PGA Championship

The second Major of the year the PGA Championship starts today being played at Southern Hills in Oklahoma.

A golfer for most of his life, Sam started playing the game to prove he was the best player out of his father and two brothers. Phil has said some things that I think a lot of us who are committed to the Tour and committed to the legacy of the Tour have pushed back against, and he's taken some personal time, and we all understand that. I am now off to get a crate of Guinness and watch the golf in relaxation. All three hit fairway woods, and all three find the fairway as well. I've been watching for an hour and a half now, and there are lots of birdies to be had out there right now. And outside of three feet he can be deadly with the putter. Three birdies on the first four holes puts Zalatoris into the lead on his own. The wind looks like it is starting to get up after a nice and calm morning so far for the early starters. A long way to go, of course, but I can't really remember the last time he started a Major like this. It has been a pleasure to live blog with you guys for the last three hours. The Woods, McIlroy, Spieth group are 2hrs 10mins into their round and currently on the 8th green - looks to be a standard five hour round. Homa fans, I know there's a lot of you, I'm afraid he's just ended his front nine in a bad way with a three-putt double bogey at the 18th.

Live scores, updates and highlights from the first round of the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

Good morning all and welcome to our coverage of the 2022 PGA Championship. We've already had some excitement here in Tulsa with 56-year-old John Daly, who teed off first to start Round 1, sitting T1 on the leaderboard. Thankful we've arrived at the awesome level of early access and coverage we have today.— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) May 19, 2022 Oh, and don't forget about Tiger Woods who is 1 under through his first two holes. Great start to the week for him. Homa's had a stellar year -- he won earlier this month at the Wells Fargo -- yet entered this week as a quasi-sleeper given the star power (and Tiger) in the field. The last time Rory McIlroy had 4 birdies in a row in the opening round of a major? His bunker shot missed for birdie and his par putt, well long, he left on the short side. Followed him this morning from the range to the putting green and he was missing just about every other one within 10 feet. Like earlier in his round, he missed his approach -- but this time paid the price. Missing birdie opportunities on his next two holes, the three-time major champion has since made two consecutive bogeys. CBS Sports will update this story with scores and highlights from the PGA Championship below. Reigning champion Phil Mickelson's curious absence looms over the event like a shadow after a late withdrawal, but the old guard will be well-represented still with Woods. He's six weeks removed from a slow finish to the Masters, where he made the cut in his first appearance in more than a year.

Tiger Woods returns to the venue of his 2007 PGA Championship victory; Jordan Spieth looks to complete the career Grand Slam; Jon Rahm has the opportunity ...

Follow all the action from the opening day of the year's second major at Southern Hills.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Tom Hoge (-3) joins Dean Burmester into a tie for second with back-to-back birdies on nine and 10. After going two-over par for the opening nine holes, the Australian has birdied four of the first five on the front nine to move within three of the lead. Matt Kuchar is sneaking up the leaderboard as well. Jon Rahm is looking to clinch the second major of his career and hasn’t competed since winning the Mexico Championship at the start of the month. Scottie Scheffler enters the week as a slight favourite owing to his spectacular start to the season, with four victories including his maiden major title at Augusta in April. The world No 1 is sure to face stern competition from his Ryder Cup teammates with Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele all in fine form.

Here's how to watch a 2022 PGA Championship live stream online from anywhere. With Phil Mickelson absent and Tiger Woods getting stronger all the time, ...

For a cheaper alternative, you can live stream PGA Championship golf online through slick streaming platform Kayo. Newbies can take advantage of a FREE Kayo trial to see if the service is right for them. Live coverage starts at 10pm AEST for every round, continuing deep into the nights. We've put all the major VPNs through their paces and we rate ExpressVPN as our top pick, thanks to its speed, ease of use and strong security features. You may be surprised by how easy it is to get started using one, too. There are loads of easy ways to watch a PGA Championship golf live stream in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and almost anywhere else in the world. The PGA Championship just gets wilder every year. Scroll down for a full breakdown of options. How to live stream PGA Championship 2022 in Australia How to get a PGA Championship live stream in the UK The 51-year-old has opted not to defend his crown, with tempers still running high after his attempted Saudi cash grab. Global live streams: Sky Sports (UK)

Back in 1935, local oil man Waite Phillips dipped into his pockets to create a course which, revamped back in 2018, now hosts the 104^th PGA Championship.

