AT&T Byron Nelson Classic: Tee times, pairings for Thursday’s round

The PGA Tour continues its annual two-week jaunt through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex on Thursday at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Last week’s event at Colonial serves as an homage to Ben Hogan, but that DFW legend doesn’t have his actual name on the event like Nelson. The two flipped weeks this year, with Colonial leading off before a short trip over to TPC Four Seasons in Irving.

The two DFW stops fall in a bit of a tough spot on the schedule. They’re sandwiched in between The Players, Quail Hollow and then the pre-U.S. Open prep stretch at Memorial and Memphis. There are also a couple marquee tournaments over on the Euro Tour that draw some of the bigger international names off the stateside tour (e.g. Rickie Fowler joined Rory McIlroy at the Irish Open this week). It can dilute the fields a bit but they still manage to attract the top Texans and a select group to feature.

Dallas native Jordan Spieth is the top draw, just as he was last week at Colonial. It was at this Byron Nelson event that a national audience first met Spieth. As a 16-year-old, he played the 2010 Byron Nelson and made the cut, even heading to Sunday inside the top 10. He finished tied for 16th but it was clear that this was a name we might hear again, at least as a top prospect throughout his amateur-playing days.

The intervening years have obviously proved that he’s more than a prospect, and he’s back again this week at the spot where it all started. Spieth will get all the hype, but he’s playing in an absolutely fantastic threesome for the first two rounds. He’s joined by his good friend Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, who both bomb it waaaay past Spieth. Koepka already has a win and Thomas is also streaking for a push toward Rookie of the Year honors. He’s just 145 pounds, but crushes the ball and has been in contention regularly throughout his first season on Tour, including his last two starts at The Players and Quail Hollow.

It’s a tee time loaded with three of the most attractive up-and-coming names in a season where we’re getting so much from the ascendant generation of talents. For golf nerds who follow the Tour closely, it may be the best tee time of the year so far and It will be wonderful to watch the first two rounds. They go at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, so they’ll be featured throughout the Thursday afternoon Golf Channel broadcast (4 to 7 p.m. ET).

Here’s the full tee sheet for the opening round: