How to watch Charles Schwab Challenge, Round 3: Featured Groups, live scores, tee times, TV times

Within the cadence of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR season, a new rhythm exists. The downbeat occurred in earnest with the return of THE PLAYERS Championship to March, and it’s maintained a toe-tapping groove that has included unique events like the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play and this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans. There’s no better place than the birthplace of jazz to keep the jam going. This is the third edition of the team format in which there are 80 duets, if you will. It’s a phenomenal opportunity for fans to learn more about the relationships and harmony between players. POWER RANKINGS: ZURICH CLASSIC OF NEW ORLEANS OTHERS CONSIDERED Brooks Koepka & Chase Koepka Bubba Watson & J.B. Holmes Jason Kokrak & Chris Stroud Branden Grace & Justin Harding Russell Knox & Brian Stuard PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf omits the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, so Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will be presented in an abridged format. As it was for 11 editions of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as an individual event, TPC Louisiana is the backdrop for the PGA TOUR’s only team competition. All 160 in the field are professionals. The first and third rounds are scored as best ball (also known as four-ball), while the second and fourth rounds are scored using alternate shot (also known as foursomes). Teams inside the top 35 and ties at the conclusion of 36 holes will make the cut. The secondary-cut provision (i.e. MDF) does not apply. TPC Louisiana is a scorable par 72 with the full complement of four par 5s. It can stretch to 7,425 yards. Only the bermuda greens are overseeded, and they’re prepped to run upwards of 12 feet on the Stimpmeter. While that speed is standard for TOUR tracks, severe undulations contribute to the challenge and the targets average just 5,225 square feet. Together they elevate the value of proximity to the hole on approach. Because fairways are welcoming and in part because of the format, long hitters are encouraged to show us what they got, at least in best ball. The field’s average of distance of all drives for the first two spins as a team competition slotted TPC Louisiana inside the top-half shortest. By comparison, last year’s clip of 278.7 yards was one-tenth of one yard shorter than Sea Island’s Seaside Course, host of The RSM Classic and not considered a bomber’s paradise. Still, encouraging the thought of stepping on it is semi-dormant bermuda rough cut to just one-and-three-quarters inches this year. That’s down one-quarter of an inch from 2018. Spring in the bayou always include the threat of inclement conditions, but this week’s complications are isolated pre-cut. After a mild risk might gurgle on Thursday afternoon, the more probable concern is forecast for Friday afternoon. Otherwise, it’ll be quite nice with daytime highs flirting with 80 degrees and light-to-moderate winds throughout. When the winners are crowned on Sunday, each will receive 400 FedExCup points. That’s the average between first and second place in regular individual competitions. Similarly split, each co-champion will pocket $1,051,200.00. Both will earn two-year membership exemptions or an additional season to the maximum of five from the current if already exempt through 2020-21. They’ll also secure exemptions into next month’s PGA Championship, the 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions, the 2020 PLAYERS and other invitationals if not currently eligible. Official World Golf Ranking points are not distributed for this tournament, but the top-five teams are eligible for the top-10 provision that grants entry into next week’s Wells Fargo Championship. Assuming you like what you experience, you’ll love the reminder that at the conclusion of last year’s edition, Zurich Insurance extended its partnership with the tournament through 2026. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton covers numerous angles in between tournaments. Look for his following contributions this week. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers, Fantasy Insider WEDNESDAY: One & Done THURSDAY: Champions One & Done * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO, which also publishes on Tuesdays.

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Round 3 of the 3M Open takes place today at TPC Twin Cities. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action. Round 3 leaderboard Round 3 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 2:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). PGA TOUR LIVE: Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). FEATURED GROUPS Max Homa, Austin Cook, Sepp Straka Saturday: 11:32 a.m. ET (No. 1 tee) Alex Noren, Si Woo Kim, Charles Howell III Saturday: 11:43 a.m. ET (No. 1 tee) MUST READS Thompson, Werenski tied for lead after 36 holes at the 3M Open Koepka misses cut at 3M Open, prepares for upcoming title defense After long layoff, Van Pelt finally likes where his game is going Finau parts ways with caddie Best par save ever? After two in water, Bae holes out from 250 yards Dustin Johnson withdraws from 3M Open citing back injury Insider: Fleetwood returns to work Four burning questions about DJ PGA TOUR University’s inaugural top 15 ranking CALL OF THE DAY

