The trio will tee off at 12:35 p.m. EST on Thursday from the tee No. 1 at the PGA National’s Champions Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
The Floridian is yet to finish in the top-10 this season and has made only three starts since returning from a knee injury that kept him out of action from October until mid-January.
Koepka played two European Tour events last month—finishing tied for 34th in Abu Dhabi and tied for 17th in Saudi Arabia—and finished tied for 43th in its only PGA Tour start of the season, at the Genesis Invitational two weeks ago.
The prolonged inactivity has seen the four-time major winner slip from No. 1 to No. 3 in the world rankings behind Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, but given the gap neither of the two will be in action this week.
The Honda Classic holds fond memories for Koepka, who finished second in the event last year behind Mitchell.
Like Koepka, the defending champion is still looking for a first top-10 finish this season but is determined to hold onto his title.
“I don’t want somebody else taking my trophy from me,” the 28-year-old was quoted as saying by Golf Channel. “I feel like we’re trending. My game is getting better. I’ve had some good finishes the last couple weeks.”
The reigning Open and U.S. Open champions—Shane Lowry and Gary Woodland—will tee off 10 minutes before Koepka, along with South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, who returns to the Honda Classic for the first time since finishing tied for 24th two years ago.
Fresh from finishing tied for third at the WGC-Mexico Championship last week, Oosthuizen’s countryman, Erik van Rooyen, gets his tournament underway at 7:05 a.m. ET from tee No. 10.
The South African will play alongside South Korea’s Byeong Hun An and China’s Xinjun Zhang.
The trio will be followed 30 mins later by a group containing 2017 Honda Classic winner Rickie Fowler, Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann.
Tommy Fleetwood, the bookmakers’ joint-favourite alongside Koepka, also begins his tournament from tee No. 10 on Thursday.
The world No. 12 will play alongside fellow Englishman Justin Rose, the world No. 13, and Billy Horschel.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Thursday.
Selected tee times (All times EST)
Tee No. 1
6:45 a. m. —Vaughn Taylor, Fabián Gómez, Seung-Yul Noh7:25 a. m. —C. T. Pan, Greg Chalmers, Jim Furyk7:35 a. m. —Ryan Palmer, Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover8:15 a. m. —Padraig Harrington, Matt Jones, Matthew NeSmith11:55 a. m. —Chris Stroud, Kevin Streelman, Matt Wallace12:25 p. m. —Shane Lowry, Gary Woodland, Louis Oosthuizen12:35 p. m. —Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff, Keith Mitchell12:45 p. m. —Scott Stallings, Lee Westwood, Jamie Lovemark
Tee No. 10
6:45 a. m. —Bud Cauley, Patrick Rodgers, Harry Higgs7:05 a. m. —Byeong Hun An, Xinjun Zhang, Erik van Rooyen7:15 a. m. —Ian Poulter, Brendan Steele, Hudson Swafford7:35 a. m. —Viktor Hovland, Joaquin Niemann, Rickie Fowler7:45 a. m. —Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood7:55 a. m. —Charl Schwartzel, Emiliano Grillo, Kiradech Aphibarnrat12:35 p. m. —Jim Herman, Aaron Wise, Rory Sabbatini12:45 p. m. —Brian Stuard, Scott Brown, Sungjae Im
Honda Classic TV coverage
On Thursday and Friday, coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST on Golf Channel and runs until 6:30 p.m. ET. Coverage of featured groups and featured holes will be available from 7 a.m. ET on both days via PGA Tour Live.
Golf Channel will also broadcast live action between 1 - 3 p.m. EST on Saturday and Sunday.
NBC will take over at 3 p.m. EST on Saturday and Sunday, covering the final two rounds. Coverage of featured groups and featured holes will be available from 7:15 a.m. EST on Saturday and Sunday via PGA Tour Live.
Honda Classic live stream
All four days of the tournament can be watched on PGA Tour Live, Golf Channel’s digital platforms and via fuboTV. A live stream of the final two days of the tournament will be available via NBC’s digital platforms.
