How to watch PGA Championship, Round 3: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times, live stream

The PGA TOUR heads to Baltimore for the first time since 1964 for the penultimate event of the 2020-21 season, the BMW Championship. Jon Rahm, who was in position to start his FedExCup Playoffs run with a win at THE NORTHERN TRUST, looks to defend his BMW Championship title after a dramatic playoff win over Dustin Johnson last season. FIELD NOTES: Top 70 in the FedExCup standings after THE NORTHERN TRUST will tee it up at the BMW Championship… Rahm, the defending champion, stood to move from fifth to first in the FedExCup standings with a win at Liberty National… Dustin Johnson, who lost in a playoff to Rahm but went on to win the FedExCup last year, missed THE NORTHERN TRUST cut by a shot Friday after starting the tournament without a driver… After withdrawing from THE NORTHERN TRUST with an ankle injury, Patrick Reed is expected to return to action at the BMW… Olympic Gold medalist Xander Schauffele, two-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy, past FedExCup winners Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, plus Player of the Year candidate Collin Morikawa also will be among the headliners in Baltimore. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 2,000 FedExCup points. COURSE: Caves Valley Golf Club, par 72, 7,542 yards. Opened in 1991, the Tom Fazio design was recently updated with infrastructure changes over an 18-month timeframe. There’s more length, plus new and/or restored bunkers, and, in places, additional rough. The front and back nines have been switched to allow for better spectator views. The PGA TOUR hasn’t played an event in Baltimore since the 1960s, but Caves Valley is no stranger to big-time golf – the course played host to the U.S. Senior Open, the Constellation Senior PLAYERS Championship, and the first International Crown on the LPGA Tour. STORYLINES: The BMW Championship is the final opportunity to earn a spot in the FedExCup Playoffs finale, the 30-man TOUR Championship at East Lake… Keep an eye on the Monday finish at THE NORTHERN TRUST to see who will survive and advance. In 2020 there were six golfers who moved into the top 70 after THE NORTHERN TRUST and six who moved out… The FedExCup points leader after the first two Playoffs events will begin the TOUR Championship at 10 under par, meaning those at the top will be fighting for position at the BMW Championship. 72-HOLE RECORD: 260, Keegan Bradley (2018). *At Caves Valley GC (N/A) 18-HOLE RECORD: 59, Jim Furyk (2nd round, 2013). *At Caves Valley GC (N/A) LAST TIME: It was a thrilling finish to the second leg of the FedExCup Playoffs in 2020, with Jon Rahm defeating Dustin Johnson in a playoff at the BMW Championship. Johnson, who had won by 11 the previous week, rolled in a double-breaking 43-foot putt on the 72nd hole at Olympia Fields to force a playoff with Rahm at 5-under 276 after the Spaniard fired a 6-under 64 in the final round (the low round of the tournament). Rahm answered right back, however, with a curling 66-foot birdie bomb of his own to seal the win. It was his 11th TOUR title. Rahm’s victory came despite a mental blunder in the third round – he picked up his ball without marking it on the green and was penalized a stroke. Only five golfers finished under par at the 2020 BMW: Joaquin Niemann, Hideki Matsuyama and Tony Finau – after a final-round 65 – were the others besides Rahm and Johnson. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 12 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC) PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. (Featured Groups). Saturday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Sunday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Groups), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (Featured Holes). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio).

