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PGA Tour

Japan’s Matsuyama Wins His First Major and It’s Historic at The Masters

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AUGUSTA – Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters Tournament to become the first male pro tour major championship winner from Japan. Matsuyama claimed his first major championship title and sixth win overall on the PGA Tour. He became just the eighth champion (nine instances) with an over-par final-round score.

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Special temporary member/PGA Tour rookie Will Zalatoris finished a career-best runner-up and has six Top 10s and 11 Top 25 finishes in 15 starts this season.

Jordan Spieth, the first player in Masters history to birdie No. 10 all four rounds, finished inside the top three for the fifth time in eight appearances at the Masters.

Xander Schauffele’s triple bogey on No. 16 was his first in 1,042 holes in a major championship. Despite the major set-back, he registered his second Top 3 finish at the Masters.

With a bogey-free 6-under (66), (the second bogey-free round of the week), Jon Rahm picked up his fourth consecutive Top 10 finish at the Masters (4/2018, T9/2019, T7/2020, T5/2021). Rahm now has 15 consecutive par-or-better rounds at the Masters.

Final Leaderboard from the 2021 Masters

Hideki Matsuyama 69-71-65-73—278 (-10)

Will Zalatoris 70-68-71-70—279 (-9)

Jordan Spieth 71-68-72-70—281 (-7)

Xander Schauffele 72-69-68-72—281 (-7)

Jon Rahm 72-72-72-66—282 (-6)

Marc Leishman 72-67-70-73—282 (-6)

 

Rose Holds Slim Lead After 36 Holes at The Masters

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PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the Weekend at The Masters

By TERRY LYONS

AUGUSTA – England’s Justin Rose will attempt to become the first wire-to-wire winner at the Masters since Jordan Spieth (2015). Rose followed up his opening round (65) with a hard-fought par (72) on Friday. Rose has nine birdies on the back nine through two rounds, tied for the most at the Masters in the last 30 years.

Will Zalatoris birdied his final three holes for a 4-under (68), which moved him within one stroke of Rose, the 36-hole leader. Zalatoris is seeking to become the first player to win in his debut Masters appearance since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979.

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Jordan Spieth (T-4) at five under (-5) leads the field with 30 greens hit in regulation, his most through two rounds at the Masters, including his 2015 tournament when he won the Green Jacket.

Bryson DeChambeau (T-17) followed his first round (76) with a 5-under (67) for a nine-stroke turnaround – his largest in a major championship between rounds one and two.

Brian Harman (T-2) at six under (138) is the only player in the field to shoot sub-70s with 69-69.

Matthew Wolff shot 76-79 (155) but was DQ’d. The Statement from Masters Tournament HQ: Following his second round, Matthew Wolff returned a scorecard with a hole score lower than he actually made on hole 17. He was subsequently disqualified under Rule 3.3b(3).

Early tournament leader Hudson Swafford at (-2 after four holes), MTC with 73-83 (156).

Defending Masters champion Dustin Johnson missed the cut after shooting 74-75. Other “big names” to MTC included: Georgia native Matt Kuchar, past Masters champion Sergio Garcia, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Jason Day, and Sungjae Im.

Masters Leaderboard After Second Round:

Justin Rose 65-72—137 (-7)

Will Zalatoris 70-68—138 (-6)

Brian Harman 69-69—138 (-6)

Marc Leishman 72-67—139 (-5)

Jordan Spieth 71-68—139 (-5)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

36-hole cut: 54 professionals at 3-over (147) from a field of 85 professionals and three amateurs. An amateur failed to advance to the weekend for the first time at the Masters since 2015.

For complete access to PGA Tour Brunch (sent to your inbox six days a week), click HERE

Justin Rose Shot a 65 to Take Opening Round Lead at The Masters

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Rose Fires Six Under on Back 9

By TERRY LYONS

England’s Justin Rose burst onto the professional golf scene as an 18-year old with a (T-4) and low amateur honors at the 1998 Open Championship. He’s won the 2013 U.S. Open and the gold medal at the 2016 Olympic Games. At the Masters, he’s had a (T-2 in 2015) and an outright runner-up at the 2017 event. In Thursday’s opening round of the 2021 Masters, he shot a blazing 7-under (65), including his six under, six birdies on the Back Nine.

