Tiger Woods featured in star-studded group for U.S. Open at Shinnecock

Steve DiMeglio | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Tiger Woods can win first major in a decade at 2018 U.S. Open SportsPulse: Tiger Woods' last win at a major was 10 years ago, but USA TODAY Sports' Steve DiMeglio thinks Tiger can end that decade-long drought at the U.S. Open in Shinnecock Hills.

Tiger Woods will begin his quest for a 15th major championship and first in a decade alongside world No. 1 Justin Thomas and No. 2 Dustin Johnson when the 118th U.S. Open begins Thursday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Tuckahoe, N.Y.

The three are scheduled to tee off at 1:47 p.m. ET. Thomas, who won his first major at the 2017 PGA Championship and has two victories this year, played last week as the No. 1 player in the world for the first time. Johnson, who was ranked No. 1 for more than a year, won the 2016 U.S. Open.

In other marquee groupings announced Thursday by the U.S. Golf Association, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson, who has finished runner-up a record six times in the U.S. Open, are playing together. Defending champion Brooks Koepka is out with Jason Day and Bubba Watson.

Woods hasn’t won a major since his epic playoff victory against Rocco Mediate in the 2008 U.S. Open on the South Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club in San Diego. It was his third U.S. Open title, the first coming in 2000 at Pebble Beach in California, the second in 2002 at Bethpage Black in New York.

In 2004, the last time the national championship was held at Shinnecock, Woods finished in a tie for 17th. He also withdrew with a wrist injury in 1995 when it was held there.

More: Daniel Berger has right recipe for St. Jude Classic, seeks three-peat

More: U.S. Open: A look at Shinnecock hole by hole

Ahead of last week’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio, Woods played two rounds at Shinnecock. The course was soft and the greens were slow.

“It will be long, it will be very long,” Woods said, adding that he will need to hit the driver 6-8 times each round and maybe up to 10 times. “They have taken out over 500 trees since last time I played it and added about 500 yards to it, so it's a very different golf course. It's very open, wind blows a little bit more. If it's hard, then it becomes quite a test.”

Another big difference are the shaved down areas around the greens. Players will have more options on how to play shots instead of wondering how to hack out of thick rough by the greens.

“I understand they're trying to give us an opportunity to run the ball up (onto greens),” Woods said. “There will be a lot of pitch-and-runs and 4-irons and spinners and all different shots around the greens.”

This year’s U.S. Open will be the 40th major since Woods won his last. He has played in 25 during that stretch, with nine top-10s, but missed 14 due to injury.

After undergoing spinal fusion surgery in April 2017, Woods has moved up from No. 656 in the world rankings to No. 80. In nine starts, he’s missed one cut. He’s been in contention on Sunday to win five times, with his best finishes being a tie for second in the Valspar Championship and a tie for fifth in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

In last week’s Memorial, Woods was tied for the lead in the third round before putting woes ignited his fall down the leaderboard into a tie for 23rd.

Here are the tee times for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open:

Thursday (June 14), hole #1 / Friday (June 15), hole #10

6:45 a.m. / 12:30 p.m. – Harold Varner, Gastonia, N.C.; Scott Piercy; Matthieu Pavon, France

6:56 a.m. / 12:41 p.m. – Michael Putnam, University Place, Wash.; Scott Gregory, England; Will Zalatoris, Plano, Texas

7:07 a.m. / 12:52 p.m. – Brendan Steele, Idyllwild, Calif.; Chesson Hadley, Raleigh, N.C.; (a) Harry Ellis, England

7:18 a.m. / 1:03 p.m. – Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela; Dylan Frittelli, South Africa; (a) Doug Ghim, Arlington Heights, Ill.

7:29 a.m. / 1:14 p.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Jimmy Walker, Boerne, Texas; Justin Rose, England

7:40 a.m. / 1:25 p.m. – Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla.; Jason Day, Australia; Brooks Koepka, West Palm Beach, Fla.

7:51 a.m. / 1:36 p.m. – Tyrrell Hatton, England; Danny Willett, England; Ian Poulter, England

8:02 a.m. / 1:47 p.m. – Kevin Chappell, Fresno, Calif.; Andrew Johnston, England; Daniel Berger, Jupiter, Fla.

8:13 a.m. / 1:58 p.m. – Bryson DeChambeau, Clovis, Calif.; Matthew Fitzpatrick, England; Matt Kuchar, Sea Island, Ga.

8:24 a.m. / 2:09 p.m. – Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark; Shubhankar Sharma, India; Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind.

8:35 a.m. / 2:20 p.m. – Lanto Griffin, Blacksburg, Va.; Tom Lewis, England; (a) Jacob Bergeron, Slidell, La.

8:46 a.m. / 2:31 p.m. – (a) Kristoffer Reitan, Norway; (a) Luis Gagne, Costa Rica; Cole Miller, New Tripoli, Pa.

8:57 a.m. / 2:42 p.m. – Mickey DeMorat, Merritt Island, Fla.; (a) Tyler Strafaci, Davie, Fla.; Calum Hill, Scotland

Thursday (June 14), hole #10 / Friday (June 15), hole #1

6:45 a.m. / 12:30 p.m. – Scott Stallings, Knoxville, Tenn.; Sebastian Munoz, Colombia; Matthew Southgate, England

6:56 a.m. / 12:41 p.m. – Trey Mullinax, Gardendale, Ala.; (a) Matt Parziale, Brockton, Mass.; Jason Scrivener, Australia

7:07 a.m. / 12:52 p.m. – David Bransdon, Australia; Eric Axley, Knoxville, Tenn.; Tyler Duncan, Columbus, Ind.

