Masters 2024: Tiger Woods aside, here are Top 10 pairings at Augusta National

As with any tournament he competes in, all eyes will be on Tiger Woods this week at Augusta National.

The five-time Masters champion is confident he can add another green jacket to his closet, even though he hasn’t played the full 72 holes in an official PGA Tour event since the 2022 Masters. He recently withdrew from the Genesis Invitational in February due to illness and before that practiced at the Hero World Challenge in December.

Nevertheless, Woods is scheduled to join Jason Day and Max Homa in the Masters opener Thursday at 1:24 p.m.The trio will begin round two on Friday at 10:18 a.m.

With most of the sports world taking note of that potent combination, we’d like to focus on 10 other groups that will definitely capture our attention.

The top 10 groups for the opening two rounds are as follows:

10. Gary Woodland / Thorbjorn Olesen / Bryson DeChambeau

Thursday: 8:48am

Friday: 11:54 a.m.

If you haven’t seen Geoff Darlington’s special feature on Gary Woodland yet, you need to do it now. This provides a whole new perspective on the health challenges Woodland has had to overcome over the past year.

The entire golf world is happy to have Woodland back at Augusta National, and we hope he can rediscover the form that led him to victory at the 2019 U.S. Open.

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau’s games always attract intrigue. He once called Augusta National a par 67, but his best finish at the Masters was a tie for 21st in 2016 as an amateur.

Perhaps he might change that narrative this week, but there are plenty of storylines for this pairing nonetheless.

9. Dustin Johnson / Collin Morikawa / Tommy Fleetwood

Thursday: 2pm

Friday: 10:54am

Dustin Johnson returned to Augusta National hoping to rediscover what he had in the fall of 2020, when he set all sorts of scoring records. He recently said that is possible and that his game is moving in the right direction.

Meanwhile, Collin Morikawa and Tommy Fleetwood have not been doing well lately. They each have uncharacteristically struggled to hit the ball, which could be a sign of an early Masters exit.

Photo by Andrew Reddington/Getty Images

8. Patrick Cantlay / Minu Lee / Rickie Fowler

Thursday: 10:06am

Friday: 1:12 p.m.

Minwoo Lee, one of the most entertaining athletes in the world, arrives at Augusta full of confidence.But he struggles in every aspect of his game except hitting the ball at the Country Mile in 2024

Similarly, Patrick Cantlay and Rickie Fowler have had their games fall apart this year. All signs point to this group having some trouble, and it’s definitely going to be fun.

7. Jon Rahm / Matthew Fitzpatrick / Nick Dunlap

Thursday: 10:30am

Friday: 1:36 p.m.

Everyone is wondering how Jon Rahm will play this week as the defending champion. But knowing Rahm and his desire to compete, he’ll be competing this year despite competing in fewer events than in previous years.

6. Phil Mickelson / Sepp Straka / Tony Finau

Thursday: 9:36am

Friday: 12:48 p.m.

Phil Mickelson is a three-time champion with the Green Jackets, finishing tied for second place a year ago with 64 points in the final round. He loves Augusta National and always seems to play well here. But can the 53-year-old continue his last year’s momentum? He hasn’t appeared in a major since then.

Meanwhile, Sepp Straka and Tony Finau are looking to win their first major championships, with Finau being one of the Playing Through staff candidates this week.

Photo by Andrew Reddington/Getty Images

5. Hideki Matsuyama / Will Zalatoris / Justin Thomas

Thursday: 10:18am

Friday: 1:24 p.m.

Hideki Matsuyama recorded his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. Will Zalatoris returns to the Masters a year after undergoing microdiscectomy and hopes to rediscover his form at Riviera and Bay Hill.

And Justin Thomas, who recently parted company with Jim “Bones” McKay, has a new caddy. Thomas missed out on last year’s spot and hasn’t played particularly well since the first month of the season. He needs a good week.

4. Brian Harman / Brooks Koepka / Tom Kim

Thursday: 1:36 p.m.

Friday: 10:30am

Brooks Koepka became visibly frustrated by the slow pace of play during the final round of last year’s Masters. So would he be excited about Brian Harman’s pre-shoot routine? How many wobbles can Koepka endure?

All kidding aside, there are plenty of storylines with this group considering Koepka’s collapse last year, Herman’s recent emergence as a major champion, and Tom Kim’s desire to become South Korea’s first champion.

Photo credit: David Cannon/Getty Images

3. Windham Clark / Viktor Hovland / Cameron Smith

Thursday: 10:54am

Friday: 2pm

Windham Clark competed in his first Masters, capping off an incredible 12 months of golf. He won the U.S. Open, set a scoring record at Pebble Beach, and recently finished second to Scottie Scheffler in back-to-back weeks.

Meanwhile, Viktor Hovland arrives looking for the game. He recently reunited with his old coach, Dana Dahlquist, and hopes he can bring him success.

And then there’s LIV Golf’s Cameron Smith, a ridiculously good putter who withdrew from last week’s event in Miami due to food poisoning. Smith has four top-10 finishes at Augusta dating back to 2018.

2. Jordan Spieth / Saheeth Segala / Ludwig Oberg

Thursday: 1:48 p.m.

Friday: 11:54 a.m.

Imagine Jordan Spieth hitting a shot into the Augusta National clubhouse. I wonder what the verdict will be.

Still, this has the potential to be the most interesting matchup in Masters history.

Spieth and Sahith Theegala play similar unpredictable styles. On one hole, Spieth can play from the opposite fairway and Segala from the pine straw, and both can save par or even get a birdie.

And rookie Ludwig Oberg will serve as an equalizer of sorts, as his stoic, robotic golf swing should suit Augusta National well.

1. Scotty Scheffler / Rory McIlroy / Xander Schauffele

Thursday: 10:42am

Friday: 1:48 p.m.

This dynamite pairing, made up of three of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars, explains why we tee off on Friday afternoons and is perfect for your TV screen for the second round.

Scottie Scheffler is the overwhelming favorite to win, and the odds are so low that they have been compared to Tiger Woods in his prime.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is hoping to win and secure the Grand Slam title he has been chasing for nearly a decade.

But Xander Schauffele has been chasing a major championship victory for seven years and clearly has the game to pull it off. He’s currently on the dreaded list of “best players to never win a major.”

This combination has all the charm and won’t disappoint.

Photo by: Warren Little/Getty Images

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.