richie Ramsay
1037 & 1548Billy Mayfair (USA), Marc Cayeux (Zim), Lloyd Saltman
1048 & 1559Robert Rock, Martin Laird, Ben Crane (USA)
1059 & 1610Branden Grace (Rsa), Thomas Haylock, Brandt Snedeker (USA)
1110 & 1621Michael Wright (Aus), Daniel Wardrop, Peter Ellebye (Den)
1141 & 0630Tim Stewart (Aus), Damien McGrane, Matt Kuchar (USA)
1152 & 0641 David Higgins, Jeremy Kavanagh, Daniel Gaunt (Aus)
1203 & 0652Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind), Rhys Davies, James Driscoll (USA)
1214 & 0703Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Sandy Lyle, Steve Marino (USA)
1225 & 0714Nick Faldo, Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Brian Gay (USA)
1236 & 0725Ben Curtis (USA), Mike Weir (Can), Ross Fisher
1247 & 0736Stephen Ames (Can), Tim Clark (Rsa), Charles Howell III (USA)
1258 & 0747Ernie Els (Rsa), Lucas Glover (USA), Martin Kaymer (Ger)
1309 & 0758Justin Rose, Hunter Mahan (USA), Andres Romero (Arg)
1320 & 0809Colin Montgomerie, Zach Johnson (USA), K J Choi (Kor)
1331 & 0820 Rory McIlroy, Anthony Kim (USA), Retief Goosen (Rsa)
1342 & 0831Todd Hamilton (USA), Soren Hansen (Den), Tomohiro Kondo (Jpn)
1353 & 0842Ian Poulter, J.B. Holmes (USA), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)
1409 & 0858Paul Casey, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Angel Cabrera (Arg)
1420 & 0909 Padraig Harrington, Jim Furyk (USA), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus)
1431 & 0920Paul Lawrie, Davis Love III (USA), Stuart Appleby (Aus)
1442 & 0931 Paul McGinley, Carl Pettersson (Swe), John Daly (USA)
1453 & 0942Stephan jr. Gross (Ger), David Toms (USA), Tom Lehman (USA)
1504 & 0953James Kingston (Rsa), Charley Hoffman (USA), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe)
1515 & 1004Paul Goydos (USA), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
1526 & 1015Thomas Levet (Fra), Richard S Johnson (Swe), Kevin Sutherland (USA)
1537 & 1026Thomas Aiken (Rsa), Peter Hedblom (Swe), Peter Baker
1548 & 1037Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Josh Geary (Nzl), David Drysdale
1559 & 1048Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn), Bruce Vaughan (USA), Elliot Saltman
1610 & 1059Timothy Wood (Aus), David Smail (Nzl), Oliver Fisher
1621 & 1110Terry Pilkadaris (Aus), Steve Surry, Koumei Oda (Jpn)
