Oh, if we only knew seeing Tiger Woods agonize in the jaws of defeat would actually be a common sight less than a year later, it wouldn’t have been such a novelty to watch Y.E. Yang celebrate with such glee on the 72nd hole at last year’s PGA Championship. In the spirit of morbid humor, Yang and Woods will play the first two rounds together at Whistling Straits. They’ll be joined by two-time PGA Champion Vijay Singh.
The other highlighted pairing is the traditional grouping of the winner of the first three majors in 2010 — Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen (I still remember how to spell it from the British Open) — which will surely drive ratings out of the roof! (Not really.) Other than that, the PGA doesn’t have much of a sense of humor (unlike the USGA). Lots of potential and lots of “good” pairings, but none that make much rhyme or reason other than being three recognizable names. But how about this group of legends: Padraig Harrington, Davis Love III and John Daly!
In more important news, I’m going to covering the PGA for the Wall Street Journal (again). Yes! I didn’t screw up too badly at St. Andrews. So I will be live from Whistling Straits. Lucky me, huh? Three out of four majors this year. Now I’m hoping we’ll get a more popular champion next week; otherwise the guys in the media room will continue the joke that I’m a jinx (which I’m starting to think I am).
Here are the remainder of the pairings for the first two rounds — which are your favorites?
| Tee | Rnd. 1 | Tee | Rnd. 2 | Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7:00am | 10 | 12:15pm | Bo VAN PELT, Tulsa, Okla. Scott HEBERT, Traverse City, Mich. Vaughn TAYLOR, Augusta, Ga. |
| 1 | 7:10am | 10 | 12:25pm | Stephen GALLACHER, Edinburgh, Scotland Keith OHR, Louisville, Ky. Derek LAMELY, Ft. Myers, Fla. |
| 1 | 7:20am | 10 | 12:35pm | Steve MARINO, Tequesta, Fla. Rob LABRITZ, Pound Ridge, N.Y. KJ CHOI, Seoul, South Korea |
| 1 | 7:30am | 10 | 12:45pm | John MERRICK, Long Beach, Calif. Kyung-tae KIM, Seoul, South Korea Martin LAIRD, Glasgow, Scotland |
| 1 | 7:40am | 10 | 12:55pm | Hiroyuki FUJITA, Fukuoka, Japan Bubba WATSON, Bagdad, Fla. Alvaro QUIROS, Cadiz, Spain |
| 1 | 7:50am | 10 | 1:05pm | David TOMS, Shreveport, La. Steve ELKINGTON, Inverell, Australia Mark BROOKS, Ft. Worth, Texas |
| 1 | 8:00am | 10 | 1:15pm | Michael SIM, Perth, Australia Ryan PALMER, Amarillo, Texas Matt BETTENCOURT, Greenville, S.C. |
| 1 | 8:10am | 10 | 1:25pm | Matt JONES, Sydney, Australia Brian DAVIS, London, England Ricky BARNES, Phoenix, Ariz. |
| 1 | 8:20am | 10 | 1:35pm | D.J. Trahan, Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Edoardo MOLINARI, Turin, Italy Thongchai JAIDEE, Lopburi, Thailand |
