This PGA Tour rookie went 7 under in first six holes, including back-to-back eagles at The American Express

Imagine going 7 under in your first 6 holes.

It’s hard to have a much better start to a round than Davis Thompson did Thursday during his first round of The American Express at La Quinta Country Club in California.

Thompson, a 23-year-old PGA Tour rookie, was 7 under after six holes, including a stretch of 6 under in four holes that featured consecutive eagles on the par-5 fifth and par-5 sixth.

Birdie. Par. Birdie. Eagle. Eagle. Birdie. That’s a lot of circles on the card to begin the day.

Thompson became the first player since Robert Streb at the 2021 CJ Cup to go 7 under in his first six holes. He’s also the first player with consecutive eagles in a round since Shane Lowry at the 2022 Open Championship at St. Andrews.

Thompson shot an 8-under 28 on the front nine.

In six starts this season, he has made five cuts and finished T-9 at the Fortinet Championship. However, his hot start had him out front early. Thompson shot 10-under 62.

Four golfers had three eagles in one round last season: Shane Lowry, Open Championship; Trey Mullinax, AT&T Byron Nelson; Stephan Jaeger, Mexico Open at Vidanta; Carlos Ortiz, WM Phoenix Open.

[vertical-gallery id=778317127]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01f1jy2metwcg6v9hc image=]

Rocket Mortgage Classic: Newly-minted pro Davis Thompson authors 63, aims to be latest college standout to make his mark

David Thompson took advantage of a sponsor exemption, making birdie on half his holes to shoot a bogey-free 9-under 63 at Detroit Golf Club.

DETROIT – As the son of a PGA Tour tournament director, Davis Thompson was well-schooled in the art of writing for sponsor exemptions. His efforts earned him a spot in this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic.

“I think this tournament was the first to reach out to me and to tell me that I had a spot, and that was back in I think late May. So, I knew I was coming here for a while,” he said. “I’m a young pro, so it’s great to have some starts out here.”

Thompson, a newly-minted pro out of the University of Georgia, will garner his fair share of sponsor invites thanks to a resume that includes being a former No. 1-ranked amateur, Walker Cupper and SEC Player of the Year. He took advantage of his opportunity on Thursday, making birdie on half his holes to shoot a bogey-free 9-under 63 at Detroit Golf Club, tying the tournament record and grabbing the lead during the rain-delayed first round.

Rocket Mortgage Classic: Odds | PhotosBlog

Thompson, 22, is making just his third Tour start as a pro. He has Korn Ferry Tour status after ranking second in the PGA Tour University standings, but has been cutting his teeth in the big leagues with a T-35 at the Palmetto Championship and missed the cut last week at the Travelers Championship.

“I just kind of knew that I was close to playing well,” he said.

But 63? “I usually don’t go low often,” said Thompson, who once shot a 59  at Sea Palms in St. Simons Island, Georgia. “I just feel like I’m a pretty solid player.”

Starting on the back nine, he made with birdies on his first two holes, sticking a 4-iron to a foot at No. 11 and was off to the races. He hit 17 greens and led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and drained a 32-foot birdie putt at No. 15.

“Safe to say the putter was hot today,” Thompson said.

It also doesn’t hurt that the fledgling pro has a veteran looper on the bag in Damon Green, who caddied for Zach Johnson when he won both of his majors. Green gave his distinctive chicken dance at the seventh hole to celebrate Thompson’s eighth birdie of the day.

“I caught it out of the corner of my eye,” he said. “It’s pretty funny.”

One hole later, Thompson considered laying back off the tee, but Green told him to stay aggressive and hit driver and it set up his final birdie of the day. It assured him of being two strokes better than Brandon Hagy and Tom Lewis. When asked how it sounded to be a PGA Tour leader, Thompson sounded like a Tour veteran. “Sounds good on Sunday. It’s only Thursday,” he said. “I know I’ve got a long way to go. I’m just going to try to do the same thing tomorrow.”

