Some background on the season's final major as well as updated highlights and results as the week progresses.
The PGA Championship gets a bad rap. It's panned for not having an instantly recognizable identity like the other three majors. It's regularly ranked as the fourth major. But in recent years, it's consistently the most exciting and dramatic. Kerry Haigh and PGA of America set up a course that's a fair test and not tricked up or unplayable. The best in the world, playing at their best, are capable of posting mid-to-low 60s rounds and shooting up the leaderboard. That leaderboard can be shuffled up dramatically and instantly and it led to the best major weekend of the entire season last year at Valhalla.
This year's PGA returns to Whistling Straits, which some argue is the best venue on the championship's rota. Everyone is here too. Rory McIlroy has returned from injury just in time to try and swat away Jordan Spieth's assault on his No. 1 ranking. Tiger Woods tries to salvage a completely lost, and often humiliating, summer at the majors. Every member of this new post-Tiger crop -- Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Bubba Watson et al -- seems to be on form and playing some of their best golf too. Here's some background on this PGA and a place we'll update with highlights and results of each round as the week progresses in Wisconsin.
The Field
The PGA of America likes to boast that their field is the deepest in major championship golf. The U.S. Open and British Open reserve large swaths for "open" qualifiers who are often lesser-known players or complete no-names off the street with no shot of winning. The Masters field is on the smaller side compared to the other three and can't claim, as the PGA does this year, that 97 of the top 100 in the world rankings are in attendance.
The full field is set at 156 players, the standard size for the three non-Masters majors. That size field can become a logistical challenge with some inclement weather, as we've seen throughout the years at each of these majors and most recently with the wind disaster at the Open last month. The PGA barely finished on time last year and not without controversy as four players played the final hole at the same time in the darkness at Valhalla. The weather this week is supposed to be relatively clean, with some storms potentially popping up on Lake Michigan on Friday.
In addition to 97 of the top 100 in the world, the PGA field is unique for allotting 20 spots to their members. These are the club pros -- the guys who give lessons around the country at different public courses and clubs. They get in based on their score at the National Professional event earlier in the summer. None have a realistic chance of winning and making the cut is the primary goal. Here's a complete look at all 156 players in the field and how the PGA of America builds it.
The Course
Whistling Straits is one of two courses at this removed and bucolic Wisconsin plot on Lake Michigan. The Straits Course was built in 1998, with plumbing fixtures tycoon Herb Kohler enlisting Pete Dye as the architect. The goal was to attract major championship golf and they have succeeded in doing so. In American golf, if you want a major, you typically need to choose either the PGA of America or the USGA as a partner. Certain courses get designated as one or the other and Whistling Straits has been staked as a PGA course. This is their third PGA Championship in less than 20 years of existence.
The newer courses without history and cachet typically receive the most criticism but this one has achieved near universal acceptance among both the media and the players. It's actually shorter than the 2004 and 2010 PGA Championships, won by Vijay Singh and Martin Kaymer. The defining characteristics are the view, the bunkers, and it's "links look." It only looks that way because Kohler requested the property mimic the beauty of Irish layouts. But it plays nothing like a links, with bent grass on the fairways and not fescue. The players play this course through the air and hitting targets, as opposed to the ground game and creativity that a links course usually requires.
For mid-August, this may be the most beautiful golf venue in the United States. The bunkers number just over 1,000 and are everywhere -- along the fairway, miles off the fairway, surrounding greens, and in massive clusters side-by-side. All bunkers will be played as sand traps and not waste areas -- yes, even those that are outside the ropes and have patrons standing in them and trash and footprints scattered about. This was obviously the source of the Dustin Johnson 2010 controversy. Players can't ground their clubs. The DJ mess the last time this tournament was here should make sure everyone is informed of the rule. But just in case, the PGA of America put reminders of the local rule everywhere -- even in the bathrooms.
