US PGA Championship golf 2021: When do Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm play? Thursday and Friday tee times, Kiawah Island odds

Updated 19/05/2021 at 19:08 GMT

European Ryder Cup colleagues Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm begin the 103rd US PGA Championship as early favourites to claim the title in a strong 156-man field at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course. Four-times major winner McIlroy – fresh from his victory at the Wells Fargo Championship – is bidding to emulate his 2012 US PGA triumph around Kiawah with world number three Rahm chasing his first major title.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after capturing the PGA Championship at The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina (Reuters)

Image credit: Reuters

Four-times major winner Rory McIlroy starts the 103rd US PGA Championship on Thursday morning as tournament favourite bidding to emulate his 2012 success at Kiawah Island in a strong 156-man field that includes 99 of the world's top 100 players.

The Northern Irishman also lifted the US PGA title at Valhalla in 2014 and begins his quest in South Carolina from the 10th tee at 1.33pm (BST).

He is out with fellow former US PGA winners Brooks Koepka – who continues to struggle with his recovery from knee surgery – and Justin Thomas on the first two days with the group handed a 6.58pm start time from the first tee for Friday's second round.

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McIlroy – enjoying a new lease of life under celebrated coach Pete Cowen – secured his first tournament victory since November 2019 at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte a fortnight ago, but is wary about getting overly excited about his prospects of a hat-trick of PGA titles at the brutal par-72 Ocean Course.

"It was a great sort of validation that I'm working on the right things, but it was just a step in the process," said the former world number one, who finished eight strokes clear of Englishman David Lynn on 13 under nine years ago.

"I'm happy with where my game is, so I guess if I go out and play my game and do what I know that I can do, then I can see myself shooting good scores on this golf course.

Whether that means I win or not, that's partly up to me, but that's partly on how the other 155 guys in the field play, as well.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa, US Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama and US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau are out in the next showpiece group at 1.44pm from the 10th tee.

Jordan Spieth – bidding to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen as the sixth man to claim a remarkable career grand slam – is in a group with fellow Americans Will Zalatoris and Webb Simpson. They tee off at 6.58pm at the first on Thursday.

"Majors are what we're trying to peak for," said Spieth ahead of his fifth tilt at the historical clean sweep.

I feel like I'll have a lot of chances at this tournament, and if I just focus on trying to take advantage of this golf course, play it the best I can and kind of stay in the same form tee to green I've been in, all I can ask for is a chance.

Open champion Shane Lowry is out with world number one Dustin Johnson and former Masters winner Sergio Garcia at 7.09pm from the first tee on Thursday.

At a testing 7,876 yards, the 1991 Ryder Cup host venue is the longest in major championship golf. World number three Jon Rahm – who plays alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed on the opening two days – is hoping the course will not be set up to play its full length.

"On the (par-three) 17th I smoked a two-iron to just carry it over the water," said 26-year-old Rahm, who has enjoyed six top-10 finishes at majors since his first outing at the 2016 US Open saw him tie for 23rd place.

It's extremely difficult. That's all I can say. Any time you have 230 yards into the wind over water into a narrow target, it's just not easy. I'm hoping we don't play it back there every day, otherwise it's going to be a challenging week.

Latest odds

Rory McIlroy 10/1
Jon Rahm 12/1
Jordan Spieth 14/1
Justin Thomas 16/1
Bryson DeChambeau 16/1
Dustin Johnson 16/1

THURSDAY'S FIRST-ROUND TEE TIMES (LOCAL TIME, BST +5 HOURS)

First tee

7 a.m. -- Patrick Rada, Adam Long, Cameron Tringale
7:11 a.m. -- Dylan Frittelli, Larkin Gross, Matt Jones
7:22 a.m. -- Byeong Hun-An, Derek Holmes, George Coetzee
7:33 a.m. -- Bernd Wiesberger, Tom Hoge, Joel Dahmen
7:44 a.m. -- John Daly, Jimmy Walker, Jason Dufner
7:55 a.m. -- Kevin Kisner, Martin Laird, Hudson Swafford
8:06 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett, Bubba Watson
8:17 a.m. -- Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Charl Schwartzel
8:28 a.m. -- Harris English, Stewart Cink, Alex Noren
8:39 a.m. -- Kevin Na, Tom Lewis, Jason Kokrak
8:50 a.m. -- Jason Scrivener, Stuart Smith, Emiliano Grillo
9:01 a.m. -- Brad Marek, Peter Malnati, Lanto Griffin
9:12 a.m. -- Mark Geddes, Denny McCarthy, Rikuya Hoshino
12:30 p.m. -- Frank Bensel Jr., Robert Streb, Kurt Kitayama
12:41 p.m. -- Alex Beach, Daniel Van Tonder, Wyndham Clark
12:52 p.m. -- Abraham Ancer, Max Homa, Sam Burns
1:03 p.m. -- Tony Finau, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners
1:14 p.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Padraig Harrington
1:25 p.m. -- Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed
1:36 p.m. -- Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Cameron Smith
1:47 p.m. -- Steve Stricker, Billy Horschel, Daniel Berger
1:58 p.m. -- Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris
2:09 p.m. -- Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia
2:20 p.m. -- Thomas Pieters, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar
2:31 p.m. -- Chris Kirk, Pete Ballo, Cam Davis
2:42 p.m. -- Dean Burmester, Greg Koch, K.H. Lee

