Two putts for Todd it is, and that’s a 65 to match Jason Day’s earlier effort. Here’s the leaderboard at the end of a fabulous opening round at Harding Park. Thanks for reading this blog. Join us tomorrow!
-5: Day, Todd
-4: Scheffler, Kaymer, Schauffele, Cauley, Z Johnson, Koepka, Rose, Steele, Lorenzo-Vera
-3: Finau, Kisner, Berger, Woodland, Noren, Lewis, Li, Poston
-2: Harman, Lowry, Wiesberger, Woods, Mitchell, Kitayama, Griffin, Hadwin, Reed, Hovland, DeChambeau, Scott, Casey
Todd’s second into 9 only just reaches the dancefloor, but he’s on in regulation and that’ll do. Two putts from 40 feet, and he’ll have a share of the first-round lead.
Paul Casey leaves his bogey putt short, and that’s a dismal double-bogey end to his otherwise fine round. It’s still a very impressive 68, and he’d have surely taken such a solid round this morning, but given the way it’s ended ... well, y’know. He’s -2. Ian Poulter bogeys for a 73.
Casey is faced with a huge putt coming back down 18, the best part of 100 feet, down a ridge. He can only roll his speculative par effort to 12 feet, and still has work to do to limit the damage to bogey. His partner may have used up all this group’s luck, though: Webb Simpson, one of the hot tips this week, rattles in a 40-footer for a birdie that limits his opening-day damage to 71. Meanwhile on 9, the co-leader Todd splits the fairway.
In fact Casey hasn’t made either of the bunkers in front of 18, tangled instead in thick rough just in front of them. He can only flick clumsily over both and to the back of the two-tier green, the pin positioned at the front. This could be an expensive final hole for the 43-year-old Englishman if he’s not careful.
Casey’s drive at 18 dribbles into a bunker to the left of the fairway. He’s got a tricky lie, his ball above his feet, and can only clip his iron into the bunker guarding the front of the green. A tricky up and down to remain one off the lead. That remains at -5, incidentally, Todd taking his two putts on 8 for par.
Todd has had to wait for a quarter of an hour on the 8th tee. No matter! He calmly swishes his hybrid into the heart of the green on this long par-three. That’s quite magnificent. He’ll have a look at birdie for the outright lead from 20 feet. Two putts for Casey on 17 for his par, meanwhile.
Jon Rahm’s in the same bunker. He manages to get up and down, and blows out hard in relief after making his par and signing for his 70. For all his travails today, one of the pre-tournament favourites is still only five off the lead. Phil Mickelson matches his sandy save, and he’s happy enough with his 72. The dream not over yet!
There are 156 players competing this week. Phil Mickelson is 151st today in greens in regulation. There are 20 club pros playing! That’s the thrill of Phil, who is still clinging on at +2, a masterclass in scrambling. He’ll have to pull something out of the hat again, as he sends his approach at 18 straight at the flag, spinning back and toppling off the green, into a bunker. There’s little green to play with from there. Can he showcase those absurd skills one more time today?
Par at 18 for Adam Scott, who signs for 68. He’s in good nick after round one. Rickie Fowler meanwhile makes a 20-footer and ends with a birdie, but it’s a 73. Paul Casey finds the heart of 17 and will have a look at birdie from 25 feet or so.
Casey rushes and pulls his birdie putt on 16 left of the hole. DeChambeau leaves his effort short on 18 and makes do with a final par, and a street-fighting 68. But Todd strokes his birdie putt straight into the hole at 7, and finally somebody has joined Jason Day at the top of the leaderboard!
-5: Day (F), Todd (16*)
DeChambeau and Todd send average wedges into 18 and 7 respectively. They’ll most likely both take two putts for par, but both should be in closer given the quality of their drives. The wind’s picking up, which works as a good reason/excuse.
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Fleetwood finishes with a disappointing bogey. Having made it as high up the leaderboard as -3, he’ll be disappointed with those final seven holes. He signs for a level-par 70, far from out of it yet. His compatriot screeches his second at 16 to ten feet, and will have a chance to join Jason Day at the top.
Paul Casey with a bounce-back birdie at 15! Along with the aforementioned Brendon Todd - who gives his birdie putt at 6 a good rattle, but must settle for par - he’s the best of the afternoon bunch right now at -4. Meanwhile birdie for Jon Rahm at 16, and he punches the air as he returns to level par.
Brendon Todd’s best finishes in the majors came in the middle of the 2010s: tie for 12th at the 2015 Open; a tie for 17th at the 2014 US Open. But after since battling back against the yips, he looks in the mood - and the form - to at least match those results, and maybe better them. He’s already won twice on Tour this year, and led going into the final round of last week’s WGC St Jude, only to stumble on Sunday with a 75. The 35-year-old is taking that form into this week, and having played the back nine in 33, birdies at 1 and now 5 have whisked him to within a shot of the lead at -4. And he’s given himself a chance to tie with Jason Day by drawing a lovely approach round trees and into the heart of 6. News when we have it.
Par for JT Poston on 9, and the 27-year-old from North Carolina signs for an impressive 67. Paul Casey sends a poor approach at 14 onto the top of a greenside hillock, and can’t get up and down for his par. He slips back to -3. And there’s to be no preposterous par for Mickelson on 15, as he leaves his first putt six feet short, then leaves the bogey putt up on the high side. That’s two shots gone in the blink of an eye, that putt as poor as the drive that started it all.
Tommy Fleetwood gets going again by teasing in a monster right-to-left curler for birdie at 17. He’s in red figures again at -2. And it’s a strong finish for the 2018 Masters champ Patrick Reed, who birdies 17 then strokes in a 40-footer on the last for another. He’s -2, a non-event of a round suddenly turned into an extremely workable 68!
Mickelson’s ball isn’t wet, but in a hazard down the bank to the left. He’s got a shot, but a desperate swish is no good whatsoever, he’s still in the trees. He slams his third into the heart of the green, and will have a 30-foot put for one of his trademark absurd pars. Meanwhile up on 18, Hadwin sends his second into trouble down the left, and he can’t get up and down. Bogey is a sorry end to an otherwise fine 68. He’s -2.
DeChambeau fails to hit his downhill par putt, and the ball stops a couple of apologetic feet short. That’s 5-5 and he’s back to -2. Meanwhile back down the hole, Mickelson sends a huge slice towards Lake Merced. “Darn it!” he curses, in that folksy way of his. Julius Boros’s record as oldest major winner (48, at the 1968 PGA) looks safe for another month yet.
