Full Replay | Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari in 1st Round at 2019 PGA Championship

the anticipation is thick Tiger Woods Francesco Molinari and Brooks Kepca in our spotlight group preparing to begin exclusive coverage of the PGA Championship ahead How did we get here, not this course or this course or this

championship

? How do we get to a place? that feels so familiar and so strange at the same time there's a bit of that old

tiger

magic one of the greatest comebacks in sports history oh my god waited for years many doubted we'd ever see it the return to glory it's been great for golf has been Great for him, he has exceeded many people's expectations by facing the best players in the world and defeating them.

That is the help for a comeback. It's a redemption story complete with the Hollywood ending, but this isn't the epilogue, just the next chapter. Do you think you'll get 18 majors? No, you have accepted that I have accepted. I'll get more as the adulation subsides. The focus changes. We all know he can win, but there are a lot of guys here who will try. and prevent them from winning a generation inspired by greatness has been reminded of their potential they have come to this course not to witness history in the making but to write their own your name is on that purifying trophy forever it is possible to appreciate the past without looking moving forward is the only thing that can prevent us from executing it again.

It's the 101st bethpage black pga

championship

pga.com in association with the pga of america inspiring the future of the sport and the golfer in all of us presenting the 101st bethpage black pga championship in farmingdale, new York. Golf for the people in a public facility. The third time that a major championship has been organized. The first time the PGA Championship has been organized. And the sun has risen for the first time of the week. It seems like Thursday morning is a glorious day. Day to start this important championship, the temperatures are already in the mid 50s and we are excited to see it, the sun is out and it's not raining with the Carolina section player of the year, Steve Scott, I'm Brian Catrick, I'm glad to have you next to you. us and we're excited to see all four major championship trophies in the same featured group, a lot of bad blood between these guys and here we go, it's going to be a special day here, Brian at Bethpage Black, we have we have the best players. on the planet and we're going to see them live today and you know, if the Masters was a great opening act for the major championship season, well, the PGA Championship is the main course today and we have, we have three. combatants ready to go along with the rest of them you're a former member of the met section you know everything about this course while we watch Tiger we're going to talk about the setting because that's as much a part of the story as anything but these three guys with those four trophies and the victory that this man had just a month ago culminated in this moment here on Thursday morning, go back, a couple of Majors Brooks beat everyone on Long Island, a little bit east of here. from Shinnecock Hills, but then at Carnostia in the open championship it was Molinari who took it from Tiger Brooks by keeping Tiger at bay in this tournament in August and then Tiger took it from Francesco and Brooks by finishing second in the Masters.

These guys have hit each other. and they are getting ready to do it again, they have faced each other, they have given each other trophies and with

molinari

and kepca with uh throwing him into the water in the masters and the

tiger

doing his thing that the tiger has done tiger things all his life and we're going to see him again today meeting some of the honorary observers and meeting

francesco

molinari

, the champion golfer of the year, what a change in his career in the last year and a half that he's spent maybe he's not even the best player of his family with his older brother Eduardo, a former US amateur champion, one of the best on the planet and an unstoppable force in the majors, he sure is, I mean being in seventh place in the world right now all three of them. these players among the seven best in the world kepca at three tiger at six we have uh we have some we have some great golf ahead of us here uh and molinari is a little bit at a disadvantage on this golf course However, and we're going to talk about this at As we go through the narrative, the distance off the tee and, uh, Molinari, he's averaging 10 miles per hour slower with his club head speed than Brooks Kepka and Tiger Falls right in the middle of that. , it will be very interesting to see what kind of clubs he has on the greens and how the distance will really prevail today, especially here on the 10th, let's take a closer look at this starting hole that the middle of the course has to get to the van ride by here you have played this course many times take us through the 10. this hole 500 489 yards par 4 today it is about 230 yards just to get to the fairway very narrow strip but there will be bombs away it is very direct uh bunkers come in I play a little bit, but the key is to get this ball to the fairway, put an iron on the green, the front, these front bunkers are very deep, you can't see the green from the front of those in those front bunkers, and moving on is nothing.

Negotiate a six foot drop behind that green, get this ball in the fairway, hit it high and soft with a little spin to start, it's going to be important so far this morning, just one birdie on the card, ha there have been three doubles and Thomas Peters had a triple after hitting a ball into a fairway bunker on the right and then into the long stuff on the left, took a trick, couldn't advance, had to take an unplayable lie, the rough is long, what's very important for viewers to know in The Home is that these players haven't hit a ball in about 35 or 40 minutes.

It's a long bus ride from the practice area to this tenth tee at the farthest point of the golf course, really the northernmost point of the course. golf course so you know these players are trying to relax again and you may have seen them momentarily watching the group in front of them play, that is very rare in major golf championships most of the time they are on the practice grid and then They got closer, but they were there watching the group in front of them, so it's been a while, and with cool temperatures today, stiff backs may maybe come into play a little, especially for someone who may have had a fusion in his back. the whole world was jealous that you could see that warm-up.