10th tee

7:05 a.m. -- Ben Polland, Talor Gooch, Harry Higgs
7:16 a.m. -- Rob Labritz, Brendan Steele, Harold Varner III
7:27 a.m. -- Paul Casey, Garrick Higgo, Marc Leishman
7:38 a.m. -- Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Tyrrell Hatton
7:49 a.m. -- Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Champ, John Catlin
8 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Scottie Scheffler
8:11 a.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan Palmer, Thomas Detry
8:22 a.m. -- Lee Westwood, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
8:33 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka
8:44 a.m. -- Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama
8:55 a.m. -- Charley Hoffman, Matt Wallace, Erik van Rooyen
9:06 a.m. -- Chan Kim, Brett Walker, Brian Gay
9:17 a.m. -- Aaron Wise, Sonny Skinner, Kalle Samooja
12:25 p.m. -- Si Woo Kim, Danny Balin, Jim Herman
12:36 p.m. -- Sami Valimaki, Joe Summerhays, Richy Werenski
12:47 p.m. -- Sebastian Munoz, Tim Pearce, Sam Horsfield
12:58 p.m. -- Y.E. Yang, Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem
1:09 p.m. -- Joaquin Niemann, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai
1:20 p.m. -- Branden Grace, Adam Hadwin, Rasmus Hojgaard
1:31 p.m. -- Russell Henley, Jazz Janewattananond, Carlos Ortiz
1:42 p.m. -- Adam Sullivan, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Kevin Streelman
1:53 p.m. -- Ian Poulter, Brian Harman, Sungjae Im
2:04 p.m. -- Antoine Rozier, Chez Reavie, Brandon Stone
2:15 p.m. -- Victor Perez, Omar Uresti, Maverick McNealy
2:26 p.m. -- Tyler Collet, Brendon Todd, Lucas Herbert
2:37 p.m. -- Ben Cook, Mackenzie Hughes, Takumi Kanaya

FRIDAY'S SECOND-ROUND TEE TIMES (LOCAL TIME, BST +5 HOURS)

First tee

7 a.m. -- Si Woo Kim, Danny Balin, Jim Herman
7:11 a.m. -- Sami Valimaki, Joe Summerhays, Richy Werenski
7:22 a.m. -- Sebastian Munoz, Tim Pearce, Sam Horsfield
7:33 a.m. -- Y.E. Yang, Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem
7:44 a.m. -- Joaquin Niemann, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai
7:55 a.m. -- Branden Grace, Adam Hadwin, Rasmus Hojgaard
8:06 a.m. -- Russell Henley, Jazz Janewattananond, Carlos Ortiz
8:17 a.m. -- Adam Sullivan, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Kevin Streelman
8:28 a.m. -- Ian Poulter, Brian Harman, Sungjae Im
8:39 a.m. -- Antoine Rozier, Chez Reavie, Brandon Stone
8:50 a.m. -- Victor Perez, Omar Uresti, Maverick McNealy
9:01 a.m. -- Tyler Collet, Brendon Todd, Lucas Herbert
9:12 a.m. -- Ben Cook, Mackenzie Hughes, Takumi Kanaya
12:30 p.m. -- Ben Polland, Talor Gooch, Harry Higgs
12:41 p.m. -- Rob Labritz, Brendan Steele, Harold Varner III
12:52 p.m. -- Paul Casey, Garrick Higgo, Marc Leishman
1:03 p.m. -- Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Tyrrell Hatton
1:14 p.m. -- Robert MacIntyre, Cameron Champ, John Catlin
1:25 p.m. -- Zach Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Scottie Scheffler
1:36 p.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Ryan Palmer, Thomas Detry
1:47 p.m. -- Lee Westwood, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
1:58 p.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka
2:09 p.m. -- Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama
2:20 p.m. -- Charley Hoffman, Matt Wallace, Erik van Rooyen
2:31 p.m. -- Chan Kim, Brett Walker, Brian Gay
2:42 p.m. -- Aaron Wise, Sonny Skinner, Kalle Samooja

10th tee

7:05 a.m. -- Frank Bensel, Jr., Robert Streb, Kurt Kitayama
7:16 a.m. -- Alex Beach, Daniel Van Tonder, Wyndham Clark
7:27 a.m. -- Abraham Ancer, Max Homa, Sam Burns
7:38 a.m. -- Tony Finau, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners
7:49 a.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Padraig Harrington
8 a.m. -- Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed
8:11 a.m. -- Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Cameron Smith
8:22 a.m. -- Steve Stricker, Billy Horschel, Daniel Berger
8:33 a.m. -- Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris
8:44 a.m. -- Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia
8:55 a.m. -- Thomas Pieters, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar
9:06 a.m. -- Chris Kirk, Pete Ballo, Cam Davis
9:17 a.m. -- Dean Burmester Greg Koch, K.H. Lee
12:25 p.m. -- Patrick Rada, Adam Long, Cameron Tringale
12:36 p.m. -- Dylan Frittelli, Larkin Gross, Matt Jones
12:47 p.m. -- Byeong Hun-An, Derek Holmes, George Coetzee
12:58 p.m. -- Bernd Wiesberger, Tom Hoge, Joel Dahmen
1:09 p.m. -- John Daly, Jimmy Walker, Jason Dufner
1:20 p.m. -- Kevin Kisner, Martin Laird, Hudson Swafford
1:31 p.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett, Bubba Watson
1:42 p.m. -- Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Charl Schwartzel
1:53 p.m. -- Harris English, Stewart Cink, Alex Noren
2:04 p.m. -- Kevin Na, Tom Lewis, Jason Kokrak
2:15 p.m. -- Jason Scrivener, Stuart Smith, Emiliano Grillo
2:26 p.m. -- Brad Marek, Peter Malnati, Lanto Griffin
2:37 p.m. -- Mark Geddes, Denny McCarthy, Rikuya Hoshino

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