By Christopher Powers
Folks, we’ve officially entered “hold onto your butts” territory at the 2020 PGA Championship.

As if the leader board through 36 holes wasn’t good enough, Dustin Johnson decided he wanted to take control of the tournament, setting up what could be DJ vs. Brooks Koepka, Part 1 million (at least that’s what it feels like). Can Johnson finally stare down his fellow bash bro on Sunday in San Francisco? We’re going to find out, which is the best part.

Here are our five takeaways from Day 3 at TPC Harding Park.

Dustin Johnson has to get it done on Sunday
There really isn’t much to break down here. Dustin Johnson should have, conservatively speaking, four major titles (I could make a very strong case for eight, by the way). And yet he’s still stuck on the one, albeit an incredibly impressive one at Oakmont after going through a world of major championship heartbreak in the years leading up to it. But for a player of his caliber—we are talking one of the 10 most talented players of all-time here—one is not going to cut it. Frankly, two won’t either, but two is a hell of a lot better than one (just ask Johnny Miller, John Daly, Zach Johnson, etc.). Not to mention, a second at 36 years old, the beginning of his “second prime” could awaken a beast. He’s already a Hall-of-Famer due to his PGA Tour win total (21 in case you forgot), but the last thing you want to be is a “man, great player, but he only had one major” guy. He’s currently this generation’s Greg Norman—an all-time great talent without the majors to match. He can begin to change that narrative by closing this thing out on Sunday.

Let’s be clear: In no way am I suggesting this is a layup for Johnson. Sunday is going to be a battle. But he faced a pretty similar situation at perhaps the toughest golf course on the planet at the 2016 U.S. Open, so it’s not like he’s not used to it. Two or three under could get the job done. That doesn’t seem like so much to ask for the former World No. 1.

RELATED: 13 tweets that told the story of Day 3 at TPC Harding Park

Harry How

On second thought …

Just when you thought Brooks Koepka exited the picture, he quickly reminded everyone that Brooks Koepka does not simply “exit the picture” in a major championship. After a bogey-bogey-bogey stretch beginning at the 13th hole, Koepka responded by making birdie at the 16th and then hitting his approach to five feet on 18 and cashing in on one last birdie to post 69, putting him at seven under and just two off Johnson’s lead. He’s not in the final or penultimate pairing, but he will be in the third-to-last off, and it feels like there is almost zero doubt he will shoot a number that puts him in the lead in the clubhouse, where he’ll wait to see how it all shakes out. Does this man sound concerned to you?

What can Brooks Koepka bring into the Final Round?
The experience of winning major championships. pic.twitter.com/alsJdMGd94

— GOLFonCBS (@GOLFonCBS) August 9, 2020

The joy he got out of delivering that “DJ has only won one” line is absolutely terrifying. That said, Johnson was the only one he even acknowledged on the leader board, which tells you that in Koepka’s mind, that’s the only guy he’s playing against. Isn’t that the mentality he’s weaponised over the last few years? You beat DJ, you’re doing OK for yourself. Seems like he is sticking to that gameplan.

Darren Carroll/PGA of America

Some other decent names on the board

Koepka may have scoffed at them, but there are some pretty good players at the top of this leader board. I have a take that we’ll save for later about just this.

Anyway, Scottie Scheffler is immensely talented, as are Cameron Champ and Collin Morikawa. The thing working against this group, of course, is (GASP) experience. You may laugh at it, but there is definitely something to the “he hasn’t been there before” narrative. All three of these guys have contended and/or won PGA Tour events, but a major is different. Between them, this trio has a combined six major starts, with one top 30 (it was Scheffler finishing T-27 and low am at the 2017 U.S. Open). A young rising star breaking through on such a massive stage would be a sexy story, but Sunday is a stage none of them have ever been on before, fans or no fans. That’s just a fact.

As for the rest of the pack, there are a number of guys looking for major No. 1 (Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Paul Casey, Daniel Berger, Tommy Fleetwood) and some looking for No. 2 (Jason Day, Justin Rose). Hard to complain with what we’ve been treated to so far this week, and what we’re going to be treated to on Sunday.

RELATED: Dustin Johnson lost his yardage book before the third round, still shot 65

Is the PGA underrated among the majors?
Yes, this is recency bias like you read about. Guilty as charged. But think about what this tournament has given us since 2014: the ending in the dark at Valhalla, which Rory McIlroy won, was out of control, in 2015 we got peak Day vs. peak Spieth, in 2016 … moving on … in 2017 Justin Thomas put on a show, in 2018 Brooks edged out Tiger in front of massive St. Louis crowds, last year it was Koepka-DJ at Bethpage Black. This year, we may get Koepka-DJ all over again at TPC Harding Park, which has been an A+ major championship venue. Meanwhile, the U.S. Open feeds us nothing but controversy, rules issues and poor course setup. And we’re still calling the PGA the yellow Starburst? Doesn’t seem right.

Tom Pennington

Let’s all root for Haotong Li on Sunday
No cheering in the press box, yes, but Haotong Li is such a great character and we can only hope he becomes the force it looks like he could become in the coming years. After a three-over 73, he won’t be shocking the world with a major this week, but is there any doubt he’s the leading candidate to become his country’s first male major champion? He battled hard on Saturday, and the same should be expected from him on Sunday. Come to think of it, he’s probably on the range right now preparing. Keep grinding Haotong, your time will come.

The post It’s time for DJ to get it done and four other takeaways from Day 3 at TPC Harding Park appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
SAN FRANCISCO — Everyone has a chance. Even the people who don’t have a chance, kind of have a chance.

Such is the reality at this peculiarly quiet PGA Championship. Still, it’s a major championship all the same, and the stage is set for a breakneck final round of action in the Bay Area. Seventeen players will go to sleep within four shots of Dustin Johnson’s lead. There are major champions and newcomers, 40-somethings and barely legal drinkers, bombers and … well, it’s mostly all bombers.