DeChambeau, having seemed in total control for so long, is beginning to look a little ragged. He sends his drive at 15 into rough down the right, and his ball nestles under some overhanging branches. He’s forced to punch out, leaving himself a good 100 yards short of the green. The subsequent chip is bang average, and he’s got work to do if he’s to avoid back-to-back bogeys.
Li Haotong pars 9, and signs for an excellent opening round of 67. Meanwhile Paul Casey bundles his chip close at 13 to save his par. As we approach the last few holes, time to take another look at the leader board.
-5: Day (F)
-4: Scheffler (F), Kaymer (F), Schauffele (F), Cauley (F), Z Johnson (F), Koepka (F), Rose (F), Steele (F), Lorenzo-Vera (F), Casey (13)
-3: Finau (F), Kisner (F), Berger (F), Woodland (F), Noren (F), Lewis (F), Li (F), Poston (17*), Hadwin (17), DeChambeau (14), Todd (12*)
Casey’s second into 13 gets held up on the breeze and, like Frank Costanza, stops short. He’ll have a little work to do to get up and down to save his par. Meanwhile on 8, JT Poston chips in, and that’s back-to-back birdies. The reigning Wyndham champion is -3 through 17 holes.
Back to the 14th hole, as imagined by CS Lewis. Bryson batters his second from the base of the tree into the rough to the left of the green. The distance between green and Narnia: 176 yards. But it doesn’t look as though he’s going to make good a fantasy escape, because he then sends a clumpish chip bounding past the hole, nearly going off the green on the other side. His 25-foot par effort is never dropping, and he’s back to -3. Better news for Jon Rahm, who scrambles par in the wake of that microphone-bothering drive. He remains at +1.
Paul Casey continues to smoothly make his way around Harding Park. After a decent two-putt par from distance at 11, he knocks his second at 12 from 200 yards to five feet. In goes the birdie putt, and suddenly he’s right up there at -4! Meanwhile Adam Hadwin drops a shot at 15 to slip to -2 ... then picks it straight back up at 16. The Canadian is going along very nicely indeed.
“That’s in Narnia!” Bryson DeChambeau drifts off into a fantasy world as he flays a wild drive deep into the jungle down the right of 14. His ball ends up by the roots of a very large tree ... but he’s got a route into the green, and the ability to take a full swing. He’s going for the green, all the way from Neverland. Shades of Sergio on 16 at Medinah in 1999.
There goes the Rahm rag! He sends his drive at 13 into the trees down the right, and responds by tokking a nearby microphone with a hilariously petulant flick of his driver. The frustration of not being able to get going at all, writ large. His partner Mickelson finds the first cut to the left of the hole. His steady start - one under through 8 - seems a wee while back now. Bogey at 8, followed by a sequence of pars. He’s level and could do with getting going again.
DeChambeau sends a monster fade around the trees at 13, then sends his second from 170 yards to kick-in distance. That’s one of the shots of the day. He tidies up and moves back to -4. Glorious, and a fine response to that dropped shot at 12. Meanwhile his partner Adam Scott moves into contention, raking in a 30-footer across 13. That’s his third birdie in five holes, to follow back-to-back birds at 9 and 10; he’s -2. But the third member of the group, Rickie Fowler, looks a beaten docket right now, uncharacteristically glum as his round unravels. He gesticulates to the heavens in impotent horror as he matches Fleetwood’s bogey / double bogey whammy, and slips to +3.
Li judders with irritation as a fine snaking uphill birdie effort on 7 slips millimetres past the right edge of the cup. He remains at -3. Meanwhile double-bogey disaster for Fleetwood at 13, as his approach kicks left into a bunker, from which he thins his wedge over the green. In a flash, he’s back to level par.
DeChambeau’s second into 12 leaks off to the right, and he’s fortunate it doesn’t settle in the thick stuff. Instead, it hops over the rough and stops generously on the fringe. But he overhits the chip, 12 feet past the hole. Having just shipped a shot at 11, this could be the moment his round begins to unravel ...but he stabs the par saver back up the green and into the centre of the cup. That showed real moxie. He remains at -3. Fowler meanwhile takes three to get down from the side of the green, and he slips to +1.
Birdies at 4 and 6 for Li Haotong. He joins the best-of-afternoon group at -3, alongside Adam Hadwin, Paul Casey, Brendon Todd and Entertainment’s Bryson DeChambeau. Otherwise, it’s fairly quiet at the minute, art imitating life at the fan-free Harding Park.
Trouble for Fleetwood at 12, as he sends a huge slice into the trees on the right, and can only hack his way up the hole. His third, a chip from 50 yards, gives him half a chance of salvaging par, but he pushes the six-foot putt he leaves himself, and the resulting bogey drops him back to -2.
DeChambeau drops his first stroke of the round. His tee shot at the par-three 11th nestles onto the fringe at the back. A long birdie putt is left six feet short, and he can’t make the saver. He slips back to -3. But birdie for Rahm on 10, negating the bogey he had just made at 9. He’s been erratic all afternoon, with momentum at a premium. He’s +1.
News of Paul Casey, still chasing that elusive first major at the age of 43. He’s playing the front nine in Brysonesque fashion, birdies at 4, 7 and now 8 bringing him up to -3. As well as being alongside fellow afternoon starters Adam Hadwin and the aforementioned Tommy Fleetwood, he’s also sharing leaderboard real estate with Cameron Smith, the 26-year-old Australian having birdied 18 and now 1, and Brendon Todd, who has played the back nine in 33.
Tommy Ono Fleetwood nearly slam-dunks his tee shot at the short 11th. But it lands an inch to the side of the hole and bounds 20 feet past. One and one and one is three? Nope! He rolls a left-to-right curler into the cup for birdie and moves to -3! Meanwhile back on 10, DeChambeau is greenside in two. He delicately chips to three feet, and tidies up for a birdie that takes him within touching distance of the lead.
-5: Day (F)
-4: Scheffler (F), Kaymer (F), Schauffele (F), Cauley (F), Z Johnson (F), Koepka (F), Rose (F), Steele(F), Lorenzo-Vera (F), DeChambeau (10)
Tommy Fleetwood is dressed today like John Lennon on the cover of Abbey Road, top to toe in white, with those famous locks spilling down his back. And here come a fat shot, it come grooving up slowly, landing in a bunker guarding the front of 10. He can’t get up and down for birdie on the easiest hole on the course, and doesn’t look particularly happy as he takes his leave. Does that frown count as joo-joo eyeball? Still, having birdied 4 and 7 he remains in good nick at -2.
