Golf: Woods to play with Master

Nick Faldo will open the defence of his US Masters title tomorrow in the company of Tiger Woods, whose status as one of the favourites belies the fact that this will be his first major as a professional, writes Andy Farrell.

Faldo and Woods were paired in the final round of the Players Championship, when Faldo shot a 72 to Woods' 73. The two played a practice round together at Augusta two years ago when Faldo hardly spoke to the then US Amateur champion.

Greg Norman, beaten by Faldo last year, plays with left-hander Phil Mickelson, while Ian Woosnam is paired with South Africa's Ernie Els and Scotland's Colin Montgomerie with Davis Love. Amateur champion Warren Baldon plays with the four-time winner Arnold Palmer.

US MASTERS (Augusta, Georgia) First round tee-off times (times BST; US unless stated): 1320: G Brewer, C Coody. 1329: B Casper, D Ford. 1338: T Aaron, K Green. 1347: J Cook, S Cink. 1356: S Hoch, S TORRANCE (GB). 1405: L Mize, *J Miller. 1414: D Forsman, L WESTWOOD (GB). 1423: J Sluman, M Bradley. 1432: S McCarron, J Leonard. 1441: D Hart, D Waldorf. 1450: DA Weibring, E Fiori. 1459: F Zoeller, *S Scott. 1508: L Janzen, F Nobilo (NZ). 1517: D Ogrin, C Rose. 1526: M Brooks, S Appleby (Aus). 1535: J Morse, D Berganio Jnr. 1544: B Tway, J Maggert. 1553: D Duval, J PARNEVIK (Swe). 1602: C Stadler, D Frost (SA). 1611: J Furyk, K Perry. 1620: F Couples, V Singh (Fiji). 1629: C Pavin, L Roberts. 1638: S LYLE (GB), M Calcavecchia. 1647: T Kite, P Azinger. 1656: C MONTGOMERIE (GB), D Love. 1705: B Faxon, T Tolls. 1714: S Jones, P-U JOHANSSON (Swe). 1723: B Crenshaw, C ROCCA (It). 1732: T Watson, S Elkington (Aus). 1741: J Nicklaus, Y Kaneko (Japan). 1750: R Floyd, R Allenby (Aus). 1759: G Norman (Aus), P Mickelson. 1808: A Palmer, *W BLADON (GB). 1817: B LANGER (Ger), M McNulty (Zim). 1826: G Player (SA), *T Hogarth. 1835: S Stricker, P Stankowski. 1844: N FALDO (GB), T Woods. 1853: J M OLAZABAL (Sp), M O'Meara. 1902: T Lehman, N Price (Zim). 1911: I WOOSNAM (GB), E Els (SA). 1920: S BALLESTEROS (Sp), M Ozaki (Japan). 1929: J Huston, W Wood. 1938: F Funk, G Boros.

* denotes amateur