Tiger Woods will be paired with rising English star Justin Rose and Japanese number one Shigeki Maruyama in Thursday's first round of the British Open.
Woods is halfway to achieving the first ever Grand Slam of golf having won the Masters and the US Open and says that getting off to a good start is vital to his chances of lifting the Auld Claret Jug for only the second time after St Andrews in 2000.
"They are both great guys to play with and I am looking forward to a fun pairing," said Woods after being told that he would be teeing off at 9:01 a.m. over the Muirfield links which host the Open for the first time in 10 years.
Rose has won four times this year as he has finally started to fulfill the promise he showed in finishing tied for fourth at the 1998 Open at Royal Birkdale, one place behind Woods.
He recently ran world number one Woods close in Heidelberg, Germany and was in confident form last weekend at the Scottish Open where he finished fifth.
Maruyama has also had a stellar year winning on the US Tour at Dallas although he has yet to get into real contention at the British Open.