In this most depressing year, few things are as precious as a dose of good ol’ fashioned optimism. So one reason why each of those 17 players is capable of hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy come Sunday evening. We’ll start from the bottom.

MATTHEW WOLFF (-5)

He’s driving it like a stallion, and that’s an absolute prerequisite to shooting a low one on Sunday. Wolff—who despite being on our collective radar for what feels like years is playing in his first-ever major—ranks second in the field in strokes gained/ off the tee. He’s just four back despite being 67th in strokes gained/putting. And when you talk to this kid, one thing is unmistakably clear: There is no shortage of bravado.

Doug Pensinger
Xander Schauffle has four top-10 finishes in his last seven major starts.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE (-5)

He lives on the first page of major leader boards. This is nothing new for the 26-year-old. He has four finishes of T-6 or better in his last seven major starts. His game holds up in the biggest events, on the hardest courses, against the best competition. He’s flown completely under the radar all week, but you get the sense he prefers it that way. It’d be the opposite of surprising to see him make a few early birdies and get himself right in the mix.

SI WOO KIM (-5)

He’s pulled off a wild upset before. A 21-year-old Kim won the 2017 Players Championship out of absolutely nowhere, becoming the youngest-ever champion of that event. Now ranked No. 133 in the world, this would be an even bigger surprise. But hey, it’s happened before.

JOEL DAHMEN (-5)

He leads the field in proximity on approaches. The easiest way to make birdies in the final round of a major—or any round of any tournament—is to hit it close. You don’t want to rely on holing 20-footers when you’re trying to make a charge. Clearly, Dahmen’s iron game is dialed in.

HAOTONG LI (-5)

The universe is random? It doesn’t look great for Li, who fought a gnarly push-fade on Saturday and played his last six holes in four over par. He doesn’t have a top 10 on any major tour since April 2019, and he beat just three players in a no-cut event last year. The odds say he’s more likely to finish outside the top 30 than win. But hey, 2020 has been weird …

Jamie Squire
Tony Finau is trying to win second PGA Tour event and first major.

TONY FINAU (-6)

It’s going to happen at some point. The it in that sentence, of course, refers to Tony Finau’s second PGA Tour win, as he’s still stuck on just that 2016 Puerto Rico Open. The law of averages says Finau is disgustingly overdue—he has 30 top 10s since his last victory. It’s going to happen soon, so why not make it a major?

JASON DAY (-6)

He’s at peace with himself. Day made a significant change recently by parting with Collin Swatton, his longtime coach [and fiormer caddie] who he’d worked with for over 20 years. That was the result of some serious soul searching for Day, who dropped outside the top 60 in the world in July before three straight top 10s. In his own words: “I finally had enough of feeling sorry for myself, and it’s easy to do that in this game because it is so mentally tough. You can start blaming everything else but yourself. Sometimes, you’ve got to pull your pants up and just move on.” I’m sold.

Darren Carroll/PGA of America
Daniel Berger has been among the top players after the coronavirus break.

DANIEL BERGER (-6)

He is one confident kid, and few have played better since the restart. Berger’s reputation on tour is one of extreme assuredness—of himself and of his game. He believes he’s one of the best players in the world, that he’s destined for multiple major championships. His game might not look pretty, but he trusts it, and few manage their way around a course better. Plus, his post-COVID results speak for themselves: WIN, T-3, MC, T-2. Yeah, he’s ready.

RELATED: Tiger Woods struggles again with his putting in third round.

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU (-6)

It doesn’t even feel like he’s playing well, and he’s three back going into Sunday of a major. He’s only hit 20 of 42 fairways this week—if he hits, say, nine on Sunday are you betting against him? So, so, so much has been written about Bryson 2.0. The beef-up, the rules imbroglios, the strange interviews. None of this is new information. He’s been the story in professional golf for the past two months, and it would be only fitting for him to hoist the first major trophy of the post-COVID era.

TOMMY FLEETWOOD (-6)

He has momentum. On Saturday, Fleetwood was two-over through 15 holes with zero birdies on the round. He then birdied 16 and 18 to salvage an even-par 70 and keep him squarely in the mix. Make no mistake: not all even-par rounds are created equal. He’ll feel much better about his chances having made two late birdies than had it been two late bogeys.

JUSTIN ROSE (-6)

He’s found a way to hang around despite poor ball striking, and historically, he’s a great ball striker. This feels a lot like last year’s U.S. Open, where Rose manufactured a T-3 despite fighting his swing all week. Rose is fighting a two-way miss with the driver—he’s lost strokes to the field for the week—seems to always be scrambling and yet enters Sunday with a chance. Who knows? Maybe he finds something on the range in the morning, and stays putting and chipping as well as he has already.

PAUL CASEY (-7)

If not now, when? Casey has had a wonderful career, winning 14 tournaments around the world and three in America. But as his greying hair and sage-like aura suggest, he’s running out of time to win the big one. At 43 years old, you wonder if he’ll ever get a better chance to win his first major championship.

BROOKS KOEPKA (-7)

Uh … have you watched a major championship in the last two years? Koepka feasts on these big events with a Bryson-level appetite. In his last seven majors, he has three wins, two runner-ups and a T-4. No other player will be as confident as he on Sunday. Just when you thought he was fading from contention with three straight bogeys on the back nine on Saturday, he grit his teeth and birdied two of his last three to get within two. He has a Tiger-like ability to summon birdies when he most needs them. Hell, you could argue he’s the favourite now. It sounds preposterous, but that’s exactly what he’s been in the majors. Preposterous.

Christian Petersen/PGA of Americ
Collin Morikawa has a familiarity with Harding Park, having played practice rounds there while attending Cal.

