Justin Rose has been handed an ideal and high-profile draw for his US Masters debut on Thursday.

Rose has been paired with close friends Adam Scott and Augusta native Charles Howell III in the opening two rounds of the first major of the year.

And the young Englishman will be in the group directly ahead of defending champion Tiger Woods as the world number one seeks an unprecedented third straight Masters title.

Rose tees off at 10.33am local time (1533 BST) with Woods following 11 minutes later alongside US Amateur champion Ricky Barnes and Argentina's Angel Cabrera.

Former champion Sandy Lyle is the in the first group out at 8.10am local time (1310 BST), with another former winner Seve Ballesteros in the next three-ball.

A third former champion, 1991 winner Ian Woosnam, follows Ballesteros with Colin Montgomerie and two-time winner Jose Maria Olazabal out together at 9.05am (1405 BST).

Padraig Harrington has been drawn alongside Tom Watson and Canadian left-hander Mike Weir, two groups before Rose, while Nick Faldo has to wait until later in the day before beginning his 20th Masters.

Ryder Cup partners Phil Mickelson and David Toms have been paired together again toward the end of the field, followed by Ernie Els, Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia.

German veteran Bernhard Langer and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke are in the penultimate group out in the first round alongside former Open champion David Duval.

Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11 2003 (USA unless stated):

(all times UK, Thursday times first)

(x) denotes amateurs

1310 & 1555 Sandy Lyle (Sco), Charles Coody, Tommy Aaron

1321 & 1606 Seve Ballesteros (Spa), Kirk Triplett, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)

1332 & 1617 Ian Woosnam (Wal), Scott Hoch, (x) George Zahringer

1343 & 1628 Ben Crenshaw, Nick Price (Zim), Fred Funk

1354 & 1639 Jeff Sluman, Scott McCarron, Steve Lowery

1405 & 1650 Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Colin Montgomerie (Sco), Tom Byrum

1416 & 1701 Larry Mize, Jonathan Byrd, Tim Clark (Rsa)

1427 & 1712 Gary Player (Rsa), Niclas Fasth (Swe), John Rollins

1438 & 1723 Rich Beem, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Scott Verplank

1449 & 1734 Mark O'Meara, Paul Lawrie (Sco), Loren Roberts

1500 & 1745 Jack Nicklaus, (x) Hunter Mahan, KJ Choi (Kor)

1511 & 1756 Tom Watson, Padraig Harrington (Irl), Mike Weir (Can)

1522 & 1807 Davis Love III, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn), Rocco Mediate

1533 & 1818 Charles Howell III, Adam Scott (Aus), Justin Rose (Eng)

1544 & 1829 Tiger Woods, (x) Ricky Barnes, Angel Cabrera (Arg)

1555 & 1840 Craig Stadler, Steve Elkington (Aus), Len Mattiace

1606 & 1310 Bob Estes, Craig Parry (Aus), Jeff Maggert

1617 & 1321 Craig Perks (Nzl), Kenny Perry, Chris Riley

1628 & 1332 Ray Floyd, Billy Mayfair, Chad Campbell

1639 & 1343 Brad Faxon, Chris Di Marco, Stuart Appleby (Aus)

1650 & 1354 Fred Couples, (x) Alejandro Larrazabal (Spa), Jerry Kelly

1701 & 1405 Fuzzy Zoeller, Thomas Levet (Fra), Toru Taniguchi (Jpn)

1712 & 1416 Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen, Kevin Sutherland

1723 & 1427 Arnold Palmer, (x) Ryan Moore, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl)

1734 & 1438 Jay Haas, Eduardo Romero (Arg), Robert Allenby (Aus)

1745 & 1449 Nick Faldo (Eng), Toshi Izawa (Jpn), Justin Leonard

1756 & 1500 Vijay Singh (Fij), Retief Goosen (Rsa), John Huston

1807 & 1511 Phil Mickelson, David Toms, Peter Lonard (Aus)

1818 & 1522 Ernie Els (Rsa), Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia (Spa)

1829 & 1533 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Darren Clarke (NIrl), David Duval

1840 & 1544 John Cook, Pat Perez, Shingo Katayama (Jpn)