WGC-Mexico Championship, Round 4: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jordan Spieth will begin his quest for the career grand slam by playing with the other two major winners this season in the traditional featured group at the PGA Championship. Spieth, last month’s Open Championship winner, will play with Masters champ Sergio Garcia and U.S. Open champ Brooks Koepka in the first two rounds at Quail Hollow. Spieth had the same honor two years ago at Whistling Straits after winning the season’s first two majors. He played with then-Open champ Zach Johnson, along with Rory McIlroy, who was the defending PGA champ. Spieth, incidentally, finished second that week to Jason Day. The PGA Championship begins Thursday, with television coverage on TNT scheduled from 1 p.m.-7 p.m. ET in the first two rounds, and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. CBS will pick up coverage on the weekend starting at 2 p.m. With the FedExCup Playoffs beginning in two weeks, the PGA Championship offers an opportunity to make a move inside the top 125 who will advance to the Playoffs. FedExCup points are increased this week, with 600 points going to the winner. Here’s a look at some of the featured groups in the first two rounds (FedExCup rankings in parentheses): MORE: Tee times Jordan Spieth (2), Brooks Koepka (7), Sergio Garcia (20) – Since 2000, four previous winners of a major that season have gone on to win the PGA – Tiger Woods in 2000 and 2006, Padraig Harrington in 2008 and Rory McIlroy in 2014. This is the second consecutive year that Spieth and Garcia have been paired in the first two rounds of the PGA. Meanwhile, Spieth and Koepka are paired together for the first time in 2017. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 8:25 a.m. ET off 10th tee; Rd. 2 – 1:35 p.m. ET off 1st tee Dustin Johnson (3), Jason Day (52), Henrik Stenson (84) – Each player will be trying to get their mojo back. Johnson was the dominant force going into the Masters, with three straight wins, but has struggled to match that form since the off-course injury at Augusta. Day hasn’t won since the 2016 THE PLAYERS Championship, and Stenson hasn’t won since last year’s Open Championship. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 8:35 a.m. ET off 10th tee; Rd. 2 – 1:45 p.m. ET off 1st tee Jason Dufner (22), Phil Mickelson (45), Jimmy Walker (98) – Walker, the defending champ, showed signs of life in the first two rounds last week at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational before sliding back on the weekend. Dufner’s best major is usually the PGA – he has a win and two other top-5s. Mickelson has never won at Quail Hollow, but he does have nine top-10s in 13 career starts. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 1:25 p.m. ET off 1st tee; Rd. 2 – 8:15 a.m. ET off 10th tee Jon Rahm (5), Rickie Fowler (6), Rory McIlroy (43) – Based on his course history, McIlroy might be the favorite this week – in seven starts at Quail Hollow, he has six top-10s, including two wins. Fowler also has won at Quail Hollow, and was fourth at the Wells Fargo Championship a year ago. Rahm, meanwhile, is making his first start at the course. Tee times: Rd. 1 – 1:35 p.m. ET off 1st tee; Rd. 2 – 8:25 a.m. ET off 10th tee Other notables Hideki Matsuyama, Sunday winner at Bridgestone after his sizzling final-round 61, is playing with Ernie Els and Ian Poulter … Past PGA Championship winners Davis Love III, Keegan Bradley and Padraig Harrington are in the same group … Reigning PLAYERS champion Si Woo Kim is paired with Billy Horschel and Matthew Fitzpatrick … Matt Kuchar was the runner-up at The Open Championship; Justin Rose was the runner-up at the Masters. They’re together with Brandt Snedeker, who has nine career top-10s in majors.

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PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — Tyler McCumber was the only player to reach 8-under par Thursday in the Caribbean breeze until he dropped a shot on his 17th hole and fell into a four-way for the lead in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. Sepp Straka was the only one at 7-under 65 who kept a clean card. He was joined by Hudson Swafford, who made two tough par saves late in his round, and Scott Harrington, who made bogey on the second-easiest hole at the Corales Golf Club. They were one shot clear of Xinjun Zhang and Joseph Bramlett, while former Southern California star Justin Suh got his season off to a happy start and was among those at 67. RELATED: Leaderboard | Bhatia, Zalatoris are under par | Suh, 23, making most of sponsor exemption Straka’s round was highlighted by a 5-wood to 5 feet for eagle on the par-5 fourth hole early in his round. He also was the only player at 65 who played in the morning before a stiff ocean breeze kicked up late in the afternoon. “This course is not really one where you can push it,” Straka said. “You can shoot a low round out here, but it’s got to be a consistent low round.” Rob Oppenheim would appreciate that. He was 4 under through six holes, only to make a pair of bogeys and then take a double-bogey 7 on the par-5 12th hole. He wound up with a 72. Nearly two-thirds of the 144-man field broke par. McCumber, the son of 10-time PGA TOUR winner Mark McCumber, also made eagle on No. 4 and his birdie on the par-5 seventh took him to 8 under. But his approach on the next hole went long, along the rocks. He tried to play from there and moved it sideways, and he kept the damage to a bogey by making an 8-foot bogey putt. Harrington never feels more relaxed than on resort courses along the ocean, and such was the case as he motored his way into a share of the lead. But toward the end of his round, he hit a tee shot so wild the ball was deemed lost and he had to return to the tee to play his third shot. He managed to make bogey. He rolled in a birdie putt on the next hole, and then hit his tee shot to 8 feet on the par-3 ninth, only to burn the edge of the cup on his birdie attempt to finish the round. Swafford had four birdies in five holes to start the back nine, but then it was a matter of hanging on. From a fluffy lie left of the 16th green, his pitched stopped quickly and he made a 12-foot par for par. Then, he found a front bunker on the par-3 17th along the Caribbean, blasted out to 7 feet and made that. He finished with a birdie to join a share of the lead. Suh was featured last summer as part of a strong college class turning pro, holding a press conference at the Travelers Championship with Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland. Morikawa won three starts later and captured the PGA Championship last month. Wolff won a week later and finished second to Bryson DeChambeau last week at Winged Foot in the U.S. Open. Hovland won in Puerto Rico earlier this year. Suh missed nine out of 11 cuts on sponsor exemptions in PGA TOUR events since turning pro, though he played well on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica. “They really got their game together just right off the bat turning pro,” Suh said. “Unfortunately, on the first few starts that I had I was facing a wrist injury and just kind of had to battle back. Kind of changed my swing a little bit just so I wouldn’t have to face that anymore.” He’s healthy now. Suh said he played with Morikawa a few weeks ago and beat him in a friendly match. “So the game’s there,” he said. “It’s just a matter of putting it together at a tournament.”

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Tiger Woods has had great success at the Firestone Country Club, where he’s off to a good start after his first round in an attempt to win for the ninth time at the course. Kyle Stanley was the early leader with a 63.

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