The USGA is infamous for creating storylines when they set up their groups for their most prestigious championship. They look for every quirk or common strain that could be used as a story and then set their groups. They've been known to pair players together based on their paunches, their last names, their belly putters, and their starpower. Of course, the two power groups consist of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson; and the UK equivalent comprised of the top three players in the world -- Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, and Lee Westwood.
Jason Dufner, the North Olmsted native, will start the drive for his first major at 4:47 p.m. ET. He is paired with Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen. Dufner was best known for his back-nine collapse at the PGA Championship in Atlanta last year, where he lost to Keegan Bradley in a playoff. But Dufner comes in playing better than anyone on Tour, capturing two wins in a month and narrowly missing a third at Colonial. NBC's Johnny Miller thinks Dufner, however quietly, has to be one of the favorites at Miller's own club. His playing partner, Jason Day, has a pregnant wife back home in Columbus and has said he would withdraw if she goes into labor.
Dennis Miller, the pro at Mill Creek in Youngstown, will play with Casey Martin and amateur Cameron Wilson. His story has become a familiar one over this week, with his dramatic qualifying putt that hung on the edge for five seconds before falling in the cup and propelling him from sectionals in Columbus to San Francisco. His group tees off at 3:45 p.m. ET.
More: Thursday's Complete Broadcast & Streaming Schedule
The USGA is utilizing a little bit of an unusual split-tee system over the first two days. The layout at Olympic presented some logistical problems, with the No. 10 tee being several hundred yards from the clubhouse. Having players make their official start there would create issues for crowd control, so instead they will send half the field off the No. 9 tee, which is just below the men's locker room at the venerable club.
The complete list of tee times and pairings for Thursday's first round is below. All times are Eastern.
Morning wave off No. 1 tee:
10:15 a.m.: Scott Langley, Steve Lebrun, Beau Hossler (a)
10:26 a.m.: Jason Bohn, Raphael Jacquelin, J. B. Park
10:37 a.m.: Michael Thompson, Colt Knost, Steve Marino
10:48 a.m.: Brendan Jones, George Coetzee, Gregory Bourdy
10:59 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay (a), Jonathan Byrd, Kyle Stanley
11:10 a.m.: Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson
11:21 a.m.: Paul Casey, Hiroyuki Fujita, Mark Wilson
11:32 a.m.: Adam Scott, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson
11:43 a.m.: Tim Clark Toru Taniguchi, Rod Pampling
11:54 a.m.: Francesco Molinari, Bo Van Pelt, Peter Hanson
12:05 p.m.: D. A. Points, Dong-Hwan Lee, Kevin Streelman
12:16 p.m.: Edward Loar, Paul Claxton, Alistair Presnell
12:27 p.m.: Mark McCormick, Nick Sherwood (a), Cole Howard
Morning wave off No. 9 tee:
10 a.m.: Shane Bertsch, Martin Flores, Tommy Biershenk
10:11 a.m.: Scott Piercy, Matthew Baldwin, Matt Bettencourt
10:22 a.m.: Thomas Bjorn, Kevin Na, Branden Grace
10:33 a.m.: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson
10:44 a.m.: Joe Ogilvie, Stephen Ames, Tim Herron
10:55 a.m.: Davis Love III, Padraig Harrington, David Toms
11:06 a.m.: Carl Pettersson, Charl Schwartzel, Charles Howell III
11:17 a.m.: Robert Karlsson, Bob Estes, Robert Rock
11:28 a.m.: K. J. Choi, Y. E. Yang, K. T. Kim
11:39 a.m.: Fredrik Jacobson, Robert Garrigus, Alexander Noren
11:50 a.m.: Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Sang-Moon Bae, Rafael Cabrera-Bello
12:01 p.m.: Marc Warren, Anthony Summers, Michael Allen
12:12 p.m.: Hunter Hamrick, Tim Weinhart, Scott Smith
Afternoon wave off No. 1 tee:
3:45 p.m.: Casey Martin, Cameron Wilson (a), Dennis Miller
3:56 p.m.: Jim Herman, William Lunde, David Mathis
4:07 p.m.: Nicolas Colsaerts, Charlie Wi, Simon Dyson
4:18 p.m.: Alvaro Quiros, Gary Woodland, John Senden
4:29 p.m.: Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood
4:40 p.m.: Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell
4:51 p.m.: Stewart Cink, Trevor Immelman, Lucas Glover
5:02 p.m.: Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, Angel Cabrera
5:13 p.m.: Martin Laird, Ben Crane, Anders Hansen
5:24 p.m.: Matteo Manassero, Aaron Baddeley, Miguel Angel Jimenez
5:35 p.m.: Brian Harman, Spencer Levin, Mikko Ilonen
5:46 p.m.: Brice Garnett, Justin Hicks, Jesse Mueller
5:57 p.m.: Brian Rowell, Alberto Sanchez (a), Brian Gaffney
Afternoon wave off No. 9 tee:
3:30 p.m.: John Peterson, Morgan Hoffmann, Aaron Watkins
3:41 p.m.: Jeff Curl, Nicholas Thompson, Casey Wittenberg
3:52 p.m.: Soren Kjeldsen, Chez Reavie, Peter Lawrie
4:03 p.m.: Michael Campbell, Olin Browne, Joe Durant
4:14 p.m.: Bill Haas, Nick Watney, Brandt Snedeker
4:25 p.m.: Martin Kaymer, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose
4:36 p.m.: Steve Stricker, Ian Poulter, Matt Kuchar
4:47 p.m.: Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen, Jason Dufner
4:58 p.m.: Rickie Fowler, Ryo Ishikawa, Dustin Johnson
5:09 p.m.: Hunter Haas, Tadahiro Takayama, Lee Slattery
5:20 p.m.: Alex Cejka, Kevin Chappell, Blake Adams
5:31 p.m.: James Hahn, Darron Stiles, Roberto Castro
5:42 p.m.: Brooks Koepka (a), Kyle Thompson, Samuel Osborne
For all your news and updates in the run up to the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic, visit SB Nation's dedicated golf hub. Be sure to head over to USOpen.com for even more coverage from the event.