COLLIN MORIKAWA (-7)

He exudes a calmness that should take longer than just a year on tour to develop. It makes sense, though, when you consider a few things. First, the year he’s had—the 23-year-old still missed just one cut in his career, has two victories and is already world No. 12. Second, where he is. Morikawa, who grew up down the coast near Los Angeles, played his college ball at Cal and frequently played TPC Harding Park in practice rounds. The final round will be his first taste of a major Sunday, and he thinks having no one around will play into his hands: “I think if there were fans, I’d feel a little bit more of that major, big crowds. But you know, what’s the difference between tomorrow? Tomorrow’s obviously 18 holes … I feel very comfortable.”

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (-8)

He’s the only player in the field with two rounds of 66 or better this week. And while the 24-year-old doesn’t have a PGA Tour victory yet, this is a guy who has excelled at every level—he won the 2013 U.S. Junior, was freshman of the year at Texas, played on the 2017 Walker Cup team and was the Korn Ferry Tour player of the year last year. Stud.

CAMERON CHAMP (-8)

When he’s on, he’s on. Champ only has four top 10s in his PGA Tour career, but two of those are victories. Simply put, his good weeks are often good enough for a trophy .Champ was sending balls roaring off his face at over 190 miles per hour before it was cool, and his speed comes remarkably easy. He leads the field in strokes gained off the tee and driving distance, and he possesses a top-level gear that only a handful of guys do. Should he have another great day off the tee, he’s going to have plenty of birdie looks.

Sean M. Haffey
Dustin Johnson is trying to get to worldwide wins and two major titles.

DUSTIN JOHNSON (-9)

He’s closed out 24 tournaments before. Yes, yes, we know that only one of those has been a major. But unless he’s an all-time actor, DJ doesn’t seem like a guy plagued by past scar tissue. He’s too chill, too comfortable, too sure of himself. At 36 years old, he’s putting better than he has maybe ever in his career, and he knows what it takes to win big golf tournaments. The knock on DJ— the only knock on DJ, who is a no-doubt Hall of Famer—is that he should have more majors. The funny thing about narratives in golf is that one round can shatter them. With a victory tomorrow, DJ can put to bed any talk that he’s an “underachiever,” and further cash in on his generational talent.

The post Why all 17 players within 4 shots of the lead can win the Wanamaker Trophy appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

A tournament like this—one of golf’s big four, in a major city, with all the game’s biggest stars playing—would normally draw tens of thousands of fans per day. But normal is a distant concept. Grandstands and roars have been replaced by hand sanitiser and face masks.

This is golf in the age of COVID. And here are some images that tell the story.

RELATED: Masters likely to be played without fans

The entrance to the grounds from the media parking lot, located just off Lake Merced Boulevard in the Sunset Circle Lot. All security guards wear masks and gloves at all times. California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a mandate on June 18 requiring people to wear a mask while in public.

All players, caddies, coaches and trainers were tested for COVID-19 before being allowed to enter the grounds. Media were not tested, but were subjected to temperature checks and a COVID-19 questionnaire every day upon entry. Here, one the security guards—wearing a face-covering, eye shield and gloves—prepares to give a temperature check.

Not your average locker room. This tent, which is more than 30,000 square feet, was supposed to be the main merchandise pavilion but was converted into a makeshift, socially distant locker room. It could easily double as a place to take a standardized school exam.

The driving range during Wednesday’s practice round. Under normal circumstances, the range is a popular spot for fans to get a close look at a number of the world’s best honing their craft. Coaches and trainers were allowed inside the ropes on the range, but must stay outside the ropes on the actual golf course.

There were no fans allowed on site, but that does not mean there were not people following the supergroup of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. Here, Woods hits his first tee shot of the championship off the 10th tee in front of 60-or-so volunteers, writers, photographers, cameramen and tournament officials.

The par-4 16th hole during Thursday’s opening round, with not a soul in sight. In the distance, the PGA Tour’s digital leader board is visible, with Lake Merced in the distance behind it. While these leader boards are mainly intended for fans, players frequently look at them to gain information on how they’re faring and what the leaders are doing.

2020: When even the porta-potties are socially distant.

Dispensers like this one are positioned adjacent to every single tee box, offering players and caddies an opportunity to sanitize before and after grabbing refreshments.

The 18th green during Wednesday’s practice round. Under normal circumstances, the green would be framed by a massive grandstand, allowing fans an up-close-and-personal look at the tournament’s finish.

The socially distant media centre. This tent was initially set to function as the locker room, but there was not enough room to accommodate all 156 players in a responsible way. There were only 50 credentialed media on site this week—half press, half photographers—down from more than 1,000 last year at Bethpage Black.

The post Inside a major championship bubble appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E Michael Johnson
When Tiger Woods changed putters at the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park the Internet went berserk. Now, certainly anytime Woods, well, breathes, the web goes crazy, but in Woods’ case that meant the benching of his Scotty Cameron by Titleist putter with which he had won 14 of his 15 majors.

Of course, as he almost always does for an equipment change, Woods had a rationale for it, citing a longer length that put less stress on his back. “It’s difficult for me to bend over at times, and so practicing putting, I don’t spend the hours I used to,” Woods said after an opening-round 68. “[It] wasn’t unusual for me to spend four, five, six hours putting, per day. I certainly can’t log that with my back being fused. Most of the guys on the Champions Tour have gone to longer putters as they have gotten older, because it’s easier to bend over, or not bend over. So this putter is just a little bit longer and I’ve been able to spend a little bit more time putting.”

Fair enough. Woods also had a rationale for putting a Nike Method putter in play at the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews, citing the need for the ball to come off the face faster on the slow greens. That experiment lasted three rounds before Woods went back to his trusty Cameron for the final round.

