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Tiger Woods to play with Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas at U.S. Open

Brooks Koepka will begin the defense of his U.S. Open title at 7:40 a.m. ET next Thursday off the first tee at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and three-time U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods will be grouped with the two most recent No. 1-ranked players in the world for the first two rounds.

Koepka, who won last year's title at Erin Hills in Wisconsin, will play the first two rounds with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and 2015 PGA champion Jason Day.

Woods, who 10 years ago won the last of his 14 major championships and his third U.S. Open, will play with No. 1 Justin Thomas and No. 2 Dustin Johnson. They tee off at 1:47 p.m. Thursday and 8:02 a.m. Friday.

It will be Woods' first U.S. Open appearance since he missed the cut at Chambers Bay in Washington state in 2015.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson, each in need of one major to complete the career Grand Slam, will play together for the first two rounds. They begin at 8:02 a.m. Thursday off the 10th tee.

In 2004, Mickelson, who needs the U.S. Open to complete his career Slam, posted one of his six runner-up finishes in this event at the course in Southampton, New York. McIlroy is missing the Masters, while Spieth lacks the PGA Championship. This will be the fifth time Spieth and McIlroy will play together in a major.

Then there is the all-Spain grouping of Sergio Garcia, Jon Rahm and Rafael Cabrera Bello that begins at 1:14 p.m. Thursday off the first.

Patrick Reed is in a group with other Masters champions Zach Johnson and Charl Schwartzel that begins play at 7:51 a.m. on Thursday.

Tee times begin at 6:45 a.m. Thursday and Friday and run through 2:42 p.m. on the 7,440-yard course, which is hosting the U.S. Open for the fifth time. The field of 156 will be reduced to the low 60s and ties after 36 holes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

U.S. Open 2018: All pairings

(All times ET; "a" denotes amateur)

Thursday, June 14 (Hole No. 1) and Friday, June 15 Hole No. 10

6:45 a.m./12:30 p.m.: Harold Varner, Gastonia, N.C.; TBD; Matthieu Pavon, France

6:56 a.m./12:41 p.m.: Michael Putnam, University Place, Wash.; Scott Gregory, England; Will Zalatoris, Plano, Texas

7:07 a.m./12:52 p.m.: Brendan Steele, Idyllwild, Calif.; Chesson Hadley, Raleigh, N.C.; (a) Harry Ellis, England

7:18 a.m./1:03 p.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela; Dylan Frittelli, South Africa; (a) Doug Ghim, Arlington Heights, Ill.

7:29 a.m./1:14 p.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Jimmy Walker, Boerne, Texas; Justin Rose, England

7:40 a.m./1:25 p.m.: Bubba Watson, Bagdad, Fla.; Jason Day, Australia; Brooks Koepka, West Palm Beach, Fla.

7:51 a.m./1:36 p.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, England; Danny Willett, England; Ian Poulter, England

8:02 a.m./1:47 p.m.: Kevin Chappell, Fresno, Calif.; Andrew Johnston, England; Daniel Berger, Jupiter, Fla.

8:13 a.m./1:58 p.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Clovis, Calif.; Matthew Fitzpatrick, England; Matt Kuchar, Sea Island, Ga.

8:24 a.m./2:09 p.m.: Thorbjorn Olesen, Denmark; Shubhankar Sharma, India; Patrick Rodgers, Avon, Ind.

8:35 a.m./2:20 p.m.: Lanto Griffin, Blacksburg, Va.; Tom Lewis, England; (a) Jacob Bergeron, Slidell, La.

8:46 a.m./2:31 p.m.: (a) Kristoffer Reitan, Norway; (a) Luis Gagne, Costa Rica; Cole Miller, New Tripoli, Pa.

8:57 a.m./2:42 p.m.: Mickey DeMorat, Merritt Island, Fla.; (a) Tyler Strafaci, Davie, Fla.; Calum Hill, Scotland

Thursday (Hole No. 10)/Friday (Hole No. 1)

6:45 a.m./12:30 p.m.: Scott Stallings, Knoxville, Tenn.; Sebastian Munoz, Colombia; Matthew Southgate, England

6:56 a.m./12:41 p.m.: Trey Mullinax, Gardendale, Ala.; (a) Matt Parziale, Brockton, Mass.; Jason Scrivener, Australia

7:07 a.m./12:52 p.m.: David Bransdon, Australia; Eric Axley, Knoxville, Tenn.; Tyler Duncan, Columbus, Ind.

7:18 a.m./1:03 p.m.: (a) Garrett Rank, Canada; Mackenzie Hughes, Canada; Aaron Baddeley, Australia

7:29 a.m./1:14 p.m.: Alexander Levy, France; Brian Harman, Sea Island, Ga.; Patrick Cantlay, Long Beach, Calif.

7:40 a.m./1:25 p.m.: Paul Casey, England; Satoshi Kodaira, Japan; Branden Grace, South Africa

7:51 a.m./1:36 p.m.: Zach Johnson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Patrick Reed, Houston, Texas

8:02 a.m./1:47 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland; Jordan Spieth, Dallas, Texas; Phil Mickelson, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

8:13 a.m./1:58 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Japan; Marc Leishman, Australia; Rickie Fowler, Murrieta, Calif.