Since winning the 2017 Masters, Sergio Garcia has started 11 major tournaments ... and missed seven cuts. It’s already looking like those numbers will soon flip over to 12 and eight. He sends his tee shot at the long par-three 8th into thick rubbish to the right of the green. He’s shortsided, plus there’s a bunker in the road. He weakly flops his second into the sand, and doesn’t go particularly close with his splash out. He makes the eight-foot bogey putt, but he’s now +4 and wears the look of a man who doesn’t particularly care. Oh Sergio! Has it come to this?! (Bogey for Mickelson, too, incidentally, who also shortsided himself. He’s level par again.)
DeChambeau makes his birdie putt, and he hits the turn in 32. He’s -3, and it’s been an exhibition of calm brilliance so far. His Tin Cup meltdown at Muirfield Village seems such a long time ago right now. Playing like this, only red ants can stop him.
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DeChambeau, with his spanking new driver shaft, belts a monster down the long par-four 9th. Then he arrows his second straight at the flag, leaving himself an uphill 15-footer for birdie. Love him or say you hate him even though you secretly like him, he always provides wonderful entertainment. “So there is a price to pay for bulking up like Popeye on spinach then,” observes Adam Hirst, “and that price is paid by the clubs. All he did was lean on it and it fell apart, the poor thing.”
Rahm makes a head-cooling birdie at the short par-four 7th, after clipping his second to three feet from 50 yards. He’s back up to +1. Meanwhile bogey for Poston at 2, which drops him out of the group at -3. Here, on that subject, shall we remind ourselves of how things look at the toppermost of the poppermost? Why not.
-5: Day (F)
-4: Scheffler (F), Kaymer (F), Schauffele (F), Cauley (F), Z Johnson (F), Koepka (F), Rose (F), Steele (F), Lorenzo-Vera (F)
-3: Finau (F), Kisner (F), Berger (F), Woodland (F), Noren (F), Lewis (F), Norris (11), Hadwin (11)
DeChambeau chips up elegantly to kick-in distance at 8. He appears in total control of his game and his emotions today. He could so easily have allowed that driver incident to mess with his equilibrium, but he’s sailed on through and remains at -2. His partner Rickie Fowler, who had hit a 5-wood through the green, then a hot chip 20 feet back past the hole, makes the par saver to remain at level. (He had earlier dropped a stroke at 5.)
The 8th is playing at 237 yards today. Most player have been hitting hybrids into it ... and only one in five of the morning starters found the green. DeChambeau is hitting a 5-iron. Mind you, he’s not on in regulation either, his skelp finishing short and left, much to his surprise. But it’s on the shorter grass, so up and down for par shouldn’t be an issue. He seems happy enough as he walks up the hole, fixing up his Cobra and laughing with his caddy: “It was bound to break, I’ve been using it for a long time!”
JT Poston continues to shoot hot. After his run of three birdies in a row between 15 and 17, he missed a fourth by the width of a dimple at 18. No matter, because having turned in 33, he’s just made another at 1. The 27-year-old North Carolinian is -3. Meanwhile good news for DeChambeau, who scrambles his par after that wild club-bothering drive on 7, then receives his brand new shaft. His cronies have time to attach it to the driver head, too, because he’s about to play the par-three 8th.
Back on 6, Mickelson has the decent lie his unlucky drive deserves, and he’s able to find the green before escaping with par. He stays at -1. Not so fortunate is Rahm, who can only hack out into thick greenside stuff, from which he can’t get up and down. He’s +2, and bubbling, you can tell from the fire in his eyes, though he’s trying his damnedest to keep a lid on it. Sergio, the third member of this group, is also having a shocker. Bogeys at 3, 5 and now 6, and he’ll not be righting the wrongs of 1999 and 2008 this time.
DeChambeau batters another vicious drive down 7. It’s way off line. The camera cuts away ... then back to a sheepish looking player holding the head of his driver in one hand, a snapped shaft in the other! Has he snapped it in a glorious fit of pique?! It’s not clear, not even from the first replay of the sequence after the shot. But how could we doubt the young man? He was bending down to pick up his tee, supporting himself with his club, and the shaft gave way from under him. A quick check with the rules official, and one of his team is permitted to run off and get a new shaft, which he’ll be able to attach to the driver head easily enough. Bad / good new technology!
Bryson DeChambeau blooters a 330-yard drive down 6, chips pin high to 12 feet, and rattles in the putt. He’s -2. Meanwhile the exciting young Norwegian, Viktor Hovland, low amateur at last year’s Masters and US Open, is going along nicely on his major debut as a pro. Bogey at 2, followed by birdies at 3, 4 and now 7.
BREAKING NEWS: Phil Mickelson finds a fairwa... ah. Well, he had done, at last, but the ball took an absurd links-style bounce to the right and disappeared into thick filth. That’s exceptionally unlucky. Jon Rahm follows him in, though his ball was always heading that way. He’s fuming at his slow start: +1 through 5, and up against it to save par already here.
Mickelson leaves his first putt down the green a good four feet short. The par effort is no gimme, especially as Phil’s been known to miss his fair share of short ones. But he nervelessly guides the slight right-to-left slider in, and remains at -1. A quick reminder that Lefty shot 66-67 last weekend, and tied for second at the WGC St Jude. You’re thinking it too, right?
Mickelson has the magical short game of the great Seve. Sadly, he also drives like the much-missed Spaniard. Having flayed his tee shot at 4 behind some trees, he decided to play up a parallel hole, before wedging on and taking a couple of putts for his par. Now down 5 he’s hit another tree, meaning he’s only gone about 200 yards. He lashes his second, from 240, just over the back of the green, not a bad outcome all told. He’s more likely than not to make a two-putt par from there. However, it’s not 100 percent clear how he’s still -1, given the way he’s spraying it about from the tee box. Then again, this is why we love him, why we loved Seve. All part of the charm.
The 37-year-old South African journeyman Shaun Norris is ripping up the front nine. Birdies at 3, 6 and now 8 make him the hottest player of the afternoon wave. He’s -3. Meanwhile JT Poston, who won the Greater Greensboro Wyndham Championship last year with a final-day 62, has just turned around an average start with three birdies in a row - 15, 16, 17 - to move to -2.
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Another birdie for Fowler, this time at 4. Only a turn from draining an eagle putt, too. But a wild drive at 5 is punished by an awful lie, and he can only advance the ball a few yards. His third lands hard on the green, and stays there, but he’s facing a long par putt to remain at -2.