[vertical-gallery id=778113800]

[lawrence-related id=778113785,778113773,778113745]

How the top-five PGA Tour University graduates fared in their PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour debuts

Three of the five players made the cut in their professional debuts, with one top-10 finish.

PGA Tour University was designed to streamline the process for college players to advance to the professional level, and two weeks ago the inaugural class was announced.

This week the five players who earned Korn Ferry Tour membership through the end of the regular season made their professional debuts, with three players competing in the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am and two at the PGA Tour’s Palmetto Championship. Next week the 10 players who earned Forme Tour membership will begin their pro careers at the L&J Golf Championship.

Here’s how each of the five players fared in their professional debuts.

John Pak

The 2021 Haskins Award winner from Florida State missed the cut at the Palmetto Championship, firing rounds of 79-71 to finish at 8 over.

Davis Thompson

Thompson had the performance of the week in South Carolina. The SEC Player of the Year from Georgia finished T-35 at the Palmetto after a strong week of 71-69-71-70.

Austin Eckroat 

Eckroat disagrees with the above statement. The Oklahoma State product earned a top-10 finish at the BMW Charity Pro-Am at 18 under thanks to just seven bogeys over the four sub-70 rounds.

Chun An Yu 

Yu, a three-time winner at Arizona State, also made the cut at the BMW, finishing T-20 after a consistent week of 66-66-69-69 to finish at 15 under.

Garett Reband 

Reband wasn’t as successful, missing the BMW cut by six strokes. That said, the Oklahoma Sooner improved on his first-round 73 with a Friday 70 to get back to even par.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=none image=https://golfweek.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Georgia star Davis Thompson rallies to play the weekend at Palmetto Championship, his pro debut

It wasn’t pretty to start, but former Georgia standout made it to the weekend at the Palmetto Championship.

RIDGELAND, S.C. — Those who know of Davis Thompson as a University of Georgia star golfer and one of the world’s top amateur players could not have expected to see him stumble so badly to start the first round of his professional debut.

Five bogeys in his first eight holes. Just think how Thompson felt.

“I kind of see myself as a very consistent player, which kind of shocked me what I did (Thursday),” he said Friday at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree. “It’s golf. You can’t predict anything.”

This was new territory for Thompson, currently No. 4 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and a highly decorated player over four years at UGA, now his alma mater.

He closed out the front nine with a 4-foot, 10-inch birdie putt to get to 4-over par, but gave it back with a sixth bogey at No. 11.

“My course management just wasn’t very good,” he said. “I don’t know if I was nervous or I wasn’t making the right decisions. I think it was a combination of both.”

Instead of folding, the 22-year-old told himself he still had seven holes to play, and he wanted seven good chances for birdies.

Maybe that’s the kind of mindset followers of Thompson’s career expect of him. He certainly does.

Thompson birdied the par-5 No. 12 from 15 feet, 1 inch, his longest made putt of the day. He mixed in a couple of pars, then closed out the topsy-turvy round with four straight birdies to climb all the way out of that crater he dug and finish 18 holes at even par.

“I’ve gotten off to bad starts before, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been 5-over and brought it all the way back to even,” he said. “It’s kind of crazy to think I was 5-over through eight holes during this tournament. That’s all in the past.”

Right, because he still had to play the second round Friday at Congaree Golf Club, located north of Ridgeland near Gillisonville in Jasper County, South Carolina.

On Thursday night, because of the mighty comeback, he received encouraging texts telling him “great finish” and “keep it rolling” and avoided the well-intentioned “you’ll get them next time” after poor results. Thompson said he’s got great support around him, especially from his family in attendance this week.

On Friday, he started on the back nine and followed his 31 on Thursday with a 33, which would make an eye-catching 64 if he exclusively played Nos. 10-18. He vastly improved on the front nine, bettering the 40 on Thursday with a 36 on Friday.

He shot 2-under-par 69 on Friday with four birdies and just two bogeys, plus 12 pars to make the cut at 2-under. He played the third round on Saturday afternoon.

