GULLANE, Scotland- Tiger Woods is getting a late start to the Open Championship at Muirfield on Thursday. He is scheduled to play the opening two rounds with former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell. They tee off at 2:45 p.m. local time (9:45 a.m. EDT), with a 9:44 a.m. (4:44 a.m. EDT) start on Friday. It’s the first time Tiger Woods has been drawn with either of them on a weekday of a major.
Woods is the betting favorite to end his five-year drought in the majors.
Other notable pairing includes Rory McIlroy playing with last weeks Scottish Open winner Phil Mickelson and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.
Long hitting Bubba Watson, Nicolas Colsaerts, Dustin Johnson all are in top 5 in driving distance on the PGA Tour this year. Colsaerts is #1 with a 306.6 average
Nick Faldo is returning to Muirfield one last time. He is in a group with five-time Open champion Tom Watson and Fred Couples. They tee off at 4am eastern time on Thursday.
Recent Masters Champion Adam Scott is playing a 2 time winner on the PGA Tour this year Matt Kuchar, and former #1 player in the world Luke Donald at 9:12 am on Thursday.
By Claude Pope
Please contact me if you and anyone you know is planning a trip to Scotland or Ireland. I can help
Claudepope@tee-links.com