Brooks Kepca always seems to have warmed up. He's the defending champion and he's trying to do what only two others have done and he's become the two-time defending champion in two different majors. championships at the same time these players had some different warm-ups there

brooks

kepca was the only player of the three who did not use a trackman on the field we saw tigre varying the heights of his shirt placing the ball lower, something like more of a shot of fairway finder and then but the most important thing is you know having this ball in the air big time there's not going to be a lot of movement here today the conditions are very soft so you're going to see the ball uh a. a lot of carry, not a lot of roll, I never know, the way Brooks carries himself, but that's one of the best players in the world, he's been number one in the world, he's slipped to number two and the scene is set on the tenth tee.

Good morning. ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 101st pga championship, this is the start time at 8:24, now on t, please welcome the 2018 pga champion from west palm beach, florida,

brooks

keka, It's across the interstate and turnpike from the PGA of America headquarters and has its biggest trophy, let's take a look at the top tracer presented by mklobe ultra um, a good start to playing with the Francesco Molinari family, well he's done everything but win this and he's focused on length, if there's another way to get around here you've got to realize this guy will do it. figure it out and then play in 1999, 2000, 2006 and 2007, PGA champion from home, sound in Florida, Tiger Woods, you were one of these big New York sports fans for several years, Steve, and many of them have gone so far. from the clubhouse, as you can see this group get going, he is an absolute rock star and has a rock star after the first tee shot.

It's been problematic for Tiger in the past, he may have gotten away with it. Brooks is in the middle. Tiger has lost the street and how about this? Even with the 11th hole, Francesco is reloading and making a provisional, like I said, these players haven't hit a shot in about 40 minutes, so the backs can tighten up, it's like he throws you out. Because of his pace, this is not a normal start to a major championship, as he has so much time between the practice area and the first tee that he is within his rights to play a provisional ball.

Here we mentioned that Thomas Peters drove it well and then finished from the On a long, hard play, he was dragged to the left and had to take an unplayable spot, so Francesco knows how long the grass is there and is not even worried being able to find him, making it an inauspicious start for the champion golfer of the year's featured group. live coverage on pga.com round number one from bethpage black underway with nine players leading the way in one under

francesco

molinari has found his tee shot at 10. between some fairway bunkers over there and possibly on the fairway sitting on one yeah It was so bad that not even the laser operator knew where it was, but considering he hit Steve provisional, that's not bad, I think it was a smart play for him to play that provisional that got him, you know, maybe a little, just a touch more. loose playing another shot but you don't get it in the fairway here this hole is essentially a par 5 how about the tiger puts in from 201 doesn't even try an indication of how difficult this shot is the front bunkers are not a bargain game very smart very flat lie on the fairway will have a wedge from there now Brooks from 191 plays fast as he always does from the left center of the fairway here good angle towards this right front hole location which is a false back to which the ball holds so kepca can't make it to the green either, but at least we found the three of them had a bit of a rough start on a tough hole, no matter where you are you can watch live videos, get live leaderboards and follow the latest news. action with our official pga championship apps for android, iphone and roku steve.

I was talking to one of our hall of fame colleagues yesterday, Sir Nick Faldo, and he said with this start for these three guys, these three opening holes four four four would be fantastic. he said I wouldn't even mind making two fours and a five during that stretch. You know this field well. I think he got that right. I am referring to the 10th hole and the 12th hole. This is a very difficult start. The holes are almost 500 yards if not more, it requires tremendous tee shots just to get a mid iron type on the green for the longer hitter, so it's a challenging start to say the least, but, with luck, for these players this.

It will be the last time they will have to do this this week every other time they will start in the first hall with a more normal flow for the round, but this tenth hole is a long way off, it is a rough start like we used to do. I played here in the New York State Open and I still play in the New York State Open and I started on this same hole and it's a uh, it's discouraging to say that the lowest temperature is a cool tiger in short sleeves, it's He talked so much about the fact that he's only played. nine holes here this week he was going to have a practice session on the golf course, but he didn't come here yesterday and health problems were immediately what the choir sang about.

He looks healthy. Francesco working on a wedge for his very flat third line on these fairways. they are pristine here so we should be able to put a good amount of action on this rainy thing every day here at bethpage state park the greens are as receptive as you will see on a thursday morning gone for now tiger and how many times Do you see the tiger lie down after hitting it rough from just 200 yards? This gives you an indication of what's going on around this putting surface, but again, the lies on these fairways are very flat, so it's almost like hitting a practice ball on the course. they slid it down and still too much got stuck in the middle and the tigers behind in three this came out low.

The tiger didn't like it from the beginning, well, there's a stretch of trees behind this tenth green and maybe he thought there was a stretch of trees behind this tenth green. There would have been a little more wind than there was, but as you could see a flag in the background on that

replay

that was actually blowing from the ninth green, he didn't judge that wind as well as he would have liked there and an unfavorable start to say the least. , we're talking about a shot from about 110 yards and you can see he missed it by a good 20. so yeah, unfavorable, in fact, jj spawn sam burns keith mitchell mike lorenzo vera eric van royen jimmy walker former pga champion ches Reevy Howtong Lee and Sean Norris are the nine players leading, only one ofThey started on the back nine which was Eric von Royen, everyone else started at number one and Troy Merritt just came in which made the party a

full

10 players.

