The British Open starts on Thursday. Organizers of the championship have put

The British Open starts on Thursday. Organizers of the championship have put Japan’s teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa in the same group as Tiger for the first two rounds of the tournament.

He was invited to this year’s Masters, becoming the second-youngest player to compete in the tournament. He has also received an invitation to next month’s PGA Championship.
And if that’s not enough, one of Britain’s best players, Lee Westwood, rounds out the threesome.

They will tee off at 9:09 a.m. local time (4:09 a.m. ET) on Thursday and 2:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. ET) on Friday.

Woods, 33, has won three British Opens and will be gunning for his 15th major title.

Ishikawa, 17, became the youngest winner on the Japan Tour when he captured the Munsingwear Open at age 15 two years ago.

Last month he won the Mizuno Open to qualify for the Open Championship.

Ishikawa is a huge story in Japan and is typically followed by dozens if not hundreds of Japanese media.

Finally some quality television!