Top trio together at US Open

Tiger Woods, coming off a victory last Sunday at the Memorial, will be paired alongside Masters winner Bubba Watson and long-time rival Phil Mickelson in the first two rounds of the US Open.

Woods will be paired alongside Bubba and Phil at US OpenSAN FRANCISCO, June 7, 2012 (AFP) - And pairings released on Thursday by the US Golf Association also have defending champion and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland paired alongside England's World No. 1 Luke Donald and World No. 3 Lee Westwood.

Woods, Watson and Mickelson will tee off together at 7:33 next Thursday morning in round one on the back nine and at 1:18 Friday afternoon in round two off the first tee.

The top-ranked trio begin off the first tee at 1:29 p.m. on Thursday and off the back nine at 7:44 a.m. on Friday.

South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, Australian Jason Day and American Jason Dufner, twice a winner in recent weeks, will play together in the first two rounds.

So will Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa and Americans Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.

England's Justin Rose will play alongside Germany's Martin Kaymer and American Hunter Mahan while England's Ian Poulter is paired with Americans Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar.

Australian Adam Scott was matched with Keegan Bradley, who won last year's PGA Championship, and another American, Webb Simpson.

South African Ernie Els will open alongside Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

American Casey Martin, who needs a cart to play due to a rare circulatory disorder in his right leg, will be in the first afternoon group off the first tee on Thursday.

Pairings for the first round of the US Open golf championship, which starts at The Olympic Course (par 70) next Thursday (all times local, seven hours off GMT):

Round One

First Tee

7:15 am - Scott Langley (USA), Steve Lebrun (USA), Beau Hossler (USA)

7:26 - Jason Bohn (USA), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), JB Park (KOR)

7:37 - Michael Thompson (USA), Steve Marino (USA), to be determined

7:48 - Brendan Jones (AUS), George Coetzee (RSA), Gregory Bourdy (FRA)

7:59 - Patrick Cantlay (USA), Jonathan Byrd (USA), Kyle Stanley (USA)

8:10 - Retief Goosen (RSA), Vijay Singh (FIJ), Zach Johnson (USA)

8:21 - Paul Casey (ENG), Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN), Mark Wilson (USA)

8:32 - Adam Scott (AUS), Keegan Bradley (USA), Webb Simpson (USA)

8:43 - Tim Clark (RSA), Toru Taniguchi (JPN), Rod Pampling (AUS)

8:54 - Francesco Molinari (ITA), Bo Van Pelt (USA), Peter Hanson (SWE)

9:05 - DA Points (USA), Lee Dong-Hwan (KOR), Kevin Streelman (USA)

9:16 - Edward Loar (USA), Paul Claxton (USA), Alistair Presnell (AUS)

9:27 - Mark McCormick (USA), Nick Sherwood (USA), Cole Howard (USA)

12:45 pm - Casey Martin (USA), Cameron Wilson (USA), Dennis Miller (USA)

12:56 - Jim Herman (USA), William Lunde (USA), David Mathis (USA)

1:07 - Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Charlie Wi (KOR), Simon Dyson (ENG)

1:18 - Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Gary Woodland (USA), John Senden (AUS)

1:29 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Luke Donald (ENG), Lee Westwood (ENG)

1:40 - Jim Furyk (USA), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Graeme McDowell (NIR)

1:51 - Stewart Cink (USA), Trevor Immelman (RSA), Lucas Glover (USA)

2:02 - Ernie Els (RSA), Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Angel Cabrera (ARG)

2:13 - Martin Laird (SCO), Ben Crane (USA), Anders Hansen (DEN)

2:24 - Matteo Manassero (ITA), Aaron Baddeley (AUS), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP)

2:35 - Brian Harman (USA), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), to be determined

2:46 - Brice Garnett (USA), Jesse Mueller (USA), to be determined

2:57 - Brian Rowell (USA), Alberto Sanchez (USA), Brian Gaffney (USA)

Tenth Tee

7:00 - Shane Bertsch (USA), Martin Flores (USA), Tommy Biershenk (USA)

7:11 - Scott Piercy (USA), Matthew Baldwin (ENG), Matt Bettencourt (USA)

7:22 - Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Kevin Na (USA), Branden Grace (RSA)

7:33 - Phil Mickelson (USA), Tiger Woods (USA), Bubba Watson (USA)

7:44 - Joe Ogilvie (USA), Stephen Ames (CAN), Tim Herron (USA)

7:55 - Davis Love (USA), Padraig Harrington (IRL), David Toms (USA)

8:06 - Carl Pettersson (SWE), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Charles Howell (USA)

8:17 - Robert Karlsson (SWE), Bob Estes (USA), Robert Rock (ENG)

8:28 - KJ Choi (KOR), YE Yang (KOR), KT Kim (KOR)

8:39 - Fredrik Jacobson (SWE), Robert Garrigus (USA), Alexander Noren (SWE)

8:50 - Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Bae Sang Moon (KOR), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP)

9:01 - Marc Warren (SCO), Anthony Summers (AUS), Michael Allen (USA)

9:12 - Hunter Hamrick (USA), Tim Weinhart (USA), Scott Smith (USA)

12:30 - John Peterson (USA), Morgan Hoffmann (USA), Aaron Watkins (USA)

12:41 - Jeff Curl (USA), Nicholas Thompson (USA), Casey Wittenberg (USA)

12:52 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Chez Reavie (USA), Peter Lawrie (IRL)

1:03 - Michael Campbell (NZL), Olin Browne (USA), Joe Durant (USA)

1:14 - Bill Haas (USA), Nick Watney (USA), Brandt Snedeker (USA)

1:25 - Martin Kaymer (GER), Hunter Mahan (USA), Justin Rose (ENG)

1:36 - Steve Stricker (USA), Ian Poulter (ENG), Matt Kuchar (USA)

1:47 - Jason Day (AUS), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Jason Dufner (USA)

1:58 - Rickie Fowler (USA), Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Dustin Johnson (USA)

2:09 - Hunter Haas (USA), Tadahiro Takayama (JPN), Lee Slattery (ENG)

2:20 - Alex Cejka (GER), Kevin Chappell (USA), Blake Adams (USA)

2:31 - James Hahn (USA), Darron Stiles (USA), Roberto Castro (USA)

2:42 - Brooks Koepka (USA), Samuel Osborne (ENG), to be determined