“Pars are good out here,” Thompson said Friday after the second round. “I’m usually a pretty good player, make a lot of pars, but (Thursday) was a different story.”

All-America golfer

As he has closed out his collegiate career with All-Southeastern Conference and All-America honors (including Golfweek’s 2021 first team), and was a finalist for every major award, Thompson was asked Tuesday before his pro debut to reflect on his Athens days.

“I really don’t think it’s set in yet,” said Thompson, who attended UGA after an outstanding high school career as a state champion in Auburn, Alabama. “When I don’t have classes in the fall, I think that’s when it will kind of set in. But, no, I mean obviously like just the relationships that I formed there with my teammates and coaches, formed some great memories, had a lot of great laughs, great tournaments.

“… just the thing I’m probably most proud of there is I think I just got better every single year and that was kind of my goal going into school. But, yeah, I’m just excited to get my professional career started.”

Pro-am history

Thompson has played in pro events as amateur, twice at the RSM Classic on St. Simons Island, where he and his family reside. He tied for 23rd at 10-under in 2019, and missed the cut in 2020. He also missed the cut at the Puerto Rico Open in February 2020 and at the U.S. Open in September 2020, when he opened with a 69 and followed with a 78.

PGA: U.S. Open - First Round
Davis Thompson looks over the eighth green with his caddie Todd Thompson during the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club – West. (Photo: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports)

Now he’s starting a new chapter as a pro, and plans to play in the Travelers Championship on June 24-27 in Connecticut, and the Rocket Mortgage Classic on July 1-4 in Detroit.

“If I have a few good finishes here and there, maybe I’ll get some status out of it,” said Thompson, who got his first look this week at the Congaree course, where he’s playing on a sponsor exemption. “Right now, I’m trying to have as much fun as I can. I’m 22 years old. I’m having fun with it and trying to learn a lot and grow and just mature as a player.”

He has status on the PGA Tour’s developmental Korn Ferry Tour through a new initiative called PGA Tour University to reward four-year college players for outstanding careers. Thompson, as No. 2 in the ranking behind national player of the year John Pak, is exempt into all open, full-field events on the Korn Ferry Tour through season’s end.

“It’s definitely a great path for guys like myself and John who stayed in college all four years and have played well to kind of earn that,” Thompson said Tuesday. “But I’m in a very lucky spot where I kind of have options where I’m, obviously hoping and trying to get some PGA Tour starts, but at the same time I can play Korn Ferry. So I think it’s a great deal by the PGA Tour and I’m lucky enough to be the first class to kind of use that.”

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

[lawrence-related id=778110034,778109959,778109951]

He’s back: Renewed Cole Hammer puts big point on board for Americans to open Walker Cup

Cole Hammer is one of only three returners for the U.S. Walker Cup team at Seminole, and he’s already delivered in a big way.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. – First out for the Americans on Saturday morning at the Walker Cup, Cole Hammer effectively lassoed in the match that very easily could have gotten away. Hammer and partner Davis Thompson, both former No. 1-ranked amateurs in the world, were out to a big lead – 3 up on the 14th tee – but nearly let it slip away.

Alex Fitzpatrick had a hand in that drama, holing a big par putt at No. 15 that came in the middle of a three-hole Great Britain and Ireland back-nine run. Fitzpatrick horse-shoed out a par save at the par-3 16th, leaving the door open for the Americans to save the match. Hammer kicked that door closed with a 35-footer for birdie on No. 18 that gave the U.S. the first point on the board.

That turned out to be key an hour later, as the U.S. stood tied 2-2 with GB&I after the first session.

“It was a wild match,” Hammer said. “We tied 1 and 2, and we didn’t tie a hole after that I don’t think. It was a lot of up-and-downs, and we just had to stay in there and try to do our thing.”

