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Former Georgia Tech star Matt Kuchar and Korea’s K.J. Choi will be the playing partners of Tiger Woods during the first two rounds of the Masters.  The threesome will tee off in Thursday’s first round at 1:42 p.m. ET in the penultimate group of the day. On Friday, the threesome will tee off at 10:35 a.m. ET.

Pairings were announced Tuesday, with much anticipation and speculation centering on which players will be selected to play with Woods as he makes his much-anticipated return to the PGA TOUR.

Other pairings of note:

• 10:13 a.m.-1:20 p.m.: Ernie Els, Anthony Kim, Ryo Ishikawa
• 10:24 a.m.-1:31 p.m.: Angel Cabrera, Jim Furyk, a-Byeong-Hun An
• 10:35 a.m.-1:42 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang
• 10:46 a.m.-1:53 p.m.: Retief Goosen, Hunter Mahan, Robert Karlsson
• 12:47 p.m.-9:29 a.m.: Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson, a-Chang-won Han
• 12:58 p.m.-9:40 a.m.: Fred Couples, Sergio Garcia, Shingo Katayama
• 1:09 p.m.-10:02 a.m.: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Edoardo Molinari, Lucas Glover
• 1:20 p.m.-10:13 a.m.: Charl Schwartzel, Stewart Cink, Padraig Harrington
• 1:31 p.m.-10:24 a.m.: Yuta Ikeda, Ian Poulter, Steve Stricker
• 1:42 p.m.-10:35 a.m.: Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, K.J. Choi
• 1:53 p.m.-10:46 a.m.: Adam Scott, David Duval, Ricky Barnes

According to a story appearing on ESPN’s website, “Woods’ playing partners in their first round of the Masters have played to a scoring average of 74.71, or 2.71 shots above par. Only three times since Woods turned pro has a playing partner shot a lower score than him in the first round — Ricky Barnes in 2003, Darren Clarke in 2005 and Stewart Cink last year.”

The story also noted, “even more daunting is being in the group that plays directly in front of Woods. Those players have to constantly deal with spectators who are rushing ahead on the course to try to gain a prime vantage point for when Woods’ group arrives.”

Earlier this week, it was announced that Fred Couples and Greg Norman would be returning as captains of the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, for The Presidents Cup 2011 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, at Royal Melbourne Golf Club — site of the 1998 event. Couples, who is competing in this week’s PGA TOUR event, joined PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem in the media center for the announcement, while Norman joined via teleconference from Europe.

“There could be no better choices to serve as captains of The Presidents Cup 2011 than Fred Couples and Greg Norman,” said Finchem. “Fred and Greg bring not only their extensive experience as Presidents Cup participants to the table, but also what they learned in 2009 as captains. They stepped into their roles last year with a strong passion and commitment to elevating this international competition and handled their responsibilities with ease. I am confident they will once again showcase the incredible sportsmanship, leadership and camaraderie that is the hallmark of The Presidents Cup.”

The Presidents Cup 2011 is scheduled for November 14-20, 2011. The Americans currently hold an all-time 6-1-1 lead in the competition.

The New York Times is reporting that test footage shot recently at Augusta National to demonstrate 3-D looks pretty darn good.  Richard Sandomir wrote, “One look at Augusta in 3-D will make high-definition seem obsolete.”

Too bad many of us don’t own the equipment to see it for ourselves.  Anyway, the article describes what works and what doesn’t.  On the plus side:

• putts moving toward a camera;
• a chip shot flying out of a bunker with the individual grains of sand moving into a new dimension in front of the golfer;
• yellow flags fluttering at the hole in the foreground while water courses through a creek in the background;
• the slow panning of the most topographically interesting holes to show the changing elevations.

Sandomir  remarked, “The closer the cameras get to the action, the better the picture. It may be too much to expect the 3-D cameras to get close enough for a driver to look as if it is coming through the screen.”

As for flaws:

• When the sun glinted off water, the picture blurred.
• When trees or bushes came into view too quickly, it was visually jarring.
• When a camera panned the grass too rapidly, the effect was dizzying.

Seems to me that if this experiment works, golf clubs may have a new potential revenue stream — hosting viewing parties.

If this story had hit on Thursday (April Fools’ Day), I would have chuckled and said, “Good one!”  But the press release came out on St. Patrick’s Day.  Hmmm…

Apparently Perky’s Foodservice Concepts, Inc. has teamed up with pro golfer John Daly to launch the John Daly Pizza Program. From the looks of it, it is a turnkey operation that can be implemented at golf courses and other venues.  For sure, it provides a nice alternative to normal golf course fare — hot dogs, chips, burgers, etc.

The program is focused on a revenue-generating compact pizzeria which was developed and perfected by Perky’s Foodservice Concepts.  The company has a 23-year history in the “business within a business” model.

Daly is a recognizable brand.  In the announcement, he states:

“My pizza is a 350 yard drive down the middle! The quality and taste of my pizza will exceed your expectations, and it all starts with the finest ingredients available.  Grip It and Eat It!”

You can learn more at:  www.johndalypizza.com.

If you go to the equipment page, it says to contact john AT johndalypizza.com.  Not too sure if that’s indicative of Daly’s hands on approach to the business or if it is a coincidence.