I think you'll find that, as a common theme throughout this championship, the first few holes would rather start there, it's a little bit softer start, one and two being the only four, the only par four for 400 yards. on the property, so Tiger will have a couple of options here, this close area behind the 10th green looks like he has a lofted club in his hand, not far away, the ball didn't travel to the bottom of the pickup area. So, but as a player, this makes you nervous from the beginning, yes, it is not a guaranteed five, you have not reached the green and even three, so the tigers will fourth you.

I have to remember that he has not played a tournament round from that final shot we saw him in the Master, so the golf tournament is very different from just being at home and playing in the medalist where he plays and that's very important, I think Steve went for bogey. Now, Tiger certainly knows how to win, he knows how to win majors, what did you think of the decision to skip Quail Hollow? Well, obviously he's being very cautious. This whole year is a learning experience, not just for him in the timing and cadence. of the year with the pga in may, but you know, with his back and the uncertainties of how much he can play, but playing cautiously can't hurt.

I like it that way, unlike the other, now tolerates by far the best position of anyone in the group a fourth place a week ago what start from the green at long distance says the defending champion remind me his body language says it all the way he walked up to pick up that cup ball is like Yeah, I'm Brooks Kepca and I'm here to play, yeah, business as usual for this guy whether you notice it or not, and there was talk of the chip on his shoulder long before There might have been a chip on his shoulder, but I think there is one now.

Molinari did this to save par and has been unflappable from this distance in the big moments of the last two years, 5-0 in the Ryder Cup. It seemed like the bigger the putt, the more likely it was to go in, but he's going to dropping a shot then playing a provisional ball is not the worst score anyone can achieve here at number 10. damage control there and tiger in the same way, can you somehow achieve a five on a tee shot that He seemed to like it, did he know he didn't want it? fooling around in short winds and going long in three as I probably could have been long in two and as a competitor these types of putts make you nervous from the start, the only good thing he has going for him here are these greens in Beth Page Black very little break, so all of these putts within five feet will generally be played inside the hole.

He uses the line from about this range and will use the line of the ball here. He missed the fairway by one step and that's a six, not how. he wanted to start the week like this, on the other hand, this is how Brook Skepca wanted to start the week. He'd rather have gotten to the green, but hey, if you're going to miss it, he leaves the flag in and hits the ball for Brooks Kepca's birdies first. Ho hum, the defending champion is at it again, he's tied for the lead as they head to the 11th golf lanes, taking us through this 11th hole, players can't see the fairway from the tee, they'll have to pick a aim. and there's a carp that you actually see in this graphic.

You're going to choose the left edge of which you can choose to take the driver and fly it over that bunker and this green is one of those steeper courses on the golf course here, players. I will want to keep this ball below the hole located as you see it on the back left today, good opportunity for birdie. This is one of the shortest par fours at 444 yards. The flag doesn't even look like it's on the green. It will look like it is back there. bucket sized for brooks kepca who has steadily risen in the world golf rankings we mentioned to number one in the world he and justin rose were trading that spot at the end of the calendar year he looks good now and that bunker .

The carry he's looking to do is no problem for him. That ball is carried about 310 yards. I hate the perfect angle with that left rear location. A great player for important events now. Francesco, who is almost at this 11th hole, was already their 63rd man once. In total, driving on the pga tour, this club will have to come into play and come into play in a big way this week, that's a little more like it , he just seems unfazed, that first swing came out of nowhere, now he's a little more. loose, now he's hit three tee shots, well thought out, well a bit of a mess in the 10th for Tiger may be a strategic mistake, which is unusual certainly, some execution errors and two knockdowns, you don't try to do too much here, just the fairway wood and it's going to Roll up your sleeves and get to work.

The tiger tried to get out of a hole. Creeks took the lead on one of the most difficult holes on the course. We'll see a little bit of everything on Thursday morning, with you here in the first round. pga championship on pga.com featured group coverage let's look at the four major championship trophies 13 players lead this tournament in one under brooks kepca one of them tiger three behind after one hole he has 170 left for his approach to 11. should be just a nice comfortable eight iron I saw it on the course before practicing high draws so it should fit well in this whole location much better than the first one, not what I was looking for but it is acceptable, a little more normal, there golf courses that show us the almost 300. tee shot in Francesco Molinari's yard and the space for the Walmart that they could build here between those two Francesco with 150 even from a very flat line there are many flat areas on these fairways in Bethpage black an excellent shot for these newly expanded green areas You can see the grass change on the back left of this green.

They've added about 200 square feet to this putting green pretty much just to set up this entire location. Here's Brooks, the 138th leader. Oh my goodness, the Masters runner-up next. holding off Tiger there was a time, Steve, where these guys were intimidated and we saw it in their game if they would admit it, it doesn't matter if Brooks admits it, that guy seems to belong, he seems like a cocky shortstop to me, just that he. only he knows that he is good and he has expressed it openly, he has been noticed in many media, but I like his body language and his body language says that I am absolutely ready and the shots of him show exactly what what is it.