| 1 | 8:30am | 10 | 1:45pm | Marc LEISHMAN, Victoria, Australia Fredrik JACOBSON, Gothenburg, Sweden Brian GAY, Windermere, Fla. |
| 1 | 8:40am | 10 | 1:55pm | Rhys DAVIES, Bridgend, Wales Ben CRANE, Portland, Ore. Mark SHEFTIC, Blue Bell, Pa. |
| 1 | 8:50am | 10 | 2:05pm | Raphael JACQUELIN, Lyon, France Ryan BENZEL, Seattle, Wash. Brendon de JONGE, Charlotte, N.C. |
| 1 | 9:00am | 10 | 2:15pm | Sonny SKINNER, Sylvester, Ga. David HORSEY, Cheshire, England George MCNEILL, Ft. Myers, Fla. |
| 10 | 7:00am | 1 | 12:15pm | Tim PETROVIC, Austin, Texas Rich STEINMETZ, Gilbertsville, Pa. Jason DAY, Queensland, Australia |
| 10 | 7:10am | 1 | 12:25pm | Rickie FOWLER, Murrieta, Calif. Justin LEONARD, Dallas, Texas Ryo ISHIKAWA, Saitama, Japan |
| 10 | 7:20am | 1 | 12:35pm | Stuart APPLEBY, Victoria, Australia Kyle FLINTON, Oklahoma City, Okla. Soren KJELDSEN, Aalborg, Denmark |
| 10 | 7:30am | 1 | 12:45pm | Jim FURYK, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Geoff OGILVY, Melbourne, Australia Charl SCHWARTZEL, Verceeniging, South Africa |
| 10 | 7:40am | 1 | 12:55pm | DONALD, High Wycombe, England Tetsuji HIRATSUKA, Shiga, Japan JB HOLMES, Campbellsville, Ky. |
| 10 | 7:50am | 1 | 1:05pm | Jerry KELLY, Madison, Wis. Paul CASEY, Esher, England Anthony KIM, Dallas, Texas |
| 10 | 8:00am | 1 | 1:15pm | Padraig HARRINGTON, Dublin, Ireland Davis LOVE III, Sea Island, Ga. John DALY, Dardanelle, Ark. |
| 10 | 8:10am | 1 | 1:25pm | Sergio GARCIA, Castellon, Spain Stewart CINK, Duluth, Ga. Martin KAYMER, Mettmann, Germany |
| 10 | 8:20am | 1 | 1:35pm | Y.E. YANG, Jeju Island, South Korea Vijay SINGH, Lautoka, Fiji Tiger WOODS, Windermere, Fla. |
| 10 | 8:30am | 1 | 1:45pm | Retief GOOSEN, Polokwane, South Africa Ryan MOORE, Tacoma, Wash. Francesco MOLINARI, Turin, Italy |
| 10 | 8:40am | 1 | 1:55pm | Corey PAVIN, Dallas, Texas Ian POULTER, Stevenage, England Camilo VILLEGAS, Medellin, Colombia |
| 10 | 8:50am | 1 | 2:05pm | Rob MOSS, Broadview Heights, Ohio Charles HOWELL III, Windermere, Fla. Gregory BOURDY, Bordeaux, France |
| 10 | 9:00am | 1 | 2:15pm | Jason SCHMUHL, Windsor, Calif. Troy MATTESON, Dripping Springs, Texas Daniel WILLETT, Sheffield, England |
| 1 | 12:15pm | 10 | 7:00am | Paul GOYDOS, Coto de Caza, Calif. Tim THELEN, College Station, Texas Gonzalo FERNANDEZ-CASTANO, Madrid, Spain |
| 1 | 12:25pm | 10 | 7:10am | Jason DUFNER, Auburn, Ala. Troy PARE, Rumford, R.I. Anders HANSEN, Sonderborg, Denmark |
| 1 | 12:35pm | 10 | 7:20am | Rory SABBATINI, Durban, South Africa Chris WOOD, Bristol, England Brandt SNEDEKER, Nashville, Tenn. |
| 1 | 12:45pm | 10 | 7:30am | Ross FISHER, London, England Mike WEIR, Ontario, Canada Chad CAMPBELL, Andrews, Texas |
| 1 | 2:55pm | 10 | 7:40am | Kevin SUTHERLAND, Sacramento, Calif. Ernie ELS, George, South Africa Dustin JOHNSON, Myrtle Beach, S.C. |
