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PGA Tour: Charles Schwab Challenge R-2 Coverage

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Garcia and Spieth Share Lead After 18 Holes

FORT WORTH – Is it old-timer’s month for the PGA Tour? 2001 Charles Schwab Challenge winner Sergio Garcia opened with his lowest score on Tour since 2016.

On the younger side, local favorite Jordan Spieth birdied his last three holes (Nos. 7-9) to post his best score in 33 rounds at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Spieth won the 2016 Charles Schwab Challenge champion and now seeks his second win of the season and third consecutive Top-10 finish in this event.

Playing on a sponsor exemption and in just his fourth Tour event since the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, Erik Compton opens with a bogey-free 5-under 65, his lowest score on Tour in six years. (See story below).

Defending Charles Schwab Challenge champion Daniel Berger opened with 2-under (68), while 2000, 2008 Charles Schwab Challenge winner and last week’s PGA champion Phil Mickelson opened with a 3-over (73) in his 17th Colonial start.

Since 1990, the first-round leader/co-leader has won the Charles Schwab Challenge just three times.

Leaderboard After 18 Holes:

Jordan Spieth 63 (-7)

Sergio Garcia 63 (-7)

Erik Compton 65 (-5)

Jason Kokrak 65 (-5)

This Week on PGA Tour: Opening Round at Charles Schwab Challenge

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PGA Tour Brunch – Charles Schwab Challenge

COURSE: Colonial Country Club (Fort Worth, Texas)

ARCHITECT: John Bredemus/Perry Maxwell

YARDS/PAR: 7,209 yards/Par 70

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,500,000/$1,350,000

DEFENDING Champion (June 2020) – Daniel Berger – (2020 Leaderboard)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @CSChallengeFW

OFFICIAL SITE: (Charles Schwab Challenge) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: Today and Friday, May 27 and 28: 4:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, May 29 Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 2:00pm to 5:30pm EDT and CBS takes over from 5:30pm to 7:00pm EDT. On Sunday, May 30, Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 1:00pm to 2:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over from 2:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT).

STREAMING: It’s back to usual with PGA Tour Live streaming coverage of Featured Groups on both today and Friday from 8:00am to 7:00pm (EDT). On the weekend, PGA Tour Live expands coverage with Featured Groups and Holes. On Saturday, Featured Groups runs from 9:00am to 5:30pm (EDT) and Featured Holes from 5:30-7:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, streaming coverage runs from 8:30am to 2:00pm (EDT) with Featured Groups, then finishes off with Featured Holes from 2:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE:  Beginning today, May 27 and continuing Friday, May 28, PGA Tour Radio coverage airs 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT). On Saturday, hear live hole-by-hole coverage from 2:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) and Sunday’s final round will be covered 1:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT) (or until completion of play). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

How to Watch: In case of changes, see: (PGATourCom)

There are 121 players teeing-it-up at The Colonial CC today.

Kevin Na tied a tournament record by shooting a (61) in R-4 of 2018 and won the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2019. Na last won at the SONY Open, the second tournament of the current (winter/spring/summer) season and the first full field tournament of 2021.

Defending champion Daniel Berger currently stands as the No. 16 player in the world golf rankings and is No. 20 in FedEx Cup points with 1,114. Berger won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier this season.

There have been just five first-time PGA Tour winners this season: Carlos Ortiz, Vivint Houston Open; Jason Kokrak, THE CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek; Joel Dahmen, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship; Sam Burns, Valspar Championship; and K.H. Lee, AT&T Byron Nelson. The last time there were fewer than 10 first time winners in a season was 2012 when there were nine. The fewest in any season was only four (1992).

Michael Visacki, who received widespread attention after his Monday qualifying for the Valspar Championship, is in the field on a sponsor exemption this week. Visacki missed the cut at the Valspar Championship after carding scores of 74-71 (+3).

