Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy will contest the first two rounds of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship together on Thursday and Friday.
Here, we looks at how the world number one and three have fared when playing in the same group:
US PGA Championship, August 13-14th, 2015
McIlroy looked set to outscore Spieth for the sixth time until a bogey on the 18th meant the pair both shot opening rounds of 71. There was nothing between them after eight holes of round two either, only for Spieth to hole out from a greenside bunker on the 18th for birdie while McIlroy mishit two chips for a double bogey. Spieth went on to shoot 67 to McIlroy’s 71.
Players Championship, May 7-8th, 2015
Much was made of a possible ”rivalry” between the pair following Spieth’s first major victory in the Masters a month earlier, but their meeting at Sawgrass turned into something of a damp squib. Spieth missed the halfway cut following rounds of 75 and 72, with McIlroy shooting 69 and 71 on his way to a top-10 finish.
Open Championship, July 17-18th, 2014
Spieth at least made the cut at Hoylake with rounds of 71 and 75 — but was an incredible 14 shots adrift of McIlroy, who shot 66 on Thursday and Friday to take command of the tournament on his way to a first Open title.
Masters, April 10-11th, 2014
Both players carded opening rounds of 71 to lie just three shots off the lead, but while Spieth remained in contention with a 70 on Friday, McIlroy shot 77 to make the cut on the mark of four over and, to make matters worse, was then outscored by his marker — Augusta member Jeff Knox — on Saturday.
Valero Texas Open, April 4-5th, 2013
Just months into his professional career, Spieth shot 71 to McIlroy’s 72 in the first round, but could only manage a 76 in the second round to miss the cut, while McIlroy shot 67 and would only be denied victory two days later by a closing 63 from Scotland’s Martin Laird.
Lowest score: McIlroy 5, Spieth 3, Tie 2