PGA Championship 2015 tee times: Pairings for the first two rounds

We’re just two days away from the final major of the season and the PGA of America put the field on notice about their tee time before most even arrived in Wisconsin. Aside from a few alternates and late withdrawals, the full tee sheet was set last Friday afternoon while most of the top players in the world competed at Firestone.

Rory McIlroy, however, passed on a title defense last week and instead jetted straight to Whistling Straits, where he found out he had a Thursday afternoon date with Jordan Spieth. The PGA traditionally puts the season’s first three major winners together for the first two rounds at their championship, but Spieth obviously made that impossible by winning multiple titles before the end of June. So the third wheel with Spieth and Zach Johnson in this instance just so happens to be the No. 1 player in the world.

It’s a gift from the PGA of America and much appreciated by golf watchers around the world. About this time last year, it was unfathomable that anyone would challenge McIlroy’s stranglehold and significant points advantage he had at No. 1 in the rankings. But here comes Spieth with five worldwide wins since last December and a realistic chance this last month to knock Rory from No. 1. He could have done it with a win at The Open or the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

This week’s attempt is made more difficult by Rory returning to action. The defending champ is going to get his world ranking points. But Spieth doesn’t HAVE to win in order to overtake McIlroy, adding to the juice around this awesome pairing for the first two days. They want to deny there’s a rivalry but we’re going to do everything we absolutely can to force it, even if it’s a friendly one.

Rory and Jordan are unquestionably the marquee tee time in the entire field, a distinction that used to always belong to Tiger Woods. The PGA put Tiger, who still has a massive following and interest despite his 278th world ranking, on the opposite side of the draw from McIlroy/Spieth. Woods will be out in the morning wave on Thursday alongside Martin Kaymer and Keegan Bradley, two former PGA winners. Kaymer, of course, is the defending champ at this venue and Bradley is friendly with his fellow South Florida resident. The most competitive tee time on that side of the draw is probably a hole ahead of Tiger and features Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Jason Day. Those are three guys with a much, much more realistic chance of winning this week.

With 156 players in the field, the PGA can be a logistical challenge. It does not enjoy the same amount of daylight as the U.S. Open or the British Open, which doesn’t even need split tees thanks to the incredibly long July days in Scotland. Weather disruptions can back things up real fast during those first two days before the cut is made, but the PGA is pretty adept and making sure everything gets back on track for a Sunday finish. They will send the first groups out before 7 a.m. local in Wisconsin and play them in groups of three off both tees from sun-up to sun-down.

Here’s the tee sheet for the first two days -- all times are ET:

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