The golf legend Tiger Woods will play the first two rounds of the 74th Masters Tournament with Matt Kuchar and K.J. Choi and they will form the 31st and penultimate grouping on Thursday with a late tee-time of 1842 BST, returning on Friday to start their second round at 15:35. Tiger Woods' opening shot will be shown live Thursday on ESPN's "SportsCenter." Full television coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN.
According to TigerWoods.com, It marks the 16th appearance for the top-ranked Woods, who has four victories, seven Top 3 finishes and 10 Top 10 showings. Woods has a scoring average of 70.91 and is a combined 63 under par.
In his last five starts at the Masters, Tiger Woods won in 2005; tied for third in 2006; tied for second in 2007; finished second in 2008; and tied for sixth in 2009. Tiger Woods has never broken 70 in the first round. He has opened with 2-under-par 70s four times, including last year.
In 1997, Tiger Woods became the youngest winner of the tournament and youngest winner of a major since World War II. He posted scores of 70-66-65-69 and won by a record-breaking 12 strokes.
On Tuesday, Tiger Woods played a practice round at warm and sunny Augusta with Mark O'Meara. The duo also played nine holes together last Sunday. By all accounts, Woods has looked sharper every day, especially with his irons. Tiger Woods has settled on a driver and will use a new Nike VR model.
Tiger Woods' playing partners in their first round of the Masters have played to a scoring average of 74.71, or 2.71 shots above par. Only three times since Tiger Woods turned pro has a playing partner shot a lower score than him in the first round with Ricky Barnes in 2003, Darren Clarke in 2005 and Stewart Cink last year.
"It's funny because I sort of had a feeling when I left Dallas to come here that it would be cool to be paired with Tiger, and it happened. It's a good surprise. For me, I'm used to playing with Tiger. I expect the atmosphere to be what it is going to be. I'm not worried about it. When you play with Tiger, it's hard to explain, but there is an aura that is different than playing with other players. But I'm used to it, so I don't think it is going to bother me at all." KJ Choi said through an interpreter, Michael Yim.
The golf champ from South Korea, KJ Choi is a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods has played with Choi 12 times, including 10 times in a stroke-player tournament. KJ Choi's average in those events was 70.8 while Woods' was 68.4. Tiger Woods defeated KJ Choi twice at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
"If there's anyplace to be paired with him with great crowds, it's here...The beautiful thing about the big crowds here -- it's easier to play in front of a huge crowd than a crowd of 12 people. With 12 people, you can see each individual. With a huge crowd, it just blends in. People can make noise or murmurs, it just kinds of drowns out." Matt Kuchar said.
A two-time winner of U.S. Amateur champion, Matt Kuchar was paired with Tiger Woods, the reigning Masters champion, in the opening round. Matt Kuchar shot a 72 to Woods' 71. The only other time they have played came at the 2005 Deutsche Bank in the third round, when Matt Kuchar shot 70 to Tiger Woods' 72.
