Tiger Woods will have an afternoon tee time alongside South Korean K.J. Choi and fellow American Matt Kuchar in today’s opening round of the Masters, officials announced on Tuesday.
Woods, playing competitively for the first time in nearly five months in the wake of a sex scandal, will start in the penultimate of 32 trios off the first tee at famed Augusta National Golf Club at 1:42pm.
“It’s a good surprise,” Choi said. “It’s funny. I sort of had a feeling that it would be cool if I was paired with Tiger and it happened.”
The same trio will tee off in tomorrow’s second round at 10:35am with a throng of spectators expected to surround the ropes at every hole for the world No. 1’s return to competition after his epic fall.
“The whole Woods story is fascinating all around the world,” Kuchar said. “It will be exciting to have him back in the golf arena. It will be great to be on the course with him and I will have a chance to see how he is doing.”
Pairings were made by tournament officials and although several big names such as Phil Mickelson or reigning British Open champion Stewart Cink had volunteered, Augusta National avoided putting them in the high-profile group.
“You remember the rounds you play with Tiger Woods at Augusta National,” Cink said. “They are just memorable and sometimes it’s because one of you plays really well and you’re in the hunt.”
Cink goes off two groups ahead of Woods with South African Charl Schwartzel and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland, who calls Augusta National the easiest place to have the never-easy challenge of playing alongside Woods.
“There’s more focus and more stress,” Harrington said. “There are more questions and they are all questions that are getting off the path and add a bit more stress to the week. It’s never easy to be paired with Tiger in terms of your whole tournament. Guys may beat him Thursday or Friday but they don’t have as good a weekend because that’s a lot of energy used up Thursday and Friday.”
South African Ernie Els, who won Masters tuneups at Bay Hill and Doral last month, tees off at 10:13am today alongside Japanese teen star Ryo Ishikawa and American Anthony Kim.
Defending champion Angel Cabrera is in the following group 11 minutes after with American Jim Furyk and South Korean amateur An Byeong-hun.
Mickelson, seeking a third Masters green jacket, is in the next group with Australian Robert Allenby and South Korean Yang Yong-eun, who stunned Woods last August to win the PGA Championship, becoming the first Asian man to win a major golf title.
All of them will simply be a warm-up act for Woods’ tee shot, already dubbed the shot to be heard around the world in the wake of his admissions of infidelity and five-month layoff.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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