Spieth, McIlroy and Day draw intriguing groups to open the Masters
The journey to the green jacket starts on Thursday with the first round of the Masters at Augusta National.
This top-heavy field may be one of the most difficult to navigate in recent memory, with anywhere from a dozen to 15 players coming into the year’s first major in great form. The Masters patrons and golf fans are beneficiaries, with some fascinating groupings for the first two days of the tournament.
Here’s a look at the five best groups for the first two days of the Masters:
Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau (a) — 9:48 a.m. Thursday/12:55 p.m. Friday — The traditional pairing of the reigning champion and the U.S. Amateur champion is filled out by Spieth, the defending champion, and DeChambeau, who is making his final amateur start. Casey was slotted in to take the spot of the U.S. Open champion since Spieth also holds that distinction.
Phil Mickelson, Marc Leishman, Henrik Stenson — 10:43 a.m. Thursday/1:39 p.m. Friday — Mickelson and Stenson are among the “old” guys who are getting a lot of looks this week as a potential spoiler for the younger set. Stenson was runner-up in Houston last week. Mickelson is a three-time winner who is 2-for-2 at Augusta National when he comes in as the scoring average leader on the PGA Tour. He holds that position this week, too.
Jason Day, Matt Kuchar, Ernie Els — 1:06 p.m. Thursday/9:59 a.m. Friday — Day has downplayed his status as world No. 1 and betting favorite this week. He said his back, which he tweaked at the WGC-Dell Match Play, is fine, but he’s lost 11 lbs. because of an illness. He’s in the group of Masters close calls, with Kuchar and Els each having several chances to capture a green jacket.
Martin Kaymer, Bill Haas, Rory McIlroy — 2:01 p.m. Thursday/11:05 a.m. Friday — McIlroy goes off last on Thursday as part of this trio. Kaymer hasn’t done a whole lot since winning The Players and U.S. Open in 2014, but Haas has continued to improve his finishes in this championship. He was a playoff loser to Charl Schwartzel at the Valspar Championship.
Adam Scott, Kevin Kisner, Brooks Koepka — 11:05 a.m. Thursday/2:01 p.m. Friday — This threesome gets the anchor spot on Friday. Get it, anchor? Adam Scott used to anchor? Anyway. Scott is playing great and is a former winner. Kisner is somewhat local and has a short game that should do well here. Koepka missed the cut in Houston but had four top-26 finishes, including two top-10s, in his prior four starts.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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