Scotland haven’t had a golfer from the very top drawer for a while now. Since Monty? Since Sandy? Anyway, Oban’s Robert MacIntyre could be the real deal. His one major played to date, last year’s Open, produced a tie for sixth. And the 24-year-old has started his second major solidly, with birdie at 3. Pars on every other hole through 6. He’s -1. And while we’re on a Celtic tip, belated news of Shane Lowry, who played the back nine in level par, but birdied 1 and 7 on his way home to sign for a very respectable 68. He’s -2, and the chance to become the first player to win the Open and PGA consecutively since Rory McIlroy in 2014 is very much still on.
Speaking of brisk starts, they don’t come much faster than Adam Hadwin’s. A drive crashed 310 yards down 1, then a wedge slamdunked into the cup from 74 yards. Eagle! The 32-year-old Canadian remains at -2 through 6. And how about this from Rob Labritz, one of the 20 club professionals who have qualified for this year’s carnival of US golf? An opening bogey, but birdies at 2, 3 and 5 have the 49-year-old from GlenArbor in Bedford Hills, New York near the top of the early leaderboard at -2. Labritz won’t get giddy: he’s already been the low club professional at the PGA twice, in 2010 and last year.
Mickelson rolls in a 15-foot birdie putt on 2, and that woeful opening tee shot suddenly seems an awfully long time ago. He’s -1 and this now qualifies as a brisk start. Another par for his partner Sergio, but Rahm bogeys, having shortsided himself then fluffed a chip. Meanwhile it’s an up-and-down start for Rickie Fowler, who must win a major at some point, it’ll be heartbreaking if he doesn’t. Bogey at 1 followed by birdie at 3, and the fairytale is only 70 holes away. But there’s no third birdie for Varner ... yet. Two careful putts and he remains at -2. He’d have taken that when standing behind that tree.
Harold Varner III went into the final round last year at Bethpage Black tied for second. He went round in the final pairing with eventual winner Brooks Koepka, but crumbled to a dismal 81, tying for 36th. But the 29-year-old from Ohio has a top-ten finish at the Players on his CV, plus a European Tour win at the Australian version of this event, so another tilt at the title is far from a pipe dream. He’s opened with birdies at 10 and 13, and has just played one of the shots of the day from behind a tree down the right of 15, whipping a big slice around the trunk and into the centre of the green. He’s got a straight 15-footer for a third birdie of the day. Par will be a most acceptable result too, mind. Right now, he’s -2.
DeChambeau is one roll away from draining a 40-foot birdie putt on 2. He’s started out in determined fashion, no doubt buoyed by the weather, which had threatened to turn an hour or so ago, the mist rolling in from the bay. But the sun stays out. Meanwhile a fast start by Li Haotong, who has been steady if not spectacular in the majors since that final-day 63 at Birkdale in 2017. The 25-year-old became the first Chinese player to lead any WGC event when he shot an opening-round 64 at the HSBC Champions back in November. (He ended the week tied for 24th.) Another fast start here, maybe? Birdies at 10 and 13, and he’s -2 through seven holes.
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Opening pars for Jon Rahm and PGA 1999 and 2008 bridesmaid Sergio Garcia. Phil Mickelson, wearing his fancy new aviators, makes par as well, and blows out his cheeks in relief having sliced his tee shot - a 3-wood taken for safety - into deep rubbish down the left. An escape for Lefty, who at 50 would blast the oldest major winner record held by Julius Boros (48, at the 1968 PGA) right out of the water should he prevail this week.
Thanks to Bryan for holding the fort. Now then. I’m back and fully energised again, thanks to one part Hamburger Helper (the only food-flavored food product marketed by a talking golf glove) and nine parts Bryson DeChambeau. You should have seen the way he’s just played the opening hole. All the shoulders into the drive, which flew hysterically over the trees on the left. Then a wedge whipped over the woods to 12 feet, followed by a putt clipped into the hole with minimum fuss. An opening birdie, and this evening’s round already promises to be quite the event.
Tiger Woods has opened with a two-under 68 and is the tournament’s current driving distance leader at 313.5yds – perhaps not for long as Bryson DeChambeau tees off alongside Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott – but it was his 115 feet worth of putts made with his new tool on the green that he was most enthused about immediately afterward. “I’ve been messing around with it for the better part of over a year,” the 15-time major champion says. “It’s a little bit longer than my original one, which makes it a little but easier on my back [so] I was able to spend more time practicing.”
Brooks Koepka is one shot off the clubhouse lead after making birdie on the 18th to open with a four-under 66, an ominously in-form start in his bid to become only the second player to win the PGA Championship three straight times. He’s now 56 under par in 21 rounds at majors since August 2018 with an average score of 68.1. “It’s a major, I’ll get up for it,” the world No 6 says. “It’s a little bit of confidence I guess. At the end of the day, I’m feeling good and I’m playing good. There’s no reason to be scientific.”
-5: Day (F)
-4: Scheffler (F), Kaymer (F), Schauffele (F), Cauley (F), Z Johnson (F), Koepka (F), Rose (F), Steele (F)
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Tiger Woods knocks in a 12-footer for birdie on the par-four 7th, moving three under for the day and two shots off the lead. The eleventh-hour putter switch from his trusty Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS to a new Cameron prototype appears to be yielding dividends. Meanwhile, Justin Thomas’s patchy back nine continues as he compounds his double bogey on the 3rd with another on the 7th after losing his tee shot in a cypress tree.
Bogey for Bud Cauley at 18. But he’s still back in 33, having gone out in 33, and he joins the ever-growing clubhouse gang at -4.
-5: Day (F)
-4: Scheffler (F), Kaymer (F), Schauffele (F), Cauley (F), Z Johnson (17*), Koepka (17*)
And with that, I’ll hand you over to your friend and mine, Bryan Armen Graham. He’ll see you through the next hour. Back in a bit!
Justin Rose is going along very nicely. Having turned in 33, he shed a shot at 3, only to pick it up again immediately at 4. He’s just sent his second at the short par-four 7th to three feet, and knocked in to the birdie putt. He’s -3. Brooks Koepka scrambles his par at 8 after leaving his tee shot short and hitting a very average wedge. A 20-foot putt arrowed into the cup saved his bacon. He remains at -4. And on 9, Xander Schauffele joins the clubhouse group at -4, making par to sign for an excellent 66.
Jason Day’s 65 represents his best opening round at a major. He’s not sure the scoring will stay low all week, though. “Usually when you’re around five under, leading on Thursday, typically that goes ten to 15 [as a winning score], somewhere in that region. But with it being a major championship, with the added pressure, it may crawl back if conditions get a little bit tougher.”