PGA Tour pros are right there with the weekend hacker when it comes to fickleness with the flat stick. If these guys are good (and they are) then the old adage that “it’s a poor workman who blames his tools” doesn’t hold water when it comes to a players’ work on the greens. According to several tour reps, 10 to 20 percent of the field change putters on a weekly basis. In addition, they claim most tour players have at least five putters while some own more than 100.

The reasons for putter changing are varied. Some players prefer certain types of putters on particular types of grasses while others might have changed their stroke, necessitating a different type of putter with more toe hang or a higher moment of inertia. Others are merely looking for a change of scenery that might break them out of a slump. Or as Ken Green once famously said, “It was time for the club to die.”

RELATED: With opening 68 at PGA, Tiger posts lowest first round in a major in eight years

Debbie Crews, an LPGA member with a Ph.D. in psychology, once conducted a study of 10 women professionals, specifically targeting the newness effect. Crews found that brain activity went up in 26 of 32 different measures when one of her subjects was given a new putter to try. In short, the player’s brain got excited when given a new toy to play with.

That certainly worked for Nick Faldo in the 1989 Masters when he changed from a Bulls Eye to a TPA18 putter. More recently, Collin Morikawa flattened his putter 1.5 degrees on Monday of the workday Open.

“I have a long-neck putter in the TP Juno and it was weird because they flattened the putter but it got my hands more vertical and into the position I wanted them to be in,” Morikawa said. “The putter was sitting just slightly upright and I looked at some footage from Colonial and I noticed the toe was sitting up. We figured out a way to flatten it out and it just worked wonders.”

RELATED: Why Brooks Koepka decided to change driver ahead of the PGA

For Sung Kang at the 2017 Shell Houston Open, it was more like harassment from one of his friends. Kang broke the 36-hole scoring record after switching to a TaylorMade Spider Tour putter at the behest of a buddy, Sean Moline, “The last couple months he says, ‘You got to use this putter, this putter is going to work really good. If you want to succeed, you use that,’ ” said Kang, who eventually finished second.

Then there’s Jim Furyk in 2010. The week of the Deutsche Bank Championship, Furyk visited Joe & Leigh’s Discount Golf Pro Shop at Pine Oaks GC in South Easton, Mass., and walked out with a Yes! Golf Sophia putter—an 8802-style, heel-shafted blade with a nick on the top of it that was easy on Furyk’s eye. The price, $39 (a discount from the $69 listed price) was easy, too. The return on investment, however, would make Warren Buffet envious. Furyk used the putter to win the Tour Championship and in the process claim the FedEx Cup, a payout of more than $11 million total. It also led to Furyk’s selection as PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Of course, putter changes don’t always stick. At the 2016 Players Championship Hideki Matsuyama used a putter on Thursday and Friday that he had never used before prior to going back to what he referred to as his “Ace” putter. Matsuyama said he was looking to build some confidence and once he did, felt it was OK to go back to what he had been using.

So, have we seen the last of Woods’ trusty Cameron? Unlikely. “I’ve always messed with it,” said Woods. “I’ve had it since, what, 1999, 21 years. … But that putter is always travelling with me.”

The post When Tiger Woods changes putters, does it really matter? appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
Show me someone who saw this coming from Haotong Li, and we’ll show you a liar. Heck, even the man himself didn’t believe this was in the cards.

“I didn’t even think I could play like this this week,” Li said. “Especially, like you said, had no confidence.”

Li, a 25-year-old from China ranked No. 114 in the world, shot a bogey-free 65 on Friday at TPC Harding Park to post an eight-under 132 total, good for a three-shot lead when he signed his card. Out of nowhere, he has a chance to become the first Chinese man to win a major championship.

Li birdied five of his first 10 holes, then grinded out eight straight pars on the back nine to equal the lowest round of the week.

That’s a hugely impressive round under any circumstances. But Li’s recent results push it to hard-to-believe territory. He has played just two tournaments since the COVID-19 pandemic, missing the cut at last month’s Memorial and finishing T-75 in a 78-man field last week at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He has no top 10s on a major tour since April 2019.

So, naturally, he opened with 67 in the tougher afternoon conditions on Thursday in the Bay Area and followed it up with a fantastic round on Friday.

What, then accounts for the turnaround?

“Nothing, really. Just try to play golf.”

Golf fans will remember Li for his performance at the 2017 Open Championship, when he shot 63 on Sunday to finish solo third as a 21-year-old. A two-time winner on the European Tour, Li has been as high as No. 32 on the World Ranking and played his way onto last year’s Presidents Cup team, though he went 0-2 and was generally considered to be the weakest player on either squad.

Li is, however, not without humour. He said he was “doing nothing” during the COVID-19 break, then told ESPN he gained 15 pounds during it. “Just out here to have fun,” he said.

Earlier this year, in Dubai, he showed up to the tournament with “HAOTONG IS THE MOST HANDSOME MAN IN CHINA” stamped on his wedges.

The odds say the next two days won’t be a stress-free as his first two, when he made just one bogey of the first 36 holes. So, did that sparkling play alter his hopes for the week?

“I’ve got no expectation, actually.”

The post The least likely tour pro to be leading at TPC Harding Park is leading and has no clue how he’s doing it appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
In golf, a six-inch putt counts the exact same as a 350-yard tee shot. Rickie Fowler was reminded of this painful fact in the most excruciating way possible on Friday at the 2020 PGA Championship.

Coming off an opening-round three-over 73, Fowler needed to go low in his second round in order to play the weekend. He was doing just that through 15 holes at TPC Harding Park, having reached four under on the day, which put him at one under for the tournament. But at his 15th hole, the 472-yard par-4 sixth, something terrible happened.

