ERNIE ELS is hoping that playing alongside defending champion Darren Clarke will provide some inspiration in his quest for another Major title. “I’d love to draw some experience from Darren winning a Major in his 40s last year.
“I am about his age now that he was last year. I’d love to do what he did, he showed great courage,” said the South African, who has been grouped with Clarke and former Masters champion Zach Johnson for the first two rounds.
British amateur champion Alan Dunbar will make his debut in the championship alongside Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar, while Michael Hoey has been grouped with Chad Campbell and John Daly.
Graeme McDowell has been re-united with Dustin Johnson, who played in the final pairing of his 2010 US Open win, and Japan’s Hiroyuki Fujita while Rory McIlroy is in a trio of one-time Major winners that also features Louis Oosthuizen and Keegan Bradley.
Pádraig Harrington, back-to-back champion in 2007 and 2008, is very much the old hand in a group that includes Rickie Fowler and European amateur champion Manuel Trappel.
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