7:18 a.m. / 1:03 p.m. – (a) Garrett Rank, Canada; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada; Aaron Baddeley, Australia

7:29 a.m. / 1:14 p.m. – Alexander Levy, France; Brian Harman, Sea Island, Ga.; Patrick Cantlay, Long Beach, Calif.

7:40 a.m. / 1:25 p.m. – Paul Casey, England; Satoshi Kodaira, Japan; Branden Grace, South Africa

7:51 a.m. / 1:36 p.m. – Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Patrick Reed, Houston, Texas

8:02 a.m. / 1:47 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas; Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

8:13 a.m. / 1:58 p.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Japan; Marc Leishman, Australia; Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif.

8:24 a.m. / 2:09 p.m. – Charles Howell, Orlando, Fla.; Bill Haas, Greenville, S.C.; Charley Hoffman, San Diego, Calif.

8:35 a.m. / 2:20 p.m. – Sungjae Im, Republic of Korea; Russell Knox, Scotland; Matthew Wallace, England

8:46 a.m. – 2:31 p.m. – (a) Shintaro Ban, San Jose, Calif.; Sung Joon Park, Republic of Korea; Timothy Wilkinson, New Zealand

8:57 a.m. – 2:42 p.m. – Dylan Meyer, Evansville, Ind.; Sulman Raza, Eugene, Ore.; Chris Naegel, Wildwood, Mo.

Thursday (June 14), hole #1 / Friday (June 15), hole #10

12:30 p.m. / 6:45 a.m. – Sam Burns, Shreveport, La.; Brian Gay, Windermere, Fla.; Dean Burmester, South Africa

12:41 p.m. / 6:56 a.m. – Ryan Evans, England; a-Chun An Yu, Taiwan; Liang Wenchong, China.

12:52 p.m. / 7:07 a.m. – Russell Henley, Charleston, S.C.; Aaron Wise, Las Vegas, Nev.; Peter Uihlein, Jupiter, Fla.

1:03 p.m. / 7:18 a.m. – Tony Finau, Lehi, Utah; Luke List, Seal Beach, Calif.; Gary Woodland, Topeka, Kan.

1:14 p.m. – 7:29 a.m. – Sergio Garcia, Spain; Jon Rahm, Spain; Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain

1:25 p.m. / 7:40 a.m. – Tommy Fleetwood, England; Francesco Molinari, Italy; Alexander Noren, Sweden

1:36 p.m. / 7:51 a.m. – Cameron Smith, Australia; Kyle Stanley, Gig Harbor, Wash.; Pat Perez, Scottsdale, Ariz.

1:47 p.m. / 8:02 a.m. – Justin Thomas, Goshen, Ky.; Dustin Johnson, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Tiger Woods, Hobe Sound, Fla.

1:58 p.m. / 8:13 a.m. – Haotong Li, People's Republic of China; Si Woo Kim, Republic of Korea; Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand

2:09 p.m. / 8:24 a.m. – Jason Dufner, Auburn, Ala.; (a) Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss.; Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn.

2:20 p.m. / 8:35 a.m. – TBD; (a) Ryan Lumsden, Scotland; James Morrison, England

2:31 p.m. / 8:46 a.m. – Cameron Wilson, Rowayton, Conn.; (a) Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio; (a) Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La.

2:42 p.m. / 8:57 a.m. – (a) Rhett Rasmussen, Draper, Utah; Michael Hebert, Atlanta, Ga.; Michael Block, Mission Viejo, Calif.

Thursday (June 14), hole #10 / Friday (June 15), hole #1

12:30 p.m. / 6:45 a.m. – Matthew Jones, Australia; Ryan Fox, New Zealand; Shota Akiyoshi, Japan

12:41 p.m. / 6:56 a.m. – Paul Waring, England; (a) Theo Humphrey, Greenwich, Conn.; TBD

12:52 p.m. / 7:07 a.m. – Richy Werenski, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Roberto Castro, Atlanta, Ga.; Ollie Schniederjans, Alpharetta, Ga.

1:03 p.m. / 7:18 a.m. – (a) Noah Goodwin, Corinth, Texas; Richie Ramsay, Scotland; Kenny Perry, Franklin, Ky.

1:14 p.m. / 7:29 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Woodstock, Vt.; TBD; Xander Schauffele, San Diego, Calif.

1:25 p.m. / 7:40 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Tequesta, Fla.; Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C.; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland

1:36 p.m. / 7:51 a.m. – Ernie Els, South Africa; Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis.; Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

1:47 p.m. / 8:02 a.m. – Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Adam Scott, Australia; Martin Kaymer, Germany

1:58 p.m. / 8:13 a.m. – Kevin Kisner, Aiken, S.C.; Ross Fisher, England; Adam Hadwin, Canada

2:09 p.m. / 8:24 a.m. – Shane Lowry, Republic of Ireland; TBD; Chez Reavie, Scottsdale, Ariz.

2:20 p.m. / 8:35 a.m. – Lucas Herbert, Australia; Brian Stuard, Jackson, Mich.; (a) Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif.

2:31 p.m. / 8:46 a.m. – (a) Franklin Huang, Poway, Calif.; Sebastian Vazquez, Mexico; Michael Miller, Mount Kisco, N.Y.

2:42 p.m. / 8:57 a.m. – Christopher Babcock, Shoreline, Wash.; (a) Timothy Wiseman, Corydon, Ind.; David Gazzolo, Riverside, Calif.

(a): amateur