Actually, terrible might be an understatement. What happened to Fowler was nothing short of catastrophic. After finding the green in three shots, he had just eight feet left to save his par. He missed, meaning he’d drop at least a shot, which would still leave him at even par and safely inside the current cut line. But as Fowler went to tap in his six-inch bogey try, he damn near whiffed, advancing it all of one inch:

Siiiiicccckkkkk @NoLayingUp @TronCarterNLU @BigRandyNLU @DJPie pic.twitter.com/GlmhqRhzNG

— Matthew Lawless (@Lawless2Lawless) August 7, 2020

The woman who audibly gasped in the background of this video is all of us. Oh dear, Rickie, our thoughts and prayers are with you. As it stands, there are 72 players at even par, though many of them still have to play this afternoon and could conceivably come back to the pack and cause the cut to drop to one over. Either way, Fowler has one of the longest afternoons of his life on tap.

Aaaand just as we typed that, he made another bogey at the par-3 eighth. Now, even if he makes birdie on his 18th, he still needs the cut to drop to one over. Nightmarish stuff.

The post Rickie Fowler might miss the cut because he missed this six-inch (!!) tap-in appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Joel Beall and Christopher Powers
Thursdays are usually quiet at major championships. The leaderboard is crowded, laying the groundwork for the weekend’s storylines without necessarily knowing which story to follow. While that part of the equation was true at TPC Harding Park—32 players are within three shots of the lead—Day 1 was hardly reserved.

There was Tiger Woods turning in his best opening round at a major in ages. Brooks Koepka continued to be a tour de force during golf’s big events, and provided a nice post-round shot afterwards. Bryson DeChambeau continues to break the game with his newfound power, in this case, literally, smashing his driver, while also showing that muscle plays at major venues.

And Brendon Todd continued one of the most shocking career revivals in the past two decades, turning in a five-under 65 in the day’s toughest conditions to take a share of the lead with Jason Day.

Round 2 at Harding Park promises calm weather and ideal scoring conditions, which should provide plenty of fireworks heading into the weekend. Golf Digest editors will be here with you throughout Friday’s coverage of the 2020 PGA Championship to keep you informed of what’s going down in San Fran.

(All times ET)

4:00 p.m.: Update as we all search for the remote and switch over from ESPN+ to ESPN. Tiger Woods is getting some practice shots in before his 4:58 tee time. Martin Kaymer and Jason Day, starting the day at 4-under and 5-under respectively, tee off after phenomenal Thursdays. And, Phil Mickelson hits a miraculous wedge shot on the seventh hole, but can’t finish as he bogeys after a misread on the putt.

3:49 p.m.: We’ve got a Tiger sighting. After shooting a 2-under yesterday—his best first-round score in a major in eight years—Woods has a chance to be in the mix heading into the weekend. Also, Tiger changing his shoes in a municipal course’s parking lot is very relatable. Hopefully he plays better than our motley crew. That shouldn’t be too tough.

3:24 p.m.: Seeing some really impressive fight on Friday from a few guys who looked destined to miss the cut. Brandt Snedeker, still in search of his first major, followed a first-round 72 with a Friday 66 to get to two under. Hideki Matsuyama, who was even par on Thursday, is two under through 15 holes of his second round. Bryson DeChambeau, playing with his C- game right now, is even through 15, two under for the week. Jon Rahm is one under with a few holes to play, as is Webb Simpson. Finally, we have Phil Mickelson down at even par. He’s two under on his round with four to play, and cannot afford to make a bogey, or else he’ll be teetering on the cut line for the rest of the afternoon.

3:04 p.m.: There it is, a five-under 65 for China’s Haotong Li, your solo leader. Enormous round, especially if the wind picks up this afternoon like it did on Thursday. Eight under should at the very least give him a share of the lead after 36 holes. If he ends up leading alone, he’d be the first Chinese golfer to lead a major after any round, according to CBS’ Ian Baker-Finch. Pretty crazy factoid, if true.

2:50 p.m.: Quick update on some of the other big boys out on the course: Patrick Reed, who has four top 10s in his last nine majors, including his Masters win, is quietly creeping up the board. Through 15 holes Reed is one under on his round, putting him at three under for the week, five back of Haotong Li’s lead. Speaking of Li, he’s one par away from posting a five-under 65 and getting into the house at eight under, which you’d have to think has a very good chance to be the leading score at day’s end

Two other intriguing names at three under? One is the bukly Bryson DeChambeau, and the other is the second-longest hitter to DeChambeau on tour, Cameron Champ, who is working on a four under round through 13 holes. No one really noticed it, but Champ collected three top 25s during the restart, and if not for a woeful approach game and a balky putter, he may have been in contention during those starts. Very, very sneaky player heading into the weekend, if he can finish this round off first.

2:30 p.m.: Here come the Englishmen! Paul Casey joins his fellow Brit Tommy Fleetwood at five under with a birdie at the par-4 first, his third of the day. Casey is bogey-free, and currently sits in a tie for second with Fleetwood, Brendon Todd and Jason Day, who will tee off at 4:03 p.m. ET.

2:23 p.m.: Shot of the tournament alert at the par-4 ninth, where Mark Hubbard just holed out from a fairway bunker 238 yards away from the hole. An 11 out of 10. Nuts. Can’t say enough good things about it. Actually, we can say more good things about it. The eagle 2 jumped Hubbard from one over to one under one the week, safely inside the cut line (for the time being). With the par-5 10th coming up, he may be able to get to two under and feel really safe about the weekend. So yeah, pretty good shot!

1:59 p.m.: Li makes his tough par putt to stay at eight under, while Brendon Todd cleans up five feet for par at the eighth to remain five under. Lanto Griffin gets in the mix with a birdie at the fifth, moving to five under. Things are happening.

1:50 p.m.: Despite the three lip-outs, Bryson makes the turn at two under after a tight approach and converted birdie putt at the 18th. DeChambeau is now four under for the tournament, with Li facing a tricky eight-footer for birdie at the 14th.

