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Golfweek’s Julie Williams discusses Tiger’s first round of play at TPC Harding Park for the PGA Championship.
Golfweek’s Julie Williams discusses Tiger’s first round of play at TPC Harding Park for the PGA Championship.
Bryson DeChambeau accidentally snapped the head of his driver after a tee shot on his first nine at the PGA Championship.
As if the setting in San Francisco isn’t surreal enough — no fans, swooping cypress trees, winter golf gear — Bryson DeChambeau stepped in during Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Championship and broke the internet.
DeChambeau accidentally snapped the head off his driver after a tee shot on the front nine at Harding Park.
It appeared that DeChambeau simply leaned on the shaft and severed the head.
Bryson DeChambeau breaks his driver. Head fell off as he leaned on it to bend over and grab his tee. The man is simply too strong. pic.twitter.com/V6mydZPLVt
— Mark Harris (@itismarkharris) August 6, 2020
DeChambeau, who has been breaking clubhead-speed records, said on the ESPN broadcast, “It was bound to break. I’ve been using it for a long time.”
The incident didn’t seem to impact DeChambeau, who went on to par that hole (no. 7) and rolled in a birdie on No. 9 to make the turn at 32.
He was able to replace the driver.
In 2019, the USGA and the R&A released a clarification of Rule G-9 and a Local Rule, “allowing players to replace a broken or significantly damaged club, except in the case of abuse.”
Under the change, clubs are defined as being “broken or significantly damaged” if specific criteria are met, like if the shaft breaks into pieces or splinters, the face or clubhead deforms, the grip is loose or the clubhead detaches or loosens from the shaft.
Bryson DeChambeau accidentally broke his driver on the 7th hole. He'll be allowed to replace it.
"Just swinging too hard." pic.twitter.com/LVCQ1JGZ2P
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2020
As you might expect, the Twitter-sphere went wild.
live shot of Bryson shooting some hoops between holes pic.twitter.com/fY3YvfIdYC
— Brett Hopkins (@b_c_hopkins) August 6, 2020
BRYSON!! #PGAChampionship pic.twitter.com/Mj7kUu8h3P
— 🇨🇦 Marshall Ferguson 🏈 (@TSN_Marsh) August 6, 2020
I’m a little baffled at some of the commentary this evening I must say. With regards to Bryson, just continuous entertainment! I love it.
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) August 6, 2020
Bryson DeChambeau's driver broke like Bo Jackson's bat pic.twitter.com/CiYKICOh7h
— Erik Johnsen (@erikjohnsen6) August 6, 2020
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Brooks Koepka is bidding for his fifth career major title and third PGA Championsip win in a row.
Brooks Koepka is sitting pretty in his quest for a three-peat at the PGA Championship. Koepka opened with a 4-under 66, just one off the pace set by former PGA champion Jason Day.
Koepka is well aware of the historical significance that is at stake this week as he attempts to become the first in the stroke-play era of the PGA to win three Wanamaker trophies in a row, and the first player overall to win the same major three consecutive years since Australian Peter Thomson achieved the feat at the British Open (1954-56).
“It would be special,” Koepka said. “I think there’s, what, six guys that have ever won three in a row. Yeah, not a bad list to be on.”
Koepka hasn’t won since the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black last May and endured a stem-cell treatment to his left knee in September. Koepka has conceded that the knee is still bothering him, but he made a breakthrough with his golf swing after missing the cut at the 3M Open two weeks ago. He spent Sunday with instructor Pete Cowen, who returned from England for the first time since the coronavirus suspended the golf season in March.
“To be honest with you, it was probably the first time I think I hit 40 balls and there was a club 70 yards behind me. I chucked it and then threw one in front of me. I was pretty heated, to say the right word,” Koepka said.
Leaderboard | TV info | Tee times | Photos
One day later, he worked with Claude Harmon III and discovered that his weight distribution was out of whack.
“At impact I’m about 70 percent on my left side, and when we were looking at it, it was the opposite. It was 70 percent on the right side. We knew what we had to do was get on that left side, and it’s been good since,” he said.