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It is “The Godfather Part IIâ€� — better and more substantial. Only 17 is “The Godfather,â€� first in line. It has more muscle and more water. Only the 17th has more marketing manpower. It is a Joe Louis right cross, more deliberate and punishing. But No. 17 is a Muhammad Ali jab, delivering pain in the time it takes you to draw a breath. The 18th hole at THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass should set the standard for grueling tests. Only it can’t get top billing over its smaller, but sexier neighbor, the island-green 17th. Which is OK, because while the crowds might be 25-deep at 17 come Saturday and Sunday, the layers of fear are thicker when you stand on the tee at the 18th. “No doubt about it,â€� said Brad Faxon, whose eight-win PGA TOUR career included 22 appearances in THE PLAYERS Championship. With a pair of top 10s and cuts made in 12 straight starts starting in 1994, the veteran could be deemed as having a good feel for the Stadium Course – except for when he stood at 18 tee. “The hardest-driving golf hole I’ve ever played,â€� Faxon said. He has the numbers to validate his assessment – 23 over at No. 18 for his 77 rounds – but Faxon also has plenty of esteemed company when it comes to being thrust into the confounding 462-yard closing hole. (It was a 440-yarder when this Pete Dye creation debuted in 1982.) It all starts with an inability to get settled on the tee, said Steve Stricker, who is making his 21st appearance at THE PLAYERS. “I’ve just never been comfortable on the tee there,â€� he said. “It’s just one of those holes. I like to turn the ball right-to-left, but I never feel I can push it.â€� That’s because the genius of Dye shines brilliantly at the 18th. He provides for a large area of fairway, but against a backdrop of an even larger expanse of water (left) and daunting trees (right). It is a fairway that bends right-to-left, so it’s understandable that players will prefer that shape of shot off the tee, but that invites the reality that your ball would be been steered in the direction of what feels like the Atlantic Ocean. “I mean, we deal with water all the time, but at 18, it’s right on top of you,â€� Faxon said. “And there’s so much of it. You actually see more water than fairway, you’re at sea level with it, and it makes you uncomfortable.â€� When he got to the 18th in Thursday’s first round, Adam Scott was 4 under for the eight holes he had played, but it’s not like he could have a bounce in his step. Not when he owns membership in one of the PGA TOUR’s largest fraternities – players who are off-balance at the Stadium Course’s 18th. So when Scott took aim down the right side and failed to turn it left, he watched his drive waggle aimlessly right, hit a cart path, and bounce up on a large, Bermuda-grass covered hill. He made bogey, which slowed his momentum but was markedly better than what he had done in recent years in Round 1 at the 18th – a double in 2014, a double in ’15, a snowman in ’16, and a double last year. Now 27 over for his 59 rounds, the Aussie has stretched to 49 the numbers of rounds since he last birdied the 18th (for the record, it was Round 1 in 2004, the year he won THE PLAYERS), but Scott knows he’s not the only one to be battered by the hole. Likewise, he knows to what he owes his troubles. “I don’t turn the ball (right-to-left) like I did when I was younger,â€� Scott said. “Different swing, different technology, and it’s especially harder to turn it with a driver.â€� A driver that doesn’t move left brings those trees into play (“They are the most perfectly placed trees in golf,â€� said Faxon) and Scott has been especially penalized by them. But if you choose to play conservatively and hit 3-wood, as Stricker often does, “I end up with 220-something (for yardage) and that’s no fun into that green.â€� Indeed, the green at 18 is vintage Dye, with an assortment of grassy mounds that rarely provide a straight-forward lie if you miss the green. Also, that massive stretch of water is ever-present, so the competitor in you “tells you that you want to get it as far down the fairway as possible,â€� Stricker said. With that other Florida commodity that is in greater surplus than oranges and beach sand – wind – such a factor, Stricker knows it is easier said than done. And, yes, he, too, has the numbers to substantiate his concerns; he made par in Round 1, but in his 65 rounds at the Stadium Course, Stricker is 26 over. Just don’t blink an eye, because guess what? The 18th has been dishing out misery for 36 editions of this golf spectacular. More misery, by the numbers, than the heralded 17th. To wit, going back to the second PLAYERS in 1983 (data from 1982 is not available) and including Thursday’s first round, the double-bogeys at the 18th have outnumbered those at the 17th by a 1,107 to 1,001 margin. Ditto triple-bogeys, 260 to 251, and in six of the last 10 editions of THE PLAYERS, the 18th has ranked as the most difficult hole. What’s more, even though more eyeballs and lots more buzz embrace the watery challenge of the island-green, between 2003 and 2017 there has been one more ball hit in the water at the 18th (704) than the 17th (703). Keegan Bradley has contributed to that total at the 18th and he did so again Thursday, though his ball crossed the hazard well down the fairway and helped him at least salvage a bogey. It’s not a score that leads him to beat himself up. “I’d say if you play that hole even 2 over for the week, you’d take that,â€� said Bradley. Hard to argue with Bradley, because of the 36 previous winners of this showcase event, 13 have prevailed despite playing the 18th over par. Even the incomparable Tiger Woods survived a roller-coaster ride at the 18th – a double, a birdie, bogey, bogey – to win in 2001 and both Fred Couples (1984) and Craig Perks (2002) have held the trophy after playing the final hole in 3 over. On