1:40 p.m.: Tommy Lad! Fleetwood makes the turn at four under, moving up 40 spots in the past two hours. Has never cracked the top 30 at a PGA Championship, but his ball striking is tailored for TPC Harding Park.

1:30 p.m.: Phil Mickelson has back to back birdies to get to even for the event. Right now that’s the projected cut, although it will likely go up given the wind is starting to buck its head. Ahead, DeChambeau makes a no-stress par on the par-3 17th. Fowler puts his tee shot at the 17th to a few feet, now three under through eight and even for the event.

Brendon Todd makes a mess of the par-4 sixth, dropping a shot and giving Li a three-shot advantage.

1:22 p.m.: Li has added two pars to his birdie at the 10th, staying at eight under through 12. The second best round of the day belongs to Tommy Fleetwood, who is three under through seven and three under for the event.

1:19 p.m.: Bryson makes a nifty shot from the sand and is able to convert a six-footer for birdie, his third bird of the day to get back to three under. In the group behind, Rahm, back at even, takes an aggressive line and it pays off, just a few yards short of the green for a simple up-and-down for birdie awaiting.

1:10 p.m.: At the 285-yard par-4 16th, Fowler gets his ball stuck up in the cypress trees. Meanwhile, Bryson—with a 3-wood—is well short and finds a greenside bunker. Still early but things could be moving south quickly for DeChambeau.

On the other side, Todd has a nice lag for a par at the par-4 fifth, and finds the fairway at the sixth. Todd is one under for the day, now two back of Li.

1:02 p.m.: Bryson blows his birdie putt at the par-4 15th well by the hole, and his comebacker lips out. That’s three through six holes for Bryson. Rickie Fowler, playing with DeChambeau, makes a tricky eight-footer for par and maintain a solid round (two under on the day).

12:57 p.m.: Haotong Li with a magnificent lag putt—if a putt can be classified as magnificent—from 80 feet at the par-5 10th. That’s a tap-in birdie to move him three clear of the field.

12:50 p.m.: It’s been pretty easy pickings in terms of weather. But it appears someone has just turned on the fan. Might not be a lot of red numbers left for the morning wave. Yet also spells trouble for the afternoon group.

12:40 p.m.: Haotong Li makes the turn in four under, seven under for the tournament. No one else is better than two under on the course.

Meanwhile, Todd has parred his first three holes to remain at five under, and Jon Rahm has moved to red figures with a birdie and a couple pars.

12:25 p.m.: After back-to-back lips, Bryson makes a birdie at the par-4 13th off a nice approach, getting him back to three under. That was big in getting Bryson level following those tough breaks.

Speaking of tough, J.T. Poston turned in a three-under 67 on Thursday but is three over through six holes Friday morning. Needs something, and something quick, to right the ship.

12:10 p.m.: DeChambeau makes bogey at 12 to drop back to two under. Paul Casey opens with a birdie, which the Englishman needed after closing yesterday’s round with a double.

Lanto Griffin is having a fine morning, two under on his day to get to four under for the tournament.

12:05 p.m.: Haotong Li has added a birdie to move to the outright lead, while Brendon Todd opens with a par on the tough first.

On the back, Bryson misses a six-footer for birdie on the 11th and has some work to do for par on the 12th.

11:40 a.m.: Bryson bombs one at the 10th (his first), his approach scoots just past the green onto the fringe and makes a tidy up-and-down for birdie. DeChambeau proceeds to stick his approach at the long par-3 11th. The big man came up play.

11:27 a.m.: Haotong Li makes par at the fourth to maintain a share of the lead. Li had a memorable 3rd place finish at the 2017 Open, when Jordan Spieth’s back nine troubles almost brought him into the claret jug from 12 strokes back. But since Royal Birkdale he hasn’t posted a top-15 finish in a major.

11:08 a.m.: We have a Haotong Li sighting! The last time we saw the fledging superstar he was single-handedly tormenting the International Presidents Cup team with odd behavior. But Li is two under through three holes to take a share of the lead with Todd and Day.

11:00 a.m.: The best part about watching these club professionals pop it 260 yards is it gives you the fleeting hope that, “Hey, maybe I could compete out there,” and then you realize they’ve just stuck one from 190 yards out of 4-inch rough and remember, “Oh yeah, no chance.”

10:45 a.m.: Some of the big names in the early wave are Viktor Hovland (11:11), DeChambeau and Adam Scott (11:22), and Todd (11:50). These were some of the few players to go low in yesterday’s afternoon wave, and should be in position to improve their standing with the calm morning conditions.

The post China’s Haotong Li shoots 65 at Harding Park, leads alone appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
It won’t take too many tee shots to be struck on Friday at the 102nd PGA Championship before one of the overriding stories of the second round at TPC Harding Park will start to surface: What will be the 36-hole cutline be and which big-name players might not make it to the weekend?

Indeed, while the PGA of America has a tasty leader board after 18 holes, with eight former major champions (Tiger Woods included) sitting in the top 20, there are also some marquee players needing to play better on Friday. Among them: Rory McIlroy (E), Tommy Fleetwood (E), Jon Rahm (E), Justin Thomas (one over), Phil Mickelson (two over), Patrick Cantlay (three over), Jordan Spieth (three over) and Rickie Fowler (three over).

After 18 holes, the projected cut was one over. But exactly how is this determined? Here is the PGA Championship’s official cutline rules: “Following the first 36 holes of play, the field of 156 players will be reduced to the low 70 scores and ties. Those players will advance to complete the final two rounds.”

In other words, the cutline won’t be influenced directly by the play of first-round leaders Jason Day and Brendon Todd. Unlike at the Masters, the PGA does not use the 10-stroke rule to help determine who will be playing all 72 holes.