Koepka, a four-time major winner, fired 62 in the opening round of the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and finished tied for second last week. He led the St. Jude field in greens hit and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green. When asked to describe the progression of his game the last three weeks, Koepka said, “Getting there. It’s getting a lot better. I mean, I feel right where I should be. If you would have said last week and this week, I’d feel perfect, right where I need to be. I’m excited. I’m ready to play. But you asked for three weeks, so it’s been okay. There was a missed cut in there.”
One shot off the lead after the morning wave. 👀@BKoepka is in #PGAChamp form. pic.twitter.com/o3AydEvTyK
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2020
Koepka, who started on the back nine at TPC Harding Park, started sluggishly with a bogey at the first, but he came alive with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 and a pair of 11-foot birdies at Nos. 16 and 18.
Koepka gave a stroke back at the first, but he tacked on two birdies on his inward nine, at the second and fourth. With his fifth straight round in the 60s, Koepka’s confidence is growing.
“Just had that one shot that I can’t get on my left side, and it usually goes right there on 1,” Koepka said. “It’s only 18 holes right now. I feel good. I feel confident. I’m excited for the next three days. I think I can definitely play a lot better, and just need to tidy a few things up, and we’ll be there come Sunday on the back nine.”
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Two-time major winner Zach Johnson looked completely at ease with TPC Harding Park on a day when conditions eased a bit.
For a brief spell during Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Championship, there was Zach Johnson whether you looked up or down the leaderboard.
Two-time major champ Zach Johnson rode a hot putter to 31 on his opening nine (he started on the back) and was in the lead for a good portion of the early afternoon.
Zach J. Johnson, a club pro from Salt Lake City, Utah, didn’t fare quite as well, posting three double-bogeys en route to an 82, and was at the very bottom.
It was the best of times, it was … never mind.
As for the Johnson, who won the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship, he looked completely at ease with TPC Harding Park on a day when conditions eased a bit. After fog and chilly temperatures made practice rounds a bit more challenging, the course loosened up on Thursday as sunny skies and warm temps prevailed.
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Johnson, who has a dozen PGA Tour wins to his credit, seized the opportunity to post an early number.
“I feel like this is a course where you’ve got to get the ball in the fairway, and the driver for me is important, and then obviously after that, it’s around the greens chipping, and obviously making putts,” he said. “Today I putted great. Even some of the putts I missed today looked really good. Pretty solid. There wasn’t anything overly flashy, just solid.”
Johnson started on the back nine Thursday, and used consecutive birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 to make the turn at 31.
His second nine was simply steady, a 21-foot putt on No. 3 his loan birdie as he finished with a 4-under 66, good enough to trail only Jason Day from the early groups.
“I hit some shots close and then obviously started to make some putts and the confidence came. The greens just seem to be a little bit faster today. Granted, as the week goes on they should get faster,” he said. “My speed, if anything, I was leaving them short in my practice rounds, and if I thought about, oh, man, don’t leave it short, then you knock it way by. It just felt like the speed was where it should be today.
“But I putted great. It didn’t matter if I made it or missed it. I think I maybe had two two-putts on the back if I’m not mistaken, maybe one. A couple fringes, a couple easy chips, but I just gave myself opportunities for the most part.”
Leaderboard | TV info | Tee times | Photos
Heading into Friday, Johnson knows he’ll need to replicate his success on the greens by getting into proper position. As is his MO, Johnson averaged just over 280 yards off the tee on Thursday, but at the time he left the course he was first in strokes gained putting.
To contend for a third major, he’ll need to repeat that formula.
“Yeah, hitting fairways and … for me, trying to commit to just one of two shots: It’s my stock shot, which is a draw, or it’s kind of a push,” he said. “Keep it that simple because if there’s anything I’ve ever told anybody — I actually told a couple young guys this week on the phone and in person — you don’t have to manipulate or change your game just because it’s a major.
“So I’m trying to keep it simple. That’s the best way I can put it.”
As for club pro Zach J. Johnson, he struggled on Thursday, but his biggest thrill came during Wednesday’s practice round. Since the two had been paired on a Zoom call in advance of the PGA Championship, the duo — which had met briefly at Bellerive Country Club in the PGA Championship two years ago — said they’d try to play together in San Francisco and that’s exactly what happened.