Charles Schwab Challenge First Look

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PGA Tour: Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial

COURSE: Colonial Country Club (Fort Worth, Texas)

ARCHITECT: John Bredemus/Perry Maxwell

YARDS/PAR: 7,209 yards/Par 70

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,500,000/$1,350,000

DEFENDING Champion (June 2020) – Daniel Berger – (2020 Leaderboard)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @CSChallengeFW

OFFICIAL SITE: (Charles Schwab Challenge) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: Thursday and Friday, May 27 and 28: 4:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, May 29 Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 2:00pm to 5:30pm EDT and CBS takes over from 5:30pm to 7:00pm EDT. On Sunday, May 30, Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 1:00pm to 2:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over from 2:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT).

STREAMING: It’s back to usual with PGA Tour Live streaming coverage of Featured Groups on both Thursday and Friday from 8:00am to 7:00pm (EDT). On the weekend, PGA Tour Live expands coverage with Featured Groups and Holes. On Saturday, Featured Groups runs from 9:00am to 5:30pm (EDT) and Featured Holes from 5:30-7:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, streaming coverage runs from 8:30am to 2:00pm (EDT) with Featured Groups, then finishes off with Featured Holes from 2:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE:  Beginning on Thursday, May 27 and continuing Friday, May 28, PGA Tour Radio coverage airs 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT). On Saturday, hear live hole-by-hole coverage from 2:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) and Sunday’s final round will be covered 1:00pm to 6:30pm (EDT) (or until completion of play). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

How to Watch: In case of changes, see: (PGATourCom)

Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch – 1st Look at Charles Schwab Challenge

The 2021 Charles Schwab Challenge is the 35th of 50 events on the PGA Tour. The tournament is played at the famed Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas and is set-up at 7,209 yards.

Last year, the 2020 Charles Schwab Challenge marked the PGA Tour’s return to competition after a 12-week hiatus due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The 91-day gap between the cancellation of THE PLAYERSChampionship and the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge represented the longest unscheduled break from PGA Tour competition since World War II.

Phil Mickelson, 50, won his sixth major championship title at last week’s PGA Championship, becoming the oldest major winner in history and the sixth-oldest winner of any tournament in PGA Tour history. Two of Mickelson’s 45 career PGA Tour victories have come at the Charles Schwab Challenge (2000, 2008) and he will be making his third start in the event since 2010 (T-29/2017, MC/2020). The last player to win the week after winning a major: Tiger Woods, 2006 (PGA Championship, WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)

Dallas native Jordan Spieth has three consecutive top-10s in the state of Texas, highlighted by his 12th career PGA Tour title at the Valero Texas Open. His others: T-9/WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, T-9/AT&T Byron Nelson). Spieth, who won at Colonial in 2017, enters the week at No. 9 in the FedExCup standings.

Tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 7:10am (local)/8:10am (EDT) through 1:39pm (local)/2:39pm (EDT).

Weather: Thursday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the low 80s. Winds will blow at 14 mph with 69% humidity and a 10% chance of rain. The Friday forecast is calling for scattered thunderstorms and a 40% chance of rain in 80% humidity.

Lefty Sends Father Time Packing

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KIAWAH ISLAND – In the Year 2021, Father Time is 0-2. First it was Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady turning the NFL upside down with his 2021 Super Bowl victory at age 43. This weekend, it was Phil “Lefty” Mickelson winning the PGA Championship, a major in pro golf, at age 50. He earned $2,160,000 for the effort.

Mickelson won his sixth major championship title, and second at the PGA Championship, at the age of 50 years, 11 months, 7 days, becoming the oldest major winner in PGA Tour history and first player to win a major after age 50.

The victory span of 30 years, 4 months, 10 days passed since Mickelson’s first PGA Tour title at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open as an amateur, and it marks the longest time between wins by a player in Tour history.

Mickelson is now the fourth player to win PGA Tour events in four different decades. The others: Sam Snead, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III)

Brooks Koepka finished T-2, his seventh win or runner-up finish in a major since the start of 2017.

