Masters 2015: Tee times and pairings set for Thursday, Friday

Now that Opening Day and the NCAA Tournament have passed, Masters week takes the stage and we now know the pairings for the first two rounds.

Tiger Woods will be out in the afternoon wave on Thursday, playing with Jimmy Walker and Jamie Donaldson. Both Walker and Donaldson were two of the top players for their respective Ryder Cup teams last fall and are top world class talents. But playing at the game’s biggest event with Tiger Woods can be an overwhelming and undesirable experience. They’re probably not thrilled with the pairing, which will go off at 1:32 p.m. ET on Thursday and play at 10:30 a.m. on Friday.

Tiger has played practice rounds the first two days with his old friend Mark O’Meara. The Monday round was reportedly spectacular, with Scott Michaux of the Augusta Chronicle saying his first nine could have been a 30 on the card. Woods chipping and pitching have looked fine enough so far this week. It’s not the complete embarrassment we watched at the end of last year and through two events this season. That is encouraging, but Tiger is probably still a long way from contending.

Let’s focus on Tiger making the cut first, which seems like a realistic goal given his familiarity and track record with this course. Woods can show up with his game in shambles and still usually find a way to work his ball around Augusta National.

Aside from Tiger’s return to the game, the other group that will get all the attention is the Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Ryan Moore trio. They go at 10:41 a.m. on Thursday at 1:48 p.m. on Friday, which is the usual Tiger-Phil split that these majors use to break up the tee sheet.

Here are a few of the marquee groups and tee times for the first two rounds.