Hot pairings for Thursday

As the best players in world descend on Oakland Hills for the 90th PGA Championship, all eyes will be on some of the stellar Thursday and Friday groupings thrown up by the USPGA.

With a certain Tiger Woods out of action, the traditional grouping of the year s three Major winners will have slightly less of a shine to it, but 2007 US Open Champion Angel Cabrera will be more than able to step in and join Masters champion Trevor Immelman and Open champion Padraig Harrington.

The USPGA has also put together groups of past champions, with the threesome of Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson and Rich Beem likely to prove the most watched. But there is also sure to be a big crowd following the group of David Toms, Vijay Singh and John Daly, even if their motives are to see what fate may befall 1991 champion Daly as he battles himself as much as the golf course.

The main attraction could be the long-hitting group of Adam Scott, Ernie Els and Fred Couples, with each of them usually enough to draw a crowd on their own. The young and colourful group of Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas is sure to provide a lot of birdies and excitement for the crowds, and the galleries are sure to be following Henrik Stenson, as he is joined by fan-favourite Brandt Snedeker and the eccentric Woody Austin.

American hopeful Chad Campbell will find himself in surely the most outspoken group of the week, as he partners the fiery characters of Rory Sabbatini and Ian Poulter for the first two days. Colin Montgomerie will embark on yet another search for a Major with Jim Furyk and Aaron Baddeley for company, while Justin Rose will be alongside the in-form duo of Kenny Perry and Retief Goosen.

And while these few groups will be getting most of the media attention on Thursday and Friday, a relative unknown in the 156-man field could slip under the radar and play himself into contention for the weekend.