Golf:Graeme McDowell will begin his US Open title defence next week alongside British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and top amateur Peter Uihlein while the world's top three players were all put in the same group for the second major of 2011.
In keeping with tradition, tournament officials placed the defending champion in the same three-player group as the British Open champion and the reigning US Amateur winner for next week’s major at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.
The trio will be among the early starters next Thursday then have a late tee-off time on Friday following the release of the draw for the 156-player field.
McDowell won the US Open at Pebble Beach last year after shooting a four round total of level-par, while South African Oosthuizen was a runaway winner of the British Open at St Andrews.
The current world number one, England's Luke Donald, was placed in the same group as compatriot Lee Westwood and Germany's Martin Kaymer, pitting the top three players in the world together.
All three have taken turns at being number one this year after Tiger Woods relinquished his grip on the top spot but only Kaymer, who won last year's US PGA Championship, has bagged a major.
Three-time champion Woods is not playing at the US Open next week, the first time he has missed the national championship in 15 years, because of a knee injury.
American Phil Mickelson, who has finished runner-up at the US Open on five occasions but never won the title, was placed alongside the big-hitting Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy. Johnson and McIlroy have both been in contention to win majors in recent times but came up short.
Several of the groupings were based on nationalities. Sergio Garcia was in the same group as fellow Spaniards Miguez Angel Jimenez and Alvaro Quiros, while the Italian brothers Edoardo and Francesco Molinari were joined by their countryman Matteo Manassero.
US Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa was playing with two other winners of the green jacket, Trevor Immelman, also of South Africa, and Zach Johnson.
South Africa's Ernie Els, who won the last Open at Congressional in 1997, was placed in the same group as Davis Love III and Jim Furyk.
Pádraig Harrington will play alongside Argentina’s Angel Cabrera and American Stewart Cink. Qualifier Shane Lowry will tee it up alongside Korea’s Daehyun Kim and American Chez Reavie.
2011 US Open Tee-Times
Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, (June 16th-19th).
Thursday Hole 1 / Friday Hole 10
(All times local)
7am - 12:40pm - Daehyun Kim, Korea; Chez Reavie, Scottsdale, Ariz.;
Shane Lowry, Ireland
7:11am - 12:51pm - Greg Chalmers, Australia; Kirk Triplett, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Tbd
7:22am - 1:02pm - Marc Leishman, Australia; Alex Cejka, Czech Republic; Kevin Streelman, Scottsdale, Ariz.
7:33am - 1:13pm - Fred Funk, Ponte Vedra, Fla.; A-David Chung, Fayetteville, N.C.; Michael Campbell, New Zealand
7:44am - 1:24pm - Matt Kuchar, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Paul Casey, England; K.J. Choi, Korea
7:55am - 1:35pm -
Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; A-Peter Uihlein, Orlando, Fla.; Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa
8:06am - 1:46pm - Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Johan Edfors, Sweden; Fredrik Jacobson, Sweden
8:17am - 1:57pm - Ernie Els, South Africa; Davis Love III, Sea Island, Ga.; Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
8:28am - 2:08pm - Justin Rose, England; Tim Clark, South Africa; Jason Day, Australia
8:39am - 2:19pm - Jeff Overton, Bloomington, Ind.; Ryan Palmer, Amarillo, Texas; Tbd
8:50am - 2:30pm - Brandt Jobe, Westlake, Texas; Nick O'Hern, Australia; D.A. Points, Windermere, Fla.
9:01am - 2:41pm - Christo Greyling, South Africa; Adam Hadwin, Canada; Joey Lamielle, Sarasota, Fla.
9:12am - 2:52pm - Michael Tobiason Jr., Wilmington, Del.; Jesse Hutchins, Cincinnati, Ohio; Michael Smith, Lafayette, La.
Thursday Hole 10 / Friday Hole 1
7am - 12:40pm - Chad Campbell, Andrews, Texas; Harrison Frazar, Dallas, Texas; Marc Turnesa, Jupiter, Fla.
7:11am - 12:51pm - Justin Hicks, Royal Palm Beach, Fla.; Marcel Siem, Germany; Sunghoon Kang, Korea
7:22am - 1:02pm - Thomas Levet, France; Brian Gay, Windemere, Fla.; Gregory Havret, France
7:33am - 1:13pm - Heath Slocum, Alpharetta, Ga.; A-Russell Henley, Macon, Ga.; Nicolas Colsaerts, Belgium
7:44am - 1:24pm -
Pádraig Harrington, Ireland; Angel Cabrera, Argentina; Stewart Cink, Duluth, Ga.
7:55am - 1:35pm - Ryo Ishikawa, Japan; Anthony Kim, Los Angeles, Calif.; Y.E. Yang, Korea
8:06am - 1:46pm - Luke Donald, England; Lee Westwood, England; Martin Kaymer, Germany
8:17am - 1:57pm - Jonathan Byrd, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Bill Haas, Greenville, S.C.; Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C.