Tiger is one turn of the ball from draining a long birdie putt on 6. It would have been his third in a row, but he remains at -2. What his partner McIlroy would give for a par; he pulls a short putt and slips back to level par. Meanwhile Brendan Steele becomes the latest player to rake in from an absurd distance, steering in a 70-footer across 15 for his second birdie in three holes. He’s suddenly -3.
Trouble for Zach Johnson at the long par-three 8th. He sends his tee shot into the cabbage to the left of the hole, then flies his chip through the green and into the thick stuff on the other side. His chip coming back is heavy, and he’s left with a 12-foot bogey putt coming back. In it goes. That’s fine damage limitation, though the dropped shot costs him a share of the lead. He’s -4.
Varying experiences for Jason Day and Martin Kaymer as they play their last hole of the day, the 9th. Bogey for Kaymer, who found himself in a tight spot to the right of the green and couldn’t get up and down, but birdie for Day, who creamed his second from 213 yards to five feet, and popped in the putt. The 2017 champion has rediscovered his form of late, and off he wanders with a broad smile across his boat. He swaps places with Kaymer on the leaderboard, and is the new clubhouse leader.
-5: Day (F), Z Johnson (16*), Cauley (16)
-4: Scheffler (F), Kaymer (F), Schauffele (17*), Koepka (15*)
Back-to-back birdies for Tiger! He picks up shots at 4 and 5, and a round that was threatening to sputter out is revived. He’s -2, and despite there being no gallery at Harding Park, there’s a loud cheer of celebration from the assorted rabble of lanyard-wearers. A crowd follows Tiger where o’er he golfs, even when the attendance is officially zero!
Bud Cauley joins the leaders! He wedges pin high to 15 feet on 16, then rolls in the putt for back-to-back birdies. The 30-year-old Floridian was the passenger in a car accident in 2018, suffering five broken ribs, a broken leg and collapsed lung. He’s rebuilt his career, and already has two top-ten finishes on Tour this season to his name. Relative unknowns have won the PGA before - Daly, Beem, Micheel, Yang - so nothing’s impossible, and what a feelgood story it’d be.
-5: Kaymer (15*), Schauffele (16*), Cauley (16), Z Johnson (16*)
Schauffele can’t get up and down from a greenside bunker at 7 ... but it’s a short hole, and he’s still making his par four. Koepka races his first putt at 6 a good 12 feet past the cup ... but he arrows a nerveless saver back into the hole. And on the monster par-three 8th (it’s 251 yards) Kaymer sets his hybrid out to the left and fails to fade it back in. He’s in deep oomska ... but chips deliciously to four feet and tidies up to save his par.
-5: Kaymer (17*), Schauffele (16*), Z Johnson (15*)
-4: Scheffler (F), Day (17*), Koepka (15*), Cauley (15)
Bud Cauley drains a monster on 15, the best part of 100 feet from the fringe at the front, over a hump to the right, and back into the cup. Such a smooth stroke, too. Exquisitely judged. He’s -4. Compare and contrast with Jordan Spieth, who on paper is looking to complete his career grand slam this week, but in reality isn’t currently in possession of the game to do so. In deep grass to the left of 5, he overhits a flop straight through the green and down the swale on the other side. He’s got the good grace to smile wryly at his error, but he’s got to bundle home from 30 feet if he’s to save par. Nope, and he’s back to +2. He’s struggling badly right now. That Wanamaker-shaped gap on his CV won’t be filled this week. Don’t rule out 2021, though.
McIlroy struggles his way up the par-five 4th. He’s always out of position. And there’s no surprise when he’s left with a 12-footer to save his par. But he makes it. A birdie opportunity may be gone, but that’s a momentum saver, and he remains at -1.
A bogey for Scottie Scheffler at the 9th. But the 24-year-old - born in New Jersey but brought up in Texas - signs for a superb opening round of 66. Scheffler already has two top-three finishes on Tour this year, plus another in the top five. No record in the majors yet, barring his low-amateur finish at the US Open in 2017, but everyone’s got to make their statement victory sometime. There would be worse times to do it.
Updated
The winner of the last men’s major, Shane Lowry, has been going around quietly. Pars all the way, other than bogey at 14 followed by birdies at 17 and 1. He’s -1 through 13 holes. Meanwhile the much-tipped Collin Morikawa is piecing things together after going out in 36. He’s birdied 2 and now 4 to rise to -1.
Disaster for the world number one Justin Thomas at the par-three 3rd. His tee shot finds the bunker guarding the front right. He thins the sand escape through the green, then underhits the chip coming back. He can’t make the 15-foot bogey putt, and he slips back to level par. Brooks Koepka meanwhile finds the par-five 4th in two, then takes another couple of calm strokes for the birdie that brings him where he’s been telling everyone he would be. Walking it like he talks it.
-5: Scheffler (17*), Kaymer (15*), Schauffele (14*), Z Johnson (13*)
-4: Day (15*), Koepka (13*)
Xander Schauffele is going to win a major at some point soon. He surely is. He’s already got five top-six finishes at the majors, and he’s only played in 11 of them! Here he sends his wedge over the flag at 5, landing it 12 feet past and spinning it back to kick-in distance. He joins the group at the top.
-5: Scheffler (16*), Kaymer (14*), Schauffele (14*), Z Johnson (13*)
-4: Day (14*)
Hi-jinx dept. Here’s Alex Noren’s current run. Birdie, birdie, bogey, eagle, bogey, bogey, birdie, par. The par is probably the most surprising, it’s only his third of the day and he’s played 11 holes. He’s -3. Meanwhile Scott Piercy has played eight holes so far. Six fours followed by two twos! That sequence involved two birdies, a bogey and an eagle. He’s -3 as well.
Martin Kaymer keeps hold of the joint leadership with a strange two-putt from off the side of the green at 5. Putting up a hill and onto the green in the Scottish style, the ball nearly topples back down the bank, but just about hangs on. Kaymer then rattles in the 25-footer he’s left with! He’s joined there by Scheffler, who sends his second at 7 to 12 feet and guides in the left-to-right slider. Meanwhile birdie for Justin Thomas at 2; the world number one moves to -2. Bogey for his partner Tiger, though, after he misreads a left-breaking ten-footer, and he slips back to level par.
Updated
Koepka isn’t concerned by his latest bogey. He creams his second at 2 from 170 yards to six feet. In goes the bounce-back birdie effort, and the defending champ is -3 again. Meanwhile at -4, the early leader Scheffler is joined by his near-namesake Xander Schauffele, who cards his third birdie since the turn at 4.
