OPEN CHAMPION ZACH Johnson will play alongside Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson as he begins the defence of his title at Royal Troon on Thursday.

Johnson claimed his second major 12 months ago at St Andrews after beating Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a play-off, the trio having been tied on 15-under after 72 holes.

He will tee off his attempt to defend that title as part of the 41st grouping on day one, with former runners-up Scott and Stenson for company.

World number one Jason Day has been drawn with Masters champion Danny Willett and Rickie Fowler, while Rory McIlroy will start his quest to regain the Claret Jug with Hideki Matsuyama and Bubba Watson.

The Open is one major yet to come the way of Jordan Spieth, and the 22-year-old will hope to have a good start to his fourth appearance in his group with Justin Rose and Shane Lowry.

Two-time Open winner Padraig Harrington is alongside Oosthuizen and Luke Donaldson.

Less than a month after his US Open win, Dustin Johnson tees off with Martin Kaymer and Russell Know, while the experienced trio of Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Ernie Els are sure to attract the fans in group 37.

There will be a Ryder Cup theme to the seventh grouping as Europe captain Darren Clarke plays with United States vice-captain Jim Furyk, the pair joined by Thorbjorn Olesen.

The Open first round tee times: 

0635 – Colin Montgomerie (SCO), Marc Leishman (AUS), Luke Donald (ENG)

0646 – Steven Alker (NZL), Marcus Fraser (AUS), Sang-hee Lee (KOR)

0657 – Jeung-hun Wang (KOR), Jon Rahm (ESP), Ryan Palmer (USA)

0708 – Sandy Lyle (SCO), Scott Gregory (ENG), David Duval (USA)

0719 – Richie Ramsay (SCO), Danny Lee (NZL), Harris English (USA)

0730 – Alex Noren (SWE), Steven Bowditch (AUS), Kevin Chappell (USA)

0741 – Darren Clarke (NI), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Jim Furyk (USA)

0752 – Justin Thomas (USA), David Lingmerth (SWE), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA)

0803 – Branden Grace (RSA), Patrick Reed (USA), Byeong-hun An (KOR)

0814 – Paul Lawrie, Brandt Snedeker (USA), Thongchai Jaidee (THA)

0825 – Padraig Harrington (IRL), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Jamie Donaldson (WAL)

0836 – Scott Piercy (USA), Paul Dunne, Jamie Lovemark (USA)

0847 – Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Jimmy Walker (USA), Scott Hend (AUS)

0903 – Jordan Spieth (USA), Justin Rose, Shane Lowry (IRL)

0914 – Ross Fisher (ENG), Steve Stricker (USA), Vijay Singh (FIJ)

0925 – Danny Willett (ENG), Rickie Fowler (USA), Jason Day (AUS)

0936 – Rory McIlroy (NI), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Bubba Watson (USA)

0947 – Gary Woodland (USA), James Morrison, Soo-min Lee (KOR)

0958 – Smylie Kaufman (USA), Chris Kirk (USA), George Coetzee (RSA)

1009 – Billy Horschel (USA), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Hideto Tanihara (JPN)

1020 – Matteo Manassero (ITA), Shugo Imahira (JPN), Russell Henley (USA)

1031 – Kodai Ichihara (JPN), Robert Rock (ENG), William McGirt (USA)

1042 – Brendan Steele (USA), Richard Sterne (RSA), Matt Jones (AUS)

1053 – Patton Kizzire (USA), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Rod Pampling (AUS)

1104 – Dave Coupland (ENG), Nathan Holman (AUS), Phachara Khongwatmai (THA)

1115 – Scott Fernandez (ESP), Rikard Karlberg (SWE), Haydn Porteous (RSA)

1136 – Greg Chalmers (AUS), Kristoffer Broberg (SWE), Clement Sordet (FRA)

1147 – David Howell (ENG), Seung-yul Noh (KOR), Tony Finau (USA)

1158 – Jordan Niebrugge (USA), Nick Cullen (AUS), Robert Streb (USA)

1209 – Ben Curtis (USA), Stefano Mazzoli (ITA), John Daly (USA)

1220 – Francesco Molinari (ITA), Kevin Kisner (USA), KT Kim (KOR)

1231 – Todd Hamilton (USA), Justin Leonard (USA), Mark Calcavecchia (USA)

1242 – Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Lasse Jensen (DEN), Bill Haas (USA)

1253 – Paul Casey (ENG), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Kevin Na (USA)

1304 – Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Joost Luiten (NED), Charley Hoffman (USA)

1315 – Graeme McDowell (NI), Matt Kuchar (USA), Andrew Johnston (ENG)

1326 – Phil Mickelson (USA), Lee Westwood, Ernie Els (RSA)

1337 – Satoshi Kodaira (JPN), James Hahn (USA), Andy Sullivan (ENG)

1348 – Ryan Moore (USA), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)

1404 – Dustin Johnson (USA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Russell Knox (SCO)

1415 – Zach Johnson (USA), Adam Scott (AUS), Henrik Stenson (SWE)

1426 – Chris Wood (ENG), Yusaku Miyazato (JPN), Mark O’Meara (USA)

1437 – Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Jason Dufner (USA), Marc Warren

1448 – Anirban Lahiri (IND), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Keegan Bradley (USA)

1459 – Webb Simpson (USA), Yuta Ikeda (JPN), Thomas Pieters (BEL)

1510 – Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP), JB Holmes (USA), Brandon Stone (RSA)

1521 – Marco Dawson (USA), Matthew Southgate (ENG), Yosuke Tsukada (JPN)

1532 – Jack Senior (ENG), James Heath (ENG), Brian Gay (USA)

1543 – Jim Herman (USA), Fabian Gomez (ARG), Anthony Wall (ENG)

1554 – Paul Howard (ENG), Daniel Summerhays (USA), Colt Knost (USA)

1605 – Oskar Arvidsson (SWE), Harold Varner III (USA), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)

1616 – Ryan Evans (ENG), Callum Shinkwin (ENG), Zander Lombard (RSA)

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