On Friday, the tee times for the first two rounds of the 2010 U.S. Open were announced. Tiger Woods will play with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els in one group (1:36 p.m. PT in the first round) while reigning Masters champion Phil Mickelson is paired with Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang (8:06 a.m. PT) in another group.
On Day Two, things flip with the “Tiger” group teeing off on No. 10 at 8:06 a.m., and the “Phil” group starting at the No. 1 at 1:36 p.m.
The golf writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, Ron Kroichick, noted how some of the groupings announced Friday, included the USGA’s traditional touch of whimsy:
— Tom Watson, 60, will play alongside 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan and 21-year-old Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.
— Three U.S. Open champs will play together: Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk and Angel Cabrera. So will three British Open champs: David Duval, Tom Lehman and Ben Curtis.
— The short-man group (with PGA Tour wins) features 5-foot-9 Mike Weir, 5-8 K.J Choi and 5-7 Tim Clark. The tall-man group (with AT&T wins at Pebble Beach): 6-4 Dustin Johnson, 6-3 Davis Love III and 6-2 Vijay Singh.
— The no-worries group consists of three accomplished Australians in Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby.
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