US PGA Championship 2023: first round updates – live
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-2: Stallings (1*)
-1: Higa (2*), Grillo (1*), Lee (1)
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There are two players defending the Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill this week. Well, kind of.
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There’s the reigning champion Justin Thomas, of course. JT won his second PGA Championship in record fashion last year at Southern Hills, coming from seven shots back on the final day to pip Will Zalatoris in a play-off, after 71-hole leader Mito Pereira blew it by driving into the drink at the 72nd. If this week’s Sunday shenanigans are even halfway as dramatic as that, we’ll be doing pretty well for ourselves.
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But there’s also Phil Mickelson. Lefty won at Kiawah Island in 2021, beating Brooks Koepka down the stretch to become the oldest major champion in history. He didn’t get to officially defend that title last year, withdrawing from the field after some injudicious LIV-inspired chat, and now that he’s back … well, of course he’s not actually defending this week, but you know how elite-level sportspeople think, and in his mind he’ll have relinquished nothing. His age (53 next month) and form on the LIV tour suggest he’s got no chance; his outrageous second-place finish at last month’s Masters argues differently.
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Other golfers are available! The world number one and new Masters champion Jon Rahm; the in-form world number two Scottie Scheffler; Jordan Spieth, trying to complete the career slam; the Cams Smith and Young; the reigning US Open and recent Heritage champion Matt Fitzpatrick; the fast-shooting Brooks Koepka and his glacial-paced nemesis Patrick Cantlay (preferably in the final pairing on Sunday for some comedy fireworks, come on golfing gods, make it so); the resurgent Jason Day; a European charge by Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry or Tyrrell Hatton; some home heroics from Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Tony Finau or Collin Morikawa; a possible Korean coup courtesy of Tom Kim, Im Sung-jae or Kim Si-woo. Oh, and taking up the role of lovable but teeth-grindingly frustrating underachiever in Sergio Garcia’s absence, Rory McIlroy.
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Even more golfers are available! Apologies if I’ve missed the obvious, or your favourite, but there are 156 players in the field, we’d be here all day. Instead, let’s simply be about our business. Our coverage begins at 1pm BST (8am local), the original tee times are below. The delay for the first group is just under two hours.
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Starting from the 1st (all times BST) …
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12pm: Shaun Micheel, Braden Shattuck, Steven Alker
12.11pm: Ben Griffin, Chris French, Joel Dahmen
12.22pm: Wyatt Worthington II, Nico Echavarria, Wyndham Clark
12.33pm: Tom Hoge, Ryan Fox, KH Lee
12.44pm: Paul Casey, Adam Svensson, Beau Hossler
12.55pm: Zach Johnson, Kurt Kitayama, Sahith Theegala
1.06pm: Corey Conners, Ockie Strydom, Joaquin Niemann
1.17pm: Kevin Kisner, Jimmy Walker, Padraig Harrington
1.28pm: Alex Noren, JT Poston, Mackenzie Hughes
1.39pm: Lee Hodges, Callum Tarren, David Lingmerth
1.50pm: Taylor Moore, Denny McCarthy, Brendan Steele
2.01pm: Jeremy Wells, Justin Suh, Adri Arnaus
2.12pm: Anthony Cordes, Mark Hubbard, Dean Burmester
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5.30pm: Matt Cahill, Taylor Montgomery, Cam Davis
5.41pm: Michael Block, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Pendrith
5.52pm: Alex Beach, Brendon Todd, Sihwan Kim
6.03pm: Patrick Reed, Rasmus Hojgaard, Nick Taylor
6.14pm: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, John Somers, Chez Reavie
6.25pm: Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young, Hideki Matsuyama
6.36pm: Adam Scott, Max Homa, Tony Finau
6.47pm: Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson
6.58pm: Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson
7.09pm: Alex Smalley, Russell Henley, Mito Pereira
7.20pm: Adam Hadwin, Matt Kuchar, Talor Gooch
7.31pm: Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Francesco Molinari
7.42pm: Russell Grove, Patrick Rodgers, Ben Taylor
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… and from the 10th …
