The 9 best groups for the first 2 rounds of the Masters, ranked

AUGUSTA, Ga. — We are less than 24 hours from the official start of the Masters, which begins with ceremonial opening tee shots from Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson at 7:40 a.m. ET on Thursday.

Mike Weir and Kevin Na are the first group off at 8 a.m., and 29 more will follow as we get this 87th Masters underway. The final group tees off at 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Tiger Woods is off at 10:18 a.m. on Thursday and 1:24 p.m. on Friday, making his threesome one of the last to finish 36 holes. It’s also one you are not going to want to miss. Luckily for you, there are lots of options to watch all of the action. Better yet, we (subjectively!) ranked the groups for your viewing pleasure.

Here are the best nine first- and second-round groupings at the 2023 Masters. For a complete look at Round 1 and 2 tee times, click here.

The 9 best groups at the Masters, ranked

9 — Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay, Kurt Kitayama (10:30 a.m. Rd 1 / 1:36 p.m. Rd 2)

A past Masters champion and one of the best active players never to win a major headline this group. Oh, and don’t forget about Kitayama, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

8 — Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith, Sungjae Im (10:54 a.m. Rd 1 / 2 p.m. Rd 2)

While Hideki may be a green-jacket holder, there will be lots of intrigue surrounding Smith’s round. He’s the top-ranked player with LIV Golf and was on top of his game (and nearly the golf world) when he signed with LIV last year not long after winning the Open Championship. He’s got a strong history here, too: finishing in the top 10 in each of his last three starts.

7 — Dustin Johnson, Corey Conners, Justin Rose (1:12 p.m. Rd 1 / 10:06 a.m. Rd 2)

Conners is coming off a win and DJ is still a threat here.

6 — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris (1:24 p.m. Rd 1 / 10:18 a.m. Rd 2)

A ball-striker’s paradise. Two of these three have major championships, and one of them, Zalatoris, brings his best for the top events of the year. He’s already had six top 10s in 10 major starts, including a T6 and a 2nd at the Masters. Just last year he lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship.

5 — Tom Kim, Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns (1:48 p.m. Rd 1 / 10:42 a.m. Rd 2)

Rory goes for the grand slam. That carries this group, but don’t sleep on Burns, who dominated at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play two weeks ago.

4 — Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Sam Bennett (A) (1:36 p.m. Rd 1 / 10:30 a.m. Rd 2)

Scheffler is the defending champion and a betting favorite, and he’s joined by Homa, who has taken his game to another level over the past year but is still looking for his first major top 10. Will it be this week?

3 — Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau (2 p.m. Rd 1 / 10:54 a.m. Rd 2)

Some big-time names headline this threesome. Spieth is a fan favorite everywhere he goes, especially here, where he’s won and finished second or third four other times. Fleetwood was top 10 in two majors last season, and Finau has rattled off three victories since last year’s Masters.

2 — Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young (10:42 a.m. Rd 1 / 1:48 p.m. Rd 2)

Three favorites highlight our runner-up award for best threesome of the week. Thomas has won two PGAs, Rahm has won a U.S. Open and Young was the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year last season and is coming off a runner-up finish two weeks ago. Plus, if Thomas or Rahm ended their careers with one or two Masters titles, would anyone really be surprised?

1 — Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele (10:18 a.m. Rd 1 / 1:24 p.m. Rd 2)

Surprise, surprise, right? Tiger back at the Masters — just his second tournament in the last nine months — playing with two studs who are still looking for their first major title. Hovland’s won three times on the PGA Tour, and Schauffele has a gold medal, seven wins and two top-three finishes at the Masters. They’ll get plenty of attention come Thursday and Friday, simply due to the man they are playing with.

Josh Berhow

Golf.com Editor

Josh Berhow is the managing editor at GOLF.com. The Minnesota native graduated with a journalism degree from Minnesota State University in Mankato. You can reach him at joshua_berhow@golf.com.