Woods, Els, Westwood grouped for U.S. Open

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif., June 11 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods is paired with Lee Westwood and Ernie Els for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open next week at Pebble Beach, Calif.

The Woods-led group will open its first round at 4:36 p.m. EDT Thursday.

Pebble Beach was the site of the 2000 U.S. Open, which Woods won by 15 shots. Woods has won the tournament twice more since then.

Phil Mickelson, ranked No. 2 in the world behind Woods, will be in a group with Padraig Harrington and Y.E. Yang. Their first round Thursday will begin at 11:06 a.m. EDT on Pebble Beach's 10th tee.

Defending Open champion Lucas Glover was placed in a traditional grouping with the 2009 British Open winner -- Stewart Cink -- and 2009 U.S. Amateur champion -- Byeong-Hun An.

Mickelson won the Masters in April, making him the only golfer with a chance this year of winning the sport's Grand Slam. If he takes the U.S. Open, he'd also need to win the British Open next month and PGA Championship in August for the Grand Slam. No one has won golf's four major tournament in a single year in the so-called Masters era.