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12.05pm: Trey Mullinax, Josh Speight, Kazuki Higa
12.16pm: Adam Schenk, Colin Inglis, Thriston Lawrence
12.27pm: Min Woo Lee, Andrew Putnam, Emiliano Grillo
12.38pm: Harold Varner III, Scott Stallings, Nicolai Hojgaard
12.49pm: Steve Holmes, Adrian Otaegui, Davis Riley
1pm: Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Gary Woodland
1.11pm: Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa
1.22pm: Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland
1.33pm: Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Smith
1.44pm: Luke Donald, Adrian Meronk, Yannik Paul
1.55pm: Kenny Pigman, Davis Thompson, Maverick McNealy
2.06pm: Keegan Bradley, Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau
2.17pm: Jesse Droemer, Matt NeSmith, Rikuya Hoshino
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5.25pm: Sam Ryder, Gabe Reynolds, Brandon Wu
5.36pm: Sadom Kaewkanjana, Ben Kern, Thorbjorn Olesen
5.47pm: Webb Simpson, YE Yang, Danny Willett
5.58pm: Sepp Straka, Harris English, Robert MacIntyre
6.09pm: Thomas Pieters, Keith Mitchell, Pablo Larrazabal
6.20pm: Lucas Herbert, Brian Harman, Callum Shinkwin
6.31pm: Tom Kim, Sam Burns, Abraham Ancer
6.42pm: Im Sung-jae, Chris Kirk, Seamus Power
6.53pm: Kim Si-woo, Stephan Jaeger, Anirban Lahiri
7.04pm: Victor Perez, Aaron Wise, Jordan Smith
7.15pm: Chris Sanger, JJ Spaun, David Micheluzzi
7.26pm: Thomas Detry, JJ Killeen, Matt Wallace
7.37pm: Nick Hardy, Gary Koch, Eric Cole
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It’s on!
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Yes, it may be mid-May but this is upstate New York – and an overnight frost has set us back by a couple of hours. The first group will now tee off at 8.50am (1.50pm BST), with revised tee times to follow. More from PA:
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Play had been scheduled to get under way at 7am local time (12pm BST), but predictions of an overnight frost proved accurate. Tournament organisers released a statement early on Thursday morning which read: “Due to frost, all Oak Hill Country Club practice facilities and the golf course are currently closed.
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“To protect playing surfaces, everyone on-site must stay off any grass and gates will not open until the frost clears,” the statement added. “Starting times for round one will begin approximately 1hr and 15 minutes after practice facilities open.”
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Justin Thomas effs and jeffs as his drive at 1 heads towards the out of bounds down the right. But he gets a break, and then manufactures a draw through the trees and into the heart of the green. He’s left with two putts from 70 feet for his par, but that’s a result all told. Meanwhile his playing partner Rory McIlroy misses the fairway to the left, trudges down the hole with his head hanging, then gathers himself to power a wedge out of the cabbage to the middle of the green. He’ll have a look at birdie from 30 feet, and if that goes in … well, things can change quickly in golf, right? Poor chap needs something of a boost, so here’s hoping.
Sahith Theegala tidies up for his birdie at 11. He joins the leaders. A star-studded pack chasing them.
-3: Higa (14*), Theegala (11), Bradley (5*)
-2: Fox (12)
-1: Scheffler (9*), Conners (10), Thomas (9*), Morikawa (9*), Hovland (8*), Smith (7*), Tarren (8), McNealy (6*), Suh (6)
Jon Rahm can’t get up and down from the fringe to the side of 16, and one of the pre-tournament favourites slips back to level par. Scottie Scheffler, the other pre-tournament favourite, had completed the back nine in 34 strokes, a very tidy card that features eight pars and a birdie; he’s level par. But the man who was (let’s face it, inexplicably, given his recent form) third favourite in the betting, Rory McIlroy, can’t salvage his par on 18. That’s three shots dropped in four holes, and that’s 38 strokes over the back nine for the two-time champion. He’s +3 and it’s hard to watch him struggle like this.
Could this be the shot of the day? We’ve had some contenders already – Corey Conners at 6, Scott Stallings at 10, Viktor Hovland at 15 – but this could be the best of the lot. Sahith Theegala creams a high draw into the long par-three 11th, his ball stopping 18 inches away from the cup. So close to a most elegant ace. He’ll surely tidy up to move into a share of the lead at -3. News when we have it.