Trump has, in some ways, exacted his revenge by offering up his courses to LIV Golf only to sit back and watch the sort of chaos he seems to relish ensue. The Southern Hills Championship Course was never meant to be this week’s PGA Championship host. It should suit the Northern Irishman as he looks for a first Major win in eight years. You feel like you kind of accomplished golf when you win a career grand slam.” Tiger Woods called his comments “polarising” while Rory McIlroy bemoaned the fact the game could not be celebrating a returning champion in Mickelson. If you told me I was going to win one tournament the rest of my life, I’d say I want to win this one.

The second major championship in men's golf gets underway Thursday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a star-studded field competing for the Wanamaker Trophy.

He will not be able to dodge the pointed questions about the new Saudi-backed golf tour or the unauthorized biography of him that was released this week whenever he does resurface. Mickelson would have hosted the dinner after becoming the oldest major champion last year when he won the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island two months shy of turning 51. Obviously we're going to have difference of opinions, how he sees the Tour, and we'll go from there." Instead of sadness at how far the most beloved golfer since Arnold Palmer has fallen, however, there should be a sense of relief. Woods seeking his fifth PGA Championship. He started off at the back nine at No. 10 with Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Woods birdied the first hole to get off to a fast start. “It’s an elephant in the room for me. However, two of the biggest names in men's golf will not be in the field. Tiger Woods has won at Southern Hills Country Club, taking home the Wanamaker Trophy in 2007. The story here this week is the PGA.” I believe in major championships. “I think Phil would have been a big distraction. And 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau withdrew on Wednesday as he continues to recover from wrist surgery.

The world No 1 is sure to face stern competition from his Ryder Cup teammates with Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele all in fine form.

Rory McIlroy (-4) finds the green in two on the ninth, the last hole of his round. That’s a great start to the tournament for the Northern Irishman. Most of the bunker shots I hit were long but predominantly I hit bad iron shots and that’s not normally how I play. The blockbuster trio of John Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler get their rounds started on the first tee. Jon Rahm is looking to clinch the second major of his career and hasn’t competed since winning the Mexico Championship at the start of the month. Scottie Scheffler enters the week as a slight favourite owing to his spectacular start to the season, with four victories including his maiden major title at Augusta in April. The world No 1 is sure to face stern competition from his Ryder Cup teammates with Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele all in fine form.

It's fair to say we're all pretty excited for Tiger Woods' return this week, as the Big Cat is making his second start post-accident, his first since the ...

Had he went on to mak bogey, that poor cameraman would have had to sleep with one eye open tonight: After ripping a 3-wood past his playing partners Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth at Southern Hills' par-4 10th, Woods began the walk to his ball. As is tradition, a camera locked on the 15-time major winner for the entire stroll, and Woods was a bit irked by it, asking the guy to give him "some breathing space" multiple times:

Daly has had a fairly mediocre season so far on the PGA Tour Champions. It has included a disqualification which came last week at Regions Tradition at TPC ...

Daly was paired with Woods at the 2007 PGA Championship. That week, it was 107 degrees. In his first round at the 2022 PGA Championship, Daly found something a bit special and turned back the clock. Here's why John Daly is using a golf cart at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

But, perhaps inspired by being paired with Woods and Jordan Spieth – who is chasing the career grand slam in Tulsa – it was a different story on the opening day ...

We’ll start the recovery process and get after it tomorrow. “I just can’t load it. It was a frustrating day.” “It is a great start but I’m not getting ahead of myself. “I drove it well, but my iron shots were not very good,” Woods said. “I did that really well today.

Rory McIlroy ended his torrid first-round record in majors to race into the early lead on the opening day of the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

Woods, making his first start since his long-awaited comeback at The Masters, had followed a close-range birdie on the tenth by holing from 15 feet at the 14th, only to drop a shot at the next after a poor tee shot and then post three consecutive bogeys from the 18th. McIlroy's hopes of a '61 round' and the lowest in major history were ended when he missed from nine feet to save par at the sixth, before losing his outright advantage after failing to get up and down from a greenside bunker on his penultimate hole. McIlroy got up and down from a greenside bunker to take advantage of the par-five 13th and rolled in from 25 feet at the next, with a 10-foot birdie at the 15th lifting him into the solo lead and helping him reach the turn in 31.

Phil Mickelson has been in golf exile following his comments regarding human rights in Saudi Arabia ahead of his attempt to join the LIV Golf Invitational ...