just eight occasions has the winner played 18 under par, with Steve Elkington in 1991 the only champion to play it in 2 under. Given the ferocity of the hole, there are more examples of gut-check up-and-downs to save par than birdies at the 72nd hole Sunday. Rickie Fowler in 2015 did birdie the 18th on Sunday to muscle his way into a playoff that he would win, but only three other times has the winner made a birdie in Round 4 – Elkington doing it in ’91 and ’97, Sandy Lyle accomplishing the feat in 1987. More frequently – eight times, in fact – the winner has prevailed despite a bogey at the 18th in the final round. Scott was one of those, though his up-and-down after hitting his approach into the water, was a career-defining moment and perhaps got him into an early mindset (being just his third PLAYERS) that bogeys don’t kill you at No. 18. “It’s just a hard, hard hole,â€� he said. “It doesn’t fit a driver, but 3-wood sometimes leaves you just too far back.â€� When he hit it into the water in Thursday’s first round, Woods missed an opportunity to finish in red numbers. But it wasn’t a surprise and Woods proved again Friday that even the best struggle to play this hole in four shots. From the left side of the fairway, Woods was short right with his 194-yard approach and made another bogey. Thus, in 65 career rounds, Woods is now 21 over at the 18th, though he’s not at the bottom of this dubious list. No, sir. You go all the way down and can find a premier ball-striker, Corey Pavin, at 36 over and major champions Mark Brooks, Jeff Sluman and Bernhard Langer are all at 33 over. They are the sort of numbers that fans might not appreciate, but colleagues understand. That’s because they’ve stood on that tee at 18, felt wind whipping left-to-right or right-to-left or straight in or even down off the right, as it blew Thursday, and never has a sense of calm come over them. “It’s just so hard to pick a line (off the tee) that’s the right line,â€� said Faxon. Of those who’ve played more than 10 rounds at THE PLAYERS, Russell Henley rated as best at the 18th – 3 under for 16 times. He continued with that success with a par in Round 1, so naturally he was asked his secret recipe. No surprise, it was one that dated back to Old Tom. “I just try to get it in play, just try to hit it straight,â€� he said. Henley smiled, thrust out his hands, indicating that that was all there was to it. Yeah, right.

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FORT WORTH, Texas – The Texas swing this season ends with this week’s DEAN & DELUCA Invitational, held on one of the PGA TOUR’s most historic courses. Colonial Country Club has been a regular stop since 1946, and its list of winners is topped by the local legend, Ben Hogan, a five-time champion. Another nearby-local legend, Dallas’ Jordan Spieth, is the defending champ this week. Spieth comes off a missed cut in his hometown event, the AT&T Byron Nelson, but now has a chance to put his name next to Hogan’s in the tournament record book. Thus far, Hogan is the only player to have won this event in consecutive years; in fact, he did it two different times. Colonial’s Horrible Horseshoe – hole Nos. 3, 4 and 5 – is the signature stretch on this course, with the average strokes over par since 2003 at plus-0.465. “The Horrible Horseshoe it’s called,â€� said Colonial member Ryan Palmer, “and it can be horrible to a lot of people.â€� PGA TOUR LIVE’s coverage of the first two rounds will be from 8 a.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET with a mixture of morning Featured Groups and afternoon Featured Holes (the par-4 5th and the par-3 16th). The broadcast also will be available on Twitter from 8 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday. PGA TOUR Radio’s coverage is from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET for the first two rounds and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. for the final two rounds. Here’s a look at the Featured Groups (current FedExCup ranking in parentheses): Thursday Jon Rahm (4), Sergio Garcia (13), Si Woo Kim (22). Kim is making his first start since winning THE PLAYERS Championship two weeks ago. He was originally scheduled to play last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson but was forced to withdraw with a sore back. He said it’s fine now. Garcia won at Colonial in 2001 in his first start in this event and is playing Colonial for the first time since 2012. Rahm is making his DEAN & DELUCA debut. Tee time: 8:55 a.m. ET off 10th tee. Wesley Bryan (19), Matt Kuchar (40), Phil Mickelson (43). Mickelson, a two-time champion (2000, 2008) is making his first appearance at Colonial since 2010 when he missed the cut. Kuchar has two top-10 finishes in his last three starts here, including a tie for sixth last year. Bryan, like Rahm, is making his first appearance. Tee time: 9:06 a.m. ET off 10th tee. Friday Billy Horschel (15), Paul Casey (27), Brandt Snedeker (48). Having won last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson, Horschel – the 2014 FedExCup champ — will look to become the first player to win both Metroplex TOUR events in consecutive weeks. Hogan is the only player to win both in the same year (but not in consecutive weeks). Snedeker – also a past FedExCup champ, having won in 2012 — tied for second here two years. Casey finished fifth in his first start at Colonial in 2009. Tee time: 8:55 a.m. ET off 10th tee. Pat Perez (5), Jordan Spieth (7), Zach Johnson (95). Spieth, the defending champ, also tied for second the previous year and has another top-10 finish among his four starts at Colonial. Johnson’s track record here is even more impressive – two wins (2010, 2012) and two other top 10s among his 11 starts. He’s won more money at this event ($3.4 million) than any other player. Perez has four top-10 finishes here. Tee time: 9:06 a.m. ET off 10th tee.

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