“He’s just a very solid guy – very welcoming, very personable, and willing to help,” Zach J. said of the two-time major winner.
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Kaymer watched video of his greatest moment winning the 2014 U.S. Open on the eve of the PGA Championship, putter keyed his strong start.
Martin Kaymer doesn’t like to live in the past, but on the eve of the 102nd PGA Championship, the first major in more than a year, he couldn’t help but think back to the time when he lapped the field at the 2014 U.S. Open. In fact, when he got back from dinner, he watched his triumph at Pinehurst Resort.
“I thought I needed to lift my spirit a little bit. And I went on YouTube and I found that video, I think it’s an hour and 45 minutes or so, of us playing the back nine,” he said. “I mean, there’s not much to do right now other than hanging out in your hotel room by yourself.”
It did the trick. Kaymer signed for 4-under 66 in the opening round of the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Kaymer practically won his second major championship in 2014 by Friday, blitzing the field by eight strokes. Yet, Kaymer, 35, hasn’t won any event since and has plummeted to No. 128 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“That video from last night, me winning the U.S. Open, that helped me to believe that my putting was good enough; that my ball-striking was good enough,” Kaymer said.
His putter was better than good on Thursday. After an early bogey at the 11th, Kaymer’s second hole of the day, he stuck an iron to 4 feet at No. 14 for his first birdie of the day. Then the putter started warming up from long distance. Kaymer poured in a 22-foot birdie putt at 17, a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 1 and a 23-foot birdie putt at No. 3.
Kaymer wasn’t done yet. He jumped into the lead when he made his longest putt of the day, a 47-foot eagle putt at No. 4 after hitting a bullet 3-wood to the back of the green.
“It was still quite far away, so you’re thinking maybe two-putt birdie would be great, then it went in,” Kaymer said.
For good measure, he canned a 21-foot par putt at 5. Not even a bogey at the last hole could dampen Kaymer’s enthusiasm for his play.
“I was very pleased with my putting,” said Kaymer, who holed 163 feet of putts. “That really saved the round today.”
If I told you on the day Martin Kaymer won the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst by a whopping 8 strokes that six years later he wouldn’t have won since would you have believed me?
— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) August 6, 2020
The 2010 PGA champion, who has only one top-10 in a major since winning the U.S. Open in 2014, spent most of golf’s three-month suspension of play in his native Germany helping his father build a terrace at the family home.
“We were not allowed to play golf for two or three months, so I had to keep my mind occupied with different stuff, living life like a normal person,” Kaymer said.
He missed the cut last week at the Barracuda Championship, his first start since the resumption of play in June. While he still is finding his rhythm, Kaymer turned back the clocks with shades of the form that made him a two-time major winner.
“Even though it’s a few years back, it’s always nice to remember those moments and feel the same that you felt that day,” Kaymer said of watching his highlights from his greatest victory. “I like to go back to those moments. I know you shouldn’t live in the past, but if the past can help you in the present moment, I’ll take it.”
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Tiger Woods opened the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park with overall solid play and a few brilliant shots.
The term “variety show” used in reference to Tiger Woods can sometimes conjure up a grimace. Woods, when he’s struggling, has a tendency to be all over the map.
But on Thursday, Woods’ opening 2-under 68 at TPC Harding Park in the first round of the PGA Championship played out in stages. Starting on No. 10, Woods demonstrated a real control over his golf ball early in the day, shaping his drive left around the corner at the par-4 12th and then following it up with a handy cut at the next hole, a dogleg right.
He got it to 2 under at the 14th tee before losing control, starting with a drive to deep left rough on that hole.
After missing the fairway at No. 14, Woods didn’t hit one again until No. 5.
Leaderboard | TV info | Tee times | Photos
There were hacks out of the rough (with none appearing to cause any harm to his fragile back) but also deft pitch shots, stuffed approaches, par saves and near misses. Under early hazy skies in the San Francisco Bay Area – and without the usual stampede that would surround Woods at a major – he seemed in control the entire day even though his play never reached the point of flashy.
