World No. 1 Tiger Woods will launch his bid for a 15th major golf title at next week's US Open in high-profile company with third-ranked Briton Lee Westwood and South African Ernie Els. American Woods, Englishman Westwood and three-time major champion Els are scheduled to tee off on the first hole at 2036 GMT in Thursday's opening round at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California. The heavyweight trio will start from the 10th tee at 1506 GMT in Friday's second round. American world No. 2 Phil Mickelson, in the eyes of many the best player in the game over the last nine months, has been grouped with three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and US PGA champion Yang Yong-eun for the first two rounds. Mickelson, Irishman Harrington and South Korean Yang will tee off from the 10th hole at 1506 GMT Thursday. US Open champion Lucas Glover, British Open winner Stewart Cink and South Korean An Byeong-hun, winner of last year's US amateur title will tee off together, while Fijian Vijay Singh has been grouped with Americans Dustin Johnson and Davis Love III. Bjorn continues his revival In Portugal, former Ryder Cup player Thomas Bjorn continued his return to form when he took a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the Portuguese Open Friday. A second-round, seven-under-par 65 allowed the Dane to race to 12-under-par 132 alongside Spain's Carlos Del Moral. Del Moral had set the target by firing a 65 in the morning. The pair led by two strokes from Britons Robert Coles (66) and Steve Webster (67) and Irishman Damien McGrane (70). A closing bogey, when Bjorn missed the fairway for the first time in the round, marred a perfect day in which he had run up eight birdies. The 39-year-old was delighted, however, at finding his game again after a long spell in the doldrums. His shot on the short 17th which left him inches from a hole in one, typified his day. A ninth place in last week's Wales Open after a run of six missed cuts began the Bjorn revival and success in pre-qualifying for the British Open Monday gave him confidence for this week, he said. Westwood shoots into lead In Tennessee, Lee Westwood shot a 7-under 63 Thursday, taking a one stroke lead in the opening round at the St. Jude Classic. The Englishman took advantage of no wind and a rain-softened course to equal his best score on the PGA Tour in the suspended first round. The world's No. 3-ranked player tied the course record for the back nine with a 29 with four of his five birdies and an eagle. He parred out his final eight holes. Not bad for someone who flew from London to San Francisco to play 27 holes Sunday at Pebble Beach with another 18 Monday before heading to Memphis. Westwood played nine holes Tuesday and a practice round Wednesday in his first visit to this course, but wound up with near-perfect scoring conditions in the eighth group off the 10th tee Thursday. Casey Wittenberg shot a 64, Padraig Harrington had a 65 and Tim Petrovic, John Senden and Bob Estes were among eight tied at 66 before a severe thunderstorm stopped play for nearly an hour. The round was suspended with 20 golfers left on the course. No one teeing off in the afternoon cracked the leaderboard with muggy conditions smothering the course with 100-degree heat, and wind that usually toughens this course staying relatively still before the storms developed. Defending champ Brian Gay opened with a 73. Jordan Spieth also shot a 73.
