Woods - Mickelson - Scott pairing the main attraction

A dream pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson has been all the buzz at Torrey Pines after U.S. Open officials decided to group the top 12 players according to rankings for the first two rounds.

The grouping of Woods, Mickelson and Adam Scott of Australia, the world’s top three players, at 0806 (1506 GMT) on Thursday is expected to draw huge galleries at the Pacific Coast layout.

The trio has stirred the interest of fans and players alike at the year’s second major. The top players are often divided between morning starters and afternoon starters to balance interest for fans and television.

“I like it,” world number one Woods said. “I like the way they did one through 12.

“I think it’s exciting for the fans, exciting for the players. We all are looking forward to it. I haven’t heard one negative thing about it yet.”

Mickelson agreed.

“I think that it’s awesome,” he said.

“I wish that we had it more. I haven’t in the past liked the way the PGA Tour puts us on opposite ends every week.

“I think it’s great that a major championship has us paired together, because usually one end of the tee times has an advantage over the other. For us to be on the same end I think makes it a fair championship.”

Masters champion Trevor Immelman said he thought the trio would attract most of the early fans at Torrey Pines on Thursday.

“I think 100 percent of the fans will be following them,” Immelman said. “I would definitely watch them. I would pay to watch Tiger play golf, absolutely. He’s something we may never see again.

“I played in the U.S. Open in Chicago when Jim Furyk won. I missed the cut and I went and walked with Tiger on the Saturday. And that was 2003. And I was competing in the tournament.”

Furyk, runner-up the last two years, hoped to benefit from all the attention paid to the Woods-Mickelson-Scott grouping.

“It puts the focus on that elite group, gives the other guys a chance to, including myself, to hide under the radar for our first couple of days, which is hard to do at a U.S. Open.”

Mickelson said he hoped the practice of grouping players according to rank would catch on.

“I hope we do it more through the year. It’s more exciting,” he said. “I think people like coming out and seeing it. I think it’s better for television and I think it’s better for us as players. I think we enjoy playing with each other.”

Thursday, June 12, first hole - Friday, June 13, 10th hole 0700 - 1230 - D.A. Points, Patrick Sheehan, David Hearn (Canada) 0711 - 1241 - a-Kyle Stanley, Casey Wittenberg, Hunter Haas 0722 - 1252 - a-Kevin Tway, Jason Bohn, Dean Wilson 0733 - 1303 - a-Jeff Wilson, Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden), Brett Quigley 0744 - 1314 - a-Rickie Fowler, Chris Kirk, Dustin Johnson 0755 - 1325 - Mark Calcavecchia, Oliver Wilson (Britain), Joe Ogilvie 0806 - 1336 - Adam Scott (Australia), Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods 0817 - 1347 - Lee Janzen, Steve Flesch, Rich Beem 0828 - 1358 - Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Jesper Parnevik (Sweden), Todd Hamilton 0839 - 1409 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Boo Weekley, Shingo Katayama (Japan) 0850 - 1420 - Anthony Kim, Andres Romero (Argentina), Ryuji Imada (Japan) 0901 - 1431 - Mike Gilmore, a-Jordan Cox, Brian Kortan 0912 - 1442 - Jeffrey Bors, Sean English, Travis Bertoni

Thursday, June 12, 10th hole - Friday, June 13, first hole 0700 - 1230 - Robert Garrigus, Peter Tomasulo, Craig Barlow 0711 - 1241 - a-Derek Fathauer, Scott Piercy, Justin Hicks 0722 - 1252 - K.J. Choi (South Korea), Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker 0733 - 1303 - a-Michael Thompson, Rocco Mediate, Brad Bryant 0744 - 1314 - Craig Parry (Australia), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Tim Clark (South Africa) 0755 - 1325 - Stuart Appleby (Australia), Jerry Kelly, Lee Westwood (Britain) 0806 - 1336 - Woody Austin, Pat Perez, Thomas Levet (France) 0817 - 1347 - Matt Kuchar, Mathew Goggin (Australia), Nick Watney 0828 - 1358 - Rod Pampling (Australia), Heath Slocum, Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 0839 - 1409 - Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Soren Hansen (Denmark), Daniel Chopra (Sweden) 0850 - 1420 - Johan Edfors (Sweden), Eric Axley, Ben Crane 0901 - 1431 - Joey Lamielle, a-Michael Quagliano, Fernando Figueroa 0912 - 1442 - Chris Devlin (Northern Ireland), Yohann Benson (Canada), Brian Bergstol

Thursday, June 12, first hole - Friday, June 13, 10th hole 1230 - 0700 - D.J. Brigman, Jonathan Mills (Canada), Jarrod Lyle (Australia) 1241 - 0711 - a-Nick Taylor (Canada), Charlie Beljan, Rob Rashell 1252 - 0722 - Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia (Spain), Vijay Singh (Fiji) 1303 - 0733 - Trevor Immelman (South Africa), Zach Johnson, Mike Weir (Canada) 1314 - 0744 - Retief Goosen (South Africa), Scott Verplank, Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 1325 - 0755 - Stephen Ames (Canada), Robert Allenby (Australia), Ben Curtis 1336 - 0806 - Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Davis Love III 1347 - 0817 - Bubba Watson, J.B. Holmes, Brett Wetterich 1358 - 0828 - Brandt Snedeker, Nick Dougherty (Britain), Jonathan Byrd 1409 - 0839 - Michael Letzig, Ross Fisher (Britain), Steve Marino 1420 - 0850 - Brandt Jobe, Phillip Archer (Britain), Jason Gore 1431 - 0901 - Kevin Silva, Bobby Collins, Jay Choi (South Korea) 1442 - 0912 - Bob Gaus, Philippe Gasnier (Brazil), Garrett Chaussard

Thursday, June 12, 10th hole - Friday, June 13, first hole 1230 - 0700 - Michael Allen, Jonathan Turcott, Scott Sterling 1241 - 0711 - Kevin Streelman, Artemio Murakami (Philippines), Robert Dinwiddie (Britain) 1252 - 0722 - Bart Bryant, D.J. Trahan, Chad Campbell 1303 - 0733 - a-Gary Wolstenhome (Britain), Richard Sterne (South Africa), Hunter Mahan 1314 - 0744 - Ian Poulter (Britain), Paul Casey (Britain), Luke Donald (Britain) 1325 - 0755 - Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Toru Taniguchi (Japan), John Rollins 1336 - 0806 - Justin Rose (Britain), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Ernie Els (South Africa) 1347 - 0817 - Camilo Villegas (Colombia), Charles Howell, Martin Kaymer (Germany) 1358 - 0828 - Jeff Quinney, Justin Leonard, Mark O’Meara 1409 - 0839 - Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), David Toms, Colin Montgomerie (Britain) 1420 - 0850 - John Mallinger, Alastair Forsyth (Britain), John Merrick 1431 - 0901 - Chris Stroud, Ross McGowan (Britain), Ian Leggatt (Canada) 1442 - 0912 - John Ellis, a-Jimmy Henderson, Andrew Dresser