US Open: Rory McIlroy grouped with Hideki Matsuyama and Xander Schauffele for first two rounds | Golf News

Rory McIlroy will be part of the early coverage on Thursday as his group begins at 12.40pm BST, with defending champion Jon Rahm also out early as he plays alongside two-time major winner Collin Morikawa and US Amateur champion James Piot, watch live on Sky Sports Golf

Rory McIlroy will be among the early starters at the US Open on Thursday

Rory McIlroy has been grouped with former Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama and reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele for the first two rounds of the 122nd US Open.

McIlroy comes into this week’s event at The Country Club in Brookline off the back of an impressive title defence at the RBC Canadian Open, with the former world No 1 looking to become the first player to win a PGA Tour event and a major in successive weeks since he managed it himself in 2014.

The Northern Irishman will be part of the early coverage on Thursday morning as his star-studded group begins at 7.40am local time (12.40pm BST), with defending champion Jon Rahm also out early as he plays alongside two-time major winner Collin Morikawa and US Amateur champion James Piot.

Jordan Spieth, champion in 2015, and former Masters winner Adam Scott play alongside Max Homa, winner of the Wells Fargo Championship, with FedExCup winner Patrick Cantlay also among the early starters as he goes out in an all-American group with Billy Horschel and Daniel Berger.

Two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas plays alongside Tony Finau for the second time in as many events, having gone out in the final group in Toronto on Sunday, with Norway’s Viktor Hovland completing that threeball.

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McIlroy calls the PGA Tour the ‘best Tour in the world’ after his Canadian Open victory and says the win sets him up perfectly heading into the US Open

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler starts his bid for a second major title and fifth PGA Tour victory of the season with four-time major winner Brooks Koepka and Australian star Cameron Smith, while Shane Lowry partners two of the players involved in the breakaway LIV Golf Invitational Series – six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen.

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