The Open Championship, St Andrews, 15-18 July Coverage: Live on BBC TV, Red Button, BBC Sport website, with updates on BBC Radio 5 live Full coverage details
Rose has risen to 16th in the world rankings after two PGA Tour wins
England's Justin Rose has been drawn with world number one Tiger Woods for the first two rounds of the Open at St Andrews, which starts on Thursday.
Rose, 29, recently won twice on the PGA Tour and will tee off at 0909 BST with Woods and Colombian Camilo Villegas.
Reigning Open champion Stewart Cink will start alongside England's Ian Poulter and former champion Ernie Els.
And Masters champion Phil Mickelson plays with Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and South Africa's Retief Goosen.
Elsewhere in the draw Northern Ireland's reigning US Open champion, Graeme McDowell, will tee off with two former US Open champions in American Jim Furyk and Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
You've got to play the course and a St Andrews Open is the iconic thing. No-one is bigger than that this week
Rose on being paired with Woods
Rose has risen to 16th in the world rankings on the back of some impressive recent displays in the United States where he won the Memorial Tournament in June and this month's AT&T National.
It was only the second of those victories on 4 July that earned the Englishman his spot at St Andrews and he will now play his first major of the season after missing out on the Masters in April and the US Open in June.
Rose will also have to contend with the extra fanfare that will accompany Woods on his first appearance on British soil since revelations about his extra-marital affairs at the end of 2009.
"I was not surprised to be honest - I kind of called it actually," Rose said of being paired with Woods. "I'm looking forward to the week and I'm looking forward to that.
"I wasn't concerned one way or the other - you've got to play the course and a St Andrews Open is the iconic thing. No-one is bigger than that this week. It doesn't get any better.
"It's got the opportunity to be a distraction for sure, but I was always going to get a fairly busy group. I don't think it has ramped it up way different from what I was expecting."
Woods, 34, is searching for his third consecutive victory at the Old Course but the quest for his 15th major title has been hampered by fluctuating form since he took five months out of the game to repair his private life.
He was fourth in both the Masters and the US Open earlier this season, but after an appearance at a Pro-Am tournament in Ireland last week, decided to fly back home to his family in Florida rather than practice on links courses.
"I've not had a run like this for a long, long time, and he's not had the type of run he's had probably ever, but I still think he's the man to beat," added Rose.
"If he gets his confidence going there's a 'horses for courses' mentality and he will remember shots he has hit and how to play this course."
Should Mickelson, 40, win his first Open Championship he will topple Woods at the top of the world golf rankings. A top-four finish would also be good enough for the left-hander if Woods misses the cut for the second year running.
Teeing off behind Rose and Woods will be the star of the 2009 Open Championship Tom Watson, who came so close to winning his sixth title.
Watson, 60, was beaten in a play-off by Cink at Turnberry last year and is sure to receive a fantastic welcome alongside Ireland's 2008 and 2007 Open champion Padraig Harrington and 18-year-old Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa.
Harrington, who also added the USPGA Championship in 2008, has been on a barren run in majors since then but the Irishman said it wasn't because he was trying hard enough.
"I want to go out and win more majors, and if anything I'm too pushy, too hard, and trying too hard, and it's all about getting the next one," he said.
"It's not about sitting back and doing your normal thing and relaxing a little bit and enjoying it. I definitely would be of the other camp of overdoing things.
"I haven't made it to the stage that I'm not excited about the game. There will be a few years left for me before that happens."
Of his draw with Watson and Ishikawa, Harrington, 38, added: "That's actually a lovely three-ball," he said. "I've got to say, I've got two ends of the spectrum to look at, certainly a lot to learn from Tom Watson and certainly a lot to watch with Ryo Ishikawa."
World number three Lee Westwood remains optimistic despite the fact that he is still recovering from rupturing a muscle in his calf.
"It's frustrating that it's the Open Championship," said the Englishman. "If I don't play well this week, I won't put it down to the injury.
"Obviously it doesn't help but I'm hitting the ball well and feel like I'm very comfortable on these greens. So, you know, I'm still hoping for a good week."
The last Briton to win the Open, Paul Lawrie, will kick things off bright and early on Thursday.
The 1999 winner at Carnoustie tees off at 0630 BST with France's Thomas Levet and American Steve Marino for company.
Tee-off times for Thursday and Friday (all times BST)
0630 & 1141 Thomas Levet (Fra), Paul Lawrie, Steve Marino (US)
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