2013 PGA Championship tee times, pairings: Tiger Woods to play with Keegan Bradley, Davis Love III

If things hold up, it looks like Tiger Woods and Keegan Bradley could play together on the weekend at Firestone the next two days, which would just be a preview for next week’s PGA Championship. The PGA of America announced on Friday that the No. 1 player in the world would be playing alongside Bradley and another former PGA winner, Davis Love III, for the first two rounds at Oak Hill. The grouping was announced in a teaser tweet by the PGA, which will release full tee times and groups later Friday afternoon.

The early morning tee time at 8:35 a.m. ET likely puts Woods outside of the Thursday TV coverage window. TNT carries the first two rounds, typically coming on the air at 1 p.m. Bradley and Woods have a cordial relationship by all accounts, but the belly putter is certainly one of Phil’s disciples. The two were a team at the Ryder Cup, and often play practice rounds together. Love was, of course, both players’ captain at last fall’s Ryder Cup and is one of those Tiger contemporaries, like Ernie Els, who was mentally bludgeoned into submission by a dominant Woods during the prime of his career. If not for Tiger’s historic run at the start of the 2000s, Love would likely have another major or two.

Both Woods and Bradley are lighting it up at Firestone this week, with Tiger getting to 8-under through his first three holes on Friday to take a two-shot lead over Keegan. The South Course in Akron is a comparable test to what they will be facing next week at Oak Hill. Both are the classic tree-lined parklands courses, and both layouts measure well in excess of 7,000 yards, forcing players to use driver. That’s a club that Tiger has not used, or really needed, at the last two majors at Merion and Muirfield. But if he hits it the same way he has so far at Firestone, it won’t be an issue.

UPDATE: The full list of tee times and pairings for the first two rounds at Oak Hill.

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