Louis Oosthuizen (T-2) recorded his fifth runner-up in his 49th major championship start. No player has more runner-up finishes in PGA Tour majors since 2012.

Harry Higgs finished T-4 in his first major appearance

 

Final Leaderboard at the PGA Championship

Phil Mickelson 70-69-70-73—282 (-6)

Louis Oosthuizen 71-68-72-73—284 (-4)

Brooks Koepka 69-71-70-74—284 (-4)

Shane Lowry 73-71-73-69—286 (-2)

Padraig Harrington 71-73-73-69—286 (-2)

Harry Higgs 72-71-73-70—286 (-2)

Paul Casey 71-71-73-71—286 (-2)

PGA Championship: Phil @ 50

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THIS WEEK: The 2021 PGA Championship 

COURSE: The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort (South Carolina)

YARDS/PAR: 7,876 yards/Par 72

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @PGAChampionship

OFFICIAL SITE: (PGA Tour on the PGA Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: On Sunday, May 23 – ESPN’s coverage runs from 10:00am to 1:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: ESPN will stream coverage online and ESPN+ ($) will provide Featured Groups and Featured Holes. See: (link)

ONLINE RADIO COVERAGE:  Radio coverage begins at 1pm (EDT) and continues through the completion of the tournament this evening. Hear live hole-by-hole coverage co-produced by SiriusXM and Westwood One. PGA Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com. PGA Tour Radio will be back this week. For additional information, see: Sirius XM Blog

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

PGA Tour Brunch – PGA Championship Notebook 

Five-time major champion and 2005 PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson holds a one-stroke lead and is looking to become the first player to win a men’s major championship after turning 50 years old. Mickelson is the fourth player to hold the 54-hole lead/co-lead in a major at age 50 or older during the modern era (1934-present).

Mickelson is 3-for-5 with the 54-hole lead/co-lead in major championships (21-for-36 in 72-hole PGA Tour events).

Sunday’s final pairing includes two players that have combined for nine major championship titles (Mickelson/5, Brooks Koepka/4). Koepka, the 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship winner, is one stroke back of Mickelson.

Koepka will attempt to win the same major three times in a four-year stretch. The last player to accomplish that feat was Tom Watson at The Open Championship (1980, 1982, 1983).

PGA Championship Leaderboard After 54 Holes

Phil Mickelson 70-69-70—209 (-7)

Brooks Koepka 69-71-70—210 (-6)

Louis Oosthuizen 71-68-72—211 (-5)

Kevin Streelman 70-72-70—212 (-4)

Christian Bezuidenhout 71-70-72—213 (-3)

Branden Grace 70-71-72—213 (-3)

Louie, Lefty Tied for PGA Lead

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PGA Tour Brunch – PGA Championship Notebook

KIAWAH ISLAND – Three of Louis Oosthuizen’s four 36-hole lead/co-leads on the PGA Tour have now come in Majors.

With a win at the PGA Championship, Phil Mickelson (50) would become the first player to win a major championship at age 50 or older. To date, the oldest player to win a major is Julius Boros, at the 1968 PGA Championship when he was 48 years, 4 months, 18 days old.

Mickelson became the sixth player since 1900 to lead/co-lead after any round of a Major in four different decades (1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s). The others: Sam Snead, Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Raymond Floyd)

Reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama is two shots off the lead; the last player to win multiple majors in the same season: Brooks Koepka (2018 U.S. Open, PGA Championship).

Three of the top-four players in the Official World Golf Ranking missed the cut: Dustin Johnson (1), Justin Thomas (2), Xander Schauffele (4).

There have been no bogey-free rounds through 36 holes at Kiawah Island Ocean Course.