He reached 3 under with a birdie on No. 7, promptly dumped his approach into the par-3 eighth in a bunker and despite facing just a few feet for par, walked away with a bogey.
Woods blistered his final drive at No. 9 and walked away with one final par that left him inside the top 20 with much of the field still yet to finish.
In all, it was a round that suggests this week might have a little of that old Woods-at-a-major magic.
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Follow Tiger Woods’ first round at the PGA Championship with shot-by-shot updates from TPC Harding Park.
The golf world endured a long wait to see Tiger Woods back in action when the sports world shut down in March because of COVID-19. We got a glimpse of Tiger in abysmal conditions at The Match II: Champions for Charity, and then a more formal look last month when he teed it up at the Memorial.
Woods closed out his 18th appearance in the Memorial on July 19 with a final-hole bogey that completed a 4-over-par 76 at and placed his name well down on the leaderboard at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The five-time winner of Jack Nicklaus’s annual gathering of the game’s best players posted rounds of 71-76-71-76 that left him at 6-over-par 294.
This week, Woods continues his quest for another major title at TPC Harding Park. He has a new putter in play – benching his iconic Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS that he used to win 14 of his 15 majors in favor of a new Scotty Cameron prototype.
Field by the rankings | TV info | Tee times | Photos
Woods tees off at 11:33 a.m. EDT alongside Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas.
We’re tracking his round, shot-by-shot.
Tiger just cut one around to the right fairway on this dogleg right, and we’re doing our best to temper our excitement as we’ve now seen Tiger move it in both directions on command. We like where this is headed.
Tiger hugs a drive around this dogleg left and it lands on the left side of the fairway. That one looked pure. Tiger is the last to hit his approach here from 182 yards, and he nestles one in (with a very helpful bounce off the left side of the green) for yet another birdie look.
Tiger was lined up right and missed it right. Birdie chance squandered.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 3
Tiger has 6-iron from 201 yards here and it lands softly on the right side of the green before rolling to the back. He’ll have another birdie look here.
The birdie attempt was low all the way, but Tiger leaves himself with an easy tap-in par.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 2
It’s an eerie feeling without crowds on a hazy morning at TPC Harding Park. Less fanfare than usual for Tiger on the 10th tee, but he stripes one regardless. It lands just in the left rough.
Tiger’s hitting out of the left rough, albeit from a favorable lie. He used a fairway woods, but it went well right and outside of the ropes. Yet again, a favorable lie and hits a high pitch that lands softly and leaves an 8-footer.
The birdie putt is good (hello, new putter) and Tiger is in the red to start the day.
TIGER ON THE DAY: 1 under thru 1
It’s not going to be warm in San Francisco this week, which makes Woods’ warm-up even more key. Here’s an idea.
How do you warm up?
A look at @TigerWoods’ routine. pic.twitter.com/LNzrOBPats
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 6, 2020
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The first major event is here with the PGA Championship live from TPC Harding in San Francisco, watch it here.
The 2020 PGA Championship, Round 1 will begin on Thursday from TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. This will be an important week for players to show out before the start of the FedExCup Playoffs, and with a ton of star power in the featured groups for Thursday this is shaping up for an exciting day of golf.
Here is everything you need to know to follow the PGA Championship action this weekend!
We’ll have the live leaderboard as the tournament gets underway with updates throughout the day. Keep checking back for live updates!
11:11 a.m. ET: Gary Woodland, Shane Lowry, Brooks Koepka
11:22 a.m. ET: Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose
11:33 a.m. ET: Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy
4:47 p.m. ET: Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau. Adam Scott
4:58 p.m. ET: Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia
Want some action on the PGA Championship? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV at BetMGM.
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The PGA Championship has long had an image problem that will disappear for the next four days, largely because of the next four nights.
[jwplayer oVQp3yHP-vgFm21H3]
A step-major no more.
The PGA Championship this week might become the most-watched major championship of all time. Well, maybe in the non-Tiger Woods category.
Though if Tiger somehow sidesteps all of the obstacles (the cold and damp weather, competitive rust, punitive rough, etc.) and gets a late-Sunday tee time, the numbers could be better than any sporting event that doesn’t have Roman numerals after its name.