8:28am - 2:08pm - Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla.; Adam Scott, Australia; Robert Karlsson, Sweden
8:39am - 2:19pm - Sam Saunders, Orlando, Fla.; Tim Petrovic, Austin, Texas; Scott Piercy, Las Vegas, Nev.
8:50am - 2:30pm - Matthew Edwards, Las Cruces, N.M.; A-Brad Benjamin, Rockford, Ill.; TBD
9:01am - 2:41pm - Bud Cauley, Jacksonville, Fla.; Adam Long, St. Louis, Mo.; A-Michael Barbosa, St. Petersburg, Fla.
9:12am - 2:52pm - Michael Whitehead, Sugar Land, Texas; Will Wilcox, Ashville, Ala.; John Ellis, San Jose, Calif.
Thursday Hole 1 / Friday Hole 10
12:40pm - 7am - Ty Tryon, Orlando, Fla.; Maarten Lafeber, Netherlands; Scott Barr, Australia
12:51pm - 7:11am - Geoffrey Sisk, Marshfield, Mass.; A-Cheng-Tsung Pan, Chinese Taipei; Matt Richardson, England
1:02pm - 7:22am - Bo Van Pelt, Jenks, Okla.; Kyung-Tae Kim, Korea; Ben Crane, Beaverton, Ore.
1:13pm - 7:33am - Mark Wilson, Elmhurst, Ill.; Martin Laird, Scotland; Peter Hanson, Sweden
1:24pm - 7:44am - Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain; Sergio Garcia, Spain; Alvaro Quiros, Spain
1:35pm - 7:55am - Francesco Molinari, Italy; Matteo Manassero, Italy; Edoardo Molinari, Italy
1:46pm - 8:06am - Hiroyuki Fujita, Japan; Todd Hamilton, Westlake, Texas; Kevin Na, Las Vegas, Nev.
1:57pm - 8:17am - Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif.; Ian Poulter, England; Hunter Mahan, Colleyville, Texas
2:08pm - 8:28am - Camilo Villegas, Colombia; Aaron Baddeley, Australia; Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn.
2:19pm - 8:39am - Kevin Chappell, Scottsdale, Ariz.; Dohoon Kim, Korea; Robert Rock, England
2:30pm - 8:50am - Jon Mills, Canada; Andreas Harto, Denmark; A-Scott Pinckney, Scottsdale, Ariz.
2:41pm - 9:01am - A-Steven Irwin, Arvada, Colo.; Ryan Nelson, Dickinson, Texas; Elliot Gealy, Salisbury, N.C.
2:52pm - 9:12am - Christopher Deforest, Cottekill, N.Y.; A-Chris Williams, Moscow, Idaho; Wes Heffernan, Canada
Thursday Hole 10 / Friday Hole 1
12:40pm - 7am - Alexandre Rocha, Windermere, Fla.; Andres Gonzales, Olympia, Wash.; Bubba Dickerson, Hilliard, Fla.
12:51pm - 7:11am - Michael Putnam, Lakewood, Wash.; A-Patrick Cantlay, Los Alamitos, Calif.; Robert Dinwiddie, England
1:02pm - 7:22am - John Senden, Australia; Robert Garrigus, Charleston, S.C.; Scott Hend, Australia
1:13pm - 7:33am - Jason Dufner, Auburn, Ala.; Stephen Gallacher, Scotland; Seung Yul Noh, Korea
1:24pm - 7:44am - Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis.; Retief Goosen, South Africa; David Toms, Shreveport, La.
1:35pm - 7:55am -
Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Dustin Johnson, Jupiter, Fla.; Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
1:46pm - 8:06am - Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Trevor Immelman, South Africa; Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1:57pm - 8:17am - Nick Watney, Henderson, Nev.; Lucas Glover, St. Simons Island, Ga.; Geoff Ogilvy, Australia
2:08pm - 8:28am - Ryan Moore, Tacoma, Wash.; Robert Allenby, Australia; Rory Sabbatini, South Africa
2:19pm - 8:39am - David Howell, England; Kenichi Kuboya, Japan; Briny Baird, Palm City, Fla.
2:30pm - 8:50am - Charley Hoffman, Las Vegas, Nev.; Alexander Noren, Sweden; Sangmoon Bae, Korea
2:41pm - 9:01am - A-Brett Patterson, McMinnville, Tenn.; Bennett Blakeman, Burr Ridge, Ill.; Brian Locke, Los Angeles, Calif.
2:52pm - 9:12am - Chris Wilson, Dublin, Ohio; David May, Auburn, N.Y.; A-Beau Hossler, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
