McIlroy grouped with JT and Morikawa at The Players

Rory McIlroy has been grouped alongside defending champion Justin Thomas and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa for the first two rounds of The Players.

The Northern Irishman, who won the event in 2019 before missing the cut in last year's contest, will be among the afternoon wave on the opening day at TPC Sawgrass as he tees off at 12.56pm local time (5.56pm GMT).

McIlroy will be joined in the marquee group by Morikawa, who registered three worldwide victories in 2021, and Thomas - looking to become the first player to win back-to-back editions of the PGA Tour's flagship event.

Scottie Scheffler, who registered a second in three PGA Tour starts on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with the world No 5 also out late on Thursday as he plays alongside Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele and four-time major champion Brooks Koepka.

World No 1 Jon Rahm is out early alongside two of the four players who could jump above him to the top of the world rankings this week, Viktor Hovland and Patrick Cantlay, while Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama in a threeball with Presidents Cup team-mates Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann.

Former Sawgrass champions Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott are grouped with Louis Oosthuizen, a runner-up to Si Woo Kim in 2017, while former world No 1's Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth go out alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Daniel Berger.

Play begins at 6.45am over the first two days (11.45am GMT), with English pair Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick part of the first group out on Friday morning. Chris Kirk completes that group.

The dedicated Players Championship channel, Sky Sports The Players, will have over 60 hours of live coverage from Florida during tournament week from March 7-13, including