McIlroy ended up in a bunker at 18 from which he could only take a large gulp of medicine. Having splashed out, he pulls his approach left and long, but gets a huge break off the camber of the bank and his ball pings onto the green, stopping 15 feet behind the flag. A chance to scramble an unlikely par, despite being all over the shop, though he’s still got a face on. He is fuming.
Rory sends a huge slice towards the tents lining the right-hand side of the 18th hole. Steam pouring out of the lugs, he swipes wildly and indiscriminately with his driver and nearly takes out a PGA tee sign plus a nearby boom mic. Fortunately he doesn’t connect with either. Further up the hole, Gary Woodland is also feeling far from mellow, having troubled a nearby grandstand, then, upon sending his next shot onto the green, being told “There you go!” by an extremely patronising punter. Woodland will understandably demur, but that heckle was delivered with exquisite comic timing and at exactly the right cadence to get immediately under the skin. Golf is hard enough as it is.
Rory McIlroy can’t get up and down from greenside sand at 17, and that’s two strokes shipped in three holes. A steady start has turned into a poor one in double-quick time. He’s +2. But back on 15, Cam Smith responds to that egregious yip on 15 with some steely work at the par-three 16th. He pulls his tee shot into the bunker on the left, from where Collin Morikawa earlier ran up bogey. But Smith whips bravely high into the air, up over the steep face to six feet, the best that he could feasibly do. In goes the par saver, and he remains at -1.
Sahith Theegala would be a popular winner all right. The 25-year-old Californian is coming off the back of a top-ten finish at the Masters, and has started the second major of the year very well indeed. Having opened with a bogey, he’s birdied 4, 8 and now 9, hitting the turn in 33 after whisking a chip out of deep rough at the back of 9 and dribbling it down the green and into the cup. The crowd go wild but he celebrates modestly.
-3: Higa (12*), Bradley (4*)
-2: Fox (10), Theegala (9), Conners (8)
-1: Scheffler (8*), Thomas (7*), Morikawa (7*), Hovland (6*), Tarren (6), Smith (5*), Rahm (5*), Suh (5), Mernok (4*), McNealy (4*)
After three birdies in a row, it’s back-to-back bogeys for Callum Tarren. He’s fairly lucky the damage at 6 was only the one stroke, to be honest: he pulls his second towards Allens Creek and only the thick grass on the bank keeps him dry. He can’t take advantage of the break, failing to chip close, and walks off having dropped back to -1.
Keegan Bradley grabs a share of the lead with a monster putt on 13! A huge downhill right-to-left swinger for birdie. He’s -3. Corey Conners makes his third birdie in four holes with a 20-footer on 8 to move to -2. Meanwhile on 14, Cam Smith stands over an 18-inch birdie putt … only for it to horseshoe out. Wow. He gathers himself and tidies up for par. That’s a real shocker. He remains at -1.
A disappointing morning for Matt Fitzpatrick. The reigning US Open champion cards back-to-back bogeys at 13 and 14, and slips to +2. He’ll no doubt be taking that double whammy in sanguine fashion … not least because as fast as things unravel, you can always bounce back in similar speed. See the work so far of Viktor Hovland: the young Norwegian, surely a major champion in waiting, started with bogeys at 10 and 12, but has just made three in a row, the latest at 15 after arrowing his tee shot straight at a tightly-positioned flag. He’s -1.
A disappointing three-putt bogey for Callum Tarren at 5. He slips out of a share of the lead. The 2011 champion Keegan Bradley is alongside him in second, having started 3-3-3, with birdies at 10 and 12. This PGA hasn’t quite sparked into life yet … but it’s only Thursday morning, after all, and it’s intriguing if nothing else.
-3: Higa (10*)
-9: Fox (9), Tarren (5), Bradley (3*)
Harold Varner III chips in from the front of 17. It only saves his par – only! – but that keeps him in red figures at -1. Collin Morikawa can’t tickle in his downhill par putt from the fringe at 15 and he slips back to -1. Meanwhile Morikawa’s playing partner Rory McIlroy also fails to get up and down from sand, and his opening run of pars is broken by a bogey.
