Pairings Set for First Round of Masters; Tiger with Donald & Piercy


The threesomes paired in the first and second rounds of the Masters have been set. The first major of the year starts Thursday with a field of 93 players at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.

Four-time champion and current No. 1 Tiger Woods will be playing with Luke Donald of England and fellow American Scott Piercy; the trio will start play at 10:45 a.m. (ET) Thursday and then tee off Friday at 1:41 p.m.

No. 2-ranked Rory McIlroy, coming off a runner-up finish to Scotland's Martin Laird in last week's Valero Texas Open, is matched with 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley and Freddie Jacobson at 1:41 p.m. Thursday; they start play at 10:34 a.m. in the second round.

Three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson, whose last green jacket came in 2010, will be joined by South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and Germany's Martin Kaymer at 1:30 p.m., with their Friday tee time at 10:23 a.m. Oosthuizen lost to Bubba Watson on the second sudden-death playoff hole last year.

Defending champion Watson is paired in the opening round with 2012 U.S. Amateur champion Steve Fox and England's Ian Poulter at 10:34 a.m.; their Friday time is 1:30.

Laird, the final player to qualify after his victory Sunday at TPC San Antonio, tees off at 11:29 a.m. Thursday with 1998 Masters champion Mark O'Meara and Jamie Donaldson of Wales. The threesome will start play Friday at 8:22 a.m.

Honorary starters Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player - golf's famed "Big Three" - get the tournament going at 7:45 a.m.

For all the pairings, visit http://www.masters.com/en_US/players/pairings/index.html.