Denny McCarthy rules violation rescinded at Waste Management

Round 3 of the PGA Championship takes place Saturday from Kiawah Island. Phil Mickelson and Louis Oosthuizen share the lead at 5 under with two-time PGA champion Brooks Koepka one behind. Reigning Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama is T4 at 3 under along with a pair of South Africans in Branden Grace and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Here’s everything you need to follow the action. Leaderboard Tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Thursday-Friday, 7 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN+), 1 p.m.-7 p.m. (ESPN). Saturday-Sunday, 8 a.m.-10 a.m. (ESPN+), 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN), 1 p.m.-7 p.m. (CBS) Bonus: Thursday-Friday, Featured Group #1, 7 a.m.-7 p.m. (ESPN+), Thursday-Friday, Featured Group #2, #3, #4, 8 a.m.- 7 p.m. (ESPN+). Saturday-Sunday, Featured Group #1, #2, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. (ESPN+), Featured Group #3, #4, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. (ESPN+). Radio: Thursday – Sunday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (on SiriusXM 208, XM 92. Not available on PGA TOUR Digital platforms). NOTE: The PGA of America, who owns and operates the PGA Championship, controls all digital streaming and broadcast rights to this event. For more information on how to watch this week, please visit the PGA Championship website. PGA TOUR LIVE coverage will resume next week at the Charles Schwab Challenge. MUST READS Late carnage spares few at Kiawah Phil Mickelson ‘has the bit in his teeth’ at PGA Championship DJ, JT, Schauffele among those to miss cut Details on Mickelson’s new custom driver Win probabilities: PGA Championship No. 17 provides best theater again at Ocean Course Morikawa’s shot heard ’round the world

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It’s no secret why Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson are favored to beat Rickie Fowler and rookie Matthew Wolff at the TaylorMade Driving Relief charity match at Seminole Golf Club. Just look to the long game. Shorter approach shots, the ability to blast through the wind, the intimidation factor – power has many built-in advantages, even if Seminole isn’t overly long at 6,836 yards. McIlroy and Johnson, who have 38 PGA TOUR victories between them, have had a virtual lock on the Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee statistic over the last four years, with McIlroy finishing No. 1 in 2019 and ’16, and Johnson in 2018 and ’17. RELATED: Fans at home will be able to contribute to TaylorMade Driving Relief’s COVID-19 relief efforts thanks to PGA TOUR Charities’ online and Text-To-Give donation platforms powered by GoFundMe Charity. Click here to donate. MORE: TaylorMade Driving Relief to benefit COVID-19 relief efforts | How it works | How to watch | Power Rankings | Expert Picks | Live golf set to return | Seminole Golf Club ready for its close-up | Key clubs: Fowler’s irons | How Hogan put Seminole on the map | Similarities run deep for Fowler, Wolff In fact, their dominance in that category essentially spans an entire decade. From 2010-19, McIlroy ranked first in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee three times, was second twice (and would’ve been second two other times had he met the minimum number of rounds played) and was sixth three times. Meanwhile, Johnson also ranked first three times, second three other times and inside the top 6 on three other occasions. Their success – 38 combined PGA TOUR wins – and improved statistical metrics over that last decade have disproved the old chestnut “Drive for Show, Putt for Dough.â€� Eight of the top 12 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee last season (including McIlroy and Johnson) qualified for the 30-man TOUR Championship. Just two of the top 12 in Strokes Gained: Putting did so. “I think we’ve both gotta be up there in top drivers of the golf ball right now,â€� Johnson said when asked about his partner in a conference call with reporters Thursday. “He’s a great driver of the ball; he hits it long, he hits it straight. When we do these competitions at the TaylorMade shoots, we’re usually within a couple yards in terms of distance.â€� Added Fowler: “I won’t argue with DJ; he’s one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the game.