The golf world continues to get more and more glimpses of Hammer. After his U.S. Open debut at Chambers Bay in 2015 – when he was only 15 years old – his story has become less about his very memorable surname and more about his game. Hammer hysteria arguably peaked in the summer of 2018, after he won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball (along with partner Garrett Barber) and the Western Amateur. He was a semifinalist at both the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur and a year later, ascended to world No. 1 for a total of 12 weeks.

Hammer, now a junior at Texas and the recent winner of the individual Big 12 title, easily made the 2019 Walker Cup team. His pick came courtesy of that No. 1 world ranking. But even before appearing in the matches at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England – as early as the spring of 2019 – Hammer felt his game slipping.

“I wasn’t hitting it well the last Walker Cup,” he said. “I can remember that vividly.”

He won only one point in Hoylake, and that came in Sunday singles. It left a bad taste.

Asked to assess his game on the eve of the 2021 Walker Cup, Hammer revealed a struggle to get back to basics. He was too shut and laid off at the top of his swing, which made it hard to hit the draw he wanted to hit. Hammer went back to work with Bruce Davidson at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, a man he worked with growing up.

[vertical-gallery id=778103013]

Hammer “wanted with everything in his body” to make another Walker Cup team. He felt behind the eight-ball last fall after missing the cut at the U.S. Amateur and falling in the first round of the Maridoe Amateur.

Selection to the 16-man Walker Cup practice squad in December was a good sign, but here’s a move that revealed his position on the bubble: When, during that week, U.S. captain Nathaniel Crosby asked who was ending his year at the South Beach International Amateur (the last big men’s amateur event on the 2020 schedule), only Hammer’s hand shot up.

He ended up winning that event by five shots.

“I usually don’t play in the winter to take some time off from the college schedule,” he said. “It’s pretty rigorous; we play a lot of golf, but I decided I needed to. So I played in the Maridoe Am, did not play well, so I pretty much knew that I had to play well at the South Beach.

“Honestly it was probably the biggest win I’ve ever had in terms of confidence and in terms of showing myself that I can do it when it matters.”

The Walker Cup - Day 1
Davis Thompson (left) and Cole Hammer of Team USA look on from the fourth green during Day One of The Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club on May 08, 2021 in Juno Beach, Florida. (Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

Talking in late March about how his roster stacked up, Crosby went straight to Hammer.

“My hats off to Cole for having a stick-to-it attitude and coming back after an iffy summer for him,” he said, “and earning his way back onto the team when the last time he was the No. 1 amateur in the world and he was kind of a shoe-in.”

Part of Hammer’s struggles had to do with seeing a shot but not being able to hit it. Now, he said, he’s gotten more comfortable. The results certainly indicate that comfort.

“You know, if you had told me six months ago that I would be happy that I went through the process, I would have told you you’re crazy,” Hammer said the night before the first match, “but sitting here now I’m glad I did it.”

Here’s betting there are several other red-white-and-blue-clad compatriots at Seminole this week that are glad he did, too.

[lawrence-related id=778103119,778103093]

U.S. Walker Cup team is set for May matches at Seminole; includes 8 collegians, 3 returners from 2019

The 10-man U.S. Walker Cup team includes nine current college players and three players returning from the victorious 2019 U.S. squad.

With just more than two months until the 2021 Walker Cup match at Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Florida, the U.S. team has taken shape. On Monday, the U.S. Golf Association announced the full 10-man squad that will compete in the first Walker Cup to be held in the spring on U.S. soil.

Davis Thompson, Ricky Castillo and John Pak, as the three highest-ranked Americans in the WAGR, earned their spot on the team after the World Amateur Golf Ranking was updated on Feb.10 to reflect results from the previous weekend’s Jones Cup, a prestigious amateur event at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. The trio joined reigning U.S. Amateur champion Tyler Strafaci as the first selections to the team.

The remaining six players were later chosen by the USGA’s International Team Selection working group. Those players are Pierceson Coody, Quade Cummins, Austin Eckroat, Stewart Hagestad, Cole Hammer and William Mouw.

