Summary
The second major of the 2021 PGA Tour season is here, with play starting at 7 a.m. Thursday.
All the game's heavyweights are at Kiawah Island, from world No. 1 Dustin Johnson to Justin Thomas to Jordan Spieth to Rory McIlroy, who won the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah.
The big story is the course so far, and our Brendan Quinn has an interesting story after walking 18 holes Tuesday during the practice round about how this place will test the world's best golfers.
Want some champion predictions? We have that.
Need last-minute gambling/picks advice? Yep, we have that too.
We also have tee times and featured group listings.
We'll be here all day with updates and analysis from our team of golf experts.
Wrapping up day 1 of the PGA Championship
- The PGA Championship is famous for first-time major winners that come out of nowhere, and the leaderboard is not without those names. Corey Conners, whose 67 was two shots better than anyone in the field, for sure. Aaron Wise and Sam Horsfield are among those in a tie for second (Keegan Bradley qualifies as out of nowhere, but he does have a previous PGA title). Cameron Tringale, Cam Davis and Martin Laird are also on the first page of the leaderboard. Something to watch.
- Phil Mickelson’s round didn’t get going until late — a terrific approach shot on 15 gave him 6 feet for birdie to get to 1 under, and he doubled that on 16 with a 137-yard third shot to within 5 feet, 6 inches. It’s a really strong sign for Mickelson that he was good late — he had admittedly struggled to maintain focus over 18 holes recently. Now — can he do it again for another 18 and make the weekend? For the moment, he’s T8.
- Bryson DeChambeau came out with an even-par 72, which is fine. But it was wild getting there — he had two birdies on his first three holes, bogeyed the next four and finished with five of each on the day. All over the place.
- Conners is now the betting favorite at +750, per BetMGM, followed by Victor Hovland (+800) and Brooks Koepka (+1100).
- Notable names that are in real danger of missing the cut: Tommy Fleetwood and Kevin Kisner (4 over); Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar (5 over); Adam Scott and Max Homa (6 over); Kevin Na and Daniel Berger (7 over).
Advertisem*nt
At the PGA Championship, Rickie Fowler’s reality is far more interesting than what gets sold
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — The idea of Rickie Fowler needing an invitation anywhere in golf is still bizarre. For a stretch of years, he was among the faces of the game. He was maybe even the most marketable player in the sport, billed as this hip, free-flowing bundle of talent. The future! Advertising campaigns still perpetuate that image. It works, even if it’s not quite the truth. It sells. Otherwise they wouldn’t keep hawking it.
But let’s talk about what’s real.
(Click the below link to read more from Fowler's round today at the PGA Championship)
Corey Conners has taken the lead
Emerging from a very tight leaderboard that has had six or seven guys with T1 next to their names since lunchtime is Corey Conners, at least for the moment.
The 29-year-old Canadian birdied No. 15 to get to 4 under, one shot ahead of the pack. As he enters the finishing stretch there is certainly no guarantee that lead holds — as you may have heard/read one or 100 times this week, the Ocean Course packs a punch in the final few holes. But he's there after shooting a 34 on the front nine and then birdies on 11 and 15.
Conners' best-ever finish at a PGA Championship is a T64 in 2019, but he did have a top-10 at the Masters last month.
Sam Burns withdraws from PGA Championship
One of the hottest players in the world, Sam Burns, has withdrawn from the tournament due to a back injury. Burns is coming off three straight top-five finishes on the PGA Tour including a win at the Valspar Championship. He shot a 41 on the front nine with a double bogey on 2, a triple on 5, and bogeys on 6 and 8.
Deep odds may pay off
Two players to keep an eye on for first-round leader:
- Branden Grace is 3 under through eight and was a whopping 100-1 to hold the first-round lead.
- Corey Conners is 2 under through nine and was 66-1 to lead after the first round.
Patrick Cantlay with a contender for shot of the day
No. 2 on the Ocean Course is the third-hardest hole by handicap, a par-five playing at 559 yards today.
Patrick Cantlay did not make it look all that hard on Thursday, with an eagle from 141 yards out. Check out the video here.
Cantlay hit his tee shot 289 yards into the right rough, then effectively layed-up with a 155-yard second shot that kept him just short of the cross hazard. His third shot landed just feet from the pin, and bounced right in. That's how it is done.
Advertisem*nt
This was not 2012 for Rory McIlroy
Rough day for Rory McIlroy. After dusting the field by eight strokes in 2012, his return to Kiawah begins with an opening 3-over 75 with bogeys on three of the course’s four par-5s. He currently sits in a tie for 100th.
Koepka gets the better of Rory, JT
One of the featured groups of the morning wave was a group that claims five PGA Championships among them. Brooks Koepka got the better of his playing partners, rallying from a double-bogey at his first hole of the day, the par-4 10th, to grab a share of the early lead with a 3-under 69. The four-time major champion (and two-time PGA champ) made six birdies against just a single bogey the rest of the way. Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, meanwhile, will have work to get back into contention. Both shot 75. McIlroy bogeyed three of the four par-5s. Thomas was undone by a double at the par-4 18th, his ninth hole of the day.
