2014 Honda Classic: Tee times, pairings for Friday’s round

With all the talent on display at the Honda Classic this week, the leaderboard is bound to feature some superstar names throughout. On Thursday, one of the biggest caught fire to take the lead.

Rory McIlroy put on a clinic at PGA National, striping it down the middle off the tee and dropping darts on top of the flagstick with his irons. He occasionally bombed in putts, too, like the 45-footer for birdie on No. 11. His inward 30 on the back nine is something that won’t be replicated in the final three rounds, and he’ll be impossible to catch if he plays the way he did on Thursday.

McIlroy could very well extend his one-shot lead before much of the country is awake, as the Ulsterman goes out in the morning wave with Adam Scott and Billy Horschel at 7:25 a.m. ET. McIlroy tees off at No. 10, so he’ll have an immediate chance to try and go low again on the back side. He started with three straight birdies at No. 10 on Thursday, and that’s really where his round took off.

But he’ll also hit the teeth of the Bear Trap -- PGA National’s difficult three-hole stretch from 15 to 17 -- bright and early, and the hazards looming on those holes can always make a lead disappear with one swing. The more likely scenario, however, is that Rory is pushing double-digit under par and moving the number that the chasers, including Tiger Woods -- who’s already eight shots back -- are going after.

Rory’s group is the first of the marquee cluster, with Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Graeme McDowell are going out 10 minutes later at 7:35 a.m. The afternoon wave will be anchored by Woods, who’s playing alongside Zach Johnson and Keegan Bradley, an almost certain trio for the USA Ryder Cup team this fall. Woods was mediocre again on Thursday, so he’ll need to put it together quickly on Friday to get back in it.

Woods struggled with the putter when he had his irons working, and then struggled off the tee and with his wedges once he finally got a little momentum going with the flatstick. It was a frustrating opening round, but as we saw here in 2012, Woods can match that low-60s number McIlroy posted and instantly become a factor again before the weekend.

Tiger’s group will play behind Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, and Luke Donald, so expect those two afternoon tee times to take up the majority of the coverage on Golf Channel, which comes on the air at 2 p.m. ET. Here’s the full tee sheet for the second round (all times Eastern):

Morning wave off No. 1:

Morning wave off No. 10:

Afternoon wave off No. 1:

Afternoon wave off No. 10: