Matthew Fitzpatrick will begin the defence of his British Masters title at 8.10am on Thursday as part of one of four stand-out groups after the draw for rounds one and two of the event at The Grove were revealed this afternoon.

The 22-year-old, who will become the youngest player to retain a European Tour title since Seve Ballesteros in 1978 should he replicate his breakthrough achievement at Woburn 12 months ago, has been paired with Ryder Cup teammate Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton, who won his maiden tour event at last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

They will start from the tenth half-an-hour after the first groups have begun their rounds from the two-tee starts, but it is around lunchtime on Thursday that a sequence of games are also certain to attract large galleries.

Opening the run from the first at 12.15pm is 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, 2015 Bridgestone Invitational winner Shane Lowry and Victor Dubuisson and ten minutes later they will be followed by British Masters host Luke Donald and two more members of this year’s Ryder Cup team, Andy Sullivan and Chris Wood.

And to complete the sequence of eye-catching games ten minutes after that is reigning Masters champion Danny Willett, Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston and Alex Noren.

Those players who start from the first on Thursday will tee off from the tenth the following day and vice-versa.

Below is the full list of Thursday tee-times, together with when the players are due to start their rounds on Friday in brackets.

First tee starters

7.40am (11.55am): Craig Lee; George Coetzee; Paul Peterson.

7.50am (12.05pm): David Drysdale; Prom Meesawat; Maximillian Kieffer.

8am (12.15pm): Daniel Brooks; Trevor Fisher Jnr; Ben Evans.

8.10am (12.25pm): Alvaro Quiros; David Horsey; Ashun Wu.

8.20am (12.35pm): Y. E. Yang; Kiradech Aphibarnat; Pablo Larrazabal.

8.30am (12.45pm): Steven Benson; Michael Jonzon; Mikko Ilonen.

8.40am (12.55pm): Magnus A Carlsson; Roope Kakko; Gregory Havret.

8.50am (1.05pm): Gary Stal; Edouard Espana; Matthew Baldwin.

9am (1.15pm): Mikko Korhonen; Darren Fichardt; Graeme Storm.

9.10am (1.25pm): Thomas Aiken; Richie Ramsay; Gareth Wright.

11.55am (7.40am): Scott Jamieson; Chris Paisley; Morten Orum Madsen.

12.05pm (7.50am): Simon Khan; Oliver Fisher; Paul McGinley.

12.15pm (8am): Graeme McDowell; Victor Dubuisson; Shane Lowry.

12.25pm (8.10am): Andy Sullivan; Luke Donald; Chris Wood.

12.35pm (8.20am): Alex Noren; Andrew Johnston; Danny Willett.

12.45pm (8.30am): Tommy Fleetwood; Alexander Levy; Ross Fisher.

12.55pm (8.40am): Paul Lawrie; Rikard Karlberg; Trevor Immelman.

1.05pm (8.50am): Julien Quesne; Kristoffer Broberg; Jamie Donaldson.

1.15pm (9am): Soomin Lee; Lee Slattery; Matthew Southgate.

1.25pm (9.10am): Matthew Cort; Raphael Jacquelin; Haydn Porteous.

Tenth tee starters

7.40am (11.55am): David Lipsky; Matt Ford; Johan Carlsson.

7.50am (12.05pm): Felipe Aguilar; Joakim Lagergren; Anthony Wall.

8am (12.15pm): Jaco Van Zyl; Robert Karlsson; Gregory Bourdy.

8.10am (12.25pm): Tyrell Hatton; Lee Westwood; Matthew Fitzpatrick.

8.20am (12.35pm): Bernd Wiesberger; Soren Kjeldsen; Thongchai Jaidee.

8.30am (12.45pm): Joost Luiten; Thorbjorn Olesen; Richard Bland.

8.40am (12.55pm): Thomas Bjorn; Bradley Dredge; Marc Warren.

8.50am (1.05pm): Marcel Siem; Nicolas Colsaerts; Florian Fritsch.

9am (1.15pm): James Morrison; Renato Paratore; Jose Maria Olazabal.

9.10am (1.25pm): Pelle Edberg; David Howell; Scott Gregory (AM).

11.55am (7.40am): Jean Hugo; Brett Rumford; Eduardo De La Riva.

12.05pm (7.50am): Michael Hoey; Peter Hanson; Jorge Campillo.

12.15pm (8am): Mike Lorenzo-Vera; Steve Webster; Jin Jeong.

12.25pm (8.10am): Matteo Manassero; Eddie Pepperall; Tom Lewis.

12.35pm (8.20am): Jeev Milkha Singh; Johan Edfors; Stephen Gallacher.

12.45pm (8.30am): Romain Wattel; Nino Bertasio; Robert Dinwiddie.

12.55pm (8.40am): Fabrizio Zanotti; Richard Green; Richard Sterne.

1.05pm (8.50am): Alejando Canizares; John Parry; Benjamin Hebert.

1.15pm (9am): Robert Rock; Paul Waring; Nathan Holman.

1.25pm (9.10am): Andrew Dodt; Lucas Bjerregaard; Oliver Wilson.