Liguori: McIlroy-Spieth-Johnson Pairing Highlights 1st Round Of PGA Championship
By Ann Liguori
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Talk about a marquee grouping.
Defending champ and top-ranked Rory McIlroy, Masters and U.S. Open champ Jordan Spieth and British Open champ Zach Johnson will play in the 2:20 p.m. pairing during Thursday's first round of the PGA Championship.
McIlroy is making his return from an ankle injury that has kept the 26-year-old out of competition since he finished tied for ninth at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
The top-ranked player in the world recently said he feels fortunate that the ligament injury did not require surgery.
"As far as injuries go, it could have been worse. I was lucky that I didn't do more damage and thankfully after five weeks of hard work and rehab, I'm back playing," McIlroy said.
MORE: PGA CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
Spieth stunned the world by winning this year's Masters and U.S. Open, and came up one stroke short of a playoff at the British Open. The 22-year-old Texan is now hoping to win the "American Slam" and become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2000 to win three majors in the same calendar year.
Johnson, who prevailed in a three-man, four-hole playoff at St. Andrews last month, joins the young guns in the pairing.
There is nothing but an admiration society among this group.
When McIlroy was asked who is the best player in the world regardless of rankings, he replied, "If you were to go by this year, you would have to say Jordan. I would say if you go over the last two years, I would say it's probably a toss up between Jordan and myself. We have got the rankings there, but it's all a matter of opinion."
Spieth waxed poetic about McIlroy when he was asked if there's any particular part of the Irishman's game that he envies.
"Sure, I wish I could hit it as far as he does. I work towards that. I've gotten a little bit longer each year and hopefully can continue to do so," Spieth said. "But the way he hits, when he's driving the ball well, just like Dustin (Johnson), just like Bubba (Watson), when they're hitting the ball straight with as far as they do, they're playing a different golf course. Rory's an inspiring player."
Marquee names who play in the morning include Watson, Paul Casey and Jim Furyk, who get started at 8:45 a.m. The dynamic threesome of Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler tee off at 9.05 a.m., and Tiger Woods joins Martin Kaymer and Keegan Bradley on the tee at 9:15 a.m.
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