A big par save for the co-leader Kazuki Higa on 1. Well short of the green in two, he gets up and down to remain at -3. Up on 9, Ryan Fox joins Collin Morikawa in second spot with birdie that moves him to -2 … though how much longer will Morikawa be there alongside him? He pulls his tee shot at the par-three 15th into the bunker. Shortsided, he can only send his ball flying hysterically past the flag and onto the fringe at the back. He’ll need to make a tricky 15-footer to save his par.
Callum Tarren joins Kazuki Higa in the lead at -3! A third birdie on the bounce, this time at the par-five 4th. Meanwhile it’s back-to-back birdies for the 2020 champ Collin Morikawa, the latest at the short par-four 14th, and the top of the leaderboard suddenly has a fresh look.
-3: Higa (9*), Tarren (4)
-2: Morikawa (5*)
The shot of the day so far, by Corey Connors on the monster par-four 6th (formerly the 5th). Creamed straight at a flag tucked away on the left-hand side of the green, water to that side, from 214 yards to kick-in distance. It’s back-to-back birdies for the 31-year-old Canadian, who has three top-ten finishes at the Masters, yet very little else on his major-championship résumé. He’s -1 now. Mind you, Maverick McNealy puts in a bid of his own seconds later, whipping out of thick rough to the side of 12 and in. The 27-year-old American, who hasn’t quite delivered on his early hype, moves to -1.
Callum Tarren had a decent US Open last year, finishing in a tie for 31st at Brookline. The 32-year-old from Darlington hasn’t done much else in the majors, but starts fast this week, with birdies at 2 and 3 to grab second spot for himself. Also moving in the right direction: Scottie Scheffler, who makes a wonderful birdie on the short par-four 14th after pulling his tee shot into thick rubbish to the left of the green. With a lot of ground to cover, he whips a high lob out of the filth to ten feet, then rattles in the birdie chance with supreme confidence. He’s -1.
-3: Higa (9*)
-2: Tarren (3)
A couple of stunning bunker shots from two serious contenders. Jordan Spieth bashes out of a deep greenside trap at 13 to a couple of feet. The birdie brings him back to level par. One hole ahead, Brooks Koepka sends his tee shot into sand front-right of the green, then whips out to tap-in distance. The two-time PGA champion also moves back to level par for his round.
The Open champion Cameron Smith sends a 40-foot tramliner up the 12th green and into the cup. Right into the centre. Never missing. Meanwhile the 2020 champion Collin Morikawa birdies the par-five 13th and also moves into red figures. They’re -1. But up on 17, the leader Kazuki Higa finds thick rough down the left of the hole with his drive; always out of position, he ends up with his first bogey of the day.
-3: Higa (8*)
-1: Grillo (6*), Fox (6), Lee (6), Varner III (6*), Stallings (6*), Johnson (5), Kitayama (5), Morikawa (4*), Thomas (4*), C Smith (3*), Rahm (2*), Hodges (2), Tarren (2), Meronk (2*), Suh (1), Bradley (1*)
The par-five 13th is playing at 617 yards today. It could be set up longer later in the week, but even today, big-hitting types such as Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka can’t reach in two. Both wedge their thirds in. Koepka pulls his onto the bank at the left, but gets a huge break as the ball hops out at a right angle and stops eight feet from the cup. Scheffler’s wedge in is a bit clumsy: he doesn’t get the spin he’s after and the ball rolls ten feet past. Neither can make their birdie effort, and remain at level par and +1 respectively.
Ryan Fox is unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the par-three 5th, and he slips back into the pack at -1. Meanwhile the leader Kazuki Higa is able to make a sandy save, whipping delightfully out of a trap at 16 to kick-in distance. Incidentally, that chasing pack includes Colin Inglis, one of the PGA Team of 20 club pros. Inglis missed the cut last year at Southern Hills, but whatever happens from here, he’ll always be able to say he was tied for second at one point in a PGA Championship.
-4: Higa (7*)
-1: Inglis (6*), Grillo (5*), Fox (5), Lee (5), Varner III (4*), Stallings (4*), Riley (3*), Z Johnson (3), Thomas (3*), Rahm (1*), Donald (1*)
Jordan Spieth is hoping to complete the full set of major championships this week. He’s not off to the best start, following up bogey at 10 by sending his tee shot at the long par-three 11th into the bunker guarding the front. He knocks his second to eight feet, from where par’s far from a certainty … but he rolls the putt into the centre of the cup to stem the bleeding. He’s +1 and a nightmare start has just been averted.