Mickelson’s agent confirmed he has asked the PGA Tour for a conflicting event release to play in the first LIV Golf Invitational series to be held June 9-11 outside London. Stockton reportedly played a crucial role in restructuring the dinner for past champions, according to Golf Channel. However, he remains away from the game after his controversial remarks. However, Mickelson - who became the oldest major champion when he claimed the PGA Championship title at Kiawah Island in 2021 - is absent from the upcoming event at Southern Hills. However, it appears Mickelson’s absence from the dinner was almost preferred. “It was a fun evening.

Golf great Tiger Woods told a camera operator to "back off" as he made his way around the Southern Hills Country Club course on the opening day of the PGA ...

Golf fans will watch in their droves as the former world No. 1 targets a turnaround on Friday, though the camera crew may be wise to keep more of a distance. Woods suffered major injuries in his February 2021 crash and spent 14 months out of action prior to his comeback at the 2021 Masters last month. Woods set the tone early by imploring the camera person in question to "back off" on his very first hole of the tournament.

1. Rory McIlroy (-5) · T2. Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge (-4) · T4. Justin Thomas, Matt Kuchar and Abraham Ancer (-3) · T7. Xander Schauffele, Cameron Smith and nine ...

Last seen at Augusta National, rust and potentially a hip injury are currently getting the better of Koepka. A pair of Masters champions, other players in contention to have played consistently well at Augusta National include: Rory McIlroy, Will Zalatoris, Patrick Reed, and many more. Four American players in the last 40 years have got their first PGA Tour win at a major championship. Collin Morikawa was the latest victim as he failed to get up and down for birdie on the par-5th. T66. Jordan Spieth and 22 others (+2): Spieth lost more than a stroke to the field putting in Round 1. The 2017 PGA Championship winner put together the best round of the afternoon and is well positioned heading into tomorrow. Justin Thomas was the star of the afternoon with a 3-under 67 but he was one of few under par. Signing for a 1-under 69, the former Oklahoma State Cowboy finds himself only four strokes behind Rory McIlroy. Earlier this season, the 30-year-old made his Masters debut where he finished in a tie for 14th. How he would hold up this week was always a question after he struggled to finish at the Masters last month, and it seems again a relevant concern as he looks to Friday with a real threat of missing the cut. 1. Rory McIlroy (-5): McIlroy's 5-under 65 was his lowest score in an opening round at a major since the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, an event he went on to win. Tee to green, he was great, and his approach game was good enough to keep him in the hunt. Kuchar had a bogey-free front nine to spur him to an opening-round 67, during which he gained nearly two strokes on approach, which this week is the name of the game.

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But the Scottish No 1 added: “Overall, my game is right there, which is nice to see. “I didn't really miss a shot on the front nine. His first dropped shot came at the first, where the flat stick was unable to save him on this occasion.

Jesse Mueller, winner of the PGA Professional Championship, couldn't have asked for a better way to begin his first appearance at the PGA Championship.

Starting on the par-4 10th hole at Southern Hills in this opening round Thursday afternoon, Mueller found the fairway off the tee and left himself 102 years with his approach … which he proceeded to holed out for eagle 2. Clad in a bright-purple get-up repping his school, the Grand Canyon University, where he’s general manager of the school-owned course and a volunteer assistant for the men’s and women’s teams, Mueller got to celebrate the moment with his wife, Jessie. She is on the bag this week in Tulsa, just as she was when Mueller won the PGA Professional Championship last month in Austin. As winner of last month’s PGA Professional Championship, Jesse Mueller is the proud leader of the PGA of America’s #TeamOf20 club pros getting the chance to go shot-for-shot with the best in the world at this week’s PGA Championship. He may not draw the fans of the Tiger/Rory/Spieth pairing, but that doesn’t mean that the 39-year-old from Scottsdale, Ariz., can’t make some noise of his own.

Playing alongside Tiger Woods (74) and Jordan Spieth (72), the Northern Irishman enjoyed seven birdies in the Tulsa sunshine. For the latest news and sharpest ...

- -3 J Thomas (US) - -3 M Kuchar (US) - -4 T Hoge (US) "I think when your game is feeling like that, it's just a matter of going out there and really sticking to your game plan, executing as well as you possibly can, and just sort of staying in your own little world. Rory made it look very easy today. But McIlroy was not finished.

Tiger Woods finished four-over par through his first round of the PGA Championship as the injuries suffered in his horror car crash caught up with the ...