Body language tells us that a huge sports fan also had the opportunity to chat about baseball with David Wright, who will join us later today. He is the official ambassador of this PGA Championship and of course Joe Lacava, a huge New York sports fan. Probably what do you think they are talking about? Yeah, where the Knicks fell in the recent lottery they had the other night, but I don't think Brooks is a hockey fan, so I don't think that's the conversation. It's baseball season, yes, Brooks said that if he weren't a professional golfer, baseball would have been his thing.

You can see he just has that build, he has that arrogance. You know, you can tell he hangs out with Dustin Johnson a lot, so maybe a little bit of DJing has rubbed off on Brooks over the years too, so you gotta like the way he goes about his business and earned his Brooks' first pga tour event at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix in 2015 and As everyone knows, it's one of the biggest circuses on the PGA Tour, so whenever you get paired with Tiger you know you're in for some kind of circus. , especially in this New York market, Tiger will be the first out of the hole here from outside 40 feet and what I'm very interested to see over the course of this round is that a Tiger plays noticeably conservatively on the first round and build a crescendo to the fourth round with his strategy so you can We'll see him play quite cautiously, I think we just saw that in this, so as we go through this front nine, let's look at the lines he decides to take and what so tight he decides to shoot bowling.

This would be an uphill break from here, well I almost got one back from long range. Alright, look, the green surfaces here, by major championship standards, have been described as flat, you know, obviously, they're not perfectly flat, but the idea is that the mediocre putters don't actually lose that much ground against to the big putters this week. Your thoughts are totally in agreement that this is going to be more of a ball-striking contest from the tee to the green, there's not going to be much break on a lot of these putts and uh. You know, we've already seen a long one, so you know it's going to be exciting when it hits the greens, we're going to see some action, we're going to see a lot of putts made this week, the greens are absolutely perfect, smooth as glass, francesco has to read, but he's also going to hit one trying to get back to par, he just ran through it, he's outside, the tiger has now crushed him, I never find it easy to get through a newly grassed area, now granted.

It's still perfect, but they don't seem to quite fit in and for a couple of years when a green is expanded or reshaped, a couple of putts are seen to have been overstated, so this is a new type of putt for players. . Haven't seen this in competition yet, but for kepca here it's always good to see some putts on the same line and have a birdie look from within 10 feet. What a dream start here for brooks, just with

full

control and a chance to take the lead just hawk eye technology showing us that the right edge will work here he took it out, he took it out, oh sometimes when you sell again the putter blade, it just beats the hands so much and it doesn't take much to make or miss a putt, he's still tied for the lead, but that would have been a big statement, especially with how difficult these first three holes are.

Francesco for damage control is fine, he remains one up on his five points from the Ryder Cup last fall, four of which came against him. this man, Tiger, just couldn't escape him. Francesco handled the stage with Tiger very well during the time he was paired with them and there were no problems because Tiger got nothing in return, there were no birdies on the 11th hole for our featured group and they headed out. moved on to the 12th and there has been a lot of talk about this hole over the years. This 12th hole is the fairway sweep around the left fairway bunker, there shorter hitters will have to play to the right of that. bunker and it is between 230 and 50 yards on this par four, the bigger hitter has a big advantage in these 283 yards to clear that bunker, then they will have a medium to long iron on a flat green, you have a small level on the back of this hole is located 22 paces and 12 from the right par here on 12 playing 502 yards with a great score and Carrie Hague, the championship director, saw the wind blowing directly towards these guys and the softer conditions You've given them a break, Steve. they're playing on an up tee box they added that back tee but they didn't use it today well oh it's only 502 yards it's a big break it's a 260 carry mostly on that left side you gotta figure that's where it's going Brooks.

Sure you can, you can make mincemeat of this tee shot here and maybe have a seven or eight iron on the green right there. Kepka will already work in a full sprint and that big disadvantage that some of the shorter hitters we just looked at would have. francesco hit one almost 300 yards so not low but in comparison this would be a tough call for him and with the t up not so much although he looks further to the right than fran than brooks oh he didn't come out of the Everything, he took the same line as Brooks and you see the advantage of 10 miles per hour more club head speed right there, which is the difference between those two players, that's all he needed.

Good decision now. The Tiger Tigers' driving statistics are tied for 13th in total driving on the This year's tour marked an improvement over what they have traditionally done. Wait this between those two and that's where it started. It's not where it will end. There is room for it. A bit of a hiccup for a couple of notable contestants in our group, but Brooks Kepka is right. up there now, one shot off the chess leader reevy starting back in the top nine where he started most of this first page of the leaderboard he went two under par shane lowry and eric van royen starting from the back kelly craft and charlie hoffman also starting from the back the back among these guys who are in under par, Brooks Kepka, you may have heard of him, we saw his birdie from the green on the 10th hole, he made the long one and missed the short one and here we are now at 12.