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Rose tied Jack Nicklaus for the most first-round leads/co-leads in Masters Tournament history. (4 times).

Rose’s round began with a bogey on the Par 4 first and one other bogey on the Par 4 seventh hole, and then the magic began. Rose carded an eagle on the Par 5 eighth and proceeded to birdie seven of the next 10 holes to finish two off the Masters/Augusta National course record of (63) – shared by Nick Price (‘86) and Greg Norman (‘96).

Rose played his first 13 Masters without missing a cut, but that streak ended in 2019. Last November he finished (T-23) and was listed as a 70-1 shot by William Hill to win this event.

Brian Harman (USA) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama shot impressive opening round three-under (69) and stand four off the lead. Four professionals shot two-under (70) and are (T-4) after 18 holes.

Tournament favorite, Dustin Johnson shot a two-over (74) and other favorites were, at least five off the leader. Patrick Reed fared best (two-under, 70); Jordan Spieth, the winner at last week’s Valero Texas Open and the 2015 Masters champion, shot one-under (71). Spain’s Jon Rahm shot even par (72) and is T-13th after 18.

Justin Thomas is among 10 players (T-20th) after his +1, (73).

Johnson is among 22 players (T-30th) and is joined by former Masters champions Bernard Langer (1985, ‘93), Charl Schwartzel (2011), Bubba Watson (2012, ‘14), and Adam Scott (2013). Some of the PGA Tour’s highly-ranked players like Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick are also (T-30).

Masters Leaderboard After Opening Round:

Justin Rose 65 (-7)

Brian Harman 69 (-3)

Hideki Matsuyama 69 (-3)

Will Zalatoris 70 (-2)

Webb Simpson 70 (-2)

Christiaan Bezuidenhout 70 (-2)

Patrick Reed 70 (-2)

PGA Tour: First Look at The Masters

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Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch Coverage of the 2021 Masters

AUGUSTA – The Masters returns to its customary April slot in the PGA Tour schedule after the 2020 rendition was moved to and successfully completed without patrons in November. Dustin Johnson is the defending champion, albeit for a short six months, and hosted his champions Dinner last night.

Tiger Woods was unable to attend the dinner and, obviously, will not play in the tournament, as he recovers from injury and surgery after his dangerous auto accident on February 23rd. Los Angeles authorities released some details of the accident report today, noting Woods’ vehicle was traveling north of 80 mph when the crash occurred.

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The tournament’s wonderful tradition of honoring its past continues Thursday with the 7:45am EDT ceremonial First Tee shots will feature Lee Elder, GaryPlayer and Jack Nicklaus.

The tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 7:45am (EDT) through 2:00pm (EDT). (For R-2 on Friday, Tee times range from 8am EDT) to 2:00pm EDT0 (link)

Weather: Thursday weather calls for mostly cloudy skies, 74-degrees with 11 mph winds and a 20% chance of rain. Friday forecast is calling for scattered thundershowers (aren’t they always)? Temperature at 72% with 57% humidity and a 40% chance of rain. Forecast calls for showers and thunderstorms on the weekend, too.

PGATourBrunch will be posting by 8am EDT from Thursday through Sunday.

Next Week: The RBC Heritage from Hilton Head

Field Updates:

None

The Field (link)

Power Rankings (PGATourCom)

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: The Masters

COURSE: Augusta National GC, Augusta, Georgia

ARCHITECTS: Allister Mackenzie and Bobby Jones, Jr.

YARDS/PAR: 7,472 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $11,500,000/$2,100,000

DEFENDING Champion (November 2020) – Dustin Johnson – (Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST MASTERS CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner Share: 3,375/600

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup #TheMasters

OFFICIAL SITE: (MastersCom)

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, April 8 and Friday, April 9: 3:00pm to 7:30pm (EDT) on ESPN. Saturday, April 10 – Exclusive TV coverage 3:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on CBS. Sunday, April 11 – Exclusive TV coverage from 2:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT).

