Rory McIlroy’s bid to become the first player to successfully defend the Masters Tournament will begin at 10.31am local time at Augusta National and he will be alongside Players champion Cameron Young and 18-year-old US Amateur champion Mason Howell.
2019 Open champion Shane Lowry has been drawn alongside former Masters champion Dustin Johnson and former US PGA champion Jason Day and they will set off at 9.43am local time.
Masters debutant Tom McKibbin gets his week underway with Andrew Novak and Brian Campbell at 11.15am local time.
Other selected tee times include:
10:07 a.m. Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele
1:08 p.m. Jon Rahm, Chris Gotterup, Ludvig Åberg
1:44 p.m. Scottie Scheffler, Robert MacIntyre, Gary Woodland
Three-time runner-up and only the second player to lose two playoffs, including last year, Justin Rose, tees off with 2015 Masters winner Jordan Spieth and five-time major champion Brooks Koepka at 1.20pm local time.
World number four Tommy Fleetwood is joined by 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed and Akshay Bhatia at 9.55am.
Thursday will be a dream day for high school senior Howell who will play with his idol McIlroy for 36 holes at least courtesy of his US Amateur win at Olympic club last year.
It’s been a very special week for the University of Georgia student who almost had a hole in one on the par-3 6th during practice.
“Almost made a hole-in-one, so that would have been pretty sweet, but we’ll save it for the tournament,” Howell said on Monday.
So how does an amateur, essentially a local boy for the year go about trying to end a rookie hoodoo at the Masters that stretches back to Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979?
“It’s kind of a lot to handle,” Howell said. “It’s a long week, but I’m keeping it to nine [holes] a day, focusing on myself, and then whenever Thursday comes, I know I’ll be pretty nervous but excited at the same time, so if I keep a smile on my face, I think the rest will take care of itself.
“Just putting four good rounds together. That’s kind of a good goal for me, and I think soaking it all in and putting a smile on my face.”
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