World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Rory McIlroy form a star-studded pairing for the first two rounds of The Players Championship on Thursday and Friday at TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy has also not played competitively since the Masters last month, during which time he married longtime girlfriend Erica Stoll, and the Northern Irishman is looking for a first win at the tournament dubbed golf's "fifth major."

Johnson was forced to sit out at Augusta after a hard fall left him with an injured back, but he made his return to the PGA Tour at last week's Wells Fargo Championship, narrowly missing a fourth title in as many starts.

Johnson finished one shot back of winner Brian Harman, who drained a long birdie putt on the 72nd hold to claim the victory in Wilmington, N.C.

World No. 10 Justin Thomas is the third man joining the world's top two players at TPC Sawgrass, with the trio teeing off at 1:52 p.m. ET Thursday.

Sergio Garcia, who ended his long wait for a first major victory at the Masters and won The Players in 2008, is grouped with two other past champions in Matt Kuchar and Adam Scott.

Jason Day, who hasn't won a tournament since his victory here 12 months ago, also is in esteemed company alongside Henrik Stenson and Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson, the 2009 and '15 winners, respectively.