TV Schedule
Unfortunately, the PGA has limited TV coverage compared to the U.S. Open and British Open. Those two majors both have broadcasts live by 9 a.m. local time at their respective venues, but the U.S. audience will not be able to watch the first round of the PGA until 2 p.m. on Thursday. The only way to watch prior to that is a PGA.com marquee groups stream, which will follow the Tiger Woods, Martiner Kaymer, and Keegan Bradley tee time. Here are your opening round media options:
Television
2 to 8 p.m. -- TNT
Online streams
9 a.m to 8 p.m. -- Marquee groups on PGA.com and on mobile via PGA Championship app
2 to 8 p.m. -- Par 3 stream on PGA.com and on mobile via PGA Championship app
2 to 8 p.m. -- TV simulcast stream on PGA.com and on mobile via PGA Championship app
Radio
Noon to 7 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)
And here's a full viewing guide for the entire week.
Tee Times
The 156-man field means that we'll get groups of three off split tees for the first two rounds. It's a packed tee sheet but the PGA of America has it down by now. They'll start them before 7 a.m. local time and finish up before dark Thursday night in Wisconsin. Here are some marquee group tee times for the first round (all times ET):
Tee Time
Players
8:45 a.m.
Bubba Watson
Paul Casey
Jim Furyk
9:05 a.m.
Jason Day
Dustin Johnson
Rickie Fowler
9:15 a.m.
Tiger Woods
Marting Kaymer
Keegan Bradley
2:10 p.m.
Adam Scott
Henrik Stenson
Brooks Koepka
2:20 p.m.
Rory McIlroy
Jordan Spieth
Zach Johnson
2:30 p.m.
Jason Dufner
Phil Mickelson
Padraig Harrington
A full tee sheet for the opening round can be viewed here.
Leaderboard / Results
Continuing a trend at this summer's major championships, Dustin Johnson raced out the early Thursday lead. DJ posted a 6-under 66 and it held up given the increased wind and toughening conditions that faced the afternoon wave. Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, the headliners of the late wave of tee times, had a frustrating start to their round both posted rounds in the red and are right there. Your Thursday afternoon leaderboard:
Place
Player
Score
Round 1
1
Dustin Johnson
-6
66
2
David Lingmerth
-5
67
T3
Russell Henley
-4
68
T3
Matt Kuchar
-4
68
T3
Harris English
-4
68
T3
J.B. Holmes
-4
68
T3
Jason Day
-4
68
T3
Danny Lee
-4
68
T3
Matt Jones
-4
68
T3
Scott Piercy
-4
68
T11
Brendan Steele
-3
69
T11
Thomas Bjorn
-3
69
T11
James Morrison
-3
69
T11
Justin Rose
-3
69
T15
Hideki Matsuyama
-2
70
T15
Charles Howell III
-2
70
T15
Robert Streb
-2
70
T15
Paul Casey
-2
70
T15
Martin Kaymer
-2
70
T15
Anirban Lahiri
-2
70
T15
Emiliano Grillo
-2
70
T15
Y.E. Yang
-2
70
T15
Marcel Siem
-2
70
T24
Rory Sabbatini
-1
71
T24
Brian Gaffney
-1
71
T24
Brandt Snedeker
-1
71
T24
Ernie Els
-1
71
T24
Tony Finau
-1
71
T24
Branden Grace
-1
71
T24
Francesco Molinari
-1
71
T24
George McNeill
-1
71
T24
Steve Stricker
-1
71
T24
Webb Simpson
-1
