Waste Management Phoenix Open 2015: Tee times, pairings for Thursday’s round

Tiger Woods makes his 2015 debut Thursday at the Phoenix Open, but you’ll have to wait until the late afternoon to see the 14-time major winner tee it up. For the first time in 14 years, Woods headlines the field at TPC Scottsdale and the PGA Tour didn’t screw around, pairing him with two of the USA’s top young guns. Woods will tee off alongside Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth at 2:07 p.m. ET.

We last saw Woods in early December, playing his own limited-field Hero World Challenge Event. That was his first competitive tournament in almost four months and he struggled with his short game, bringing up the rear in the 18-man field. One person who did not struggle was Spieth, who blew out Woods and the entire field on the way to his second worldwide win in seven days.

On the few occasions they have been paired together, Spieth has outclassed Woods in the past year. It’s a small sample size, of course, but both definitely understand the past vs. present theme imposed upon the pairing, especially given the results. Woods’ game might be in an entirely different spot this go-round, with a new (but old) motion in use under new swing consultant Chris Como. Golf Channel will come on the air at 3 p.m. ET, so Tiger should be four or five holes into his round when the official broadcast goes live. But the Golf Channel pregame show will likely carry most of his shots from those first few holes.

As usual, Phil Mickelson will play on the opposite side of the draw as Woods, going out in the morning wave on Thursday. Mickelson is the fan favorite here, the ASU grad patronizing the event, working the crowds, and winning while Woods passed on it the last 15 years. Mickelson will play with Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler for the first two rounds. It was at this event two years ago where Mickelson missed the magical round of 59 with the cruelest of lip outs on the final hole.

The intervening season was the worst of Mickelson’s career, and you can bet he does not want to start this year by grinding out rounds on the West Coast swing, where he’s always been extremely comfortable. He typically shines and gets a win in the first few months on the year. With all the hype around Woods’ return, he’ll be gunning to go low on what’s become a second home course of sorts. He tees off No. 10 at 9:57 a.m. ET, so the crowds at the wild 16th might not be fully lathered by the time he gets there.

Those are the two marquee groups on each side of the draw, but the field is a pretty solid one from top to bottom for this early in the schedule. Many of the top international players are missing, some playing on the Euro Tour’s marquee event in Dubai. But the crowds at this event don’t really care much for the field and just come to party. With the Super Bowl and Tiger Woods in town, it should be the highest attended PGA Tour event ever. Here’s the full tee sheet for the opening round (all times ET):