STREAMING: Masters Live will offer streaming coverage of the tournament Thursday (7:45am to 7:30pm (EDT) and Friday from 8:30am to 7:30pm (EDT). Saturday and Sunday streaming coverage will be from 10:15am to 7:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Special Masters Radio coverage on Thursday – Friday – 2:00pm to 8:00pm (EDT); then Saturday and Sunday, 2:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Masters Coverage via PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

How to Watch: (PGATourCom)

Odds & Predictions:

A L👀K at the O👀S and A PREDICTION OR TWO:

Masters Odds (via William Hill)

Dustin Johnson 9-1
Jordan Spieth 10-1
Justin Thomas 10-1
Bryson DeChambeau 11-1
Jon Rahm 12-1
Rory McIlroy 14-1
Xander Schauffele 22-1
Patrick Cantlay 22-1
Brooks Koepka 25-1
Patrick Reed 28-1
Collin Morikawa 30-1
Lee Westwood 30-1
Tony Finau 33-1
Daniel Berger 33-1
Viktor Hovland 33-1
Webb Simpson 35-1
Hideki Matsuyama 35-1
Cameron Smith 35-1
Sung-Jae Im 35-1
Scottie Scheffler 35-1
Tyrrell Hatton 35-1
Paul Casey 40-1
Tommy Fleetwood 45-1
Matthew Fitzpatrick 45-1
Jason Day 45-1
Sergio Garcia 45-1
Joaquin Niemann 50-1
Bubba Watson 50-1
Adam Scott 66-1
Will Zalatoris 66-1
Louis Oosthuizen 66-1
Justin Rose 70-1
Abraham Ancer 70-1
Harris English 80-1
Corey Conners 80-1
Billy Horschel 80-1
Max Homa 80-1
Jason Kokrak 80-1
Matt Kuchar 80-1
Matt Wallace 80-1
Francesco Molinari 90-1
Matthew Wolff 90-1
Victor Perez 90-1
Shane Lowry 90-1
Brian Harman 90-1
Marc Leishman 100-1
Phil Mickelson 100-1
Christiaan Bezuidenhout 100-1
Si-Woo Kim 100-1
Ryan Palmer 100-1
Matt Jones 125-1
Cameron Champ 125-1
Dylan Frittelli 125-1
Ian Poulter 125-1
Kevin Kisner 125-1
Danny Willett 125-1
Carlos Ortiz 125-1
Robert Macintyre 125-1
Gary Woodland 125-1
Zach Johnson 150-1
Sebastian Munoz 150-1
Kevin Na 150-1
Bernd Wiesberger 200-1
Brendon Todd 200-1
Lanto Griffin 200-1
Mackenzie Hughes 200-1
Charl Schwartzel 250-1
C.T. Pan 250-1
Martin Laird 250-1
Michael Thompson 250-1
Henrik Stenson 250-1
Brian Gay 300-1
Hudson Swafford 400-1
Jimmy Walker 400-1
Stewart Cink 400-1
Bernhard Langer 500-1
Robert Streb 500-1
Jim Herman 500-1
Ty Strafaci 750-1
Fred Couples 750-1
Joe Long 1000-1
Charles Osborne 1000-1
Mike Weir 1000-1
Vijay Singh 1000-1
Jose Maria Olazabal 1500-1
Sandy Lyle 2500-1
Larry Mize 2500-1
Ian Woosnam 4000-1

Jordan Spieth Wins Valero Texas Open

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Spieth Back in Winners’ Circle After 3-Year Drought

SAN ANTONIO – Jordan Spieth earned his 12th PGA Tour title in his 83rd start since winning The 2017 Open Championship, a span of 1,351 days. Spieth joined a list of five players in the last 40 years who reached 12 wins before turning 28 years old: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Justin Thomas

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Spieth became the 92nd player in PGA Tour history to reach 12 wins and moved into a tie for 82nd on the all-time wins list while he improved to 10-for-19 in his PGA TOUR career to win after holding a 54-hole lead/co-lead.

Charley Hoffman finished solo-second for the second consecutive time at the Valero Texas Open, as he finished runner-up to Corey Conners in 2019. Since 2006, Hoffman leads all players at the Valero Texas Open in Top-fives (5), Top-10s (7), Top-25s (12), Cuts Made (15) and score to par (-105).

With a solo-third, Matt Wallace (-14) recorded his career-best result on the PGA TOUR (previous: T3/2019 PGA Championship)

Rickie Fowler (T-17) needed a win to qualify for the Masters Tournamentand will miss a major championship for the first time since the 2010 U.S. Open.

