Matt Kuchar received the news while getting ready for a practice round: He was one of the golfers paired with Tiger Woods for Thursday's first round of the Masters. Somehow, he already knew.
"I think most of us in the field thought, ‘It's probably going to be me,' " said Kuchar, a former Georgia Tech standout. "I don't know but I just think we all figure somebody's got to get the lucky straw, and I got the lucky straw."
Lucky straw? "It's going to be really exciting to be a firsthand witness of his first round back," Kuchar explained.
Joining Kuchar and Woods in what might be one the most-watched threesomes in golf history is South Korea's K.J. Choi. They will tee off at 1:42 p.m. on Thursday and 10:35 a.m. on Friday.
Woods will make his return to professional golf after a self-imposed, five-month exile. His first shot will be televised live by ESPN, nearly two hours before normal TV coverage begins.
Choi learned the news of the Woods grouping on the course. He was walking up the 14th fairway during a practice round when an official told him.
"I said ‘Oh, that's good. Good news,'" Choi said.
Kuchar and Woods have something in common: Both have made a name for themselves at Augusta National. Woods became a global superstar after a 12-stroke victory in the 1997 tournament. A year later, Kuchar, as a college student, played the tournament as the U.S. Amateur champion and was paired with Woods in the first round. He shot 72 to Woods' 71. Kuchar finished low amateur and tied for 21st, earning another Masters trip. He also became known as the kid with the big grin.
"I end up in weird places around the world and people still come up to me and say, ‘I remember you in the ‘98 Masters with your dad caddying for you,'" said Kuchar, who has two PGA Tour wins since turning pro in 2000.
Kuchar and Woods also were paired together at the 2005 Deutsche Bank Championship. Kuchar shot 70 and Woods 72.
Woods and Choi also have a previous link. One of Choi's seven tour victories came at Woods' 2007 AT&T event at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C.
A Woods pairing won't affect Choi's daily routine. He will go to church on Wednesday night, eat the same food that he usually eats and follow the same warm-up routine on Thursday.
Woods and Choi have been paired together 10 times in stroke-play events, with Woods averaging 68.4 and Choi 70.8.
Choi might sneak a peek at the gallery, which Ian Poulter estimated will be seven deep on the first hole. After that, Choi will focus on trying to win his first major event.
"What happens on the golf course never changes my game or my focus," Choi said.
Steve Stricker will play with Poulter in the group behind Woods. That should present fewer distractions than the group ahead of Woods, since fans tend to run a hole ahead to jockey for viewing position, or playing with Tiger.
"But I'm not with him, so it's not a good or a bad thing," said Stricker, the world's No. 2-ranked player. "You have to deal with it. I've been in tough situations before and learned from it."
The fans' respectful nature combined with their golf knowledge, most golfers will agree, makes Augusta National the ideal place for a Woods pairing in a high-profile setting.
"It's like your own little world when you're out there in between the ropes," Padraig Harrington said. "It's definitely the easiest event of all of the events to be paired with Tiger."
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