Tiger grouped with Li, Rahm at Masters

Tiger Woods will play the first two rounds of the Masters alongside Haotong Li and Jon Rahm at Augusta.

The initial groupings for the first major of the year were confirmed on Tuesday, with Woods learning the identity of his playing partners as he chases a first such victory since the 2008 U.S. Open.

The 14-time major champion will be joined by Li, who finished in a tie for 32nd last year, and Rahm, who was fourth 12 months ago.

Woods, Li and Rahm will commence their opening rounds at 11:04 local time on Thursday, before teeing off at 13:49 the following day.

▪️Woods, Rahm, Li ▪️Molinari, Cabrera Bello, Hatton ▪️McIlroy, Fowler, Smith ▪️Mickelson, Rose, Thomas ▪️Spieth, Casey, Koepka Get your popcorn ready the groups are out pic.twitter.com/HwZrNYQXA7

— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) April 9, 2019

Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy's bid for golf's Grand Slam will begin with the Northern Irishman playing alongside Rickie Fowler and Cameron Smith.

Defending Masters champion Patrick Reed is set to feature with Webb Simpson and 21-year-old U.S. Amateur champion Viktor Hovland.

There are some strong groupings for the first two rounds, with Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jason Day making up one high-profile trio while Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Justin Thomas are also likely to attract plenty of attention.

Jordan Spieth, Paul Casey and Brooks Koepka will also link up on Thursday and Friday. Koepka won two majors last year.

Sergio Garcia has been grouped with Tony Finau and Henrik Stenson, as Open champion Francesco Molinari is acquainted with Rafael Cabrera Bello and Tyrrell Hatton.