For the third hole in a row, Brooks Koepka gets sloppy hitting into the green. This time it costs him. Having sent his second up a hillock to the side of the putting surface at 12, he can’t bump down close enough, and upon missing the putt slips back to +1. One of his playing partners, Gary Woodland, also drops a stroke after pulling a relatively short par putt. Don’t let the fast starts of Higa and Fox fool you: Oak Hill is playing like a US Open course, long and with penal rough, accuracy with the big stick a necessity. Some confirmation of that from the Sky colour man Wayne Riley: “Oak Hill will eat you up, bite you, and spit you out.”
Pretty much a perfect start to the round for Jon Rahm. Having found the fairway with a long opening drive, he wedges to 12 feet, then calmly rolls in the birdie putt. Fair to say that’s a better start to the PGA than the one he made at Augusta last month – a four-putt double bogey – and look what happened there. The rest of the field have been put on notice.
Here’s Jonny! The world number one belts a monster down 10. Up on the green, disappointing bogey starts for Viktor Hovland and career-slam-chasing Jordan Spieth. Meanwhile Ryan Fox follows birdie at 2 with another at the 617-yard par-five 4th, joining Scott Stallings in second place, a couple of strokes behind the leader, whose birdie blitz comes to an end with par at 15.
-4: Higa (6*)
-2: Fox (4), Stallings (3*)
Some outrageous nonsense from Brooks Koepka on 11. Having sent his tee shot into the gallery, he whistles his wedge through the green and just over the other side. He’s left with a delicate little bump out from thick oomska near a bunker … and of course clips it out, sending it on an inevitable journey into the cup for par. One of those shots that looked in from the moment it left the face of the club. He remains level par.
Pars for Scheffler, Koepka and Woodland at 10. Koepka follows that up by pulling an awful long iron at the 245-yard par-three 11th into the gallery. Following behind, Justin Thomas starts the defence of his title by sending his second from rough safely into the heart of the green, then draining a 30-footer for birdie. Par for Rory. Meanwhile on the subject of fast starts, here’s Kazuki Higa with yet another birdie, this time at the short par-four 14th. For the record, Higa has missed the cut in his last five starts. Now look!
-4: Higa (4*)
-2: Stallings (3*)
Kazuki Higa snatches the lead for himself outright. A fuss-free perambulation down the 13th, one of the two par-fives at Oak Hill, and a textbook birdie. The 28-year-old hasn’t won in Europe or the USA yet, but has six victories in Japan to his name, four of those coming in the last 13 months. He looks totally in control of his game, and that’s three birdies in a row.
-3: Higa (4*)
-2: Stallings (2*)
-1: Fox (3), Lee (3), Holmes (1*), Riley (1*)
Back on the 10th tee, the 2012 and 2014 winner Rory McIlroy tees it up … to the biggest cheer of the morning, it has to be said. He’s not in the greatest form at the moment – missing the cut at Augusta hit hard – but he’s always box office and the gallery has his back. He doesn’t find the fairway. Neither does the 2016 and reigning champion Justin Thomas. The 2020 champ Collin Morikawa makes it three misses out of three, spraying his out to the right. “Slept good last night, did everything I was supposed to do,” Rory tells JT as the pair set off down the hole, hands in pockets, both smiling in the relaxed fashion.
Koepka, the only member of the group to have found the fairway, ends up furthest from the flag after an extremely average wedge in. Scheffler, the wildest from the tee, sets up the best birdie chance, gouging out from the thick, wet rough to 12 feet. Pin high. Golf, eh.
The world number two Scottie Scheffler tees it up … and finds the long rough down the left of 10. Then the 2018 and 2019 champion Brooks Koepka unsheathes the driver and launches one down the right-hand side of the fairway. The final member of the group, the 2019 US Open winner Gary Woodland, follows Scheffler into the long stuff. The course is going to fill up quickly with some very big names during the next 30 minutes or so.
Kazuki Higa responds by raking a straight 35-foot birdie putt in on 12! For a second, it looks like his effort is only going to roll 35 feet minus the width of one blade of grass, stopping momentarily on the edge of the cup, but after a crowd-teasing split second, the ball starts turning again and drops. A look of high amusement spreads across Higa’s face. Less than an hour in, and the 105th PGA Championship has already dished up some top-quality entertainment.