| 1 | 1:05pm | 10 | 7:50am | Jeff OVERTON, Evansville, Ind. Darren CLARKE, Dungannon, Northern Ireland Kenny PERRY, Franklin, Ky. |
| 1 | 1:15pm | 10 | 8:00am | Steve STRICKER, Madison, Wis. Rory MCILROY, Holywood, Northern Ireland Adam SCOTT, Queensland, Australia |
| 1 | 1:25pm | 10 | 8:10am | Henrik STENSON, Gothenburg, Sweden Zach JOHNSON, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Lucas GLOVER, Simpsonville, S.C. |
| 1 | 1:35pm | 10 | 8:20am | Phil MICKELSON, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Graeme MCDOWELL, Portrush, Northern Ireland Louis OOSTHUIZEN, Pinnacle Point, South Africa |
| 1 | 1:45pm | 10 | 8:30am | Justin ROSE, London, England Tim CLARK, Durban, South Africa Nick WATNEY, Las Vegas, Nev. |
| 1 | 1:55pm | 10 | 8:40am | Trevor IMMELMAN, Cape Town, South Africa Angel CABRERA, Cordoba, Argentina Hunter MAHAN, Colleyville, Texas |
| 1 | 2:05pm | 10 | 8:50am | Ross MCGOWAN, Cheam, England Mitch LOWE, San Francisco, Calif. Turning Stone WINNER |
| 1 | 2:15pm | 10 | 9:00am | Simon DYSON, York, England Bruce SMITH, Frisco, Texas WGC Bridgestone WINNER |
| 10 | 12:15pm | 1 | 7:00am | Fredrik ANDERSSON HED, Halmstad, Sweden David HUTSELL, Baltimore, Md. John SENDEN, Brisbane, Australia |
| 10 | 12:25pm | 1 | 7:10am | Bryce MOLDER, Conway, Ark. Chip SULLIVAN, Troutville, Va. Carl PETTERSSON, Gothenburg, Sweden |
| 10 | 12:35pm | 1 | 7:20am | Koumei ODA, Fukuoka, Japan Colin MONTGOMERIE, Perthshire, Scotland Matt KUCHAR, Atlanta, Ga. |
| 10 | 12:45pm | 1 | 7:30am | Heath SLOCUM, Milton, Ga. Soren HANSEN, Copenhagen, Denmark Cameron BECKMAN, San Antonio, Texas |
| 10 | 12:55pm | 1 | 7:40am | Boo WEEKLEY, Milton, Fla. D.A. POINTS, Pekin, Ill. Seung Yul NOH, Seoul, South Korea |
| 10 | 1:05pm | 1 | 7:50am | Jason BOHN, Acworth, Ga. Miguel Angel JIMENEZ, Malaga, Spain Wenchong LIANG, Guangdong, China |
| 10 | 1:15pm | 1 | 8:00am | Tom LEHMAN, Scottsdale, Ariz. Shaun MICHEEL, Memphis, Tenn. Mike SMALL, Champaign, Ill. |
| 10 | 1:25pm | 1 | 8:10am | Peter HANSON, Trelleborg, Sweden Yuta IKEDA, Chiba, Japan Ben CURTIS, Stow, Ohio |
| 10 | 1:35pm | 1 | 8:20am | Stephen AMES, Alberta, Canada Oliver WILSON, Mansfield, England Bill HAAS, Greenville, S.C. |
| 10 | 1:45pm | 1 | 8:30am | Kevin NA, Las Vegas, Nev. Shane LOWRY, Clara, Ireland Scott VERPLANK, Edmond, Okla. |
| 10 | 1:55pm | 1 | 8:40am | Sean O’HAIR, West Chester, Pa. Danny BALIN, Rockville, Md. Robert KARLSSON, Katrineholm, Sweden |
| 10 | 2:05pm | 1 | 8:50am | Kevin STADLER, Scottsdale, Ariz. Stu INGRAHAM, Harrisburg, Pa. Charlie WI, Seoul, South Korea |
| 10 | 2:15pm | 1 | 9:00am | Robert MCCLELLAN, Butler, Pa. Jimmy WALKER, Boerne, Texas Simon KHAN, Epping, England |
