Tiger, Spieth and McIlroy will play together at PGA Championship

Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy were grouped together for the opening two rounds of the PGA Championship, the PGA of America announced Tuesday.

Creating a star-studded pairing that figures to draw a huge crowd of spectators, the epic comeback story of Woods will play out alongside Spieth's bid for a career Grand Slam and McIlroy's quest for a fifth major title.

The trio will start Thursday's opening round from the 10th tee at 8:10 a.m. (1310 GMT) and Friday's second round from the first tee at 1:36 p.m. (1836 GMT).

Woods, a 15-time major winner, returned from severe leg injuries in a February 2021 car crash at last month's Masters and struggled to walk 72 holes at Augusta National but finished level 47th despite playing the weekend in pain.

Spieth, a three-time major champion, will try to complete the career Slam by capturing the Wanamaker Trophy after a PGA Heritage victory last month and a runner-up effort last week.

McIlroy, chasing a third PGA title, has not won a major since the 2014 PGA Championship.

Going off the 10th tee Thursday three groups ahead of Woods and company at 7:38 a.m. will be Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Xander Schauffele, fellow American Tony Finau and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.

The 8 a.m. 10th tee Thursday group just ahead of Woods will include world number four Cameron Smith of Australia, American Will Zalatoris and sixth-ranked Viktor Hovland of Norway.

Just behind the Woods pairing will be Masters champions Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson and US Open winner Justin Rose.

Thursday afternoon will feature four-time major winner Brooks Koepka of the United States alongside Australian Adam Scott and Ireland's Shane Lowry at 1:03 p.m. with the next group including Americans