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PGA Championship

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)