Rory McIlroy paired with Thomas and Morikawa at the Players

Rory McIlroy in action at the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament last weekend

Rory McIlroy has been grouped alongside defending champion Justin Thomas and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa for the first two rounds of The Players.

McIlroy, who won the event in 2019 before missing the cut in last year's contest, will tee off at 5.56pm (Irish time) on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass.

Playing partner Thomas will be looking to become the first player to win back-to-back editions of the PGA Tour's flagship event.

Shane Lowry is the first Irish man in action - he tees off 1.24pm alongside Lucas Glover and Matthew Wolff while West Waterford's Seamus Power - who is hoping to keep his Masters dream alive will be in action at 6.18pm in a group which contains Luke List and Taylor Moore.

THURSDAY/FIRST ROUND (All times Irish)

First tee.

11:45am: Adam Schenk, Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges; 11:56am: Charley Hoffman, Harold Varner III, Will Zalatoris; 12:07pm: Kevin Streelman, Maverick McNealy, Roger Sloan; 12:18pm: Sungjae Im, Martin Laird, Richy Werenski; 12:29pm: Cameron Champ, Matt Jones, Francesco Molinari; 12:40pm: Erik van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Ryan Palmer; 12:51pm: K.H. Lee, Adam Long, Kevin Tway; 1:02pm: Sebastian Munoz, Dylan Frittelli, Jimmy Walker; 1:13pm: Joel Dahmen, Brian Gay, Corey Conners; 1:24pm: Lanto Griffin, Gary Woodland, Keith Mitchell; 1:35pm: Ian Poulter, Pat Perez, Jhonattan Vegas; 1:46pm: Henrik Norlander, Hank Lebioda, Taylor Pendrith; 4:50pm: Brian Stuard, Harry Higgs, Brandon Hagy; 5:01pm: Keegan Bradley, Andrew Putnam, Cameron Young; 5:12pm: Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters; 5:23pm: Ryan Brehm, Kevin Kisner, Jason Day; 5:34pm: Jordan Spieth, Daniel Berger, Dustin Johnson; 5:45pm: Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele; 5:56pm: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas; 6:07pm: Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose; 6:18pm: Marc Leishman, J.T. Poston, Zach Johnson; 6:29pm: Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson; 6:40pm: Charl Schwartzel, Denny McCarthy, Tyler McCumber; 6:51pm: Brendan Steele, Emiliano Grillo, Matthew NeSmith.

10th tee.

11:45am: Brian Harman, Russell Knox, Beau Hossler; 11:56am: Kyle Stanley, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark; 12:07pm: Aaron Wise, Doc Redman, Mito Pereira; 12:18pm: Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson; 12:29pm: Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen; 12:40pm: Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith; 12:51pm: Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm; 1:02pm: Sam Burns, Abraham Ancer, Paul Casey; 1:13pm: Tom Hoge, Tyrrell Hatton, Brandt Snedeker; 1:24pm: Lucas Glover, Shane Lowry, Matthew Wolff; 1:35pm: Peter Malnati, Alex Noren, Anirban Lahiri; 1:46pm: Scott Piercy, Nick Watney, Hayden Buckley; 4:50pm: Chris Kirk, Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick; 5:01pm: Cameron Tringale, Sam Ryder, Matt Wallace; 5:12pm: James Hahn, Chesson Hadley, J.J. Spaun; 5:23pm: Hudson Swafford, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak; 5:34pm: Cam Davis, Branden Grace, Carlos Ortiz; 5:45pm: Sepp Straka, Robert Streb, Bubba Watson; 5:56pm: Lucas Herbert, Brendon Todd, Chez Reavie; 6:07pm: Stewart Cink, C.T. Pan, Patton Kizzire; 6:18pm: Luke List, Seamus Power, Taylor Moore; 6:29pm: Brice Garnett, Adam Hadwin, Danny Lee; 6.40pm: Troy Merritt, Scott Stallings, Doug Ghim; 6:51pm: Joseph Bramlett, Stephan Jaeger, Sahith Theegala.

FRIDAY/SECOND ROUND.

First tee.

11:45am: Chris Kirk, Lee Westwood, Matt Fitzpatrick; 11:56am: Cameron Tringale, Sam Ryder, Matt Wallace; 12:07pm: James Hahn, Chesson Hadley, J.J. Spaun; 12:18pm: Hudson Swafford, Talor Gooch, Jason Kokrak; 12:29pm: Cam Davis, Branden Grace, Carlos Ortiz; 12:40pm: Sepp Straka, Robert Streb, Bubba Watson; 12:51pm: Lucas Herbert, Brendon Todd, Chez Reavie; 1:02pm: Stewart Cink, C.T. Pan, Patton Kizzire; 1:13pm: Luke List, Seamus Power, Taylor Moore; 1:24pm: Brice Garnett, Adam Hadwin, Danny Lee; 1:35pm: Troy Merritt, Scott Stallings, Doug Ghim; 1:46pm: Joseph Bramlett, Stephan Jaeger, Sahith Theegala; 4:50pm: Brian Harman, Russell Knox, Beau Hossler; 5:01pm: Kyle Stanley, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark; 5:12pm: Aaron Wise, Doc Redman, Mito Pereira; 5:23pm: Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson; 5:34pm: Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen; 5:45pm: Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama, Cameron Smith; 5:56pm: Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm; 6:07pm: Sam Burns, Abraham Ancer, Paul Casey; 6:18pm: Tom Hoge, Tyrrell Hatton, Brandt Snedeker; 6:29pm: Lucas Glover, Shane Lowry, Matthew Wolff; 6:40pm: Peter Malnati, Alex Noren, Anirban Lahiri; 6:51pm: Scott Piercy, Nick Watney, Hayden Buckley.

10th tee.

11:45am: Brian Stuard, Harry Higgs, Brandon Hagy; 11:56am: Keegan Bradley, Andrew Putnam, Cameron Young; 12:07pm: Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Thomas Pieters; 12:18pm: Ryan Brehm, Kevin Kisner, Jason Day; 12:29pm: Jordan Spieth, Daniel Berger, Dustin Johnson; 12:40pm: Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele; 12:51pm: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas; 1:02pm: Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Justin Rose; 1:13pm: Marc Leishman, J.T. Poston, Zach Johnson; 1:24pm: Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson; 1:35pm: Charl Schwartzel, Denny McCarthy, Tyler McCumber; 1:46pm: Brendan Steele, Emiliano Grillo, Matthew NeSmith; 4:50pm: Adam Schenk, Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges; 5:01pm: Charley Hoffman, Harold Varner III, Will Zalatoris; 5:12pm: Kevin Streelman, Maverick McNealy, Roger Sloan; 5:23pm: Sungjae Im, Martin Laird, Richy Werenski; 5:34pm: Cameron Champ, Matt Jones, Francesco Molinari; 5:45pm: Erik van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Ryan Palmer; 5:56pm: K.H. Lee, Adam Long, Kevin Tway; 6:07pm: Sebastian Munoz, Dylan Frittelli, Jimmy Walker; 6:18pm: Joel Dahmen, Brian Gay, Corey Conners; 6:29pm: Lanto Griffin, Gary Woodland, Keith Mitchell; 6:40pm: Ian Poulter, Pat Perez, Jhonattan Vegas; 6:51pm: Henrik Norlander, Hank Lebioda, Taylor Pendrith.