Rory McIlroy, the reigning Masters champion, Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, and Xander Schauffele, the defending champion will all get to keep a close eye on each other over the opening two rounds of the US PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
The trio will form the marquee grouping of the early wave on Thursday when they take to the tee at 13:22 Irish time, and they’ll again be the centrepiece of the evening coverage on Friday when they get underway at 18:47.
2008 champion Pádraig Harrington will get the action underway off the first tee on Thursday morning when he’s joined by Luke Donald, playing on a special exemption, and 2010 winner Martin Kaymer at midday.
Shane Lowry has been handed another popular pairing with Rickie Fowler and three-time PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka, and they’ll begin their opening rounds on the 10th four groups ahead of McIlroy’s grouping at 12:38.
Séamus Power will also be among the early starters and the Waterford man will be joined by Andre Chi, one of the Club Professionals to have played their way in, and American Patrick Fishburn at 12:16.
And Tom McKibbin will be the final Irishman to take to Quail Hollow’s fairways on day one. The Holywood man will play alongside South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Japan’s Takumi Kanaya at 19:31.
Among the other marquee groupings are the trio of Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa who boast six majors between them and, Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland and Gary Woodland, all of whom will feature in the afternoon wave.
Leave a comment