Tiger Will be the first to play he will have 2 28. well the flag is shown as west northwest it would just work the green is not clear and francesco has already placed the tiger waiting for the group from opposite alex norenzander schofley sees the players trying to Talking about the wind from thishole 12 through 14, these holes all play in the same direction, so you get a great wind pace here, it will definitely carry you through the next three holes, but there are 228 yards left for your second here this one Basically on this par four and a half and you heard Joey help make the decision with a four iron instead of a soft three and I've noticed that you see the green getting lighter.

I've noticed it in their relationship in recent years. years, unlike most caddies, Joe is the most aggressive in the relationship, he almost always chooses the shortest club and the hardest shot, it's just a matter of fact, it's just a standard four iron, keep it under This hole will be important, it doesn't. I don't have to carry this back to the entire location. I love beaner Joe Lacaba and in this case you know your tigers say stand up a little. You know you needed those soft threes, but it's Joe's straight, nay, fun business attitude. I think Tiger respects Joe, he knows that under the hole is important.

He was walking around this golf course yesterday morning at 7:30 on this back nine. Tiger didn't show up to practice here yesterday, Brooks at 191. You see excellent distance control once again for Brooks Kapka. It is always a good sign that everything is under control with your judgment decision making twelve thirds Francesco's decision was to leave it raw, he had 210 he didn't like it and now he has 110 yes, many of the players say that they are not even going to hit anymore than they can't hit more than seven irons on this rough. It's a very thick mix of poa anna and bluegrass, it depends on which part of the rough you go into honestly. how it sits or sits and in the morning, uh, it's a little wet and it's very thick, so when a tillinghouse designed this golf course, he didn't design it with the fact that the players were going to start on the 10th hole .This is a very difficult stretch to start your race for the main championship and then a miscalculation.

There is some pressure on Molinari to save par from long range. I think that's the prudent move. You're going to see that a lot. This week certainly won't be the last time someone makes a putt from the grosso, it takes tremendous club head speed to get there and again when we see Tiger Woods and players like that making a putt from 200 yards out of the grosso . Know it's intense, the second annual Baja Mar Showdown heads to the Royal Blue Golf Course in the Bahamas coached by Aaron Rodgers and Chris Paul on Saturday, July 14 at 2 p.m. m. only on CBS, a fairly remote part of the golf course for viewers to get to as well.

Although these guys are headed back to the rest of the world, I guess it's pretty far out there, in the horse country of Farmingdale, New York, a beautiful part of the country, right in the heart of Long Island, actually passed by some horse stalls just to get to the set today from where our resort is so we can see mother nature and all her splendor. Well, it's a state park, as you know, you've lived here and played here so many times, but there is a lot to do at Bethpage State Park, five different ones. golf courses, but you also mentioned the equestrian events here, where the horses are, there is a training center for all the fire departments in the area, there is plenty of room for hiking and picnicking, there is an airport right on the east side of the property and there is a lot of room between the tiger on this hole and also leaving the flagpole for birdie singeing the cup on 11 and again on 12.

I think one of the benefits of keeping the flagpole in is the depth perception you get from that when you're outside of 40 feet. I think it's a great decision. Having everything or having the flagpole taken care of was easier to place on a larger target than a small hole from that distance. I feel good and I think a lot has been said about that. Regarding the new rule changes for

2019

, I think leaving the flagpole has replaced flagpole care for many people. I think that was the range where Tiger would have guarded the flagpole. Still he could choose not Molinari to match him. and another missed fairway is going to cost you another shot and that was the anticipation coming into the week, I'm never really sure this is the pga of america setting this course as opposed to the previous two majors here that were created by the usga pga tour.

I also set up a couple of events, there have been a couple of PGA Tour playoff events here, the winning scores have been dramatically different in those two setups. We weren't sure what we would get here this week. He will stay behind. Tiger won with a winning score of 277 at O2, it was 276 for the other US Open that Lucas Glover won. Nick Watney was just two shots better than the 2012 Barclays. Patrick Reed was just one worse than Watney, so 275 274 the setups have been. pretty similar, except the first year you could make this golf course very soft and as it is and still is a rough course for the playoff event, it was a par 71 for the majors, it was a par 70.

We'll see about that . hole later on the other one, the different one, which is number seven, francesco takes care of business and makes the five and is kepca, that putter beats the tigers' putter, now it is one of the three largest and is one of the lead here, so leave that stretch behind, players get a little breathing room for a couple of holes here before crossing the fairway to return to the 13th tee and we'll take a look at the hole in golf courses that players par 5 out of 609 yards will want to hit this ball down the right side of the fairway as your streamers reach the green, this green will be tough to get to and two really just want to get a great position past that fairway bunker into a good spot. flat tray.

