How to watch THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD, Round 1: Tee times, live scores, TV times

SAN FRANCISCO – Brooks Koepka was getting bent in all sorts of shapes by a trainer between holes out on the course. Jason Day’s playing partners social distanced for COVID-19 reasons AND the wafting smell of Deep Heat coming from his body. He gingerly picked up a tee or two a few times also. But both say there’s nothing wrong and they’re perfectly fine. Day’s troublesome back is a non-factor. Koepka’s buggered left knee and tight hip … non-issue. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Fleetwood flies up leaderboard | Koepka has hip worked on mid-round | Tiger makes cut The fact they sit tied second at the halfway mark of the PGA Championship means we are inclined to have to believe them. Koepka backed up his opening 66 with a 2-under 68 while Day has fashioned rounds of 65-69 to be part of a six-way tie at six under. Only Haotong Li sits above them as he looks to become the first player from China to win a major. Li is eight under. But while Tommy Fleetwood (65), Daniel Berger (67), Justin Rose (68) have tremendous pedigree and are all part of the second place tie it might well be the underlying ailments that could pose Day and Koepka the biggest challenge. Koepka is known not to whine about his issues. He’s battled a left knee problem for a long time now, even undergoing painful stem cell treatments to calm it down. On Friday he said the stiffness was unrelated despite limping on occasions. “It was my hip. Nothing to do with my knee. It’s fine. I woke up this morning, it was tight, and worked out and it got even tighter and then we loosened it up,” Koepka said when explaining treatment he received on three separate occasions, the first being on the 12th tee. “My TFL (tensor fascia latae muscle) is usually pretty tight on the side. It just kind of moved to the front and tightened up the front and kind of the inside and groin. It will be fine. It’s something I’m not worried about. “It was a little tight when I was hitting balls on the range but it’s nothing to be worried about. We’ll loosen it up again and it will be a lot better.” For Day a chronic back issue has been a problem throughout his career. The cold weather in San Francisco is not exactly what helps. But he is being mindful of letting his mind find excuses over the last month and the positive thinking has him coming into TPC Harding Park off three straight top 10s. Prior to that, at the beginning of the return to golf from the COVID-19 shutdown, Day was not in his happy place and the thought of adding a second major for the former world no.1 seemed miles away. “When I first came out, I struggled to walk around a golf course and play golf. It hurt to walk. But now I feel great and I feel fine,” Day claims. “I definitely feel good. Physically, I feel great. I’m always trying to stay disciplined with my exercises and soft tissue work, and then overall, I feel good. “But it has been cool so you’ve got to be careful… you’re always cautious of doing certain things, bending over… but I pretty much lather up in Deep Heat and try and burn the skin off my back, to be honest. And I feel pretty good, so I’ve been fine.” From tee-to-green Day ranks second in the field gaining +7.487 strokes so far this week. Koepka is sixth at +6.485. On approach the duo are by far the best performed players at the halfway point. Day leads Strokes Gained: Approach at +6.751. Koepka is second at +5.601. Should they maintain that pace and improve their short game just a little it will be tough for the others to challenge them. “I’m pretty happy. I felt like I probably could be ten (under) right now. Hit a lot of good putts, just didn’t go in,” Koepka said as he looks to be the first player to win the same major three years running 64 years. “A couple of them, if I just hit them, they’re in. But driving it pretty well. Iron play, I’m pretty pleased with. I like where I’m at.” Fleetwood has other thoughts though. He is second in the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and is 11th in Strokes Gained: Putting. If the Englishman finds a few more greens he could be looking at a maiden major. “Every time these weeks come about you just prepare for it to be your week, and today was a great day. Got a weekend of golf left. We’ll see,” he said. Putting has helped Li to his lofty place as he ranks fifth in the field and is also third on approach. The question mark is if he can maintain consistency throughout the weekend as he has been known for erratic days. He may have burned himself out having spent six hours practicing after his round on Friday. “I’ve got no expectation actually, because you know, last few months, stay at home doing nothing. I just want to be out here having fun,” he said. Berger, a winner at the Charles Schwab Challenge a few months ago, is lurking with good numbers across the board. Can he maintain his solid play? “I’ve maintained kind of a level head and played some really solid golf, and I’m in a great position, and with two more good days, I think I’ll have a chance on Sunday,” he said. And then there is Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champ and 2018 FedExCup champion. While off the tee he’s had some issues his ball-striking on approach ranks ninth and he sits in the same position in putting. That could prove a deadly combo over the weekend.