The 2010 champ hits the front! Martin Kaymer drains a 50-footer for eagle on 4, following birdies at 1 and 3. This burst of action launches him to the top of the leaderboard at -5. But he doesn’t have the lead all to himself, as Zach Johnson birdies 3 after knocking in a 20-footer on the par-three. Birdie for Jason Day at 4, meanwhile.
-5: Kaymer (13*), Z Johnson (12*)
-4: Scheffler (15*), Day (13*)
McIlroy makes it four threes in a row with birdie at 1. This is a superb fightback. He’s starting to give himself chances with some fine approach work. He’s -1.
Alex Noren is having quite the up and down round. His last five holes: birdie, birdie, bogey, eagle, bogey. The latest slip takes him out of the lead and plops him back to -3, alongside Martin Kaymer (birdie at 3), Gary Woodland and Dustin Johnson (birdies at 1) and Xander Schauffele (birdies at 1 and 2). No Brooks Koepka, though, who made a horlicks of 1 and drops back to -2. This is a great leaderboard, and we’re barely started.
-4: Scheffler (14*), Z Johnson (11*)
-3: Finau (13*), Kaymer (12*), Day (12*), Schauffele (12*), Cauley (11), Woodland (10*), D Johnson (10*), Noren (8), Lorenzo-Vera (6)
Tiger’s drive on 18 leaks left, and his second ends short of the elevated green. He chips up to 15 feet, but he’s left with a tricky dribbler for his par. But in it goes, and he stops just short of launching into a leap and a heel-click as he jauntily skips after it. He hits the turn in 34, one under par. His partner McIlroy meanwhile makes another birdie, easy as you like with barely any drama at all, and his latest slow start to a major has been arrested nicely. He turns in 35, level par. He looked in all sorts of mental trouble an hour ago, but now he’s high on life. The third member of the group, Justin Thomas, pars and remains -1.
Dustin Johnson misses a par tiddler on 18. His playing partner Justin Rose bounces back with birdie, though, the reward for a lovely approach to 12 feet. Both hit the turn in 33 strokes, -2, but one man looks far happier than the other.
The 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett is living a bit of a nightmare right now. A birdie at 12 ... but bogeys at 10, 11, 15, 18, 1 and now 3, and he’s +5. Mind you, that’s one shot better off than another major champion, the 2002 PGA winner Rich Beem, who has just reached the turn in 41 strokes. He’s +6.
Koepka turns in 32 after rolling in a 20-footer for birdie on 18. This is so impressive after that false start with bogey at 11. He joins the group at -3, which now includes Finau after back-to-back birdies at 1 and 2. And an eagle for Alex Noren, who chips in at the short par-four 7th from 45 yards.
-4: Scheffler (12*), Z Johnson (10*), Noren (7)
-3: Finau (12*), Day (11*), Koepka (9*), D Johnson (8*), Wiesberger (7), Lorenzo-Vera (5)
Rory bounces back by screeching his second at the short par-four 16th to four feet, and making the birdie putt. He’s +1 and there’s a slight spring in his step again as he makes off to the next tee. Meanwhile a dismal three-putt for Justin Rose on the par-three 17th, and he’s far from happy, gesticulating in anger at some squeak from the sidelines. No crowd to blame, of course; to be honest, it was a poor pull from four feet. He’s -1.
Another birdie for Scottie Scheffler, this time at 3, gives the 24-year-old from New Jersey a share of the lead again. Jason Day birdies 1 to remain in hot pursuit, but Bud Cauley and Alex Noren drop strokes at 8 and 6 respectively to slip back to -2.
-4: Scheffler (12*), Z Johnson (8*)
-3: Day (10*), D Johnson (7*)
Justin Rose rakes in a 40-footer across 16 to move to -2. Dustin Johnson stays one ahead of him by guiding in a 15-foot left-to-right slider on 16; he’s -3. And Tom Lewis - who came very close last week at the WGC St Jude, shooting 61-66 over a brilliant weekend - opens with birdie at 1. Lewis shot 65 on the first day of the 2011 Open at Sandwich as an amateur. His professional career has taken a while to get going, but the 29-year-old from Welwyn Garden City is beginning to make his mark now. He’s a very decent outside bet to become England’s first winner since 1919 (!).
Another birdie for Koepka, who gets fazed by very little other than slow play. Good on the big man, it’s the scourge of the game. Anyway, this one comes at the short par-four 16th; he’s positioned nicely at -2 alongside another former champion moving in the right direction after a bang-average start. Martin Kaymer, who pipped Bubba Watson in the 2010 play off, has more than cancelled out a bogey at 11 with birdies at 14, 17 and now 1.
More misery for McIlroy, who has now made it three bogeys in a row, at 14. This one is the result of flaying his tee shot into thick oomska and being forced to take a drop. He’s +2. Meanwhile Tiger walks after a short par putt on 14 ... but it lips out on the right and that’s his first dropped stroke of the morning. He’s -1. And at the top, the 2007 Masters and 2015 Open champ Zach Johnson takes over, with his fourth birdie already, at the short and inviting par-four 16th. The big bombers have a history of doing well at Harding Park ... but it’s a tree-lined course that rewards accuracy, too, and the shorter-hitting Johnson may fancy his chances here.
-4: Z Johnson (8*)
-3: Scheffler (11*), Cauley (7), Noren (5)
It’s a four-way tie at the top now, with Bud Cauley, Zach Johnson and Alex Noren joining Scottie Scheffler at -3. Noren, approaching veteran status at 38, has a couple of top-ten finishes to his name at the Open, but has done very little in the Stateside majors. His best result in the USA is a 10th-place finish at the 2017 Players, but ten European Tour wins to zero on the PGA Tour tell its own story. Still, Sweden has come close at the PGA before - Henrik Stenson and Jonas Blixt finished third and fourth the year Jason Dufner won (2013) - and there’s no reason Noren can’t make a serious impression this week too.
-3: Scheffler (10*), Cauley (7), Z Johnson (7), Noren (5)
-2: Harman (10), Day (9*), D Johnson (5*), Wiesberger (5), Woods (4*), Fitzpatrick (4*)
You can’t keep a good four-time major champion down. Brooks Koepka has bounced back from his slow start with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14. The defending champ rises to -1, and all that early stress evaporates into the ether. Sadly, Rory McIlroy’s round is heading in the other direction. He’s followed that opening birdie at 10 with dropped shots at 12 and 13. He’s +1 and searching in vain for his A-game right now.
