CARNOUSTIE, Scotland -- Jordan Spieth will begin the defense of his Open title Thursday at 9:58 a.m. local time (4:58 a.m. ET), along with No. 3-ranked Justin Rose of England and Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat.
Spieth, who is ranked sixth in the world, has not won since his Open victory a year ago at Royal Birkdale. He missed the cut last month at the U.S. Open.
Tiger Woods, making his return to The Open for the first time in three years, plays with Scotsman Russell Knox and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama starting at 3:21 p.m. (10:21 a.m. ET) on Thursday. Woods tied for seventh (1999) and tied for 12th (2007) in his two previous appearances at Carnoustie.
The three-time Open winner will play Friday's second round at 10:20 a.m. local time (5:20 a.m. ET).
Among some of the other notable groupings:
Rory McIlroy plays with Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen and Australia's Marc Leishman starting at 10:53 a.m. Thursday (5:53 a.m. ET); No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson is playing with Sweden's Alex Noren and Charley Hoffman at 1:04 p.m. (8:04 a.m. ET); and No. 2 Justin Thomas goes with Italy's Francesco Molinari and South Africa's Branden Grace at 1:26 p.m. (8:26 a.m. ET).
Masters champion Patrick Reed tees off with South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and England's Paul Casey at 10:20 a.m. (5:20 a.m. ET); U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka is playing with England's Ian Poulter and Australia's Cameron Smith at 2:59 p.m. (9:59 a.m. ET); and 2013 Open champion Phil Mickelson gets started at 8:03 a.m. (3:03 a.m. ET) along with Japan's Satoshi Kodaira and Spain's Rafa Cabrera Bello.
The 147th Open begins at 6:35 a.m. (1:35 a.m. ET) with former champion Sandy Lyle of Scotland along with two-time major winner Martin Kaymer and Andy Sullivan.
The final group -- Matt Jones, Thomas Curtis and Bronson Burgoon -- does not begin play until 4:16 p.m. (11:16 a.m. ET)
All 156 players begin at the first tee.