Perhaps it's a portent of things to come.
Paul Lawrie will be in the company of Davis Love III in Thursday's first round.
Love III is the US Ryder Cup non-playing captain for this year's match in Chicago and Lawrie, whose resurgence over the past few months has pushed him to the brink of a place in the European team, would like nothing better than a crack at the Americans at Medinah in September.
Lawrie, winner in 1999 at Carnoustie, and Love III, the former US PGA champion, will be joined on the tee at 8.31am by former Scottish Open winner Tim Clark.
The draw has thrown up some intriguing three-balls. Tiger Woods, the triple Open champion, has been grouped with Justin Rose for the fourth time. Their first pairing came a decade ago at Muirfield and produced frenzied scenes. Woods had just won the Masters and the US Open and was seeking the third leg of an unprecedented grand slam and had virtually every camera on him as he teed-off.
Darren Clarke, the holder, drives off at 9.09am in the company of the 2002 winner Ernie Els and former Masters champion Zach Johnson while Luke Donald, the world No.1, is a later starter at 2.43pm alongside Phil Mickelson and Geoff Ogilvy. Rory McIlroy heads out 20 minutes earlier at 2.21 with Louis Oosthuizen, the winner at St Andrews in 2010, and the former US PGA champion Keegan Bradley.
On the home front, Martin Laird – who, behind Lawrie, is the second-highest Scot in the rankings, launches his Lytham campaign at 10.15am with PGA Tour colleagues Jason Dufner and Kevin Na. Sandy Lyle, meanwhile, returns to where it all started for him in the Open and joins fellow past champions Todd Hamilton and Mark Calcavecchia in the 7.03am match.
The 54-year-old made his debut at Lytham as an amateur in 1974. "I can remember spending five minutes in a bunker in my third round then," said the 1985 champion, as he recalled a torrid 84.
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