Scrub that! Several of those lurkers at -1 make birdie - four of them are major winners - while Scheffler turns in 33, then birdies the gentle opening hole. Suddenly it’s all change at the top during the early stages of this championship! Already it looks as though this could be one humdinger of a tournament.
-3: Scheffler (10*)
-2: Day (8), Cauley (6), Z Johnson (6*), D Johnson (5*), Noren (4), Woods (4)
Back-to-back bogeys for Daniel Berger, though, at 14 and 15. The former co-leader slips back to where he started the day. Just the 22 players at -1 now. Again: no.
-2: Scheffler (9*), Cauley (5), D Johnson (4*)
Bud Cauley, a 30-year-old from Daytona Beach in Florida, has no record to speak of in the majors, and no PGA Tour wins to his name. A journeyman. Then again, some players develop later than others, and he’s already had a couple of top-ten finishes on Tour this season. It’s not as though relative unknowns come bursting from the pack to snatch the Wanamaker Trophy, either; just ask Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel or John Daly. It’s probably a little early for Cauley to start dreaming ... but then again, if you’ve just birdied 1, 4 and 5, more than offsetting a bogey at 2, why not? He’s -2 through 5.
It’s nearly ten years since Dustin Johnson infamously grounded his club in a dusty patch to the right of the 72nd hole of the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Assuming it wasn’t a bunker, and going on to make bogey, he thought he’d made a play-off with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. But he’d not read the local rules, and it was. A monumentally confused Johnson was handed a two-shot penalty and ended the week tied for fifth. He’s come close on a few occasions since, most notably last year when he nearly snatched the prize from the hands of a nervous Brooks Koepka. His eventual second-place finish stands as his best at the PGA. Can the 2016 US Open winner go one better this week? Well, he’s started very nicely indeed. Birdies at 10 and 12, and he joins the leaders at -2.
Spieth does indeed drop another shot at 12, punishment for that errant drive. The long par-four is usually a par-five for everyday punters, who can rock up and play for 50 bucks if they live in the city and its environs. Get out of position from the tee and you’re in all sorts of bother, especially as there’s out of bounds running down the left. Even so, Spieth gave himself a chance to scramble par by wedging his third to nine feet, but the putt didn’t drop. He barely missed a thing in 2015, when golf looked so easy for him. But golf always wins. He’s +2 through three holes.
Updated
Some more big names out of the blocks with quickfire birdies! Here come Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen and ... Tiger Woods. Just the 25 major titles between that lot. They’re all at -1 early doors, just 71 holes away from making it 26.
Daniel Berger, by comparison, certainly was expected to feature heavily this week. He’s been bang in form since the restart, with victory at the Charles Schwab Challenge, a tie for third at the RBC Heritage, and a tie for second last week at the WGC St Jude, at which he posted a fine final-day 65. He’d had three top-ten finishes in a row just before the enforced break, too. Long tipped as a major-winner in waiting, could this be his time? Well, he’s started out in the grand fashion, with birdies at 10 and now 13. He joine Scheffler at the top, one shot ahead of 19 players at -1. (That’s a polite way of saying no, I’m not listing them.)
-2: Scheffler (8*), Berger (4*)
Following behind, Jordan Spieth, looking to complete his career slam at the ripe old age of 27. He’s not started particularly brightly either, missing a ten-footer on 10 for birdie, then failing to get up and down from the side of the 11th to save par. There wasn’t a great deal of expectation surrounding Spieth this week, his long game having been off for a good while now, and the early signs certainly don’t encourage an instant root-and-branch reassessment, especially as he’s just driven into rough down the right of the long par-four 12th. Then again, Tiger shot 40 on the front nine at Augusta back in 1997, before breaking all sorts of records en route to victory, so the young Texan won’t be pressing the panic button quite yet.
Here comes the defending champion Brooks Koepka, looking to lift the Wanamaker Trophy for the third consecutive time. Good thing he’s got all those muscles, because that is one oversized pot. Not the ideal start, though. He pulled his opening drive, at the makeable par-five 10th, into rough down the left. Not so makeable after all. A par on a hole that’s already been giving up its fair share of birdies. Then he was unable to get up and down from greenside rough at the par-three 11th, and the four-time major winner is off to a very average start. He’s one over through two.
The two early leaders have moved back towards the pack. Bogey for Scheffler at 14; a dropped shot for Finau at 13. They slip back to -2 and -1 respectively. Meanwhile more fast starts from a couple of likely lads: the reigning US Open champ Gary Woodland and new sensation Collin Morikawa, who won the Workday Charity Open, an emergency replacement for the John Deere Classic, only last month.
We had, rather naively we’ll admit, assumed Sky would be showing the morning’s featured groups, as usual, ahead of the full live coverage beginning later. Nope! There goes our hopes of following Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose, and Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas in great detail. No doubt a knock-on effect of subscription channel ESPN+ snaffling the rights in the States. They don’t half make some weird decisions, the PGA of America. Hey kids, anyone remember Spangles Eleven Sports?
Some solid starts by a few of the pre-tournament fancies. Jason Day, Daniel Berger, Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton have all launched their bids with birdies. Stuttering starts by a couple of former champions, though, as Rich Beem (2002), Martin Kaymer (2010) and Jason Dufner (2013) open with bogeys.
Scottie Scheffler also enjoyed that miserable Thursday at Oakmont. When the klaxon went to suspend play, he was the clubhouse leader having shot 69. Not half bad around a notoriously difficult track, but doubly impressive seeing he was a 19-year-old amateur at the time. (Never mind that he shot 78 in the second round and missed the cut by a stroke; giving it another go the following year, he finished as low amateur at Erin Hills.) Anyway, he’s flown out of the blocks this morning, with birdie at the makeable par-five 10th, another at the par-three 11th, and a third at the par-four 13th. He’s three under through four holes, but only one ahead, because Tony Finau, third at the Open and tied fifth at Augusta last year, has opened with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 as well. Hotting up already, and we’re only an hour or so in. Welcome back, major championship golf! God we’ve missed you.
-3: Scheffler (4*)
-2: Finau (2*)
No opening hole at a major is ever truly gentle, of course. The old nerves will be clattering away, for a start. Regarding this subject, the first bogey of the 2020 PGA Championship was made by Andrew Landry, the 32-year-old Texan unable to make a sandy save on 1. You may recall Landry leading the 2016 US Open after the first round, shooting a rain-disrupted 66 on Thursday and Friday at Oakmont. Plenty of time to turn it all around and relive past glories.
