Sports

PGA Announces First Two Rounds of Pairings

Tiger Woods returns to major championship competition Thursday morning.

Tiger Woods' return to major golf competition begins Thursday when he tees off at 8:35 a.m. on the 10th hole in the opening round of the 93rd PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club, the PGA of America announced.

The four-time PGA Champion will play the first two rounds with 1997 PGA Champion and 2012 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Davis Love III and 2008 PGA Champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland. The group tees off on Friday at 1:45 p.m. on the first hole. 

South African Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Champion, will be joined by Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy, the 2011 U.S. Open Champion, and Darren Clarke, the 2011 Open Champion. The trio tees off on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. on the first tee and Friday at 8:35 a.m. on the 10th tee. 

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Martin Kaymer, who captured the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., is paired with 2009 PGA Champion Y.E. Yang of South Korea and another PGA Champion Shaun Micheel, who won the title in 2003. They start on Thursday at 1:15 p.m. on the first tee and Friday at 8:05 a.m. on the 10th tee.  

David Toms, who held off Phil Mickelson to win the PGA Championship in 2001 at the Atlanta Athletic Club, is paired with Mickelson (the 2005 PGA Champion) and two-time PGA Champion Vijay Singh of Fiji. They start Thursday at 8:15 a.m. on the 10th tee and Friday at 1:25 p.m. on the first tee. 

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Two-time PGA Champion Larry Nelson of Marietta, who won the 1981 Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club and is this year's recipient of the PGA Distinguished Service Award, is being joined by PGA Champions Steve Elkington (1995) and Rich Beem (2002). They tee off on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. on the 10th tee and Friday at 8:20 a.m. on the first tee. 

Other pairings of interest for the first two rounds:

• Luke Donald of England, the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, is paired with Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Nick Watney. 

• Teen sensations Matteo Manassero of Italy (18) and Ryo Ishikawa of Japan (19) are paired with Adam Scott of Australia.

• Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Spain's Sergio Garcia. 

The PGA Championship is the only all-professional major and features 20 PGA Club Professionals. David Hutsell, the 2011 PGA Professional National Champion, tees off on Thursday at 8:20 a.m. on the first tee.   

The 93rd PGA Championship features the strongest field in golf and currently includes 100 of the top 102 ranked players in the world. There are 14 PGA champions and 30 major champions currently in the field.


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