College Rankings
Men’s team | Men’s indiv. | Women’s team | Women’s indiv.

Hagestad, Hammer and Pak all return from the 2019 U.S. team that defeated Great Britain & Ireland at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Hagestad, the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am champ, and Strafaci, who did not return to Georgia Tech this spring, are the only non-collegians on the team.

Pak was arguably the man of the matches in 2019, going 3-0-0 (the only player on either team to go undefeated). The Florida State senior, who has since won two college events and finished as low amateur at the 2020 U.S. Open, came to the Walker Cup team in a decidedly different way than he did in 2019 in that he secured his spot early. A year and a half ago, Pak made six starts in a 10-week stretch, hitting all the major amateur events to make his case for inclusion. Ultimately he was one of the final selections, revealed after the end of the 2019 U.S. Amateur.

Castillo, now a sophomore at Florida, and Mouw, a sophomore at Pepperdine, seemed to be in the running for much of the summer of 2019, and likely were among the players who just missed a selection that year. Both were junior golfers then, on the cusp of college golf.

Castillo has spent time as the top-ranked player in the WAGR, but currently checks in at No. 6. He won twice in his abbreviated freshman season and has made the semifinals at the Western Amateur the past two years. Mouw set Pepperdine’s freshman record with five top-10 finishes and came back this fall with a pair of top 10s individually.

[listicle id=778073458]

As for Thompson, a Georgia senior who finished runner-up in his Jones Cup title defense last month, a Walker Cup pick has been all but guaranteed as he has maintained his position at or near the top of the WAGR for the past several weeks. He is currently ranked No. 1.

Thompson has won two college titles in the past two years, including the 2019 NCAA Athens Regional title, and was stroke-play medalist at the 2019 Western Amateur. He finished in the top 25 at the 2019 RSM Classic on the PGA Tour.

Cummins is the only fifth-year senior on the squad and is finishing up his career at the University of Oklahoma. He won the 2019 Pacific Coast Amateur and logged top-5 finishes at the 2019 Sunnehanna Amateur and in Western Amateur stroke play that year.

Coody, who is a teammate of Hammer’s at the University of Texas, won the Western Amateur in July 2020. Austin Eckroat, a junior at Oklahoma State, is ranked No. 15 in the WAGR and scored a top-15 finish at the PGA Tour’s Mayakoba Golf Classic in November.

McClure Meissner, a junior at SMU and the reigning Southern Amateur champion, and Garett Reband, another Oklahoma fifth-year senior, are the first and second alternatives, respectively.

Nathaniel Crosby, who in addition to guiding the 2019 victory also played on the winning U.S. team in the 1983 Walker Cup match, will return as captain.

“It is once again a great privilege to serve as the USA captain and to work with a group who represent the best of amateur golf,” said Crosby. “The 10 team members have a notable list of accomplishments on the collegiate, national and international levels. They will represent the United States in the spirit and tradition of the Walker Cup Match.”

[lawrence-related id=778081469,778077888,778044597]

Georgia senior Davis Thompson returns to RSM Classic as the world’s top-ranked amateur

David Thompson finished 23rd at last year’s RSM Classic. He’s back with more experience, and more confidence and a better WAGR ranking.

Softspoken Davis Thompson easily falls into the category of “mature amateur.” But two months after his first U.S. Open start, there’s another phrase in his vocabulary.

Mature pro.

Major championships are full of gold nuggets for players like Thompson, a senior at the University of Georgia who expects to turn professional mid-summer and chase a PGA Tour career. This was one of them.

“Just try not to let anything bother me,” Thompson said in trying to define the difference between those two things. “Playing with Brendon Todd, Harris English the first couple rounds. They kind of showed their emotions a little bit, but once that shot was over, they were on to the next one.

RSM Classic: Fantasy rankings | Gambling odds

“I think I hit a lot of really good golf shots that second round at the U.S. Open, but the margin for error’s just so little out there. So I kind of let that get the best of me and that kind of led to some more bogeys. It was a great experience for me to learn how to deal with those mistakes and how to deal with just moving on and not really thinking about the previous shot.”