8:24 a.m./2:09 p.m.: Charles Howell, Orlando, Fla.; Bill Haas, Greenville, S.C.; Charley Hoffman, San Diego, Calif.

8:35 a.m./2:20 p.m.: Sungjae Im, Republic of Korea; Russell Knox, Scotland; Matthew Wallace, England

8:46 a.m./2:31 p.m.: (a) Shintaro Ban, San Jose, Calif.; Sung Joon Park, Republic of Korea; Timothy Wilkinson, New Zealand

8:57 a.m./2:42 p.m.: Dylan Meyer, Evansville, Ind.; Sulman Raza, Eugene, Ore.; Chris Naegel, Wildwood, Mo.

Thursday (Hole No. 1)/Friday (Hole No. 10)

12:30 p.m./6:45 a.m.: Sam Burns, Shreveport, La.; Brian Gay, Windermere, Fla.; Dean Burmester, South Africa

12:41 p.m./6:56 a.m.: TBD; (a) Chun An Yu, Chinese Taipei; Wenchong Liang, People's Republic of China

12:52 p.m./7:07 a.m.: Russell Henley, Charleston, S.C.; Aaron Wise, Las Vegas, Nev.; Peter Uihlein, Jupiter, Fla.

1:03 p.m./7:18 a.m.: Tony Finau, Lehi, Utah; Luke List, Seal Beach, Calif.; Gary Woodland, Topeka, Kan.

1:14 p.m./7:29 a.m.: Sergio Garcia, Spain; Jon Rahm, Spain; Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain

1:25 p.m./7:40 a.m.: Tommy Fleetwood, England; Francesco Molinari, Italy; Alexander Noren, Sweden

1:36 p.m./7:51 a.m.: Cameron Smith, Australia; Kyle Stanley, Gig Harbor, Wash.; Pat Perez, Scottsdale, Ariz.

1:47 p.m./8:02 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Goshen, Ky.; Dustin Johnson, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Tiger Woods, Hobe Sound, Fla.

1:58 p.m./8:13 a.m.: Haotong Li, People's Republic of China; Si Woo Kim, Republic of Korea; Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thailand

2:09 p.m./8:24 a.m.: Jason Dufner, Auburn, Ala.; (a) Braden Thornberry, Olive Branch, Miss.; Brandt Snedeker, Nashville, Tenn.

2:20 p.m./8:35 a.m.: TBD; (a) Ryan Lumsden, Scotland; James Morrison, England

2:31 p.m./8:46 a.m.: Cameron Wilson, Rowayton, Conn.; (a) Will Grimmer, Cincinnati, Ohio; (a) Philip Barbaree, Shreveport, La.

2:42 p.m./8:57 a.m.: (a) Rhett Rasmussen, Draper, Utah; Michael Hebert, Atlanta, Ga.; Michael Block, Mission Viejo, Calif.

Thursday (Hole No. 10)/Friday (Hole No. 1)

12:30 p.m./6:45 a.m.: Matthew Jones, Australia; Ryan Fox, New Zealand; Shota Akiyoshi, Japan

12:41 p.m./6:56 a.m.: Paul Waring, England; (a) Theo Humphrey, Greenwich, Conn.; TBD

12:52 p.m./7:07 a.m.: Richy Werenski, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Roberto Castro, Atlanta, Ga.; Ollie Schniederjans, Alpharetta, Ga.

1:03 p.m./7:18 a.m.: (a) Noah Goodwin, Corinth, Texas; Richie Ramsay, Scotland; Kenny Perry, Franklin, Ky.

1:14 p.m./7:29 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Woodstock, Vt.; TBD; Xander Schauffele, San Diego, Calif.

1:25 p.m./7:40 a.m.: Lucas Glover, Tequesta, Fla.; Webb Simpson, Charlotte, N.C.; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland

1:36 p.m./7:51 a.m.: Ernie Els, South Africa; Steve Stricker, Madison, Wis.; Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

1:47 p.m./8:02 a.m.: Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Adam Scott, Australia; Martin Kaymer, Germany

1:58 p.m./8:13 a.m.: Kevin Kisner, Aiken, S.C.; Ross Fisher, England; Adam Hadwin, Canada

2:09 p.m./8:24 a.m.: Shane Lowry, Republic of Ireland; TBD; Chez Reavie, Scottsdale, Ariz.

2:20 p.m./8:35 a.m.: Lucas Herbert, Australia; Brian Stuard, Jackson, Mich.; (a) Stewart Hagestad, Newport Beach, Calif.

2:31 p.m./8:46 a.m.: (a) Franklin Huang, Poway, Calif.; Sebastian Vazquez, Mexico; Michael Miller, Mount Kisco, N.Y.

2:42 p.m./8:57 a.m.: Christopher Babcock, Shoreline, Wash.; (a) Timothy Wiseman, Corydon, Ind.; David Gazzolo, Riverside, Calif.