Woods, Yang paired in first two rounds of PGA Championship

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Y.E. Yang outdueled Tiger Woods for the PGA Championship title last year, and those two will resume their battle in the first two rounds of next week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

The pairings for the first two rounds were released Friday afternoon, with Yang and Woods in the same threesome along with another former PGA Championship winner, Vijay Singh. That threesome tees off from the 10th tee on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. local).

A year ago, Yang became the first Asian-born golfer to win a major, as the South Korean rallied from two shots down entering the final day to overtake Woods. In the process, Yang became the first player to beat Woods in a major championship when Woods held the 54-hold lead.

The usual pairing of the winners of the three previous majors of the year will once again apply this year, with Masters winner Phil Mickelson, U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell and British Open winner Louis Oosthuizen teeing off at 2:35 p.m. ET off the first tee Thursday.

Other notable pairings:

• FedExCup points leader Ernie Els was originally paired with Lee Westwood and Dustin Johnson, but Westwood will not play due to an ankle injury that forced him to withdraw from the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. That threesome was scheduled to go off at 1:55 p.m. ET Thursday off the first tee. Kevin Sutherland replaced Westwood in the field.

• Young up-and-coming stars Rickie Fowler and Ryo Ishikawa will be in the same group with veteran Justin Leonard at 8:10 a.m. ET off the 10th tee.

• Another youngster, Rory McIlroy, will play with Steve Stricker and Adam Scott in the 2:15 p.m. ET threesome off the first tee.

• Two of golf's biggest bombers, Bubba Watson and Alvaro Quiros, will tee off at 8:40 a.m. ET off the first tee. Watson currently ranks second on the PGA TOUR in driving distance, while Quiros is second on the European Tour in that same category. The third member of the group, Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita, ranks 35th in driving distance on the Japan Tour.

• U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin will play alongside one of England's stars, Ian Poulter, at 9:40 a.m. ET off the 10th tee. Camilo Villegas is also in that threesome.