The PGA Championship has long had an image problem that will disappear for the next four days, largely because of the next four nights. Yes, nights.
There was a time when the networks would reflexively tuck a West Coast major into the normal East Coast time window, pushing tee times earlier on the weekend to provide a 6 or 7 p.m. finish in the East and Midwest.
That changed with the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, and given the Tiger-Rocco Mediate drama, prime time golf coverage was a new cash cow. But maybe never more flush than this week, as the PGA of America’s major championship tees off at Harding Park on the fringes of downtown San Francisco.
Along with a picturesque course, framed by Lake Merced on one side and elbow-to-elbow Frisco neighborhoods on the other, you will be inundated with shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, onrushing fog, and downtown cable cars — tight shots only, of course, to avoid glimpses of the streets’ seedier elements.
ESPN will have it live Thursday and Friday from 4 to 10 p.m. On the weekend, CBS airs the PGA from 4-10 on Saturday and 3-9 Sunday night, with ESPN showing three live hours before CBS begins.
Yes, that’s a lot of golf, but if you’re a fan of championship golf and you’ve gone 13 months without a major championship, you’ll gladly wallow in it. The PGA of America knows this, expects this, is overjoyed by this, and in the end hopes to get its pro-golf messages across during commercial breaks.
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The PGA Championship seemed to lack the sex appeal of the other three majors, and it also sat fourth in the annual batting order, in August, a month after the British Open and just as you could practically smell the upcoming start of football. That was remedied last year when the PGA was moved to a new springtime home in May.
Field by the rankings | TV info | Tee times | Photos
Of course, the entire calendar was upended this year, and hopefully for just this once, the PGA is back to August and instead of fourth or even second, it kicks off an abbreviated season of major championship golf — the British Open was scrubbed entirely, with the U.S. Open moved to September and the Masters in November.
Caught up in the moment, it’s too easy to suggest the anticipation for these four days is practically unmatched in recent golf history.
But it’s no hype to say the PGA Championship has rarely, if ever, enjoyed fanfare like this.
Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
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Geoff Clark and Esten McLaren discuss a different approach to betting the NBA restart, then preview the 2020 PGA Championship and AFC North.
Welcome to the third episode of Bet Slippin’ Podcast, SportsbookWire’s new sports-betting podcast.
Geoff Clark and Esten McLaren of SportsbookWire.com had a tough week betting the NBA but there are always more games ahead and they’re getting back on the horse. They discuss some interesting lines in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and a pair of big-name longshots to bet for the 2020 PGA Championship before getting into the heart of the episode and debate AFC North team win totals.
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(If the podcast player does not display, please click here)
Geoff and Esten open this week’s episode lamenting a truly awful performance from the Milwaukee Bucks against the Brooklyn Nets, which ended in misery shortly before they started recording. They move on quickly to discuss some more profitable NBA betting strategies to help them finish the week in the black.
BetMGM Buggin’ dissects interesting lines and odds they’ve seen in the NBA restart and Stanley Cup Playoffs. Esten breaks down the 2020 PGA Championship with a couple of undervalued stars in position to win this week, including Tiger Woods.
In their first NFL divisional breakdown, they look at AFC North team win totals. There’s a lot to like about the Baltimore Ravens again this season, but can Ben Roethlisberger‘s return really make the Pittsburgh Steelers a contender? They strongly disagree and Esten locks in a Week 1 upset in Scopin’ Futures.
The two make their best bets of the week and for the 2020 NFL season in Goin’ to the Window. Tail their NBA, NHL, PGA Tour and NFL picks for a profitable week at BetMGM.
01:00: The Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Brooklyn Nets!?
06:50: Middling NBA lines and backdoor covers
14:50: Again – the Milwaukee Bucks lost to the Brooklyn Nets!?
21:00: NHL and NBA lines for the week ahead. Always pick against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
27:30: 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park – value for Tiger?
34:20: AFC North team win totals
34:50: Baltimore Ravens 2020 breakdown
41:20: Pittsburgh Steelers 2020 breakdown
48:30 Cleveland Browns 2020 breakdown
55:20: Cincinnati Bengals 2020 breakdown
62:25: Goin’ to the Window
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