by As a West Coaster experiencing East Coast major championships for the first time this year, I would really appreciate it if these tournaments would start a little later in the day. Alas, the tee times are early and I will be awake for them. You should be too.
Here are a few groups to keep a particularly close eye on at the PGA Championship.
Thursday / Friday (all times ET)
7:15 a.m. / 12:40 p.m. – Michael Block, Luke Donald, Shaun Micheel – Even if you’re not a fan of the PGA of America, those people know entertainment. Putting Blockie out for the opening tee shot is a hilarious move. They really should invite him to the Champions Dinner.
7:53 a.m. / 1:18 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Ludvig Åberg – If there was a way to bet someone to finish between 3rd and 7th place, I think I’d do it for all three of these guys. But in all seriousness, Åberg has a real chance to put up a second top-5 finish to begin his major career on a course that really fits his game.
8:15 a.m. / 1:40 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose – If you’re betting on Rory this week, it’s hard to come up with a more comfortable pairing for the first two rounds. He has a great relationship with both DJ and Rosey, and this feels like a group where he can peacock a little.
8:37 a.m. / 2:02 p.m . – Max Homa, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth – Fascinating threesome all around. Homa is trying to back up his career best major finish, Brooks is going for No. 6, and Spieth is going for the quietest career grand slam of all time.
8:59 a.m. / 2:24 p.m. – Akshay Bhatia, Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood – Really seems like Valhalla is tailor-made for Bryson. If you’re anti-Mr. YouTube, you could be in trouble this week.
1:07 p.m. / 7:42 a.m. – Talor Gooch, Cam Davis, Harris English – Absolutely giddy to see how Mr. Sticks-his-foot-in-his-mouth-at-every-turn does at Valhalla. We already know Gooch isn’t going to try and qualify for the U.S. Open or the Open so he’ll need to play well this week.
1:51 p.m. / 8:26 a.m. – Collin Morikawa, Phil Mickelson, Matt Fitzpatrick – An odd group, and one that I have no idea how to handicap, yet I’m fascinated nonetheless. Of the three, I’m most confident in Morikawa, but who knows if what we saw at Augusta was a smoke screen.
2:02 p.m. / 8:37 a.m. – Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm, Cameron Young – Rahm played very poorly at the Masters yet insists that his game is still up to snuff. I believe him, but the media narrative will creep towards “Rahm can’t compete in majors now that he’s on LIV” if he doesn’t play well this week.
2:24 p.m. / 8:59 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Camillo Villegas, Will Zalatoris – Very strange group here. That’s all I really have to say. Oh, and Willy Z is a top-10 machine at majors and is +600 for a top 10 this week? I’m not a gambler, but that seems insane.
