RORY McILROY HAS been grouped with Sweden’s Ludwig Aberg and American Akshay Bhatia for the first two rounds of the 89th Masters.

Four-time Major winner McIlroy, the current world no.2, would complete a career Grand Slam with victory at Augusta National, and his group tee off on Thursday at 6.12pm (all Irish time).

Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion, follows McIlroy at 6.23pm alongside reigning US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama.

Top-ranked defending champion Scottie Scheffler will play alongside Justin Thomas and US Amateur champion Jose Luis Ballester.

Two-time Masters winner Scheffler and fellow American Thomas, a two-time PGA Championship winner, will join Spanish amateur Ballester at 3.15pm.

American Davis Riley is set to hit the first competitive tee shot on Thursday at 12.40pm while Bernhard Langer begins his 41st and final Masters at 1.35pm.

Other top contenders are spread early and late in the opening-day field.

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, Australian Min Woo Lee and Chilean Joaquin Niemann tee off two groups ahead of Scheffler at 2:47pm followed by Aussie Jason Day, US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and six-time major winner Phil Mickelson at 2:58pm.

Just behind Scheffler’s trio will be three-time major winner Jordan Spieth, South Korean Tom Kim and England’s Tyrrell Hatton at 3:26pm.

In the afternoon, five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and fellow American Russell Henley join South Korean Im Sung-jae at 5:50pm and just behind them at 6:01pm, and just ahead of McIlroy’s group, will be Aussie Adam Scott, Viktor Hovland and reigning British Open and PGA Championship champion Xander Schauffele.

The 2023 Masters winner Jon Rahm of Spain, England’s Tommy Fleetwood and American Wyndham Clark start at 6.34pm.

Written by David Sneyd and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.