Masters tee-times: Rory McIlroy can keep eye on Tiger in opening rounds

McIlroy will play alongside Rickie Fowler and Cameron Smith; Shane Lowry gets early start on Thursday

Rory McIlroy drives from the 18th tee  during a practice round for the  Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Photograph: David Cannon/Getty Images
Rory McIlroy drives from the 18th tee during a practice round for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Photograph: David Cannon/Getty Images

Rory McIlroy will be able to keep a keen eye on the progress of Masters rival Tiger Woods following the draw for the opening two rounds.

Woods will tee off at 11.04am local time (4.04pm Irish time) on Thursday alongside China's Haotong Li and Spain's Jon Rahm, with McIlroy in the following group with last year's runner-up Rickie Fowler and Australian Cameron Smith.

McIlroy needs to win the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, while Woods is seeking a first Major title since the 2008 US Open.

Shane Lowry is one of the early starters on Thursday, going out in the third group of the day alongside former champion Mike Weir of Canada and American amateur Kevin O'Connell. The trio tee off at 8.52am local (1.53pm Irish time).

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Patrick Reed gets his title defence under way at 10.31am (3.31pm Irish) in the company of Webb Simpson and US Amateur champion Viktor Hovland, the first Norwegian to play at the Masters.

THURSDAY AND FRIDAY TEE-TIMES
(Second round times in brackets, US unless stated, all times Irish, * denotes amateur)

1.30pm (4.15pm): Andrew Landry, Adam Long, Corey Conners (Can)
1.41pm (4.26pm): Ian Woosnam (Wales), Keith Mitchell, Kevin Tway
1.52pm (4.37pm): Mike Weir (Can), Shane Lowry (Irl), *Kevin O'Connell

2.02pm (4.48pm): Angel Cabrera (Arg), Aaron Wise, Justin Harding (RSA)
2.14pm (4.59pm): Danny Willett (Eng), Brandt Snedeker, *Takumi Kanaya (Jpn)
2.25pm (5.10pm): Fred Couples, Si Woo Kim (S Kor), J B Holmes
2.36pm (5.32pm): Branden Grace (RSA), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Lucas Bjerregaard (Den)
2.47pm (5.43pm): Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Charles Howell III, Eddie Pepperell (Eng)
2.58pm (5.54pm): Sergio Garcia (Esp), Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson (Swe)

3.09pm (6.05pm): Adam Scott (Australia), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Kyle Stanley
3.31pm (6.16pm): Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, *Viktor Hovland (Nor)
3.43pm (6.27pm): Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Marc Leishman (Aus)
3.53 pm (6.38pm): Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland

4.04pm (6.49pm): Tiger Woods, Haotong Li (Chn), Jon Rahm (Esp)
4.15pm (7.0pm): Rory McIlroy (N Irl), Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith (Aus)
4.26pm (1.30pm): Sandy Lyle (Sco), Michael Kim, Patton Kizzire
4.37pm (1.41pm): Trevor Immelman (RSA), Martin Kaymer (Ger), *Devon Bling
4.48pm (1.52pm): Larry Mize, Jimmy Walker, Stewart Cink
4.59pm (2.03pm): Jose Maria Olazabal (Esp), Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)

5.10pm (2.14pm): Bernhard Langer (Ger), Matt Wallace (Eng), *Alvaro Ortiz (Mex)
5.32pm (2.25pm): Alex Noren (Swe), Keegan Bradley, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng)
5.43pm (2.36pm): Vijay Singh (Fiji), Billy Horschel, *Jovan Rebula (RSA)
5.54pm (2.47pm): Kevin Kisner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Shugo Imahira
(Jpn)

6.05pm (2.58pm): Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter (Eng), Matt Kuchar
6.16pm (3,09pm): Francesco Molinari (Ita), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Esp), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
6.27pm (3.31pm): Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn)
6.38pm (3.42pm): Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day (Aus)
6.49pm (3.53pm): Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose (Eng), Justin Thomas

7.0pm (4.04pm): Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey (Eng), Brooks Koepka