-2: Higa (3*), Stallings (1*)
-1: Grillo (2*), Lee (1)
First birdie, first eagle
The first birdie of this year’s Championship has been made by Kazuki Higa. The 28-year-old from Japan is making his PGA Championship debut this week, and isn’t hanging around. He fires his tee shot at the long par-three 11th to 12 feet and rolls in the putt. But he’s not leading the tournament, because the first eagle of the week has been made by Scott Stallings, who holes out from 128 yards on the 10th – two little bounces by the hole then a quick spin to the left and in! The 38-year-old from Massachusetts has no major-championship record to speak of at all – his best finish was a tie for 26th in last month’s Masters – but he’s leading one now. Just another 71 holes to go.
-2: Stallings (1*)
-1: Higa (2*), Grillo (1*), Lee (1)
Micheel is going round this morning with Braden Shattuck, one of the 20 PGA club professionals in this week’s field. Shattuck sliced his opening drive into bother down the left, but recovered well to scramble his par. An opening par four for Micheel as well. Most welcome on a hole regarded by the great Ben Hogan as the hardest opening hole in golf. Anyway, while we wait for the first of this morning’s big-name starters – Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka will be teeing it up at 2.50pm BST, soon to be followed by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Cam Smith – allow our man at Oak Hill, Ewan Murray, to set the scene.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the 105th PGA Championship. This is the 8.50am starting time. On the tee, from Tennessee, the 2003 PGA Champion, please welcome Shaun Micheel.” And so, one hour and 50 minutes after schedule, Micheel hits the first shot of this year’s Championship. A 3-wood creamed down the middle. Hey, any old excuse to revisit the 7-iron that won him the title 20 years ago, right?
Start delayed by frost
Niall McVeigh
Yes, it may be mid-May but this is upstate New York – and an overnight frost has set us back by a couple of hours. The first group will now tee off at 8.50am (1.50pm BST), with revised tee times to follow. More from PA:
Play had been scheduled to get under way at 7am local time (12pm BST), but predictions of an overnight frost proved accurate. Tournament organisers released a statement early on Thursday morning which read: “Due to frost, all Oak Hill Country Club practice facilities and the golf course are currently closed.
“To protect playing surfaces, everyone on-site must stay off any grass and gates will not open until the frost clears,” the statement added. “Starting times for round one will begin approximately 1hr and 15 minutes after practice facilities open.”
Preamble
There are two players defending the Wanamaker Trophy at Oak Hill this week. Well, kind of.
There’s the reigning champion Justin Thomas, of course. JT won his second PGA Championship in record fashion last year at Southern Hills, coming from seven shots back on the final day to pip Will Zalatoris in a play-off, after 71-hole leader Mito Pereira blew it by driving into the drink at the 72nd. If this week’s Sunday shenanigans are even halfway as dramatic as that, we’ll be doing pretty well for ourselves.
But there’s also Phil Mickelson. Lefty won at Kiawah Island in 2021, beating Brooks Koepka down the stretch to become the oldest major champion in history. He didn’t get to officially defend that title last year, withdrawing from the field after some injudicious LIV-inspired chat, and now that he’s back … well, of course he’s not actually defending this week, but you know how elite-level sportspeople think, and in his mind he’ll have relinquished nothing. His age (53 next month) and form on the LIV tour suggest he’s got no chance; his outrageous second-place finish at last month’s Masters argues differently.
Other golfers are available! The world number one and new Masters champion Jon Rahm; the in-form world number two Scottie Scheffler; Jordan Spieth, trying to complete the career slam; the Cams Smith and Young; the reigning US Open and recent Heritage champion Matt Fitzpatrick; the fast-shooting Brooks Koepka and his glacial-paced nemesis Patrick Cantlay (preferably in the final pairing on Sunday for some comedy fireworks, come on golfing gods, make it so); the resurgent Jason Day; a European charge by Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry or Tyrrell Hatton; some home heroics from Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Tony Finau or Collin Morikawa; a possible Korean coup courtesy of Tom Kim, Im Sung-jae or Kim Si-woo. Oh, and taking up the role of lovable but teeth-grindingly frustrating underachiever in Sergio Garcia’s absence, Rory McIlroy.
