ST ANDREWS, July 12 — Tiger Woods will partner US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick in the first two rounds of the British Open in St Andrews this week, while last year’s Claret Jug winner Collin Morikawa will play with Rory McIlroy.

Woods and Fitzpatrick will be joined by American world number 19 Max Homa when they tee off at 2.59pm local time (1359 GMT) in Thursday’s first round.

England’s Fitzpatrick won his first major at Brookline last month, while Woods skipped the US Open to focus on being fit for this week.

"I just didn’t want to miss this Open here at the home of golf,” said Woods today.

The 46-year-old has won the Open three times, including at St Andrews in 2000 and 2005.

The 15-time major winner suffered severe leg injuries in a car accident in February last year, but played all four rounds in the Masters at Augusta in April.

Morikawa, champion at Royal St George’s a year ago, will tee off with McIlroy and American Xander Schauffele at 9h58 am local time on Thursday.

McIlroy won the 2014 Open at Hoylake but missed the chance to defend his title in St Andrews a year later after suffering an ankle injury playing football.

Schauffele, last year’s Olympic champion, arrives in St Andrews fresh from winning the Scottish Open at North Berwick, further down Scotland’s east coast.

World number one Scottie Scheffler of the United States will tee off with Joaquin Niemann of Chile and England’s Tyrell Hatton at 1.26pm on Thursday, while 2017 Open champion Jordan Spieth and Spain’s world number three Jon Rahm will be in the group immediately behind Woods and Fitzpatrick.

The first group to go out in Thursday’s opening round will see Scotland’s Paul Lawrie, the 1999 Open champion, joined by former US Open champion Webb Simpson and Min Woo Lee of Australia.

They will start at 6.35am local time. — AFP