Masters 2019 tee times: Rory McIlroy to begin his quest at Augusta National alongside Rickie Fowler

Fowler arrives in Georgia having won the Pheonix Open in February, while McIlroy – who is aiming to close out a career Grand Slam – has played consistently well so far this year

Rory McIlroy will be able to keep a keen eye on the progress of Masters rival Tiger Woods following the draw for the opening two rounds at Augusta National.

Woods will tee off at 1104 local time (1604BST) on Thursday alongside China’s Li Haotong and Spain’s Jon Rahm, with McIlroy in the following group with last year’s runner-up Rickie Fowler and Australian Cameron Smith.

McIlroy needs to win the Masters to complete the career grand slam while Woods – who is one of five members of golf’s most elite club – is seeking a first major since the 2008 US Open.

Fowler arrives in Georgia having won the Pheonix Open in February, while McIlroy has played consistently well so far this year and won the Players’ Championship in March.

Patrick Reed gets his title defence under way at 1031 local time (1531BST) in the company of Webb Simpson and US Amateur champion Viktor Hovland, but 2015 winner Jordan Spieth will have to wait until the final tee time of 1400 local time (1900BST) to get his campaign under way.

Spieth, who has finished no worse than 11th in his five starts in the Masters, will play alongside England’s Paul Casey and three-time major winner Brooks Koepka, who missed out last year due to a wrist injury.

Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas are in the preceding group at 1349 local time (1849BST), with Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Day making up another star-studded group 11 minutes earlier.

After honorary starters Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit their ceremonial tee shots on Thursday morning, Andrew Landry will get the tournament proper under way at 0830 local time (1330BST) alongside Adam Long and Corey Conners.

Conners came through Monday qualifying for last week’s Valero Texas Open and then won his first PGA Tour title in San Antonio to secure the final place in the 87-man field.

Thursday tee times

(USA unless stated, all times BST, x denotes amateurs)

1.30pm Adam Long, Andrew Landry, Corey Conners (Can)

1.41pm Ian Woosnam (Wal), Keith Mitchell, Kevin Tway

1.52pm Shane Lowry (Irl), Mike Weir (Can), Kevin O'Connell

2.03pm Angel Cabrera (Arg), Aaron Wise, Justin Harding (Rsa)

2.14pm Danny Willett (Eng), Brandt Snedeker, Takumi Kanaya (a) (Jpn)

2.25pm Fred Couples, Si Woo Kim (Kor), J.B. Holmes

2.36pm Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Branden Grace (Rsa), Lucas Bjerregaard (Den)

2.47pm Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Charles Howell III, Eddie Pepperell (Eng)

2.58pm Sergio Garcia (Spa), Tony Finau, Henrik Stenson (Swe)

3.09pm Adam Scott (Aus), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Kyle Stanley

3.31pm Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Viktor Hovland (a) (Nor)

3.42pm Charley Hoffman, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Marc Leishman (Aus)

3.53pm Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland

4.04pm Tiger Woods, Haotong Li (Chn), Jon Rahm (Spa)

4.15pm Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Rickie Fowler, Cameron Smith (Aus)

4.26pm Michael Kim, Sandy Lyle (Sco), Patton Kizzire

4.37pm Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Martin Kaymer (Ger), Devon Bling

4.48pm Jimmy Walker, Larry Mize, Stewart Cink

4.59pm Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Kevin Na, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den)

5.10pm Bernhard Langer (Ger), Matt Wallace (Eng), Alvaro Ortiz (Mex)

5.32pm Alex Noren (Swe), Keegan Bradley, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng)

5.43pm Billy Horschel, Vijay Singh (Fij), (a) Jovan Rebula (Rsa)

5.54pm Kevin Kisner, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Shugo Imahira (Jpn)

6.05pm Zach Johnson, Ian Poulter (Eng), Matt Kuchar

6.16pm Francesco Molinari (Ita), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)

6.27pm Bubba Watson, Patrick Cantlay, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn)

6.38pm Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jason Day (Aus)

6.49pm Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose (Eng), Justin Thomas

7.00pm Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey (Eng), Brooks Koepka

PA