English is perhaps the Georgia alum with whom Thompson identifies the most. He says their personalities are similar, and that English understands the way Thompson thinks.

“He’s a guy that I played with him in the U.S. Open, I played a couple practice rounds with him as well and he was just really encouraging to me throughout the entire week, which really meant a lot,” Thompson said.

Thompson had rounds of 69-78 at Winged Foot to miss the cut. He made two starts in SEC-only events with his Georgia team over the next six weeks, finishing fourth at the Blessings Intercollegiate and fifth at the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate.

Now he’s sitting at No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, a position that, if he can maintain it, can bring a lot of perks – namely, a spot on the U.S. Walker Cup team in May. Reaching that spot became a goal over the summer after Thompson found himself in the top 10 in the WAGR.

“I just kind of told myself let’s try to get to No. 1,” he said.

Davis Thompson plays his shot from the third tee during the second round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 18, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Thompson played the RSM Classic, the Tour stop at Sea Island Resort near his home in St. Simons Island, Georgia, in 2019. He finished 23rd that week. Traditionally, the winner of the prestigious Jones Cup gets the nod this week, but Thompson played the 2019 RSM despite finishing runner-up to Akshay Bhatia in a weather-shortened event that ended in a playoff. Since Bhatia had turned professional by the time the opportunity rolled around, the tournament committee reached out to Thompson, offering him an opportunity to play in the event as an amateur.

This year’s exemption came off a runaway, nine-shot victory at the 2020 Jones Cup. Things could not feel more familiar around this place, which Thompson said he has played 50 to 100 times.

“That number really increased during quarantine, just coming out here and playing pretty much every day and just practicing while I wasn’t able to go back to Athens,” he said.

Longtime friend Reynolds Carl, who caddied for him at the 2019 RSM, returns to the bag, and should the wind kick up, things shift even further in Thompson’s favor.

“Playing out here you just kind of become familiar with the greens and the speeds and how the grain affects it,” he said. “You know, also I’m able to flight the ball really well if it gets windy.

Maturity and familiarity will go hand-in-hand this week.

[lawrence-related id=778076613,778076643,778066541]

U.S. Open: Georgia’s Davis Thompson leads early, finishes with a solid 69

Davis Thompson jumped atop the leaderboard after posting three straight birdies during the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

[jwplayer 7NBaZ2A0-9JtFt04J]

Stepping foot on a track as daunting as Winged Foot Golf Club for your first crack at a major championship certainly can stir nerves in a guy.

Davis Thompson expected it. The University of Georgia star, who earned a berth into this week’s U.S. Open through his No. 4 standing in the World Amateur Golf Ranking — he’s No. 1 in the Golfweek/amateurgolf.com rankings — knew nerves would be an issue, and when the first person he saw at Winged Foot was one of his boyhood idols in Rory McIlroy, he needed to take a deep breath.

But finding a pair of fellow Georgia alums Harris English and Brendon Todd in his opening-round threesome marked the first sign Thompson might be able to ease into this thing.

“I mean, I play a lot of golf with Harris and Brendon, just them being Georgia guys. So that was a comfortable pairing,” the first-team All-American said. “Yeah, I was a little nervous, but once I hit that first tee shot, I think I was ready to roll.”

And roll he did.

U.S. Open: Leaderboard | Best photos

With his father, Todd, on his bag, Thompson jumped atop the leaderboard after posting three straight birdies en route to a 32 at the turn. He buried another birdie on No. 11 to maintain the outright lead for a bit, and although he dropped strokes on three of his final six holes coming home, the 21-year-old was still rightfully happy with a solid 69.

“I got off to a great start. I hit a lot of fairways coming out of the gate, which kind of gave me a lot of comfort at the start. Then I just missed a few fairways coming in and had to hack it out and try to get up and down. Unfortunately, I didn’t,” he said. “But a great start. That was kind of one of my main goals coming into this championship, just get off to a good start and not get behind the 8-ball. I’m excited about the rest of the tournament.”

