Scheffler paired with Justin Thomas on Thursday morning to begin Masters title defence

Scottie Scheffler will begin defence of his second Masters title paired with good friend and two-time major champion Justin Thomas.

The two American Ryder Cup stars will play alongside amateur Jose Luis Ballester as the first- and second-round pairings and tee times were announced for the 89th playing of the Masters Tournament on Tuesday.

The trio will tee off Thursday at 10:15 a.m. ET in Augusta, Ga., just behind a group headlined by Phil Mickelson and ahead of one including Jordan Spieth. Scheffler, the world's top-ranked player, is seeking his third green jacket this week but has yet to win this year.

Scheffler has yet to win this season but still has three top-10 finishes in six starts despite a late jump on the year as his hand healed from the broken wine glass. And Scheffler is coming off a tie for second at the Houston Open, where he finished one back of Min Woo Lee.

He's still the world's top player by a wide margin. His game is in a good place. And his life seems to be, too.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who has won twice already in 2025 as he attempts to complete the career Grand Slam this week, is paired for the first two rounds with young stars Ludvig Aberg and Akshay Bhatia.

McIlroy's threesome has the fourth-latest tee time on Thursday at 1:12 p.m. and will turn around for a 9:58 a.m. start Friday.

They are playing two groups ahead of 2023 champion Jon Rahm, who is paired with Wyndham Clark and Tommy Fleetwood in another marquee group.

Playing just ahead of McIlroy is another pre-tournament favourite in Xander Schauffele. Schauffele is seeking to regain the form that saw him claim his first two majors last year.

He is paired with former Masters champion Adam Scott and Viktor Hovland, who is still in search of his first major title.

The forecast for Thursday is for a low of 9 C and a high of 24 C with a 60 per cent chance of showers and isolated thunderstorms during the night.

WATCH l Scheffler shoots 68 to win 2024 Masters by 4 strokes:

Scottie Scheffler wins The Masters for 2nd time in 3 years

12 months ago

Duration 1:46

American Scottie Scheffler shot a 4-under 68 to win The Masters by four strokes, and claim his second green jacket in three years.

Thursday and Friday tee times

• 7:40 a.m./10:48 a.m.: Davis Riley, Patton Kizzire
• 7:51 a.m./10:59 a.m.: Kevin Yu, Jhonattan Vegas, Nicolai Hojgaard
• 8:02 a.m./11:10 a.m.: Mike Weir, Michael Kim, Cameron Young
• 8:13 a.m./11:21 a.m.: Zach Johnson, Joe Highsmith, Chris Kirk
• 8:24 a.m./11:38 a.m.: Danny Willett, Nico Echavarria, Davis Thompson
• 8:35 a.m./11:49 a.m.: Bernhard Langer, Will Zalatoris, *Noah Kent
• 8:52 a.m./Noon.: Cameron Smith, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai
• 9:03 a.m./12:11 p.m.: Fred Couples, Harris English, Taylor Pendrith
• 9:14 a.m./12:22 p.m.: Corey Conners, Brian Harman, Stephan Jaeger
• 9:25 a.m./12:33 p.m.: Patrick Reed, Max Greyserman, Byeong Hun An
• 9:36 a.m./12:50 p.m.: Robert MacIntyre, Billy Horschel, Nick Dunlap
• 9:47 a.m./1:01 p.m.: Collin Morikawa, Joaquin Niemann, Min Woo Lee
• 9:58 a.m./1:12 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Keegan Bradley
• 10:15 a.m./1:23 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, *Jose Luis Ballester
• 10:26 a.m./1:34 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Tom Kim, Tyrrell Hatton
• 10:37 a.m./1:45 p.m.: Tony Finau, Maverick McNealy, Thomas Detry
• 10:48 a.m./7:40 a.m.: Cam Davis, Rafael Campos, Austin Eckroat
• 10:59 a.m./7:51 a.m.: Angel Cabrera, Laurie Canter, Adam Schenk
• 11:10 a.m./8:02 a.m.: Jose Maria Olazabal, Thriston Lawrence, Brian Campbell
• 11:21 a.m./8:13 a.m.: Bubba Watson, Matthieu Pavon, *Evan Beck
• 11:38 a.m./8:24 a.m.: Tom Hoge, Matt McCarty, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
• 11:49 a.m./8:35 a.m.: Charl Schwartzel, Denny McCarthy, *Hiroshi Tai
• Noon/8:52 a.m.: Max Homa, Justin Rose, J.J. Spaun
• 12:11 p.m./9:03 a.m.: Dustin Johnson, Nick Taylor, *Justin Hastings
• 12:22 p.m./9:14 a.m.: Sergio Garcia, Lucas Glover, Daniel Berger
• 12:33 p.m./9:25 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Rasmus Hojgaard, Matt Fitzpatrick
• 12:50 p.m./9:36 a.m.: Brooks Koepka, Russell Henley, Sungjae Im
• 1:01 p.m./9:47 a.m.: Adam Scott, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland
• 1:12 p.m./9:58 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Akshay Bhatia
• 1:23 p.m./10:15 a.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry
• 1:34 p.m./10:26 a.m.: Jon Rahm, Wyndham Clark, Tommy Fleetwood
• 1:45 p.m./10:37 a.m.: Sahith Theegala, Sepp Straka, Sam Burns

*Denotes amateur
BOLD denotes Canadian