Final Leaderboard at Valero Texas Open 2021:

Jordan Spieth 67-70-67-66—270 (-18)

Charley Hoffman 75-66-65-66—272 (-16)

Matt Wallace 69-68-67-70—274 (-14)

Lucas Glover 73-67-70-66—276 (-12)

Anirban Lahiri 71-69-69-69—278 (-10)

PGA Tour: Spieth, Wallace Co-Leaders at Final Round of Valero Texas Open

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Note: Cloudy skies and a high of 71-degrees combined with winds from the E/SE at 10-20 mph yesterday and due to thunderstorms, the start to the third round was delayed 2 hours, 30 minutes and began at 12:13pm (local).

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SAN ANTONIO – After the two and a half hour weather delay, 11-time PGA Tour winner Jordan Spieth and four-time European Tour winner Matt Wallace got down to business and now share the 54-hole lead at 12-under.

Spieth, making his 83rd start since his last win at The Open Championship in 2017, is 9-for-18 in his career to date when he has the 54-hole lead/co-lead. He holds at least a share of the 54-hole lead for the third time this season, the most of any player.

Wallace holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the first time in his PGA Tour career and is in search of his first Tour victory.

Since 2006, Charley Hoffman leads all players at the Valero Texas Open in Top-fives (4), Top-10s (6), Top-25s (11), cuts made (15) and score to par (-99). Hoffman is in lone third place after three rounds.

A purse of $7,700,000 is on the line today with $1,386,000 and 500 FedEx points going to the winner.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for this week’s Masters Tournament.

Third Round Leaderboard:

Matt Wallace 69-68-67—204 (-12)

Jordan Spieth 67-70-67—204 (-12)

Charley Hoffman 75-66-65—206 (-10)

Cameron Tringale 66-69-73—208 (-8)

Anirban Lahiri 71-69-69—209 (-7)

Moving Day at Valero Texas Open

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SAN ANTONIO – Cameron Tringale tied his career-long birdie streak and holds two-stroke lead over Jordan Spieth and Mike Wallace after 36 holes. Triangle made five consecutive birdies (Nos. 13-17), to tie the longest birdie streak of his PGA Tour career (fourth instance; most recent: R-4/2020 The RSM Classic).

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Tringale is making his 297th start on the Tour since the start of the 2009 season, the most of any player without a win in that span.

Jordan Spieth (T-2) is in the top 10 after 36 holes for the fifth time in his last six stroke-play events on the PGA Tour.

Kevin Stadler (T-4) made the cut for the second time in his last 24 starts on Tour and is striving for his first Top-10 since the 2014 Masters Tournament.

Rickie Fowler’s bogey-free (68) was his first bogey-free score in his last 86 rounds.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament.

First Round Leaderboard:

Cameron Tringale 66-69—135 (-9)

Matt Wallace 69-68—137 (-7)

Jordan Spieth 67-70—137 (-7)

Kevin Stadler 69-70—139 (-5)

Kyle Stanley 71-68—139 (-5)

Erik van Rooyen 71-68—139 (-5)

Brandt Snedeker 72-67—139 (-5)

78 players at 2-over (146) from a field of 141 professionals and three amateurs

PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open Round-Up

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Valero Texas Open Opening Round Review & Notebook:

SAN ANTONIO – Camilo Villegas opened with and impressive (64) and holds two-stroke lead. This round marked his second 18-hole lead/co-lead of the season (T-6/The RSM Classic). Villegas holed out for birdie from 38 feet, 3 inches on his last hole of the round (No. 9)

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Jordan Spieth recorded a 5-under (67), his lowest score in 19 rounds at the Valero Texas Open. Spieth has carded under-par scores in the first round of each of his last seven stroke-play events.

Seung-Yul Noh (T-3) entered the week with 18 starts remaining on his Major Medical Extension and must earn 297 FedExCup points.

Cameron Tringale (T-2) at (-6) leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (5.126).

Phil Mickelson recorded a 10 at No. 18, tying the second-highest score on a hole of his PGA Tour career.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament.

