Tiger Woods Playing with Lee Westwood of England and Japanese Sensation Ryo Ishikawa

A Tiger Woods grouping is always a crazy scene at a major championship, but it promises to be even more so at Turnberry when the British Open begins on Thursday. Organizers of the championship have put Japan's teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa in the same group for the first two rounds of the tournament. And if that's not enough, one of Britain's best players, Lee Westwood, rounds out the threesome. They will tee off at 9:09 a.m. local time (4:09 a.m. ET) on Thursday and 2:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. ET) on Friday. Woods, 33, has won three British Opens and will be gunning for his 15th major title. Ishikawa, 17, became the youngest winner on the Japan Tour when he captured the Munsingwear Open at age 15 two years ago. Last month he won the Mizuno Open to qualify for the Open Championship. Ishikawa is a huge story in Japan and is typically followed by dozens if not hundreds of Japanese media, ESPN reports.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods can expect even more attention than usual the first two rounds of the British Open. He is playing with Lee Westwood of England and Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa. Woods has never played with the 17-year-old Ishikawa, who made history at 15 when he won on the Japan Golf Tour, the youngest winner on a sanctioned circuit. They met briefly in Arizona at the Accenture Match Play Championship, captured by dozens of photographers.

Defending champion Padraig Harrington will play with former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy.The first group Thursday includes former Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, among the fastest players in golf, The Associated Press reports

Two-time defending champion Padraig Harrington will play the first two rounds of the 138th British Open Championship at Turnberry with a pair of U.S. Open champions.Harrington, whose last win was at the PGA Championship last August, is paired with 2003 U.S. Open champion Jim Furyk and 2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy for the first two rounds. They will start at 2:20 p.m. local time or 9:20 a.m. (et) on Thursday, then 4:09 a.m. (et) on Friday.

World No. 1 and three-time British Open champion Tiger Woods has the exact opposite tee times. He will tee off Thursday at 4:09 a.m. (et), then 9:20 a.m. (et) on Friday. Woods is paired with Ryo Ishikawa and Lee Westwood, MiamiHerald.com reports.