The green is a little obscured by that bunker about 20 yards from the green, but the green is very flat here and with a great tee shot you could get really close to the green and have an easy chip and putt, I can see it. a bit. The action comes here on the 13th, you are seeing action, well, the numbers on the 13th, five birdies, already around 24-25 players have made five birdies, five bogies, 14 pars and remember that there are only two par fives on this course. Golf. Number four is the other one. one plays at about 515 yards, so this one is certainly over 600 yards, but I certainly wouldn't put anything beyond that.

I like that Brooks keeps hitting this green and two, no matter what you can't build a golf course long enough for these excellent competitors. plus 320 to get over those two bunkers over there almost that will make your decision very easy on the second shot, someone put that post in the way. There was a day when just because Brooks hit him there, Tiger would think he could still get it. It's over, but I don't think that day is today, hit it somewhere else, beautiful swing, that's not the sound of the tiger's tee shot, that's one of the planes landing at the airport, just behind the tenth green, and Francesco knew there would be moments like this, Steve.

Those two monsters would be dropping bombs out there, he just has to stay within himself. He's 132nd on the Tour in driving distance, so he's sure below average, but he finds the short-grass Molinari throwing a couple of shots. Tiger made a double in the first kepca he just won. Back as the defending champion, back with you here in the first round of the PGA Championship, let's take a look at this move from Brooks Kepka and as we take it to the top, the biggest thing I notice when I watch Brooks Keep is leaning. The left wrist is very similar to John Rom or Dustin Johnson.

It is a very powerful move from this position. Here he himself can do what all the teachers say: spin, burn and shoot, and when he uses too many hands. Even though that position is the clubface is a little bit closed, every once in a while you get that left shot and that's exactly what happened. Dustin has a very similar position to the one you mentioned, here's kefka now that he's out of the fairway bunker, francesco ready to not go. easy layup by any means down here 13 325 to the hole trying to get it in position a fairway with some contours will launch it over there try it from that spot that is well positioned under the left tiger with a long iron now also trying to position this ball for a demanding third, well, double bogey on the first, trying to dig, keeps going down, there it is, how deep these fairway bunkers stay, about 6'3, you know, you can barely see his hat, but he's very relaxed, there really is no other option than these fairway bunkers, you have to take your medicine a little, the ball accumulates towards the middle in the fairway bunkers and the green side bunkers, when they rake them, they are all very soft. the outer edges and maybe a little rougher in the middle maybe not the cleanest areas you would like on the bottom, however that Australian style of raking with the smooth edges and then the rough sand on the bottom is a great birdie opportunity here on 13 but will be out of wedges for our featured group here thursday morning temps are warming up we may hit the 70s in the next few days after a cold start until Today, my radio partner, John McGinnis, has been very entertaining.

Point out that with the US Open at Pebble Beach next month and the Open Championship rising with Irish temperatures in Augusta - I don't know if we hit 80 degrees during the week - the Irish event could be the warmest of the four Majors of this year. That would be ironic, that would be very interesting, but yes, this move to May by the PGA of America, I think it sets the stage for the major championship schedule and the professional game in general and even as it relates to the PGA professional. at your local club they can present all their initiatives at this time of year and as we are seeing this is the beginning of the golf season in the north and the leaves are almost appearing on all the trees now and you know junior golf is starting, so this move to May for the US PGA I think is just an overall home run.

Yeah, that makes more sense for all the shows since you said you're about to do it compared to the August event. and here are all the shows that now you have to wait a few months because a lot of the country pga tours season will end a little early, but of course you'll get this guy winning the last major championship before this one, all the momentum of the world. Really preparing for this grouping with the four major championship trophies, it all makes a lot of sense. It puts the PGA Championship squarely into this year's narrative. Ricky Elliott gave his man number 133.

Nice aggressive line for Brooks. The bad shots don't seem at all. that bad and that was good right there, it was a little iffy with that rough right on the toe of his club, there could have been more than a wedge for kepca, but it turned out well and that was the difference between being in the fairway and being on that first rough cut, I think you would see a very different result, but I was able to control that ball very well. Molinari with 93 and is well positioned on the left side of the fairway. I got a pretty clear view of this.

Hole location back right is acceptable, could have been better, great wedge player, and this 87 yarder is too. A perfect little lob wedge for him, just control the spin. He uses one of the most spinning golf balls on tour, but it is difficult to spin from the gross. although the second time on a few short holes here the tiger missed badly with a wedge, I think that's the difference between playing casual golf and playing tournament golf. Adrenaline is one of those things that is difficult to take into account and even though he has played a lot. of golf tournaments is not in your recent memory, well, a guy like Brooks Kepca played last week in Dallas played very well, he has those tournament adrenaline feelings, he knows he has a very good sense of how far this ball goes, It's very interesting because Tiger was using trackman on the course this morning just trying to judge distances and figure out what he's doing and we've seen him misjudge sometimes very badly on the first four holes he had 85 yards for his third at 10 and hit over the green he ended up making a double, it was only 87 yards, so essentially it was the same shot and he hit it the same distance, definitely a different mistake than Tiger, there's the shot mark, so you see that You didn't fail, you know you didn't fail. target for 10+ steps, yet this is horrible back here and you had to wait for the ball to bounce and it feels even worse because this is a hole where when you have a wedge like that you feel doubly worse because you know you should. you have a birdie putt and now you will have a hard time making a par depending on how this lie is situated.