So we begin our coverage with news of the first birdie in a men’s major since Shane Lowry wedged to ten feet on 15 at Portrush, stroked in the putt, then fist-pumped the air, knowing the job was done. It’s made by CT Pan, the 28-year-old Taiwanese whose best finish at this championship is a missed cut last year. He sent his second at Harding Park’s gentle opening hole to six feet from 130 yards. In went the putt, and Pan became the first player to top the leaderboard at the 2020 PGA, albeit as a member of the very first group out. Still, if you’ve led a major, you’ve lead a major.
The 2020 PGA Championship is go!
Major championship golf is back, baby! It seems an eternity since Hinako Shibuno sensationally won the Women’s British Open at Woburn; one year and two days to be precise. Under normal circumstances, Shane Lowry would have defended his Open title three weeks ago at Sandwich, wrapping up the 2020 major season for the men. But these are far from normal circumstances, and here we are, starting it up right now, four months late, with a tournament for so long known as Glory’s Last Shot. A world turned upside down, huh.
It’s been long enough that we may need to remind ourselves of the 2019 winners in the men’s majors. Here’s the roll of honour ...
- Masters Tournament: Tiger Woods
- PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka
- US Open: Gary Woodland
- Open Championship: Shane Lowry
Koepka is looking to become only the second player to win the PGA three times in a row, having held off a resurgent Tiger Woods at Bellerive in 2018, then resisted a Dustin Johnson charge - and his own demons, an unprecedented collapse momentarily looking likely - at Bethpage Black last May. Walter Hagen is the only other man to pull off a three-peat in this tournament; in fact he managed four on the spin during the 1920s, when the PGA was a matchplay event. Given how close Koepka came last weekend at the WGC St Jude, there’d be no huge surprise if he pulled this one off. If he does, he’d be the first man to win three in a row at any major since Peter Thomson won his third Open in 1956.
Koepka is one of many stellar names with huge hopes of prevailing at Harding Park. Justin Thomas, the new world number one, coming off a win at the WGC St Jude. Tiger Woods, looking for number 16 on a course he’s long enjoyed playing. Jordan Spieth, looking to complete a career grand slam. Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Daniel Berger, Tony Finau, Patrick Cantlay and Colin Morikawa, looking to make their major breakthrough. Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick, looking to become the first English winner since 1919. Rory McIlroy, looking to end a six-year major drought. Webb Simpson, Jason Day, Michael Thompson and Phil Mickelson, looking to continue their recent resurgence. Big Dustin! Rickie! Phil! Shane! Gary! An outsider in the Beem-Micheel tradition! Sergio! We could go on. We won’t go on.
Of course the public can’t come in - ironically so, given Harding Park, just outside San Francisco, is a municipal - but a television audience is in for some real theatre nonetheless. It’s the first major of the 2020 season! It’ll be historic in all sorts of ways! It’s on!
Here are the first-round tee times ...
(USA unless stated; times all local, add eight hours for UK time)
Starting at hole 1 ...
0700 Jeff Hart, Brian Harman, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai)
0711 Andrew Landry, Rod Perry, Nate Lashley
0722 Sung Kang (Kor), John O’Leary (Irl), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa)
0733 Russell Henley, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa), Carlos Ortiz (Mex)
0744 Ryan Palmer, Kevin Kisner, Michael Thompson
0755 Lucas Glover, Bud Cauley, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
0806 Rich Beem, Alex Beach, Shaun Micheel
0817 Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Jason Kokrak
0828 Danny Lee (Nzl), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Vaughn Taylor
0839 Keith Mitchell, Matthias Schwab (Aut), Brendan Steele
0850 Joel Dahmen, Luke List, Victor Perez (Fra)
0901 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Marty Jertson, Tom Lewis (Eng)
0912 David Muttitt, Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Harris English
1230 JR Roth, Tyler Duncan, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa)
1241 Lanto Griffin, Rich Berberian Jr., Joost Luiten (Ned)
1252 Jim Herman, Rob Labritz, Shaun Norris (Rsa)
1303 Brandt Snedeker, Adam Hadwin (Can), Xinjun Zhang (Chn)
1314 Kevin Na, Patrick Reed, Robert Macintyre (Sco)
1325 Bubba Watson, Matthew Wolff, Graeme McDowell (NIrl)
1336 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn)
1347 Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau, Adam Scott (Aus)
1358 Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm (Spa), Sergio Garcia (Spa)
1409 Paul Casey (Eng), Ian Poulter (Eng), Webb Simpson
1420 Matt Wallace (Eng), Matt Kuchar, Marc Leishman (Aus)
1431 Sepp Straka (Aut), Ryan Vermeer, Si Woo Kim (Kor)
1442 Justin Bertsch, Sebastian Munoz (Col), Benjamin Hebert (Fra)
... and starting at hole 10 ...
0705 Daniel Balin, Scottie Scheffler, Tom Hoge
0716 Mike Auterson, Rory Sabbatini (Svk), Nick Taylor (Can)
0727 Tony Finau, Danny Willett (Eng), Patrick Cantlay
0738 Jason Dufner, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Jason Day (Aus)
0749 Daniel Berger, Xander Schauffele, Steve Stricker
0800 Collin Morikawa, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Zach Johnson
0811 Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry (Irl)
0822 Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose (Eng)
0833 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas
0844 Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Max Homa, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng)
0855 Abraham Ancer (Mex), Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Joohyung Kim (Kor)
0906 Corey Conners (Can), Zachary J Johnson, Chez Reavie
0917 Alex Knoll, Scott Piercy, Andrew Putnam
1225 Kurt Kitayama, Bob Sowards, Richy Werenski
1236 Haotong Li (Chn), Ben Cook, Jorge Campillo (Spa)
1247 Talor Gooch, Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Sungjae Im (Kor)
1258 JT Poston, Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Harold Varner III
1309 Ken Tanigawa, Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Cameron Tringale
1320 Brian Stuard, Jim Furyk, Billy Horschel
1331 Matt Jones (Aus), Jazz Janewattananond (Tha), Kevin Streelman
1342 Davis Love III, Jimmy Walker, Keegan Bradley
1353 Cameron Smith (Aus), Denny McCarthy, Cameron Champ
1404 Wyndham Clark, Troy Merritt, Chan Kim
1415 Doc Redman, Jason Caron, Brendon Todd
1426 Jordan Gibb (Eng), Lucas Herbert (Aus), Mark Hubbard
1437 Shawn Warren, Marcus Kinhult (Swe), Adam Long
Updated