“Lots of treatment, lots of ice baths,” Woods said as he looked ahead to his post-round routine. And after making the turn at even, Woods bogeyed three of the first four holes on the front side, then added those two to finish — including at the ninth, where he flubbed a chip shot from above the green. Woods will also need a big second round at Southern Hills, but he can take comfort in having done it before. McIlroy aggressively hit drives just about whenever he could, while Woods conservatively hit irons off several tees in the hopes of finding the fairway. Playing in the day's featured group with McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, Woods gave a huge gallery following their very move Thursday an early reason to roar. “And get after it tomorrow.”

McIlroy carded seven birdies and two bogeys in an opening 65 to set the clubhouse target on five under par, a shot ahead of the American pair Will Zalatoris and ...

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. 2.50pm: Chad Ramey, Austin Hurt, Lucas Herbert 2.50pm: Chad Ramey, Austin Hurt, Lucas Herbert Here are the tee times for Day 2: Here are the tee times for the second day at Southern Hills Tee No.10 Rory McIlroy holds the lead heading into the second day of the PGA Championship as the tournament continues at Southern Hills in Oklahoma on Friday. Tee No.1 McIlroy carded seven birdies and two bogeys in an opening 65 to set the clubhouse target on five under par, a shot ahead of the American pair Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge. PGA Championship 2022 tee times: Full schedule for Day 2 including Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods

PGA golfer John Daly has teed off at the 2022 PGA championship - puffing cigarettes, drinking many cans of coke and shoveling in half a dozen packs of M&M's ...

While Daly doesn't parade the standard tour physique, he can afford the luxuries of cigarettes and chocolate, as he was approved to drive a cart around tour back in 2019 due to osteoarthritis in his right knee. John Daly swings with iron in hand at the first round of the 2022 PGA championship, finishing tied 56th at +2 The 56-year-old cult hero teed off at 6:56am in the first grouping of the major tournament at Oklahoma, momentarily leading the pack after two birdies in his first five holes.

The second major of the 2022 golf season is officially underway with the beauty of May surrounding Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the PGA ...

Be sure to stick with CBS Sports for live coverage throughout, view Round 2 tee times and download the CBS Sports App to watch the PGA Championship live on your mobile device this weekend. Additional TV coverage: 8-9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network We here at CBS Sports are thrilled to bring you wall-to-wall coverage of the PGA Championship throughout this week with action streaming live all weekend. Additional TV coverage: 8-9 p.m. on CBS Sports Network Prime TV coverage: 1-7 p.m. on CBS Here's how you can watch as much PGA Championship as possible throughout the week. Live drone coverage and robotic bunker cameras are among a dozen technological enhancements that will be utilized throughout the coverage. Prime TV coverage: 1-7 p.m. on CBS Given he normally starts slow and picks up his efforts over the weekend, expectations are now raised for McIlroy to pull off something he has not in the last seven-plus seasons. Tiger Woods will tee it up, though after his weekend performance at the Masters last month, any expectations of a 16th major championship being one in Tulsa are slim at best. This year's affair is set with a loaded field, and the leaderboard is already looking strong. Not among those in attendance is defending champion Phil Mickelson, who watches from afar as the rest of the golf world moves on without him.

Rory McIlroy takes a one-shot lead into Friday's second round of the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. Tiger Woods is 9 back.

2:20 p.m. – Matt Kuchar, Cameron Davis, Rikuya Hoshino 8:49 a.m. – Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas 8:27 a.m. – Cameron Tringale, Hudson Swafford, Adam Hadwin 3:09 p.m. – Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Davis Riley ESPN+ will carry the entire alternate broadcast, which will also air from 2 to 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2. 2:47 p.m. – Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Bubba Watson 2:25 p.m. – Viktor Hovland, Will Zalatoris, Cameron Smith 1:30 p.m. – Ryan Palmer, Robert MacIntyre, Alex Noren 9:06 a.m. – Zach Johnson, Russell Henley, Cameron Champ Friday’s forecast for Tulsa calls for highs reaching 89 and southwest winds blowing between 15 and 25 miles per hour early before calming down later in the afternoon. ESPN+ will stream the network's main broadcast coverage. Woods, seemingly favoring his injured right leg, bogeyed six of his final 10 holes to finish at 4-over.

Ben Coley bagged 28/1 and 8/1 winners on day one of the PGA Championship, and now returns with another three-ball treble for Friday afternoon.