And it’s not like Thompson simply got lucky. He misread a makeable birdie putt on No. 9, and after a long iron got him out of the rough on No. 16, he three-putted from 70 feet. Those were just two opportunities that could have pushed him higher on the leaderboard, and perhaps pulled him even with English and Todd, who each finished at 68.

[vertical-gallery id=778066134]

Still, Thompson understands how advantageous his position is, especially in light of the conditions at Winged Foot, where many expected the world’s best to all post scores above par.

“Yeah, just compete, just do the best that I can. I’m not oblivious to the fact this is my first Major Championship. I’m going to be nervous, but that’s part of it. Just compete my tail off, just stay in my routine, just not make it bigger than it is. Just try to play golf like I do every day,” he said, adding, “I’m not here to be a tourist.”

[lawrence-related id=778066532,778066410,778066493]

2020 U.S. Open, Round 1 Live Stream, Thursday Tee Times, Live Coverage, TV Channel, Start Time

The PGA Tour is back with its second major of the season, the US Open will begin on Thursday with the 1st Round from Winged Foot Golf Club.

The PGA Tour is back with its second major of the season, the US Open will begin on Thursday with the 1st Round from Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.  Tiger will return to action after having a busy August, playing in all three PGA tournaments.

Tiger will be playing with Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa on Thursday and Friday and will tee off on Thursday morning at 8:07 a.m., here is everything you need to know to follow and stream the action.

U.S. Open, Round 1

  • When: Thursday, September 17
  • TV Channel: Golf Channel
  • Early Live Coverage: 7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET
  • Live Stream: via fuboTV (watch for free)

U.S. Open, Round 1 Tee Times

Tee No. 1

6:50 a.m. – Brandon Wu, Curtis Luck, Ryan Fox
7:01 a.m. – Joel Dahmen, Rasmus Hojgaard, J.T. Poston
7:12 a.m. – Chez Reavie, Sung Kang, Kevin Streelman
7:23 a.m. – Jazz Janewattananond, Kevin Na, Matt Wallace
7:34 a.m. – Brendon Todd, Harris English, Davis Thompson (a)
7:45 a.m. – Paul Waring, Victor Perez, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
7:56 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth
8:07 a.m. – Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods
8:18 a.m. – Matt Kuchar, Lucas Glover, Graeme McDowell
8:29 a.m. – Charles Howell III, Ryo Ishikawa, Max Homa
8:40 a.m. – Kurt Kitayama, Robert MacIntyre, Sandy Scott (a)
8:51 a.m. – Eddie Pepperell, Troy Merritt, Sami Valimaki
12:10 p.m. – Shaun Norris, Rory Sabbatini, Chan Kim
12:21 p.m. – Adam Long, Eduard Rousaud (a), Mike Lorenzo-Vera
12:32 p.m. – Lukas Michel (a), Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones
12:43 p.m. – Ryan Palmer, Si Woo Kim, Rafa Cabrera Bello
12:54 p.m. – Joaquin Niemann, Sungjae Im, Cameron Champ
1:05 p.m. – Gary Woodland, Andy Ogletree (a), Shane Lowry
1:16 p.m. – Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Tony Finau
1:27 p.m. – Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Jon Rahm
1:38 p.m. – Rickie Fowler, Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland
1:49 p.m. – Romain Langasque, Davis Riley, Will Zalatoris
2:00 p.m. – Matthias Schwab, Cole Hammer (a), Alex Noren
2:11 p.m. – Connor Syme, Paul Barjon, Marty Jertson