PGA Championship Leaderboard After 36 Holes

Phil Mickelson 70-69—139 (-5)

Louis Oosthuizen 71-68—139 (-5)

Brooks Koepka 69-71—140 (-4)

Branden Grace 70-71—141 (-3)

Christian Bezuidenhout 71-70—141 (-3)

Hideki Matsuyama 73-68—141 (-3)

Connors Leads PGA at Kiawah Island

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THIS WEEK: The 2021 PGA Championship 

COURSE: The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort (South Carolina)

YARDS/PAR: 7,876 yards/Par 72

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @PGAChampionship

OFFICIAL SITE: (PGA Tour on the PGA Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: Friday, May 21: 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on ESPN. On Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23 – ESPN’s coverage runs from 10:00am to 1:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: ESPN will streamcoverage online and ESPN+ ($) will provide Featured Groups and Featured Holes. See: (link)

ONLINE and RADIO COVERAGE:  Radio coverage begins at 1pm (EDT) today and continuing through the completion of each day’s play, hear live hole-by-hole coverage co-produced by SiriusXM and Westwood One. PGA Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com. For additional information, see: Sirius XM Blog

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

PGA Tour Brunch – PGA Championship Notebook

Corey Conners holds the third 18-hole lead/co-lead of his PGA Tour career and second of the season but he is 0-for-2, to date, converting. This is Conners’ best position after any round in a major championship entering the week. His previous best was solo-sixth after the third round of the 2021 Masters Tournament.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa stands T-8; seven different players have won back-to-back at the PGA Championship.

Brooks Koepka opened his PGA Championship with a score in the 60s for the sixth consecutive year, the longest such streak at any major championship in the modern era (since 1934). The previous record of five was held by Jack Nicklaus, who recorded five consecutive first-round scores in the 60s at the Masters Tournament from 1972-1976.

Entering the week with top-10s in each of his last four starts on the PGA Tour, Jordan Spieth (T-41) carded a 1-over (73). Spieth can become the sixth player to complete the Career Grand Slam with a win this week (major championship titles: 2015 Masters Tournament, 2015 U.S. Open, 2017 The Open Championship).

PGA Championship Leaderboard After 18 Holes

Corey Conners 67 (-5)

Keegan Bradley 69 (-3)

Viktor Hovland 69 (-3)

Brooks Koepka 69 (-3)

Aaron Wise 69 (-3)

Sam Horsfield 69 (-3)

Cam Davis 69 (-3)

Opening Round PGA Championship

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THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: PGA Championship 

COURSE: The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort (South Carolina)

ARCHITECT: Pete and Alice Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,876 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBD (Previously $11,000,000/$1,980,000 in 2020)

DEFENDING Champion (August 2020) – Collin Morikawa – (2020 Leaderboard)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @PGAChampionship

OFFICIAL SITE: (PGA Tour on the PGA Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: Today and Friday, May 20 and 21: 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on ESPN. On Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23 – ESPN’s coverage runs from 10:00am to 1:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: ESPN will streamcoverage online and ESPN+ ($) will provide Featured Groups and Featured Holes. See: (link)

ONLINE and RADIO COVERAGE:  Beginning at 1pm (EDT) today and continuing through the completion of each day’s play, hear live hole-by-hole coverage co-produced by SiriusXM and Westwood One. PGA Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com. For additional information, see: Sirius XM Blog

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch at PGA Championship

It’s Opening Round for the 2021 PGA Championship and the PGA of America has set-up a LONG golf course. At 7,876 yards, the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Resort will be the longest course on record in major championship history. The previous mark of 7,741 yards was held by the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills.

World No. 1 and reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson has finished as runner-up at the PGA Championship in each of the last two years, becoming the first player to do so since Jack Nicklaus (1964, 1965). Johnson withdrew before the start of last week’s AT&T Byron Nelson due to a knee injury.

Three of the four events this season awarding 600 FedEx points to the winner have been won by players entering the week in the Top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking: Bryson DeChambeau, 2020 U.S. Open (9); Dustin Johnson, 2020 Masters (1); Justin Thomas, The PLAYERS (3).

There have been just five first-time PGA Tour winners this season: Carlos Ortiz, Vivint Houston Open; Jason Kokrak, The CJ CUP @ Shadow Creek; Joel Dahmen, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship; Sam Burns, Valspar Championship; K.H. Lee, AT&T Byron Nelson.