â€� Anecdotally, the importance of SG: Off-the-Tee is best illustrated by Johnson’s win over Jordan Spieth on the watery first extra hole at THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2017. With a helping wind, Spieth hit what he thought was a pretty good poke 314 yards down the fairway. Johnson took a much more aggressive line and covered the lake with a 341-yard beauty, leaving himself just a lob wedge for his second shot, which he hit to four feet for an easy birdie. Game over. “When he lined up over there,â€� Spieth said after the round, “and hit the drive, I was — at that point, I have to try and make par best I can, and I’m just hoping; I’m at such a disadvantage.â€� (Spieth needed a 7-iron to reach the green, and his approach wound up 25 feet from the pin.) Asked about Johnson’s power, even McIlroy admitted this week, “I do marvel at it … every time I see him on TOUR I say, ‘Don’t get drawn into a driving competition.’â€� Not that McIlroy can’t hold his own. He drove the green at the 412-yard 12th hole at the (7,500 feet elevation) World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship in February, a tee shot that Golf Digest called “one of the most memorable of all big-time drives.â€� What’s more, while winning three times on the way to the FedExCup last season, McIlroy hit a TOUR-leading 58.6 percent of all drives over 300 yards. He hit 57 drives 320-plus in the FedExCup Playoffs alone. Mark Broadie, the Columbia Business School professor and pioneer of Strokes Gained analytics, called him the clear No. 1 among the straightest long-hitters. “Rory’s combination of distance and accuracy gives him a massive five-stroke head start in each event he plays,â€� Broadie wrote for golf.com, “and it’s what makes him hands down the most deadly bomber out there.â€� And longer driving, Broadie has proven, trumps increased accuracy. Reached by phone for his take on the upcoming match, Broadie said he likes McIlroy and Johnson for more than just their superior and crowd-pleasing driving. “I look for Strokes Gained: Total,â€� he said, “and they are about a stroke better than Rickie and Wolff, which is significant, but it’s skins, which makes it a bit more random or unpredictable.â€� In addition to carryovers in the better-ball four-ball format, the cozier venue (on only 140 acres) could also potentially lessen a power advantage. Bethpage Black it isn’t. Indeed, McIlroy had barely finished praising Johnson’s power when he added: “For us though, Seminole isn’t that kind of golf course.â€� Even if it’s a second-shot course, Broadie still gives McIlroy the nod. “I have him No. 1 in approach shots in 2020, No. 6 in 2019,â€� Broadie says. “He’s just better than the other three in approach shots. If there are going to be some holes where the driver is taken out of their hands, then approach shots become a little bit more important.â€� Is there any facet of the game that favors the underdogs? “Rickie Fowler has an advantage as far as putting goes,â€� Broadie says. One more potentially interesting wrinkle: Team Rory/DJ are not first and second in SG: Off the tee this season. McIlroy was sixth when the season was suspended after the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship in March, and Wolff was next best at 11th. Johnson, returning from knee surgery, was at 27th, and Fowler was 63rd. How important is power? Brendon Todd, a two-time winner this season, said last week, “If you’re going to be 20-win guy with a handful of majors, distance is very important. … But to win once a year, to be competitive, you don’t have to be a bomber.â€� What you need, he added, is a great short game. In other words, you’d like Team Rory/DJ over the long haul, perhaps at a four-round tournamentlike the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, which they’d talked about entering together. Over 18 holes, though, in a quirky skins format, on a little-known but reportedly smallish course? You’d still have to give them the edge, but perhaps not quite as much of one. DECADE OF DOMINANCE Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson have dominated the Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee statistical category the previous decade. Here is how they ranked each season from 2010-19. *Unofficial ranking; did not meet minimum number of rounds

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PGA TOUR Statement: Health & Safety Plan Updates NEW – Change to policy re: players who test positive but are asymptomatic Since the inception of the PGA TOUR Health and Safety Plan, the TOUR’s policy for all positive test results for players and caddies requires a minimum 10-day self-isolation period, based on the Centers for Disease Control’s time-based protocols. Now that the TOUR is in week four of its Return to Golf and following several asymptomatic positive tests followed by negative tests – and after direct consultation with the CDC – we are transitioning to the CDC’s test-based model, with their support. Going forward, in accordance with CDC guidelines, a player or caddie who tests positive for COVID-19 but has not had any symptoms may return to competition if he returns two negative tests results, a minimum of 24 hours apart.  