Tee No. 10

6:50 a.m. – Daniel Balin, Greyson Sigg, J.C. Ritchie
7:01 a.m. – Ricky Castillo, (a) Brian Harman, Andy Sullivan
7:12 a.m. – Tom Lewis, Preston Summerhays (a), Jason Kokrak
7:23 a.m. – Martin Kaymer, Jimmy Walker, John Augenstein (a)
7:34 a.m. – Tyler Duncan, Thomas Detry, Erik van Rooyen
7:45 a.m. – Tyrrell Hatton, Henrik Stenson, Danny Willett
7:56 a.m. – Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Jason Day
8:07 a.m. – Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Justin Rose
8:18 a.m. – Ian Poulter, Patrick Cantlay, Steve Stricker
8:29 a.m. – Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Corey Conners
8:40 a.m. – Sebastian Munoz, Chun An Yu (a), Justin Harding
8:51 a.m. – Scott Hend, Dan McCarthy, Ryan Vermeer
12:10 p.m. – Richy Werenski, Taylor Pendrith, Renato Paratore
12:21 p.m. – Jim Herman, John Pak (a), Thomas Pieters
12:32 p.m. – Michael Thompson, Andrew Putnam, Chesson Hadley
12:43 p.m. – Bernd Wiesberger, Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith
12:54 p.m. – Lee Westwood, James Sugrue (a), Bubba Watson
1:05 p.m. – Matt Fitzpatrick, Daniel Berger, Branden Grace
1:16 p.m. – Tommy Fleetwood, Kevin Kisner, Abraham Ancer
1:27 p.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley
1:38 p.m. – Billy Horschel, Xander Schauffele, Brandt Snedeker
1:49 p.m. – Shugo Imahira, Byeong Hun An, Takumi Kanaya (a)
2:00 p.m. – Danny Lee, Mark Hubbard, Lanto Griffin
2:11 p.m. – Stephan Jaeger Lee Hodges Adrian Otaegui

U.S. Open Odds and Betting Lines

Want some action on the U.S. Open?  Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV at BetMGM

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Three finalists remain for Haskins and ANNIKA Awards

After a shortened college golf season, both the Haskins and ANNIKA Awards will still be presented to the top men’s and women’s college players. Players, coaches, sports information directors and golf media were eligible to vote for the awards. After the voting period, three finalists remain on each side. Haskins finalists include Vanderbilt senior John Augenstein, Pepperdine senior Sahith Theegala and Georgia junior Davis Thompson. Augenstein notched a victory at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate and had two other top-five finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Nike Golf Collegiate. Theegala finished an abbreviated season as the top-ranked college player in both the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and the Golfstat individual rankings. Thompson won the Jim Rivers Invitational in the fall for one of four top-10 finishes on the season. ANNIKA finalists are Arizona freshman Vivian Hou, LSU freshman Ingrid Lindblad and Furman senior Natalie Srinivasan. Hou was a collective 17 under in 16 competitive rounds during her freshman year at Arizona. Lindblad won two times in an abbreviated season at LSU. Srinivasan’s season included three individual titles and ended with a runner-up at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Award winners for both the Haskins and ANNIKA will be announced May 8.

After a shortened college golf season, both the Haskins and ANNIKA Awards will still be presented to the top men’s and women’s college players. Players, coaches, sports information directors and golf media were eligible to vote for the awards. After the voting period, three finalists remain on each side. Haskins finalists include Vanderbilt senior John Augenstein, Pepperdine senior Sahith Theegala and Georgia junior Davis Thompson. Augenstein notched a victory at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate and had two other top-five finishes, including a runner-up showing at the Nike Golf Collegiate. Theegala finished an abbreviated season as the top-ranked college player in both the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and the Golfstat individual rankings. Thompson won the Jim Rivers Invitational in the fall for one of four top-10 finishes on the season. ANNIKA finalists are Arizona freshman Vivian Hou, LSU freshman Ingrid Lindblad and Furman senior Natalie Srinivasan. Hou was a collective 17 under in 16 competitive rounds during her freshman year at Arizona. Lindblad won two times in an abbreviated season at LSU. Srinivasan’s season included three individual titles and ended with a runner-up at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. Award winners for both the Haskins and ANNIKA will be announced May 8.