Tiger tees off with Donald, Piercy to start Masters

AUGUSTA: World No. 1 Tiger Woods will begin his quest for a 15th major title on Thursday alongside England`s Luke Donald and fellow American Scott Piercy at this year`s 77th Masters.

Pairings released on Tuesday have Woods and his playing partners teeing off at 10:45 Thursday morning in the opening round and 1:41 in the afternoon on Friday in the second round. Woods has 14 major titles, four shy of matching the all-time record of 18 won by Jack Nicklaus, and 77 career tour triumphs, five shy of Sam Snead`s all-time record of 82. Woods has not won a major since the 2008 US Open and while he has won four Masters titles, he has not won at Augusta National since 2005. In the group just ahead of Woods for the first two rounds will be defending champion Bubba Watson, US Amateur champion Steven Fox and Britain`s Ian Poulter. The group playing directly after Woods includes Irishman Padraig Harrington, Australian Jason Day and American Rickie Fowler. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy goes off in Thursday`s penultimate group alongside American Keegan Bradley and Sweden`s Fredrik Jacobson while one group in front of them is three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson, Germany`s Martin Kaymer and South African Louis Oosthuizen, last year`s Masters runner-up. AFP