PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Rickie Fowler, one of the most popular players in golf, can wear the brightest orange clothing from his Oklahoma State collection for the first two rounds of the Players Championship on Thursday and Friday, and he’ll still be virtually invisible in his group thanks to being paired with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

The threesome tees off at 1:52 p.m. in Thursday’s opening round at TPC Sawgrass and 8:27 a.m. Friday in the second round.

“It’s hard to believe — and it’s absolutely not even close to any disrespect to Rickie — but Rickie being the third person in a group, I mean, that hasn’t happened in however long,’’ Justin Thomas said.

“He’s such a big name everywhere we go, Rick is. But when you’re with Tiger and Phil, it’s a totally different animal.’’

The marquee grouping is something Fowler, whose 2015 Players Championship win is the biggest of his career to date, is embracing.

“I’ve got the best seat in the house,’’ Fowler said. “Not many other people get to walk the fairways. It’ll be fun. I’m looking forward to playing with the two of them. I know it’s going to be crazy out there. I’ve played with both of them plenty of times, so it won’t be anything new by any means.

“You know, Tiger and Phil are still two of the biggest names in our sport, so they deserve to be talked about. But we’ll see if I can go ahead and get some mentions in there and maybe make myself talked about by week’s end.’’

Fowler said playing in a group with Woods his first couple of years on tour was “definitely a shock to the system in a way.’’

“Now Thursday-Friday here is going to feel like being in contention on a Sunday of a Tour event to being at a major,’’ he said.

“I’m looking forward to it. It most of the time does bring, and should bring out, the best in myself. I feel like it makes me focus a bit more and dial in on what I’m trying to do and focus on what I need to do, because there’s going to be a lot going on.

“If there’s a chance that I can go ahead and tap in, I’ll probably tap in, just because once Tiger finishes a hole, there’s going to be quite a few people trying to scurry on to the next [hole].’’

While Woods was finishing up his press conference Tuesday, Masters champion Patrick Reed stood in the back of the room awaiting his news conference and asked Woods, “Are you going to be wearing the Nike pink [shirt] on Thursday?’’

Woods, who like Reed is sponsored by Nike, responded, “Whatever the Masters champion is wearing I will wear, I will copy.’’

Woods was asked a question about his opinion on whether he considers LeBron James or Michael Jordan the “G.O.A.T.’’

“Well, first of all, when I was growing up, ‘goat’ was a bad thing, right?’’ he said. “It has changed, and they’re both great in different ways. I think that if you look at M.J., he was a prolific scorer and played defense like no other, was always first-team all-defense. But LeBron is different. He’s like a hybrid of M.J. and Magic [Johnson], which is so different, because he’s bringing the ball up a lot. M.J. never really did that.

“They’re very different in how they help both teams. But at the end of the day, they both win, and they’re both guys that we look at and say, it’s unbelievable what they’re doing, and they’re just changing the game, the game how it’s played. We didn’t know it could be played that way, and they both have done it.’’

Jordan Spieth, when asked about Mickelson’s assertion that the younger players have little idea about how good Woods was at the height of his dominance, was asked if he’s asked veterans like Mickelson about Woods.

“I haven’t even had to ask,” Spieth said. “In conversation with other people, players with other players, it’s come out dozens of times how dominant he was, how good he was.”

Meanwhile, Woods, in the midst of playing a full schedule for the first time in more than four years, continued to sound humbled to be able to do so after a fourth back surgery in April 2017.

“I didn’t know what to expect this year,” he said. “I’m just so thankful to be able to have this opportunity again, because I didn’t know if I’d be able to have it. Trust me, I’m fully aware of how special this is for me.”

This week’s Players Championship features all 50 of the top 50 players on the FedExCup points list and in the Official World Golf Rankings. There are 10 past champions in the field and 20 first-time participants among the field of 144.