Yang has finished ahead of Daly in five of their six combined starts since this tournament last year and the one shot gap between them ought to widen, with something around the 75 mark from the 2009 champion likely to set the bar too high for both his playing partners. He's been given permission to ride a cart this week due to health problems but this remains a physical test for him and late on Friday afternoon, it's also possible he grows frustrated with the pace of play. With Woods plainly struggling for fitness and unable to cover the deficit around the green, this should be a head-to-head and anything 6/4 or bigger about Spieth is worth a small bet. He's still got questions to answer, and it's eight years since he converted a first-round lead to victory, just as it's eight years since he won a major. The wire-to-wire win was around 150/1 and that's now a 6/1 shot with Sky Bet and again it's probably reasonable to suggest punters would be better taking bet365's 2/1 about McIlroy leading after two rounds and then reinvesting. I felt 66/1 was very short in the former market and so it has proved, with those who wish to reinvest their 28/1 winnings effectively getting about 110/1. Still, it turns out Paddy Power and Betfair dangled 100s and I will admit to regret having failed to board that boat.

Despite starting with a sublime birdie on the first, Tiger Woods finished with four-over par round of 74 on the opening day of the US PGA Championship at ...

Prior to the tournament, Woods had insisted he was "ready" to win a fifth PGA title, despite The Masters representing his only event thus far in 2022. "It's frustrating, I got off to a great start today, I did exactly what I needed to to start off the round but I did not keep it going. "[I'll] try and shoot something in the mid-60s tomorrow. Hopefully I can shoot something low and get back in the tournament." However, a wayward drive led to bogey on the par-4 14th and from there, Woods appeared up against it. Woods, 46, appeared in considerable discomfort during Wednesday's practice round, as he continues his comeback from the high-speed car crash that ruled him out of professional tournaments for more than a year.

Rory McIlroy has acknowledged he must avoid 'getting ahead of himself' after a brilliant opening round at the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills ...

"I don't think he needed to lead the tournament to feel better about himself, just get himself where he was under par, and what a great way to start. "He did it with some beautiful drives, whether they had to curve to the left or to the right, short holes and long holes, his iron play looked pretty good too. "I always enjoy playing with Tiger and Jordan. I did that really well today. "I've been carrying some good form. "I've been playing well coming in here," McIlroy said.

Live scores, updates and highlights from the second round of the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

CBS Sports will update this story with scores and highlights from the PGA Championship below. McIlroy, Thomas and others will look to separate themselves from the pack while names like Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth will attempt to make the cut. While the trio were unable to handle the difficult afternoon conditions at Southern Hills, Justin Thomas maintained.

Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge start the day one back, while Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar are among the other notable names in close pursuit.

Drop! Shane Lowry’s eagle putt on 13 skirts the left edge of the hole and just rolls past. A long iron from Shane Lowry (-1) sees him safely onto the green at the par-3 14th. He joins Rory McIlroy on (-5) with two birdies in his opening four holes on day two. The trio have all recorded three straight pars. Scottie Scheffler was the pre-tournament favourite after his Masters win but the American’s disappointing opening round of 71 leaves him six shots back. Will Zalatoris and Tom Hoge start the day one back, while Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar are among the other notable names in close pursuit.

Lowry and Niemann are this morning's prime movers; the only other player out there currently two under for his round is Kevin Kisner, who has just followed up ...

Speaking of movers and shakers (which we were, sort of) there’s been some early action at the top of the leaderboard. He shot a very respectable 69 yesterday evening, and is following it up this morning, making birdie at the monster par-five 5th (660 yards today) and moving up to -2. Come the afternoon, the second wave of starters will be pleased to feel the wind drop - an average of ten to 15 mph with gusts no higher than 20 mph - but they will have to deal with cooler temperatures, showers, and possibly even thunderstorms. Shane Lowry wasn’t the happiest yesterday evening, effing and jeffing as he needlessly whistled a shot into water on the par-five 13th. Back-to-back birdies for Shane Lowry! This one comes at the par-three 14th, reward for knocking his tee shot to eight feet. He starts with four pars in a row, the latest a slightly disappointing one at the par-five 13th, any chance of birdie gone after spending an age moving pebbles in a bunker under a referee’s supervision only to take far too much of the ball with his chip out. He steps out of the shot a couple of times, and needs his caddy to convince him to execute their plan. A reminder that he tied for fourth in this championship last year, and tied for third at the Masters last month. A great chance to grab back a share of the lead is gone. Justin Thomas sends a fairly average second into 1, failing to take advantage of the excellent drive. Hitting three from the rough down the right, he overcooks a lob wedge, and his ball’s preparing to bound a good way past the hole. Does the investigative journalism lead to the cynicism or does the cynicism lead to the investigative journalist?