Well, that camera is pretty close, we can't see it. This camera is high above and we can't see it. I can see most of his shoes this is just thick I still don't see it well this has been better than we could see but the defense of a tiger in ahole I was hoping to make one in his line was perfect but his distance has been a little off, but a player of his caliber, possibly the best player who ever lived, will figure out his distances pretty quickly I imagine, so I mean to guide us through that while Francesco lines up his. on an 87 yard shot you saw that the putt mark was completely behind the green there were eight steps behind him he flew six and a half steps past his number if he had flown it four steps past his number he has bitten maybe it wasn't such a serious mistake.

Am I making this up? Professional players live and die in four yard increments Brian and I think that's what happened there, but here's Molinari, who was cautious under the hole, this for birdie, goes. You'll have to be very skilled with your wedges and your putter this week if you want to be in the mix when Sunday's tough stretch of the course comes around to start. Those two bogeys aren't really impressive, but you put them above a five here and it starts to feel a little worse, kepca, another good look, a swing from right to left, a cup or two to the right and another near miss, one of the caddies who was taking me earlier this week told me that it made me think there was no nothing. break here on bethpage, you call it no break meth page, so you may see some players overdo the breaks a little and singe the top of the hole.

This is for pair, so a six to start the entire pair since then you are heading to your first pair. three up to two under par charlie hoffman jb homes and matt wallace now joining the group charlie jb just joins the group with a birdie on the fourth did you see the latest video from the european tour with matt wallace getting hit by eddie pepperell? Imagine I missed it, but they're pretty funny there on the European tour, I mean I like the Mollywood one with Molinari and Wet and Fleetwood in bed, he's sleeping with the Ryder Cup, it's a bit of a backup.

On 14 pga.com the featured group coverage continues after these three players led the way in the first round of this pga championship here is one of them, charlie hoffman, starting from the back, he is at the front of our featured group he made it from long distance, put one of the birdies on the board and then on the next hole, the hole our featured group is waiting for right now. Hoffman is close there and another birdie, so Charlie Hoffman got a haircut, he's ready. a four time pga tour winner tied for the lead with jb holmes and matt wallace charlie is quiet he's also a couple of groups in front so attention returns to our group here on the 14th the green is clear for capco , which has a shot.

Come back and let's take a look at the top tracer brought to you by mklobe ultra. All of this plays as long as you can play at 167 yards. Today we'll see a lot of that about five yards past the entire location, the big pickup area is four feet away. below the surface of the green so play wisely below the hole for kepca aw tilled asked all about the angles see this it's huge here it's actually about the size of the green and the wind is fine that shows you the wind meter tiger feeling. A little help, Steve, but that's not what's happening and he knows it.

There is already someone trying to judge the wind. I would like to meet a window specialist. No, that's not a word. It should be correct. Maybe that help he felt was really there. you are between suits you have to take the shortest suit don't make your mistake too long he already made double just trying to make some pairs trying to come back don't force the problem too early to do it clearly the help he felt wasn't there, no he was taking no risks so two on the green in front of Molinari, a guy who just needs a quality shot here, you expect it from him, sometimes unflappable, that's how Charlie Hoffman was a couple of groups ago good shot from Francesco Molinari These guys are usually pretty good with seven, eight or nine irons of a flat lie new CNN original series the films will provide insight and behind-the-scenes glimpses into some of the most beloved and influential films from the dawn of cinema to the present day the movies premiere sunday july 7th at 9 pm only on cnn we have all the ingredients of a great movie right here all the drama we talked about at the open steve you look back at brooks kepca just beat everyone at the us open at Chinacock, no one was going to beat him, it was a dominant performance, but then at the next major, Tiger was in the lead and everyone thought this would be the crowning moment of the comeback and it was Francesco. in the group with him bogey free at carnoustie taking the lead and the title away from home, kepca making his statement here in this tournament that was the next major championship in august, but of all the people who held out was the tough charge of tiger Woods and then you go to the masters kapka finishes runner-up molinari leading most of the final round he is in the final group the tee shot in the water at 12 and the tiger is right there to capitalize he takes it from francesco he has to dodge a a couple of late bullets from Brooks to do it, the majors have gone through these three guys over the last year and they certainly have, that shows how difficult golf is and how the level of precision that a poor mistake, uh, mental or physically, it may just cost you the title and I grant you that there is only one winner, right, these guys would love to win every event and they knock on the door more than anyone else and when you knock on the door many times you will be able to get through, so who have exchanged blows and are going to be fighting here in New York for another tiger who managed to win number 80 after being runner-up to Brooks. kepca in this tournament in August he managed to win number eight at East Lake and then of course he got the 81st win at the Masters, just trying to feel how his body is going to react after all the practice that he has done and I.

