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Reigning champion Lowry grouped with Rahm, Oosthuizen

Shane Lowry teeing off at the 11th in his practice round
Shane Lowry teeing off at the 11th in his practice round

Shane Lowry commences the defence of his Open Championship crown on Thursday morning in a star-studded group containing US Open champion Jon Rahm and perennial contender Louis Oosthuizen.

The 2021 event was originally pencilled in for St Andrew's but the coronavirus pandemic pushed the schedule back a year, meaning the tournament returns to Royal St George's on the south coast of England for the first time in 10 years - the Kent venue having been initially down to host the aborted 2020 competition.

Lowry has held the Claret Jug in his possession for two years and has earned a prime-time morning slot, teeing off alongside World no. 2 Rahm and the 2010 champion, Oosthuizen at 9.58am on Thursday.

Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, has a later start, the 2014 champion teeing off at 3.21pm alongside former Masters winner Patrick Reed and Australia's Cameron Smith.

Rory McIlroy attacking the 18th green at Royal St George's

Ryder Cup captain and two-time winner Padraig Harrington gets his week underway at 12.42 alongside Brad Kennedy and Sam Forgan.

Elsewhere, fueding rivals Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau have been kept well apart, the former teeing off at 8.03am in the morning Jason Kokrak and Garrick Higgo.

DeChambeau tees off at 9.25am along with 2017 winner Jordan Spieth and Brandon Grace.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson begins his tilt at a first Claret Jug at 10.20am alongside leading home contender Justin Rose and Will Zalatoris.

PGA Champion Phil Mickelson tees off alongside English hopeful Tyrell Hatton and American Kevin Kisner at 2.48pm.

World No. 3 Justin Thomas has been grouped alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott for a 3.10pm start.

And Darren Clarke, who won the competition the last time it visited St. George's in 2011, gets underway at 8.25am alongside Bernd Weisberger and the amateur Joe Long.

TEE-TIMES

Irish and GB unless stated

0635 R Bland, A Sullivan, M Armitage

0646 Chan Kim (USA), J Harding (Rsa), Haotong Li (Chn)

0657 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), G Fernandez-Castano (Esp), x-A Gallegos (Arg)

0708 A Noren (Swe), JC Ritchie (Rsa), R Mansell

0719 D Burmester (Rsa), D Willett, x-L Shepherd

0730 C Bezuidenhout (Rsa), S Horsfield, Min Woo Lee (Aus)

0741 V Hovland (Nor), R Palmer (USA), T Detry (Bel)

0752 P Casey, A Ancer (Mex), I Poulter

0803 B Koepka (USA), J Kokrak (USA), G Higgo (Rsa)

0814 D Berger (USA), J Niemann (Chl), J Dahmen (USA)

0825 D Clarke, B Wiesberger (Aut), x-J Long

0836 C Kirk (USA), M Kinhult (Swe), J Senior

0847 T Gooch (USA), CT Pan (Tpe), J Thomson

0903 E Els (Rsa), G Woodland (USA), x-C Hammer (USA)

0914 S Burns (USA, L Herbert (Aus), J Campillo (Esp)

0925 J Spieth (USA), B DeChambeau (USA), B Grace (Rsa)

0936 B Harman (USA), M Hughes (Can), D Frittelli (Rsa)

0947 V Perez (Fra), K Streelman (USA), G Migliozzi (Ita)

0958 S Lowry, J Rahm (Esp), L Oosthuizen (Rsa)

1009 S Cink (USA), L Westwood, M Kaymer (Ger)

1020 D Johnson (USA), W Zalatoris (USA), J Rose

1031 S Scheffler (USA), S Garcia (Esp), x-Yuxin Lin (Chn)

1042 H English (USA), E Van Rooyen (Rsa), C Reavie (USA)

1053 L Glover (USA), Byeong Hun An (Kor), B Snedeker (USA)

1104 C Tringale (USA), T Kanaya (Jpn), M Schneider (Ger)

1115 L Griffin (USA), R Hoshino (Jpn), C Worsdall

1136 A Rai, P Waring, D Croft

1147 D van Tonder (Rsa), J Janewattananond (Tha), x-C Bring (Den)

1158 H Varner III (USA), B Steele (USA), x-M Schmid (Ger)

1209 T Merritt (USA), A Long (USA), J Ahlers (Rsa)

1220 J Day (Aus), J Luiten (Ned), J Veerman (USA)

1231 J Catlin (USA), R Langasque (Fra), A Pike (Aus)

1242 P Harrington, B Kennedy (Aus), S Forgan

1253 T Finau (USA), B Horschel (USA), A Hadwin (Can)

1304 P Cantlay (USA, M Fitzpatrick, R Fox (Nzl)

1315 F Molinari (Ita), M Leishman (Aus), M Wallace

1326 C Morikawa (USA), C Conners (Can), S Munoz (Col)

1337 J Scrivener (Aus), K Mitchell (USA), x-S Bairstow

1348 C Hoffman (USA), E Grillo (Arg), B Hebert (Fra)

1404 K Bradley (USA), R T Lee (Can), R Cabrera Bello (Esp)

1415 C Ortiz (Mex), B Todd (USA), M Schwab (Aut)

1426 W Simpson (USA), R Henley (USA), S Norris (Rsa)

1437 M Jones (Aus), D Hillier (Nzl), M Siem (Ger)

1448 P Mickelson (USA), T Hatton, K Kisner (USA)

1459 X Schauffele (USA), R MacIntyre, R Fowler (USA)

1510 J Thomas (USA), T Fleetwood, A Scott (Aus)

1521 R McIlroy, P Reed (USA), C Smith (Aus)

1532 H Stenson (Swe), M Homa (USA), M Kuchar (USA)

1543 A Rozner (Fra), R Kinoshita (Jpn), B Hutchinson

1554 K Kitayama (USA), D Lawson (Aus), P Saksansin (Tha)

1605 Y Inamori (Jpn), J Walker (USA), R Celia (Col)

1616 R Karlberg (Swe), R Nagano (Jpn), N Poppleton

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