Can he hold off the likes of Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods in Round 2? Coverage is free in some countries, so, whether you're looking for viewing online, on TV ...

Choose a free 14-day trial of Basic ($25 a month) or Premium ($35 a month) and cancel any time. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) helps you get around this obstacle. CBS has the best bits, including the all-important final round. 8 p.m.-conclusion, ESPN+ (streaming) For the golf, you may wish to choose 'US' for Paramount+. You can use it to watch on your mobile, tablet, laptop, TV, games console and more. 8 p.m.-conclusion, ESPN+ (streaming) Even if you have subscribed to the relevant 2022 PGA Championship rights holders, you won't be able to access them when outside your own country. Coverage is free in some countries, so, whether you're looking for viewing online, on TV, with cable or without, make sure you know how to watch a 2022 PGA Championship live stream from where you are. World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth are both eyeing up Grand Slams. Nonetheless, plenty of top players will be in action this weekend. Can he hold off the likes of Dustin Johnson and Tiger Woods in Round 2?

Leaderboard1 Rory McIlroy -5 (65)T2 Will Zalatoris -4 (66)T2 Tom Hoge -4 (66)T4 Matt Kuchar -3 (67)T4 Abraham Ancer -3 (67)T4 Justin Thomas -3 (67)T99 Tiger ...

He's now tied with Rory McIlroy at 5-under for the tournament. From that camera angle, it looked like the call was for sure going into the cup on the second bounce. Thomas stood and waited for the right “window” to make his swing on the short par-4 15th. There’s no reason to believe he can’t be a factor this weekend, though. We presume it's reversible and there's a word jumble on the other side. Only $115! A steal to buy something that looks like it was created by whoever creates the coloring menu your child plays with at Applebee's as they wait for their chicken fingers. Is that a unicorn? "Oh look a golf polo with a weird abstract light blue on dark blue design. •2h ago Justin Thomas made par at the very difficult No. 18 hole to make the turn in 34. A great example of this is between Justin Thomas and caddy Bones Mackay. Just listen in. A quick story about Bones Mackay, Justin Thomas’ caddy: Mackay was in Tokyo as the on-course reporter for NBC during the Olympic tournament (ironic, because Thomas was in the field that weekend). Brian Windhorst from ESPN and I were walking with the leaders on Sunday. Now, Mackay and I had never met, but of course he recognized Brian, one of ESPN’s main NBA analysts.

McIlroy dominated the early wave, while Thomas fought tougher conditions in the afternoon.

9. Low-energy finish: I was out with the top three players in the world -- Rahm (+3), Scheffler (+1) and Morikawa (+2) -- and the energy around their group was not tremendous. 8. John Daly, 56, injects excitement early: Daly, the 1991 PGA Championship winner, channeled his (much) younger self Thursday and shook up the leaderboard early in Round 1, going out in 34 and making a pair of birdies on the front nine. 5. Cameron Smith saves his round: The 2022 Players champion was 2 over after nine holes before ripping off five birdies in his first seven coming home and finding a spot at 2 under on the leaderboard. "It's definitely the ... most challenging sand I've ever played in just because, first off, it's not very consistent," said J.T. "... Some of them have no sand; some of them are good sand, whatever it is. (He was 139th in driving distance.) Playing partner McIlroy was sometimes 100 yards (!) ahead of him, and Tiger was at a massive disadvantage even to Jordan Spieth, who was also hitting driver (albeit not quite as well as McIlroy). Four American players in the last 40 years have got their first PGA Tour win at a major championship. They're the two to beat right now -- Caesars Sportsbook has McIlroy as the 3-1 favorite and Thomas at 7-1 just behind him -- and they should be in those respective positions. Thursday was a step backwards (literally and figuratively, perhaps) as Woods seemed to be in tremendous pain toward the end of his round. It's been nearly five years since his major win, and in that time, he has just four top 10s and even fewer real chances on the weekend. Thomas had that "I'm bending this course to my will" look in his eye as he birdied the last hole to shoot 32 on the back side after an up-and-down even-par 35 on the front. I felt like I did a good job of that -- just committing, trusting everything I was doing and just trying to make today as easy as I possibly could on myself." TULSA, Okla. -- Rory McIlroy shot the round of the day with his 65 to open the 2022 PGA Championship, but Justin Thomas followed him with an effort that was nearly as impressive.