By Sam Weinman and Alex Myers
The PGA Championship’s grouping of Tiger Woods, Rory McIroy and Justin Thomas next week at Bellerive continues a trend of late of putting marquee players into “super groups” at big events. Jon Rahm, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth will also play together, and this is to say nothing of the traditional PGA group of the year’s three previous major champions, Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari. There are two ways to look at such concentrated collection of talent—one is that it creates extra buzz around a handful of tee times; the other is that it forces an extra level of scrutiny onto certain players while rendering everyone else irrelevant. Which side is right? Two editors debate.

What’s wrong with spicing things up?
It’s come to this, huh? We’re so desperate to find fault in something that we’re actually complaining about seeing too many great golfers playing together? That Tiger Woods being paired with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas the first two days of the PGA Championship is actually a bad thing? What’s next? Whining there are too many great action scenes in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”? Sure, these groups have a tendency to cause some on-course traffic jams, but they also create an electric atmosphere and can actually make it easier for fans to see—even if it’s just a glimpse—more big names. And if you’re watching on TV—like 99 percent of golf fans—why are you butting in? This really doesn’t affect you other than seeing these superstars interact (or not interact) with each other as CBS goes to another commercial break. So sit back and enjoy. These are precious pairings that should be appreciated, not criticised. Wake up, people. —Alex Myers

When there’s too much of a good thing.
The problem with super groups, with the exception of the Traveling Wilburys and maybe Cream, is that they detract from a dynamic that usually works. The super-group pairing makes for a great headline, but in practice, it ends up being three guys who swallow up all of a tournament’s oxygen, and create empty pockets in the tee sheet. By contrast, spreading the best players out means there’s always someone worth watching throughout the day. And on those rare occasions when the stars get paired together on the weekend based on their scores, the novelty factor still feels fresh. —Sam Weinman

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On Friday afternoon the PGA of America announced that the 14-time major winner will be joined by Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas for the first two rounds of the season’s final major. The group has combined for seven Wanamaker Trophies, with Thomas serving as the reigning champion. Woods will be making his first PGA appearance since 2015, where he had a swift exit at Whistling Straits.

If that trio sounds familiar, it is: Woods, McIlroy and Thomas played together on Thursday and Friday at the Genesis Open. It was this grouping at Riviera that prompted McIlroy to remark on the chaos that surrounds, and hurts, Woods when he competes.

“I swear, playing in front of all that, he gives up half a shot a day on the field,” McIlroy said at the time. “Like it’s two shots a tournament he has to give to the field because of all that that goes on around him.”

Woods, McIlroy and Thomas will tee off at 9:23 a.m. local time on Thursday.

The PGA of America also announced the supergroup of Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Jon Rahm will play together during the first two rounds. A win at Bellerive will give Spieth the career Grand Slam, while Rose, who dropped out of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational with a bad back. Per tradition, the year’s first three major winners in Patrick Reed, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari find themselves in the same tee time.

The 100th PGA Championship begins on August 9. Bellerive last hosted a PGA in 1992, when Nick Price won his first major.

The post Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas paired together for 2018 PGA Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.