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BRADENTON, Fla. — Webb Simpson ran off three straight late birdies for a share of the lead Thursday in the WGC-Workday Championship at Concession. Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau ran up some big numbers. Simpson matched Matthew Fitzpatrick with a 6-under 66 at The Concession in the World Golf Championships event moved from Mexico to Florida because of COVID-19 circumstances. Simpson birdied the par-4 15th and 16th and par-5 17th. The 2012 U.S. Open champion won twice last season and has seven PGA TOUR victories. Fitzpatrick had a bogey-free round. The Englishman has six European Tour titles. The top-ranked Johnson had two double bogeys in a 77. DeChambeau and Bubba Watson also shot 77, with DeChambeau making a triple bogey on the par-4 16th. Brooks Koepka was a stroke out of the lead at 67 with Billy Horschel, Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner. Koepka won the Waste Management Phoenix Open this month for his eighth PGA TOUR title. Second-ranked Jon Rahm bogeyed the final hole late in the afternoon for a 68. Tony Finau, coming off a playoff loss to Max Homa last week at Riviera, also was at 68 with defending champion Patrick Reed, Wade Ormsby, Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith. Rory McIlroy had three bogeys in a 69. Justin Thomas birdied three of the last four for a 73. He dropped four strokes in a three-hole stretch on his first nine, making a double bogey and two bogeys. Homa also shot 73.

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During a practice round ahead of this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii, PGA TOUR Champions pro Jim Furyk was addressed by playing partner Brent Grant with the deferential ‘sir’ formality. Grant, 25, then asked Furyk, 51, what he liked most about his early career on the 50-and-older circuit. “No one calls me ‘sir,’” Furyk replied. Grant was born in March 1996, a month after Furyk’s first Sony Open victory, carding 11-under total and besting Brad Faxon in a playoff for his second PGA TOUR title. Furyk, now a 17-time TOUR winner in addition to three PGA TOUR Champions victories, has intentions of adding a second Sony Open title to his collection. The Pennsylvania native, inspired by his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers’ late-season push to a playoff berth, carded an opening-round, 8-under 62 at Waialae CC – including a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th hole. Furyk becomes the oldest player to shoot 62 or better on TOUR since 1983, doing so with a torrid 5-under stretch on his final five holes – including a par at the par-5 18th. Playing on a sponsor’s exemption as the first leg of an Aloha Double – en route to next week’s PGA TOUR Champions season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai – Furyk proved early that he’s looking to do more than solely fill a spot in the field. “I love (the) Sony (Open) … it’s a place I’ve had a lot of success,” said Furyk after signing for his eighth round of 62 or better on TOUR. “I’m not hitting the ball far enough to compete out here on a regular basis on a lot of the golf courses, but Waialae is a place I still feel I can get around and shoot under par pretty well, and so it’s fun. “Places I’ve won, Valspar, Heritage, those are courses I can still compete on. Once in a while, I’ll dip out here, but I’ll predominantly play on PGA TOUR Champions.” When he does dip back out onto the PGA TOUR though, Furyk strategically picks his spots to maximize his opportunity to make an impact. Venerable Waialae CC appears the perfect venue – Furyk has recorded 10 top-25s in 17 Sony Open appearances, including his 1996 victory and a 1997 runner-up. The Sony Open demands a precision game. Tree-lined, par-70 Waialae CC plays to just 7,044 yards and requires players to shape the ball both ways, preferring precision to power. Three decades into his professional career, Furyk’s game fits that bill. Averaging 271.9 yards off the tee, Furyk rebounded from an opening bogey to record seven birdies and an eagle, including his sixth career TOUR ace at the 187-yard, par-3 17th. “I thought I was in-between clubs, but (caddie) Fluff assured me it was a 6-iron for me,” Furyk recollected of his decision-making process on No. 17 tee. “It was the right club and I had it teed up a little bit, trying to get the ball in the air and hit down on it. Caught it just a smidge high in the face. “And so I loved the line it was on, but I wasn’t quite sure I caught enough of it to cover it. And carried on the green probably two or three yards and landed in a perfect spot and then released towards the pin. I guess that’s kind of the line I was looking.” Yes, sir!

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