The PGA of America’s “cut rule” is the same used at the Open Championship. The U.S. Open makes a cut at the low 60 players and ties. The Masters has a cut at the low 40 players and ties, or anyone within 10 strokes over the 36-hole leader.

A year ago at Bethpage, the PGA Championship cut line fell at four-over 144 with 82 players advancing to the weekend. In 2018 at Bellerive, it was even-par 140 with 80 players advancing and In 2017, at Quail Hollow it was five-over 147 with 75 players playing all four rounds.

The PGA Championship instituted a cut when the tournament changed from a match-play to stroke-play format in 1958. Originally, however, the championship had a double cut, one after 36 holes and a second cut after 65 holes. The championship reverted back to a single 36-hole cut in 1965 and has had it ever since.

For history buffs, Raymond Floyd and Jack Nicklaus have made the most cuts—27—of any players in PGA Championship history. Floyd made 27 in 31 PGA starts while Nicklaus made 27 in 37 appearances.

Here’s the next best players in PGA history:
Tom Watson, 25 of 33
Hale Irwin, 24 of 26
Arnold Palmer, 24 of 37
Phil Mickelson, 24 of 27
Jay Haas, 23 of 28
Tom Kite, 23 of 28
Gary Player, 21 of 23

One of the bigger questions at the PGA is also whether any of the 20 club professionals competing will make the cut. Prior to 2019, only three club pros had made the weekend in the championship since 2011 (Brian Gaffney in 2015, Omar Uresti in 2017 and Ben Kern in 2018). However, last year at Bethpage, three club pros made the cut: Rob Labritz (T-60), Ryan Vermeer (T-80) and Marty Jertson (82nd).

The post How they determine the 36-hole cut at TPC Harding Park appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Christopher Powers
One year and change. That was the length of the wait time between major championships. It was an … hmmm, what’s the word we’re looking for … unprecedented. That’s it, an unprecedented duration between majors. Glad somebody finally had the guts to break out that word.

Was the wait worth it? Well, let’s see—the action was fast and furious, the best players played well, Tiger Woods played well, and a number of former major winners who went through serious slumps thrust themselves into the mix out of nowhere. Does that sound worth it to you?

Below, you’ll find our attempts to sum it all up the best we could. Here are our five takeaways from Day 1 of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.

RELATED: Day 1 of the PGA Championship summed up in 27 tweets

Is it 2015 again?
If you stay off social media, a). Good for you. Your life is definitely way, way better than the rest of us idiots scrolling through this crap every day; and b). You probably don’t know about one of the funnier “memes” in the game. It’s from the film “Jumanji,” when Robin Williams’ character exits the game and looks incredibly dishevelled. He has no idea where he is or what day it is, and he simply says “WHAT YEAR IS IT?” to convey his feelings.

This would be a perfect way to describe the first-round leader board, on which Jason Day is tied for the lead at five-under with Brendon Todd, and Martin Kaymer and Zach Johnson are among the group that is one back. What year is it? 2015, apparently.

Actually, the trio of Day, Kaymer and Johnson looked like their 2015 selves on Thursday at TPC Harding Park. Day, who won the PGA in 2015 and climbed to No. 1 in the world a few weeks after, was bogey-free, much of that thanks to a stellar approach game, an area that was lacking at the beginning of the restart. But he’s steadily improved with his irons over his last three starts, and he capitalized by collecting three straight top 7s. The scary part? He putted just fine on Thursday. If the flat stick gets hot, we really could see a glimpse of the old Day this week.

“I’m not like excited — I shouldn’t say I’m not excited,” said Day. “I am excited to come out and play every day, but I know that I can improve, and mainly my putting can improve a little bit more.”

Then there’s Kaymer and Johnson, who each threatened to tie Day at five under at one point during their rounds. Kaymer bogeyed his final hole, Johnson his second-to-last, but both scores held up to finish the day in a tie for second. Kaymer’s last top 10 in a major came at the 2016 PGA Championship, Johnson’s at the 2016 U.S. Open. Two years prior, Kaymer blitzed the field in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. In 2015, Johnson held on to win the Open Championship in a three-way playoff, which Day missed out on by a shot. Both have fallen well out of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, making their appearance at the top of the board legitimately shocking on Thursday morning.

It’s still very early. But for one day in San Francisco, it felt like old times.

Jamie Squire

Imagine not enjoying the Brooks-Bryson back-and-forth?
Well, right now, it’s just Brooks Koepka doing the talking, but both are letting their play do the talking as well. A week after Koepka was caught on camera jabbing Bryson over his fire ant routine, he got in a number of extra right and left hooks on Thursday. The first came in his post-round interview, when, after shooting a four-under 66, he said there’s “no reason to get all scientific” when asked about the state of his game after going through a bit of a rough patch. The second came in a pre-taped ESPN segment, when players were asked what they eat for breakfast. Koepka’s response was definitely, totally not a shot at Bryson in any way. Not a chance.

TROLL GAWD AGAIN pic.twitter.com/Hye6wd6WLj

— Trent (@BarstoolTrent) August 6, 2020

As Koepka said in that new Nike ad, you can’t out-troll a troll. He’s officially an expert, and as serious as he seems with some of it, it’s still somewhat good-natured. It’s okay to make jokes, to have a little fun. Everybody should lighten up. Golf should be more fun.

NOPE. Naturally, the haters on social media are out in full force. The takes have ranged from “it’s getting weird” to “Brooks should just shut up” to “Brooks is obsessed with Bryson.” It’s amazing, first people say golf is boring, these guys are all blah and they all give packaged answers to everything and have zero personality. The second they show an ounce of it, they are told to pipe down and fall back in line. 2020, and the internet, at its absolute finest.