71
T24
Sangmoon Bae
-1
71
T24
Rory McIlroy
-1
71
T24
Jordan Spieth
-1
71
T24
Jason Dufner
-1
71
T24
John Senden
-1
71
T39
Sergio Garcia
E
72
T39
Louis Oosthuizen
E
72
T39
Bubba Watson
E
72
T39
Hunter Mahan
E
72
T39
Lee Westwood
E
72
T39
Mikko Ilonen
E
72
T39
Morgan Hoffmann
E
72
T39
Marc Warren
E
72
T39
Brendon de Jonge
E
72
T39
Soren Kjeldsen
E
72
T39
Justin Thomas
E
72
T39
Bernd Wiesberger
E
72
T39
Kiradech Aphibarnrat
E
72
T39
Luke Donald
E
72
T39
Phil Mickelson
E
72
T39
Billy Horschel
E
72
T55
Chesson Hadley
1
73
T55
David Howell
1
73
T55
John Daly
1
73
T55
Charl Schwartzel
1
73
T55
Bill Haas
1
73
T55
Ryan Moore
1
73
T55
Vijay Singh
1
73
T55
Jim Furyk
1
73
T55
Rickie Fowler
1
73
T55
Tyrrell Hatton
1
73
T55
Kevin Chappell
1
73
T55
Rafa Cabrera-Bello
1
73
T55
Graeme McDowell
1
73
T55
Brooks Koepka
1
73
T55
Kevin Streelman
1
73
T55
Nick Taylor
1
73
T71
Pat Perez
2
74
T71
Thongchai Jaidee
2
74
T71
Geoff Ogilvy
2
74
T71
Matt Every
2
74
T71
Adam Rainaud
2
74
T71
George Coetzee
2
74
T71
Shaun Micheel
2
74
T71
Steven Bowditch
2
74
T71
Daniel Berger
2
74
T71
Cameron Smith
2
74
T71
Shawn Stefani
2
74
T71
Troy Merritt
2
74
T71
Danny Willett
2
74
T71
Kevin Na
2
74
T71
Jason Bohn
2
74
T86
Boo Weekley
3
75
T86
Byeong Hun An
3
75
T86
Ryan Palmer
3
75
T86
James Hahn
3
75
T86
Tiger Woods
3
75
T86
J.J. Henry
3
75
T86
Bob Sowards
3
75
T86
Brett Jones
3
75
T86
Sean O'Hair
3
75
T86
Jimmy Walker
3
75
T86
Ian Poulter
3
75
T86
Camilo Villegas
3
75
T86
Patrick Reed
3
75
T86
Zach Johnson
3
75
T86
Tim Clark
3
75
T86
Kevin Kisner
3
75
T102
Ryan Helminen
4
76
T102
David Hearn
4
76
T102
Matt Dobyns
4
76
T102
Victor Dubuisson
4
76
T102
Stephen Gallacher
4
76
T102
Ross Fisher
4
76
T102
Keegan Bradley
4
76
T102
Carl Pettersson
4
76
T102
Brent Snyder
4
76
T102
Brendon Todd
4
76
T102
Martin Laird
4
76
T102
Alex Cejka
4
76
T102
Charles Frost
4
76
T102
Chris Wood
4
76
T102
Ben Martin
4
76
T102
Rich Beem
4
76
T102
Adam Scott
4
76
T102
Henrik Stenson
4
76
T102
Padraig Harrington
4
76
T102
Miguel Angel Jimenez
4
76
T102
Ben Polland
4
76
T123
Grant Sturgeon
5
77
T123
Johan Kok
5
77
T123
David Toms
5
77
T123
Steven Young
5
77
T123
Tommy Fleetwood
5
77
T123
Hiroshi Iwata
5
77
T123
Alexander Levy
5
77
T123
Russell Knox
5
77
T123
Omar Uresti
5
77
T132
Colin Montgomerie
6
78
T132
Brian Harman
6
78
T132
Darren Clarke
6
78
T132
Shane Lowry
6
78
T132
Nick Watney
6
78
T132
Cameron Tringale
6
78
T132
Eddie Pepperell
6
78
T132
Andy Sullivan
6
78
T140
Charley Hoffman
7
79
T140
Jamie Donaldson
7
79
T140
Jeff Olson
7
79
T140
Fabian Gomez
7
79
T140
Koumei Oda
7
79
T140
Ryan Kennedy
7
79
T140
Davis Love III
7
79
T140
Pablo Larrazabal
7
79
T140
Sean Dougherty
7
79
T140
Marc Leishman
7
79
150
Joost Luiten
8
80
151
Richard Ramsay
9
81
152
Austin Peters
10
82
153
Brian Cairns
11
83
154
Mark Brooks
12
84
155
Alan Morin
15
87
156
Daniel Venezio
17
89
★★★
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