Nine of the top 10 players in the FedExCup standings are in their 20s, led by No. 1 Bryson DeChambeau. The only player 30 or older in the top 10 is Stewart Cink (7).

First Look at the PGA Championship

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THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: PGA Championship

COURSE: The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort (South Carolina)

ARCHITECT: Pete and Alice Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,876 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: TBD (Was $11,000,000/$1,980,000 in 2020)

DEFENDING Champion (August 2020) – Collin Morikawa – (2020 Leaderboard)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @PGAChampionship

OFFICIAL SITE: (PGA Tour on the PGA Championship) – (Official Tournament Site)

TV COVERAGE: Thursday and Friday, May 20 and 21: 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on ESPN. On Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23 – ESPN’s coverage runs from 10:00am to 1:00pm (EDT), then CBS takes over from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: ESPN will stream coverage online and ESPN+ ($) will provide Featured Groups and Featured Holes. See: (link)

ONLINE and RADIO COVERAGE:  Beginning at 1pm (EDT) on Thursday, May 20 and continuing through the completion of each day’s play, hear live hole-by-hole coverage co-produced by SiriusXM and Westwood One. PGA Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com. For additional information, see: Sirius XM Blog

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch – 1st Look at PGA Championship

The 2021 PGA Championship is the 34th of 50 events on the PGA Tour. It is organized by the PGA of America.

Collin Morikawa won his first major championship title at the 2020 PGA Championship and will attempt to become the eighth player to successfully defend his title. The most recent was Brooks Koepka, 2018/2019. In 2020, Morikawa became the third-youngest to win the PGA Championship since WWII, behind Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Five players have won the Career Grand Slam and Jordan Spieth can become the sixth with a win on the Ocean Course. Spieth won the 2015 Masters Tournament, 2015 U.S. Open and 2017 Open Championship. He is making his fifth start in the PGA Championship since the 2017 Open (T-28/2017, T-12/2018, T-3/2019, T-71/2020).

The 2021 PGA Championship will be played at the Pete and Alice Dye-designed Ocean Course at Kiawah for the second time in tournament history and first since 2012. In 2012, Rory McIlroy won the tournament by eight strokes, the largest margin of victory in PGA Championship history. McIlroy is making his first start since the Wells Fargo Championship, where he earned his 19th PGA Tour victory and his first of the season.

PGA Championship Tee Times begin Thursday at 7:00am (EDT) through 2:42pm (EDT).

Weather: Kiawah Island can be windy! Thursday’s forecast is for sunny skies and 53-degrees but winds will blow 26 mph NW. No chance of rain.

PGATourBrunch will be posting at 7:00am (EDT) Thursday and Friday.

Next Week: Charles Schwab Challenge (Colonial, Fort Worth, Texas)

Field Update:

Vijay Singh (WD) / Wyndham Clark (in)

K.H. Lee wins at Byron Nelson Classic

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – In the final round, K.H. Lee birdied four of first six holes and 71st and 72nd holes to claim his first PGA Tour victory. Lee became the second consecutive Korean-born player to win the AT&T Byron Nelson joining Sung Kang in 2019. The 2020 event was cancelled due to the coronavirus global pandemic.

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The tournament’s 54-hole leader, Sam Burns (2nd place/-22), closed with a 2-under (70) in his bid to become the first player since Camilo Villegas in 2008 to have his first two Tour victories come in back-to-back starts. Burns won the Valspar Championship in his last start two weeks ago.

With the runner-up finish at TPC Craig Ranch, Burns moved to No. 5 in the FedExCup points standings.

Patton Kizzire (T-3/-21) posted the low round of the day with a 9-under (63), resulting in his best finish on Tour since winning the 2018 Sony Open in Hawaii.

Please see PGA Tour Brunch for full tournament wrap-up and subscribe for season-long e-News.