Harry How

Encouraging stuff from Tiger Woods
Hand up: I was very worried about Woods this week. The lack of reps, the reports of cold weather, the juicy rough. It all seemed to add up to an early exit for the 15-time major champion. It’s just one round, but man, I’m happy to be wrong. He looked pretty damn good, finishing with a two-under 68, his best opening round in a major since the 2012 Open Championship. He worked it both ways, he made some long putts, he saved par when he needed to, and he absolutely cranked it off the tee, ranking fifth in the field in driving distance at round’s end. Historically speaking, Woods has ’em right where he wants ‘em. He’s never been one to come out guns blazing in a major, rather biding his time and making his move on Friday and Saturday. I speak for the entire golf world when I say let’s hope that’s exactly what happens this week, because there is nothing better than Tiger in the mix on Sunday at a major, even if this Sunday won’t feature any Tiger roars.

RELATED: Bryson DeChambeau snapped his driver and the golf world lost its mind

Tom Pennington

Are you kidding me, Brendon Todd?
What’s there left to say about this guy that hasn’t already been said? His ability to consistently go low, even after a few crushing Sundays, is both admirable and inspiring, and it should come as no surprise given everything he’s been through. He throws away the Travelers Championship on Sunday and responds by getting right back into contention a few weeks later at a WGC. Of course, he sort of threw that one away too. His response? Tying Day for the lead with a five-under 65 in just his second major since 2015, mind you.

I have no idea how Todd’s story ends this week. He might win, he might tie for 56th or he might miss the cut. Whatever happens, he has reached an absolutely insane level of heat check. We’re talking J.R. Smith heat check. Todd is shooting a three every time he comes down the floor and he’s making them at a very high percentage. Terrible analogy? I don’t care. Brendon Todd is breaking my brain.

Jamie Squire

Friday is a big day at the office for some
As good as the first few pages of the leader board are, they’re missing some rather popular names: Rory McIlroy (E), Tommy Fleetwood (E), Jon Rahm (E), Justin Thomas (+1), Phil Mickelson (+2), Patrick Cantlay (+3), Jordan Spieth (+3), Rickie Fowler (+3). For the boys at even, it should only take an under-par round on Friday to make the weekend, though some of those guys didn’t just come to make the weekend. As for the rest of the group, Friday is going to need to be an aggressive, fire-at-the-flag affair. As it stands, +1 would get in, but it will more than likely move to even par, meaning Spieth, Cantlay and Fowler are going to need something in the 65-66 range. Would hate to lose any of these guys for Saturday and Sunday.

The post Is it 2015 again? Plus four other takeaways from Day 1 at TPC Harding Park appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Daniel Rapaport
SAN FRANCISCO — The driver broke. Expired is probably the more appropriate word.

Bryson DeChambeau has been walloping that thing relentlessly for months now. Swinging it as hard as he can, which is harder than anyone else on tour can. It made it through Colonial. Held up in Hilton Head and Connecticut. Peaked in Detroit, where he bullied the competition and beat them all. Survived the late-night, adrenaline-addled speed sessions in his swing coach’s living room. Stuck with him through disappointing showings in Columbus and Memphis.

The club had been with him for over a year, throughout the entirety of his beef-up and “speed training,” which has been the talk of the post-COVID golf world. But on Thursday at TPC Harding Park, on the seventh hole of the PGA Championship, when its owner tried to lean on it, the shaft finally gave out. Can you blame it?

“At some point, material is material,” DeChambeau said. “You keep wearing it and using it like that, you know, stuff is going to break down. I’m just glad it lasted this long.”

Undeterred, he dispatched his manager, Conor Olson, to the parking lot. That’s where his backup was. Olson had 15 minutes or so to play with, because DeChambeau’s next hole, thankfully, was a par 3. Olson made it back in time, DeChambeau attached the head to the replacement shaft—same specifications, to comply with rule 4.1—smashed one 327 yards down the center on No. 9, made birdie, and continued on like nothing happened.

RELATED: Round 1 summed up in 27 tweets

“The nice part about it is that I’ve used that [replacement] shaft on the practice range this week, testing, just making sure I have backup shafts. I pretty much do that every week for the most part because I know I’m swinging it this fast, something is going to happen sometime. It’s just—you know, it’s just going to happen.

Sean M. Haffey
Bryson DeChambeau laughs after breaking his driver on the seventh hole in the first round of the PGA Championship.

DeChambeau managed a two-under 68 on Thursday, a solid score, especially considering he had the misfortune of falling in the late-early half of the draw. The course played nearly a full stroke harder in the afternoon, as the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. The twilight conditions forced him to abandon his driver-or-bust strategy—he hit irons off both the 15th and 16th tees, playing those two holes in one over, before bringing it back for one last 347-yard smash at 18.

“The golf course changed dramatically on the back nine, and it was one of those things that you almost got to be careful and cautious,” DeChambeau said. That’s, uh, not exactly his style these days.

“I hit 4-iron off of 15, and the wind just blew it really hard to the right. The fairway got firm, and got an unfortunate spot. It just seemed like, you know, we were grinding to finish. The golf course showed its teeth, and you know, we took the brunt of it.”

It’s not apples to apples, as a number of his drives on the back nine were downwind, but DeChambeau’s driving distance actually increased with the new shaft. He averaged 320.5 yards before the break and 339.5 yards after it.

It was an impressive display—to everyone except Adam Scott, that is. He’d been back home in Australia, waiting out the COVID madness, until flying to the States just a few weeks ago. This was his first tournament in five months, so it was his first time playing alongside Bryson 2.0.

His thoughts?

“He’s hitting it long. There’s no doubt about it. Not to like put him down any, but I thought it was going to be longer,” Scott said with a friendly smile. “There’s been so much buildup, me reading the news and listening to him and watching him play, I thought I was going to see like almost one of those long-drive guys.”

Perhaps if Bryson breaks two drivers on Friday, Scott might change his tune.

The post Bryson abandons all-driver attack, and Adam Scott takes a smiling shot at him appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.