The policy change will go into effect immediately. Cameron Champ – who tested positive June 23 and had three subsequent negative tests in the 72 hours that immediately followed that positive result (24 hours apart) – has been medically cleared to play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. As with all players, Champ will remain subject to arrival testing once on site in Detroit. He will be an addition to the field and assigned a 2:10 p.m. tee time (off of No. 10). “I am extremely grateful for the tireless efforts and conversations between the TOUR, my team and all of the experts who were consulted in order to deliver this best possible outcome,” said Champ. “It is a great example of everyone being committed to working together to adapt and evolve in this constantly changing environment. I would especially like to thank my fellow players for their support and cannot wait to tee it up with them in Detroit tomorrow!” PGA TOUR players Harris English and Chad Campbell, and Korn Ferry Tour players Brandon Wu and Jonathan Hodge – who tested positive earlier this week but were asymptomatic – will be eligible for next week’s events, if they choose to enter a testing regime and pending they each return two negative tests results, a minimum of 24 hours apart.  NEW – Adjustment to Stipend Program and At-Home Testing Protocols In an effort to further encourage players and caddies to utilize at-home test kits, two significant changes are being made to the Stipend Program, after consultation with the Player Directors and PGA TOUR Player Advisory Council Chairman.  • To be eligible for the applicable stipend following an on-site positive test, a player or caddie returning from an off week must have completed an at-home test the week prior to returning to play. • The stipend amounts have been adjusted to make them equal for an on-site positive or an at-home positive test result.  The stipend program for an at-home positive test is applicable only to players who were eligible for the following week’s event (including the top 10 alternates), and a player or caddie will not receive a stipend if he does not follow the protocols set forth in the Participant Resource Guide / PGA TOUR Health & Safety Plan or otherwise acts in a reckless manner with respect to the protocols, including any local health department regulations that may be in effect.   The TOUR will be providing players and caddies with additional complimentary at-home test kits.  Comment from PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan “As we all learn more about how to navigate this complicated COVID-19 environment, we appreciate the continued dialogue with medical experts and with the Centers for Disease Control directly as we fine-tune our Health & Safety Plan accordingly. Today’s changes – and those announced over the past week – illustrate our commitment to preserving the health and well-being of our athletes, constituents and our impact on the communities in which we play, as well as a willingness to make medically-sound adjustments that allow our players to compete, safely. The continued success of our Return to Golf depends on that approach.” For reference, previously announced updates to Health & Safety Plan (for Rocket Mortgage Classic) • Those who travel via the TOUR-procured charter will be subject to the arrival testing procedures (nasal swab), in addition to the pre-charter test. • Player instructors have been added to the on-site testing protocol (i.e. “the bubble”). • The TOUR-sponsored fitness trailer will be on site in an effort to further control the environment where our players interact (i.e. you would be discouraged from going to off-site gyms., etc.); additionally, all occupants of the fitness trailer will be required to wear a face covering for the entirety of their time in the trailer. • The stipend policy has been updated to specify that a player will not be eligible if he has tested positive for COVID-19 after not following the safety protocols outlined in our Participant Resource Guide. • Players and caddies, along with all other individuals “inside the bubble,” will not be allowed on property until first being cleared with a negative in-market test during pre-tournament screening (previously, players and caddies could be on site to practice as they awaited their arrival testing results, but without access to any indoor facilities).  Note: due to longer turnaround times for test results on the Korn Ferry Tour, this change will not be implemented on that Tour at this time.

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