Most intriguing pairings for the opening rounds of the U.S. Open

The U.S. Open begins on Thursday at the exclusive Los Angeles Country Club, a course several players will be playing for the first time.

We'll find out which players acclimate to their environment the fastest soon enough, but we already know when the best golfers in the world will tee off and there are some intriguing pairings for the opening two rounds.

Here are the ones we're looking forward to the most, with tee times for both days listed in Eastern Time.

Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Scottie Scheffler: 11:13 a.m./4:43 p.m.

This group headlines the early schedule on Thursday. Scheffler (+600) is the favorite to win the U.S. Open and is paired with a couple of players who are not only familiar with the course but have excelled on it. 

ESPN's Paolo Uggetti reported Homa posted a course record 61 at the Par 70 LACC in 2013 while Scheffler and Morikawa were on "the 2017 Walker Cup team that played and won at LACC." 

Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm: 11:24 a.m./4:54 p.m.

Rahm tees off with Hovland, who tied Rahm at seven-under-par after the first round of this year's Masters. Rahm went on to win the tournament while Hovland finished tied for seventh. Rahm is the No. 2 golfer in the PGA Tour's rankings and is vying to become the seventh golfer to win both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year. 

Jordan Spieth was the last to do so in 2015, while Tiger Woods (2002), Jack Nicklaus (1960), Arnold Palmer (1960), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953) and Craig Wood (1941) round out the list.

Schauffele is coming off his worst U.S. Open, tying for 14th in 2022, but from 2017-21, had five consecutive top-10 finishes, including three in the top five. His 26 consecutive cuts made ranks first on the Tour.

Cameron Smith, Sam Bennett, Matt Fitzpatrick: 4:32 p.m./11:02 a.m.

Fitzpatrick tees off in defense of his 2022 title in the late afternoon and seeks to become the first repeat U.S. Open champion since Brooks Koepka in 2017 and 2018. Smith is ninth in the PGA Tour rankings and is coming off a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship. 

Bennett burst on the scene by tying for third through two rounds at this year's Masters, with Texas Monthly noting his score on the front nine in the first round (32) was tied for "the lowest mark ever for an amateur at the tournament." 

Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay:, 4:43 p.m./11:13 a.m.

Finau is a darkhorse contender for the championship while Spieth is seeking his first win in a major since The Open Championship in 2017. Cantlay is No. 4 on the PGA Tour but has yet to break through on golf's biggest stage. His best finish came in 2019 when he tied for third at the PGA Championship.

Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Rory McIlroy: 4:54 p.m./11:24 a.m.

All eyes will be on this pairing, for golf aficionados and casual observers alike. The U.S. Open is the first major after the PGA Tour and LIV Golf announced their merger and Koepka and McIlroy are perhaps the most visible stars on both sides. We feel for Matsuyama, stuck in the middle of what could be two extremely awkward days. 

Koepka, a two-time U.S. Open champion, won the PGA Championship in May and is a member of LIV. McIlroy was the most vocal PGA Tour member in the dispute between the rival leagues, making their pairing the juiciest storyline heading into the third major of the year.