AUGUSTA, Ga. (PA) -- Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, two of the big guns at this week's Masters, have been paired together for the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday.
Mickelson pushed the South African into second place with his closing 18-foot birdie putt two years ago when both were bidding for their first victory in the traditional first major of the golf season.
The pair, with 15 top-10 finishes at Augusta between them, are in the next-to-last group to tee off in the opening round. They will go off at 1:30 p.m. local time along with Japan's Shingo Katayama.
Defending champion Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh, the top two players in the world, are not drawn together but will be able to keep an eye on each other.
Singh, the 2000 Masters winner, starts at 10:12 a.m. with Swedish rookie Henrik Stenson and American Arron Oberholser, recently the winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. They are followed at 10:23 a.m. by -- followed by Woods, Australian Robert Allenby and Edoardo Molinari of Italy. Molinari last year became the first Italian to win the U.S. Amateur, while Allenby won the Australian Masters, Australian Open and Australian PGA Championship in succession over the winter.
Sergio Garcia, Europe's top player, is paired with last year's runner-up Chris DiMarco and Australia's Geoff Ogilvy. Luke Donald, third last year in his first appearance, will play with two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and former PGA Champion David Toms.
British Amateur champion Brian McElhinney of Ireland will tee off alongside two-time winner Tom Watson and U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell.
Ryder Cup captains Ian Woosnam and Tom Lehman should have plenty to talk about after being paired together. The match at the K Club near Dublin is now only five months away.
The action starts at 8 a.m. on Thursday. The 90-strong field contains players from a record 22 countries.
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