First Round Leaderboard:

Camilo Villegas 64 (-8)

Sung Kang 66 (-6)

Cameron Tringale 66 (-6)

Jordan Spieth 67 (-5)

Seung-Yul Noh 67 (-5)

Hideki Matsuyama 67 (-5)

PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open Tee-Off

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Valero Texas Open Preview and Notebook:

SAN ANTONIO – (PGA Tour Brunch) – The Valero Texas Open features four of the Top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 9 Tony Finau and eight of the Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, also led by Finau (No. 13).

The Valero Texas Open is the 27th of 50 events in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season.

Eight past champions are playing this week, including: Zach Johnson (2008, 2009), Brendan Steele (2011), Martin Laird (2013), Jimmy Walker (2015), Charley Hoffman (2016), Kevin Chappell (2017), Andrew Landry (2018) and Corey Conners (2019).

Scottie Scheffler is coming off a runner-up finish in last week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, his best career finish on the Tour. He lost, 2 and 1 to Billy Horschel in the championship match. Finau-Jordan Spieth-Scheffler are the favorites this weekend. Both Spieth and Scheffler hail from Dallas, Texas.

Spieth, a former University of Texas player, seeks a 12th career PGA Tour title but first since The Open Championship in 2017.

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament. The Texas Open is being contested the week before the Masters for only the third time in the last nine years (2013, 2019, 2021).

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Valero Texas Open: 4/1-4/4

COURSE: TPC San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye and Greg Norman

YARDS/PAR: 7,492 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,700,000/$1,386,000

DEFENDING Champion (2019) Corey Conners – (Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

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

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup #ValeroTexasOpen

TV COVERAGE: Today, April 1 and Friday, April 2: 4:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, April 3 – Early coverage on Golf Channel from 1:00pm to 3:30pm and the switch to NBC for 3:30pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Saturday and then Sunday, April 4 Golf Channel coverage from 1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT then the switch to NBC for 2:30pm to 6:00pm EDT.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups today and Friday from 8:15am to 7:00pm (EDT). Twitter will offer free coverage both days from 8:15am (EDT) to 9:30am.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Today – Friday – 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT); then Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

PGA Tour: Valero Texas Open First Look

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SAN ANTONIO  – (A Sneak Peek from PGA Tour Brunch) –  Due to COVID-19, the Valero Texas Open was not held in 2020 so 2019 winner Corey Conners returns as defending champion. In 2019, Conners became the first Monday Qualifier to win on Tour since 2010.

After top-five finishes in three of last five stroke-play events, Jordan Spieth will make his sixth Valero Texas Open start.

Eight past champions are playing this week, including: Zach Johnson (2008, 2009), Brendan Steele (2011), Martin Laird (2013), Jimmy Walker (2015), Charley Hoffman (2016), Kevin Chappell (2017), Andrew Landry (2018) and Corey Conners (2019).

A win at the Valero Texas Open is the final opportunity to earn a spot for next week’s Masters Tournament. The Texas Open is being contested the week before the Masters for only the third time in the last nine years (2013, 2019, 2021).

Weather: Thursday weather calls for sunny skies, 57-degrees with 13 mph winds. Friday forecast is partly cloudy and 61 degrees. A ZERO chance of rain both days.

Field Updates:

Jerry Kelly OUT / Rhein Gibson IN (Sean O’Hair replaces Kelly in Pro-Am)

Dustin Johnson OUT / Ryan Brehm IN (John Huh replaces Johnson in Pro-Am)

THIS WEEK on the PGA TOUR: Valero Texas Open: 4/1-4/4

COURSE: TPC San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye and Greg Norman

YARDS/PAR: 7,492 yards/Par 72

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,700,000/$1,386,000

DEFENDING Champion (2019) Corey Conners – (Leaderboard link)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS of Event: (link)

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

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup #ValeroTexasOpen

TV COVERAGE: Thursday, April 1 and Friday, April 2: 4:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. Saturday, April 3 – Early coverage on Golf Channel from 1:00pm to 3:30pm and the switch to NBC for 3:30pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Saturday and then Sunday, April 4 Golf Channel coverage from 1:00pm to 2:30pm EDT then the switch to NBC for 2:30pm to 6:00pm EDT.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live will offer streaming coverage of Featured Groups on Thursday and Friday from 8:15am to 7:00pm (EDT). Twitter will offer free coverage both days from 8:15am (EDT) to 9:30am.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Thursday – Friday – 1:00pm to 7:00pm (EDT); then Saturday and Sunday, 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT)) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.