Even more golfers are available! Apologies if I’ve missed the obvious, or your favourite, but there are 156 players in the field, we’d be here all day. Instead, let’s simply be about our business. Our coverage begins at 1pm BST (8am local), the original tee times are below. The delay for the first group is just under two hours.
Starting from the 1st (all times BST) …
12pm: Shaun Micheel, Braden Shattuck, Steven Alker
12.11pm: Ben Griffin, Chris French, Joel Dahmen
12.22pm: Wyatt Worthington II, Nico Echavarria, Wyndham Clark
12.33pm: Tom Hoge, Ryan Fox, KH Lee
12.44pm: Paul Casey, Adam Svensson, Beau Hossler
12.55pm: Zach Johnson, Kurt Kitayama, Sahith Theegala
1.06pm: Corey Conners, Ockie Strydom, Joaquin Niemann
1.17pm: Kevin Kisner, Jimmy Walker, Padraig Harrington
1.28pm: Alex Noren, JT Poston, Mackenzie Hughes
1.39pm: Lee Hodges, Callum Tarren, David Lingmerth
1.50pm: Taylor Moore, Denny McCarthy, Brendan Steele
2.01pm: Jeremy Wells, Justin Suh, Adri Arnaus
2.12pm: Anthony Cordes, Mark Hubbard, Dean Burmester
5.30pm: Matt Cahill, Taylor Montgomery, Cam Davis
5.41pm: Michael Block, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Pendrith
5.52pm: Alex Beach, Brendon Todd, Sihwan Kim
6.03pm: Patrick Reed, Rasmus Hojgaard, Nick Taylor
6.14pm: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, John Somers, Chez Reavie
6.25pm: Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young, Hideki Matsuyama
6.36pm: Adam Scott, Max Homa, Tony Finau
6.47pm: Xander Schauffele, Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson
6.58pm: Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson
7.09pm: Alex Smalley, Russell Henley, Mito Pereira
7.20pm: Adam Hadwin, Matt Kuchar, Talor Gooch
7.31pm: Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Francesco Molinari
7.42pm: Russell Grove, Patrick Rodgers, Ben Taylor
… and from the 10th …
12.05pm: Trey Mullinax, Josh Speight, Kazuki Higa
12.16pm: Adam Schenk, Colin Inglis, Thriston Lawrence
12.27pm: Min Woo Lee, Andrew Putnam, Emiliano Grillo
12.38pm: Harold Varner III, Scott Stallings, Nicolai Hojgaard
12.49pm: Steve Holmes, Adrian Otaegui, Davis Riley
1pm: Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka, Gary Woodland
1.11pm: Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa
1.22pm: Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland
1.33pm: Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Smith
1.44pm: Luke Donald, Adrian Meronk, Yannik Paul
1.55pm: Kenny Pigman, Davis Thompson, Maverick McNealy
2.06pm: Keegan Bradley, Jason Day, Bryson DeChambeau
2.17pm: Jesse Droemer, Matt NeSmith, Rikuya Hoshino
5.25pm: Sam Ryder, Gabe Reynolds, Brandon Wu
5.36pm: Sadom Kaewkanjana, Ben Kern, Thorbjorn Olesen
5.47pm: Webb Simpson, YE Yang, Danny Willett
5.58pm: Sepp Straka, Harris English, Robert MacIntyre
6.09pm: Thomas Pieters, Keith Mitchell, Pablo Larrazabal
6.20pm: Lucas Herbert, Brian Harman, Callum Shinkwin
6.31pm: Tom Kim, Sam Burns, Abraham Ancer
6.42pm: Im Sung-jae, Chris Kirk, Seamus Power
6.53pm: Kim Si-woo, Stephan Jaeger, Anirban Lahiri
7.04pm: Victor Perez, Aaron Wise, Jordan Smith
7.15pm: Chris Sanger, JJ Spaun, David Micheluzzi
7.26pm: Thomas Detry, JJ Killeen, Matt Wallace
7.37pm: Nick Hardy, Gary Koch, Eric Cole
It’s on!
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Reviewed by RP
on
May 18, 2023
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