The 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie has officially begun, and there are some intriguing threesomes linking up just off the North Sea in Scotland over the first two rounds of the year's third major championship.

Stars are littered throughout the 52 groups that will tee off on the first two days. (Just take a look at the top nine groups featured below.)

One thing The Open does correctly is not slotting together mega-groups where, say, six of the top nine players in the world are all in just two different groups. The R&A (as well as Augusta National) does a great job spacing the top guys out but keeping the groups interesting throughout the day. I also love that players only tee off on the first hole at those two events.

The most eye-opening groups for me this year are the Rory McIlroy-Marc Leishman-Thorbjorn Olesen game or the Sergio Garcia-Shubhankar Sharma-Bryson DeChambeau trio. I'm also into that Jordan Spieth-Justin Rose-Kiradech Aphibarnrat group and the Jon Rahm-Rickie Fowler-Chris Wood one as well.

Here's a look at some of the top groups as The Open begins on Thursday, followed by the compete set of 52 tee times ahead of Round 1. Click here for a look at the full slate of odds heading into the 2018 British Open.

All times Eastern

2018 Open Championship tee times for Thursday (Round 1) 

3:03 a.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Satoshi Kodaira, Rafa Cabrera Bello  
4:58 a.m. -- Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
5:09 a.m. -- Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, Chris Wood
5:20 a.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey, Patrick Reed  
7:31 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Tommy Fleetwood, Jimmy Walker
7:53 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Marc Leishman, Thorbjorn Olesen
8:04 a.m. -- Dustin Johnson, Alex Noren, Charley Hoffman  
10:10 a.m. -- Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Shubhankar Sharma
10:21 a.m. -- Tiger Woods, Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Knox  

1:35 a.m. -- Sandy Lyle, Martin Kaymer, Andy Sullivan
1:46 a.m. -- Erik Van Rooyen, Brady Schnell, Matthew Southgate
1:57 a.m. -- Danny Willett, Emiliano Grillo, Luke List
2:08 a.m. -- Mark Calcavecchia, Danthai Boonma, Shaun Norris
2:19 a.m. -- Kevin Chappell, Oliver Wilson, Eddie Pepperell
2:30 a.m. -- Ross Fisher, Paul Dunne, Austin Cook
2:41 a.m. -- Tyrrell Hatton, Patrick Cantlay, Shane Lowry
2:52 a.m. -- Thomas Pieters, Kevin Kisner, Marcus Kinhult
3:03 a.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Satoshi Kodaira, Rafa Cabrera Bello
3:14 a.m. -- Brian Harman, Yuta Ikeda, Andrew Landry
3:25 a.m. -- Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Nicolai Hojgaard
3:36 a.m. -- Stewart Cink, Brandon Stone, Hideto Tanihara
3:47 a.m. -- Gary Woodland, Yusaku Miyazato, Sung Kang
4:03 a.m. -- Ernie Els, Adam Hadwin, Chesson Hadley
4:14 a.m. -- Pat Perez, Julian Suri, George Coetzee
4:25 a.m. -- David Duval, Scott Jamieson, Kevin Na
4:36 a.m. -- Darren Clarke, Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen
4:47 a.m. -- Matt Kuchar, Anirban Lahiri, Peter Uihlein
4:58 a.m. -- Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Kiradech Aphibarnrat
5:09 a.m. -- Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, Chris Wood
5:20 a.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Paul Casey, Patrick Reed
5:31 a.m. -- Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Jhonattan Vegas
5:42 a.m. -- Yuxin Lin, Alexander Bjork, Sang Hyun Park
5:53 a.m. -- James Robinson, Haraldur Magnus, Zander Lombard
6:04 a.m. -- Kodai Ichihara, Rhys Enoch, Marcus Armitage
6:15 a.m. -- Sean Crocker, Gavin Green, Ash Turner

6:36 a.m. -- Brandt Snedeker, Sam Locke, Cameron Davis
6:47 a.m. -- Patton Kizzire, Jonas Blixt, Charles Howell III
6:58 a.m. -- Charl Schwartzel, Daniel Berger, Tom Lewis
7:09 a.m. -- Alex Levy, Ryan Moore, Ben An
7:20 a.m. -- Michael Hendry, Kelly Kraft, Lee Westwood
7:31 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Tommy Fleetwood, Jimmy Walker
7:42 a.m. -- Mathew Fitzpatrick, Russell Henley, Jovan Rebula
7:53 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Marc Leishman, Thorbjorn Olesen
8:04 a.m. -- Dustin Johnson, Alex Noren, Charley Hoffman
8:15 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Adam Scott, Brendan Steele
8:26 a.m. -- Francesco Molinari, Branden Grace, Justin Thomas
8:37 a.m. -- Jason Day, Shota Akiyoshi, Haotong Li
8:48 a.m. -- Todd Hamilton, Beau Hossler, Jorge Campillo
9:04 a.m. -- Ryuko Tokimatsu, Chez Reavie, Michael Kim
9:15 a.m. -- Kyle Stanley, Nicolas Colsaerts, Jens Dantorp
9:26 a.m. -- Tom Lehman, Dylan Frittelli, Grant Forrest
9:37 a.m. -- Lucas Herbert, Min Chel Choi, Jason Kokrak
9:48 a.m. -- Padraig Harrington, Bubba Watson, Matt Wallace
9:59 a.m. -- Ian Poulter, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka
10:10 a.m. -- Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau, Shubhankar Sharma
10:21 a.m. -- Tiger Woods, Hideki Matsuyama, Russell Knox
10:32 a.m. -- Jason Dufner, Ryan Fox, Keegan Bradley
10:43 a.m. -- Ryan Armour, Abraham Ancer, Masahiro Kawamura
10:54 a.m. -- Jazz Janewattananond, Fabrizio Zanotti, Jordan Smith
11:05 a.m. -- Brett Rumford, Masanori Kobayashi, Jack Senior
11:16 a.m. -- Matt Jones, Thomas Curtis, Bronson Burgoon