Beware of 18
To give you a sense of how difficult the finishing holes are today, the 505-yard par 4 18th hole is playing as the most difficult hole with an average score of 4.57. The 466-yard par 4 15th is the second most difficult with an average score of 4.51. If the wind flips as expected on Sunday, these two holes could lose a little bite on the final day.
Afternoon featured group watchability rankings
The afternoon wave is about to get started here, so let's talk about these second featured groups. I'm just ranking them by the order in which I would pay attention to them, keeping in mind that the coverage has started on ESPN proper and they're going to show a lot of several of these guys.
- 1:58 p.m. Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson, Will Zalatoris
Spieth comes in as hot as anyone on the PGA Tour, and featured groups is particularly great for him because you'll get to hear much of his interchanges with caddy Michael Greller. They've been together forever, and their push and pull debates on club selections are usually really interesting/entertaining. Plus you get Zalatoris, an emerging standout who was just sensational at the Masters.
2. 1:25 p.m. Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Patrick Reed
Three guys who could all be in contention on Sunday, particularly Rahm (Brendan Quinn's pick to win it, in fact). Plus a little extra spice in a Ryder Cup year as "Captain America" Reed shares a pairing with two guys that no doubt have long memories about 2018's Euro success.
3. 2:09 p.m. Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry, Sergio Garcia
Johnson is still the No. 1 golfer in the world per OWGR, but he's been pretty ordinary since he put on the green jacket in November. Sergio is a total wild card. A wait-and-see situation where you can flip to them on the back nine if one is hot.
4. 1:14 p.m. Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Padraig Harrington
This is fine. Nothing wrong with it. But it'd be a really huge surprise if any of these guys pushed for contention.
Solid start for Morikawa
Defending champion Collin Morikawa is picking up where he left off at TPC Harding Park. He has four birdies through 12 holes and is T4 at 2 under. Ball-striking has been discussed as being paramount on this course, and Morikawa is arguably the best iron player in the game.
Advertisem*nt
Major coverage for a major
Agree with Hugh on the ESPN+ coverage. Borderline too much to keep up with. And love the live mic on the players. The dialogue between Viktor Hovland and his caddie as Hovland plotted his shot from a tricky lie at the par-4 4th was outstanding. "I kinda want to try it," Hovland said at the end of a long discussion. And then he scrambled to save par. More, please.
Watch out for the back nine
So far today:
Front 9 is playing +.085 over par
Back 9 is playing +1.72 over par
An update on Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler was going along beautifully out here until just making a terrible decision on the 4th. After putting his drive in a fairway bunker he seemed caught between playing a safe shot out to set up a long third or hitting to the forward fairway for a wedge in. He ended up hitting into a waste area between the two fairways and made his first bogey, dropping to 1 under for the day. Couple of unforced errors on an otherwise solid morning for Fowler, who’s playing on an exemption.
Keegan Bradley continues to play good golf
Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion, is 3 under after his opening nine holes at the Ocean Course. Bradley has a history of performing well on paspalum greens and is doing so once again. The 34-year-old has made eight straight cuts on the PGA Tour highlighted by a solo second at the Valspar and four straight top-25 finishes coming into this week. He's officially someone to watch and I have him on my card at 70-1.
A note on the television coverage
My gosh it is spectacular so far.
ESPN+ is the home for the morning coverage, and they're hitting all the right notes with so much golf.
I have the main feed with Scott Van Pelt and David Duval on the 55-inch TV in the home office, with the Bryson DeChambeau/Collin Morikawa/Hideki Matsuyama on the secondary TV that I haul in for March Madness/golf majors. On the Kindle I have the ESPN app open to the Rory McIlroy/Brooks Koepka/Justin Thomas group. And this doesn't feel like enough!
It's not just the quantity of coverage, but the quality. They broke out the steady iso cam as guys were coming out of the clubhouse this morning, which gives the whole thing this really cool theatrical look. They're showing plenty of golf shots, and the main feed is keeping things moving. Van Pelt and Duval are good together. And, and this is a thing I notice is often lacking on other networks, there's not a significant delay between what is happening live with the featured groups and it being shown on the main feed. Sometimes it's literally seconds, well within the streaming buffer. That's clutch for those having to stick to one screen.
Advertisem*nt
The Cameron Tringale watch
The PGA Championship has been known to produce out-of-nowhere winners, so perhaps it's appropriate that the early leader is Cameron Tringale, who is 4 under through 11 holes. Tringale, 33, has the dubious distinction of having won the most money on the PGA Tour — more than $13 million — without having won. He is making his 301st start.
A featured group to watch
After stumbling out of the gates and having to save bogey on the his first hole the 10th, tournament favorite Rory McIlroy responded with back-to-back birdies to get into red figures. Playing alongside Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka, this star-studded featured group is a fun watch and the guys seem to be quite chatty early on this Thursday morning as pace of play might already be an issue.
The obligatory John Daly post
John Daly just birdied No. 1.
The 55-year-old former PGA Championship winner is John Daly, so he attracts attention despite doing ... well if you're reading this live blog, you probably know all about John Daly's more recent exploits. But yeah he birdied No. 1. Good for Daly, who has not made the cut at the PGA Championship in nine years.
