Spieth Begins Quest At For Third Leg Of Grand Slam Thursday

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- Jordan Spieth will begin his quest for the third leg of the Grand Slam at 4:33 a.m. ET on Thursday and will be grouped with Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama for the first two rounds of The Open.

Spieth, 21, who won the John Deere Classic on Sunday and enters the third major championship of the year with four victories -- including the Masters and U.S. Open -- will play with tough-luck U.S. Open runner-up Johnson, who 3-putted the final hole at Chambers Bay last month to finish a shot back.

It is the first time since 2002 that a player enters The Open having won the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year. Since 1960, only Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have gone to The Open with a chance to win three straight majors.

Ben Hogan in 1953 is the only player to have done it.

Woods tees off two groups later at 4:55 a.m. ET and will play the first two rounds with Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen, who was paired with Woods during the first two rounds of the U.S. Open. Woods, a two-time winner at the Old Course, missed the cut at the U.S. Open, but is coming off a promising performance two weeks ago at the Greenbrier Classic, where he shot a bogey-free final-round 67.

Oosthuizen tied for second with Johnson at the U.S. Open.