By Frank Pingue
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) -Xander Schauffele will launch his PGA Championship title defence on Thursday at Quail Hollow Club alongside Masters champion Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler, a high-profile group featuring the world’s top three players.
World number three Schauffele, bidding to become the first repeat winner at a PGA Championship since Brooks Koepka retained the title in 2019, will go out in the eighth group from the 10th tee at 8:22 a.m. ET (1222 GMT).
This week is McIlroy’s first major since completing the career Grand Slam of golf’s four majors at the Masters while world number one Scheffler, who has four top-10 finishes in five PGA Championship starts, seeks his second win of the season.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, who briefly held the lead early in the final round at the Masters, will play the opening two rounds in the company of Viktor Hovland and Gary Woodland, starting at 1:47 p.m. from the first tee.
Playing two groups ahead will be Jordan Spieth, who needs a win this week to complete the career Grand Slam, 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed and Swede Ludvig Aberg.
That group will be following Justin Thomas, who won the PGA Championship when it was last held at Quail Hollow in 2017, and twice major champions Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, around the course.
The first shot of the tournament will be struck at 7:00 a.m. by European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, who will set off from the first tee in the company of Ireland’s Padraig Harrington and Germany’s Martin Kaymer.
(Reporting by Frank PingueEditing by Toby Davis)
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