Donald Miralle
Tiger Woods shakes hands with Patrick Reed on the ninth hole after finishing the second round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines North on January 26, 2018.

By Alex Myers
Patrick Reed will take a break from his green jacket tour to make his first start since winning the Masters at this week’s Wells Fargo Championship. But most of the focus for at least the first two rounds will be on one of his playing partners.

Reed will tee it up with Tiger Woods at Quail Hollow on Thursday at 12:50 p.m. and Friday at 7:40 a.m. Reigning U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka will round out the star-studded threesome.

Last month, Reed won his first major championship at Augusta National, withstanding a Sunday charge by Jordan Spieth and holding off Rickie Fowler by a shot. Since then he has proudly worn his green jacket everywhere, from NBA playoff games to interviews to Chick-Fil-A.

Woods will also be making his first start since the Masters, where he finished T-32. It will be his seventh official start since returning from undergoing a back fusion last April. Before his start at Augusta National, Woods posted back-to-back top fives at Bay Hill and Innisbrook. After falling to No. 1,199 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Woods is back into the top 100 at No. 93. On Tuesday, Woods revealed he has some new irons in the bag.

Meanwhile, Koepka returned to action this past week at the Zurich Classic, where he and teammate Marc Turnesa missed the cut. Koepka had been sidelined with a wrist injury the previous four months.

Reed idolised Woods growing up, copying his trademark red shirt-black pants combo most Sundays. The two have gotten closer in recent years with Woods being an assistant captain for both the 2016 Ryder Cup and 2017 Presidents Cup. After Reed’s Masters triumph, Tiger teased the young star that he’d locked up a captain’s pick on his 2019 Presidents Cup squad. Between Woods and Reed exchanging verbal jabs and Tiger and Brooks sharing weightlifting tips, this should be a pretty lively group.