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Experience is supposed to be a requisite for Masters contenders, but Will Zalatoris is showing that skill trumps seasoning every time. Even in the firm conditions that reward those who’ve memorized every nook and cranny of Alister Mackenzie’s design, the 24-year-old – one of just three professionals making their Masters debut this week – finds himself in contention. Birdies on his final three holes Friday gave Zalatoris a 4-under 68 and a spot in Saturday’s final group. He’ll start the third round two shots behind Justin Rose, who followed Thursday’s incredible 65 with an even-par 72. History weighs heavy at Augusta National, the only venue that hosts a major championship on an annual basis. It can be suffocating for someone setting foot on the property for the first time but Zalatoris’ nerves have been drowned out by the gratitude he feels to be competing in the Masters just months after playing on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I wanted to be here my entire life,” he said. “Some people shy away from that, but I’m excited to be here. … There’s no reason to feel intimidated now. I made it to here.” He took a non-traditional route. Zalatoris didn’t even have a PGA TOUR card at the start of the season. His pro career got off to a rough start when he failed to advance out of the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in his first attempt. It was an unexpected obstacle for Zalatoris, who’s been elite since junior golf. He followed in the footsteps of Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler as U.S. Junior champions from Dallas. He was teammates on the 2017 Walker Cup with Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ and Scheffler. But two years ago this week, he was ranked 1,514th in the world. He was happy just to Monday qualify for a Korn Ferry Tour event in Panama. Even a year ago, he was still hovering around 500th in the ranking. He’s been on a rapid rise ever since the Korn Ferry Tour resumed after its COVID-induced hiatus, amassing a record-tying 11 consecutive top-20 finishes on that circuit. His success on the Korn Ferry Tour earned him a spot in last year’s U.S. Open. He hasn’t been back since. A T6 finish at Winged Foot not only allowed a larger audience to observe his impeccable iron play but confirmed to Zalatoris that he could compete on the highest level. “At the U.S. Open, he told me that on the third hole is when he realized that it was just like another a tournament,” said swing coach Troy Denton. “You could tell at the beginning of this week, he had a swagger. He just believes.” Scott Fawcett, creator of the course-management system known as DECADE, has known Zalatoris since he was a teenager. “I’ve played with tons of great players and Fred Couples, when he was No. 1 in the world is the only one I’ve played with that hits it as solid as Will,” Fawcett said. “He has hit it like a top-30 ball-striker since he was a kid.” Zalatoris led the field at Winged Foot in Strokes Gained: Approach and ranks fifth in that category this season. He made a hole-in-one in the U.S. Open’s opening round and hit his tee shot on another par-3 off of a flagstick. His accurate iron play is on display again this week. Augusta National is known as a “second-shot golf course” because of the importance of placing the ball on the correction portion of the sloping putting surfaces. The spindly Zalatoris is capable of launching high approach shots that land softly on those small sections. He birdied his final three holes Friday thanks to iron shots that landed close to hole locations placed atop small plateaus. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th just 10 feet from the back-righ pin. His second shot to 17 was 11 feet from the hole. And then he hit a 50-degree wedge to 4 feet from the hole on 18. That final approach was the most satisfying of the day because he knew a birdie would get him into Saturday’s final group. “It’s a childhood dream to obviously be in the final group of a major on a weekend, especially here,” said Zalatoris. He was 8 years old when he attended the 2005 Masters, watching Tiger Woods hole a 40-foot birdie putt. Later that week, he was sitting with his family in their favorite Italian restaurant when Woods holed his famous chip on No. 16. The place exploded when the ball dropped, illustrating to a young Zalatoris just how important this tournament is. He grew up alongside Spieth, who finished second in his Masters debut seven years ago, and the sons of former PGA Championship winner Lanny Wadkins. He still remembers the bits of wisdom that Wadkins shared years ago, well before he was playing professional golf. “There’s little things he may not even remember telling me, how the wind affects a shot if it’s into the wind or downwind on 12,” Zalatoris said. “I think he told me that when I was 14, and I still remember it.” Now just 24, Zalatoris is proving to be a fast learner.

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