5 interesting pairings to watch out for at the Masters Round 1

The pairings for the 2023 Masters, which begin on Thursday, April 6, have been announced. While Tiger Woods' grouping will hog the limelight, there are a few other interesting pairings as well that will tee off on Thursday at Augusta National.

Five interesting pairings for the 2023 Masters Round 1

#5 Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele (Thursday 10:18 a.m. EST)

Since appearing at the Genesis Invitational in February, Tiger Woods is returning to the golf course with his favorite tournament, the Masters. The five-time champion will make his second start of the season alongside talented Viktor Hovland and Xander Schauffele.

#4 Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Cameron Young (Thursday 10:42 a.m. EST)

With two former No 1s and a 2022 PGA Rookie of the Year in one group, this pairing is quite an impressive one.

Rahm has been in brilliant form this year, winning three titles already this year. Thomas has been consistent but is still short of titles. Young is coming to Augusta National after securing a win in the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay.

There is quite a possibility that one of them might be wearing the green jacket on Sunday.

#3 Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im (Thursday 10:54 a.m. EST)

Cameron Smith is the highest-ranked LIV player to appear at the 2023 Masters. He is grouped with 2021 Champion Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im.

Smith and Im have come close to winning at Augusta National in the past, with both finishing runner-up in 2020 and Smith ending up in third place last year.

The 2023 Masters will be an opportunity for Smith to prove the point after getting banned from all PGA Tour events.

#2 Phil Mickelson, Si Woo Kim, Tom Hoge (Thursday 12:24 p.m. EST)

Three-time champion Phil Mickelson is paired with relatively much younger Tom Hoge and Si Woo Kim, not the most exciting of the pairings. While there is not much to expect from Phil this time, given his poor form of late, it will be interesting to see how the veteran progresses in the tournament.

#1 Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns, Tom Kim, (Thursday 1:48 p.m.)

Rory McIlroy is back at the Masters and this time again, he's one of the favorites to win it. It will be interesting to see if Rory's bid for the career Grand Slam gets completed this week.

Rory is grouped with young Tom Kim, who admires the Northern Irishman and also practiced alongside him during Monday's practice round. Sam Burns is the third name in the group. This will be his second appearance at Augusta National after missing the cut last year.

Tee time details for the Masters Round 1

07:40 a.m.: Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson (all Honorary starters)
08:00 a.m.: Mike Weir, Kevin Na
08:12 a.m.: Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Matthew McClean
08:24 a.m.: Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch, Sandy Lyle
08:36 a.m.: Fred Couples, Alex Noren, Russell Henley
08:48 a.m.: Kevin Kisner, Louis Oosthuizen, Adrian Meronk
09:00 a.m.: Min Woo Lee, Harrison Crowe, Larry Mize
09:12 a.m.: Sergio Garcia, Keith Mitchell, Kazuki Higa,
09:24 a.m.: Patrick Reed, Sahith Theegala, Adam Svensson,
09:36 a.m.: Mackenzie Hughes, Shane Lowry, Thomas Pieters
09:48 a.m.: Seamus Power, Bubba Watson, Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
10:06 a.m.: Abraham Ancer, Chris Kirk, Keegan Bradley
10:18 a.m.: Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
10:30 a.m.: Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama
10:42 a.m.: Jon Rahm, Cameron Young, Justin Thomas
10:54 a.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im
11:06 a.m.: Jose Maria Olazabal, Cameron Champ
11:18 a.m.: Charl Schwartzel, Taylor Moore, Aldrich Potgieter
11:30 a.m. : J. T. Poston, Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau
11:42 a.m.: Bernhard Langer, Mito Pereira, Ben Carr
11:54 a.m.: Danny Willett, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka
12:12 p.m.: Sepp Straka, Harold Varner III, Kyoung Hoon Lee
12:24 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Tom Hoge, Si Woo Kim
12:36 p.m.: Billy Horschel, Harris English, Ryan Fox
12:48 p.m.: Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Gordon Sargent
01:00 p.m.: Brian Harman, Joaquin Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton
01:12 p.m.: Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose
01:24 p.m.: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris
01:36 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett
01:48 p.m.: Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns
02:00 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau