Featured PGA Championship Parings: Woods, Spieth, McIlroy

TULSA, Okla. -- When Tiger Woods played the Masters in April, his first official PGA Tour event in nearly 17 months after nearly losing his right leg in a car accident, he said he felt like he was climbing Mount Everest.

"That's the steepest golf course you're going to play and that was the first one you climbed -- and climbed it," Woods said during a news conference Tuesday. "It's going to get flatter and better."

Now, nearly six weeks later, Woods will attempt to win the PGA Championship for the fifth time when play begins at Southern Hills Country Club on Thursday. While Southern Hills might not be as steep and rolling as Augusta National Golf Club, it's hardly flat Oklahoma farmland.

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Woods, a 15-time major champion, will play in a featured group with Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth in the first two rounds. The threesome will tee off on No. 10 at 9:11 a.m. ET in Thursday's first round and on No. 1 at 2:36 p.m. Friday in the second.

Other featured groups include Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa, the top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking. They will tee off on No. 1 at 2:36 p.m. ET on Thursday and on No. 10 at 9:11 a.m. Friday. Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas will tee off on No. 1 at 2:14 p.m. ET on Thursday and on No. 10 at 8:49 a.m. Friday.