We know we haven't seen him in many tournaments recently, but you can bet he's been working hard on his game and in South Florida he never had the left spin, so he saw a low point in the property that was pretty easy to learn . These guys would know Steve was down there on the right if you thought that ridge was going to hold him up. It's always very difficult when you're climbing a ridge and you don't see a lot of holed putts when you're climbing a ridge and going to another back deck from 30 or 40 feet I don't even care if you have a shorter putt, it's always difficult to change levels and hold the putt, read it correctly and maintain it with great judgment and a little luck. involved there too now kepca another chance to join the lead oh and I knew he had a couple of shorter looks he could easily be three or four under par right now he'll take two and make a three-way tie for the lead again that's exactly the type of start that you anticipate or that you imagine the night before starting a major championship when you start on this back nine this difficult start two under five fantastic I guarantee you that Francesco will accept it looking for his first birdie of The first day, one of the best, he had Pretty good looking at 11.

Capitalizes at 14. Smooth as pool tables, these greens in the black are this week. There's always the thought that maybe at the beginning of the year the golf course isn't quite right. It's in the shape you'd expect, but Mike Hadley, the superintendent here at The Black, and his staff have done an incredible job of preparing this golf course for a specialty that perhaps wasn't positioned for it. You wouldn't think it would be positioned. uh right in the northeast in May, but spectacular conditions we would have been fine 10 degrees cooler would have been fine 10 degrees warmer we could have both before the week is out around 60 right now and downright nice, but there's some work left here to The Tiger missed about this range on the first hole of the day and doubled up, so they will be heading through a swampy path and the teeth of this golf course are next for this featured group.

Kepca tied with the leading tiger and Molinari trying to chase him. down I didn't know what to expect no one in the history of the games rejected his lower back and being able to return to the sport yes, the tiger's back, but how long has it been five years since I won a golf tournament, but when he came back into the mix It felt like normality. Are you seriously? It's been great for golf. It's been great for him. He's exceeded many people's expectations. His body is good. His mind is good and playing good golf. There's a little bit of tiger magic in all of this. year has been an evolution of whether or not I can do this again one of the greatest comebacks in sports history my emotions were starting to swell that's what they came to see the goal against the best players in the world and take them down, It's a great comeback, the tigers hunted them and now he's gone for the kill, I'm forced to say, oh my goodness, I waited for years, many doubted we'd ever see it, the return to glory, it's been fun to see Tiger Woods looking to take the next step this week, he has a 156-man field on a beastly 7,500-yard golf course between him and the Wanamaker Trophy, this man tied for the lead with defending champion Brooks Kepka in the t at 15 This fairway doesn't exactly fit their traditional fade something that is difficult on this 15th hole there aren't many good targets to aim for, this is one of the first holes they played today without fairway bunkers so they will have to choose a tree. . in the distance to really focus and hit the perfect tee shot, great look here, very high second, also Brooks will have a hard time from where he is, that shortens the hole a little bit there on the inside corner of the dog leg for a while. shorter hitter, that's a very important fairway to hit, there's room for that, so two on the fairway at 15 kepca we'll have a little adventure and we mention the big comeback of Tiger Woods.

We all know the story, but it's getting difficult. keep track of all the numbers, so let's see where we are now. He has 15 major championships, so at stake this week is the chance to reach 16 and be just two shy of Jack Nicklaus' career number. That number will be interesting. Next discussion we'll come back to that, he would tie Sam Sneed for the most wins of all time, he would tie Hagen and Nicholas for the most PGA championships, and by the way, he would be number one in the world again and Steve could have done it. I would have stopped all of this if you hadn't reminded him of him flipping his coin back 23 years ago in that American amateur, it was something I saw first hand, this guy flips a switch better and faster than anyone I've ever seen and you know.

He's done it his whole life and you'd think being out there what he did at Augusta earlier this year was nothing short of a miracle and lo and behold he's back in the mix right now, well you read the stories from the '86 game . masters when jack nicklaus won and how historic it was and how fun it was for everyone, it kind of came out of nowhere, it had been six years since his last major championship, but all those game stories said it was his 20th major, that It wasn't his. 18th pro major, no one kept track of what was his 20th major, so the current leaderboard is 18 to 15 or 20 to 18.

Well, I guess you could debate that until the cows come home, but oh well , there was no debate at 86. that was the number jack nicholas had won two us amateurs and suddenly this guy came along and won three somehow the line moved it was before twitter so I don't even know who to blame take a look to the ball positions here at 15. players try to hit it a little more to the right side, the whole location on the left back kepca will be iffy if you miss big enough in a major championship, you have a big lift there too. but if you miss it big enough and far enough from the fairway, sometimes you find yourself in a trample area, but it's a big elevation change of 39 feet, about a club and a half uphill to this 15th hole, it all comes together.

It's about the lie you have in your second. shot and we'll see, we saw that kepkis ball did indeed come off the ropes, he'll need everything he can to get a bit of a blind shot to the top of the hill, very intimidating, look here as the players stand in those bunkers that are They find on the front it just hits you in the face a little bit and really tells you what to do with the second shot, you have to hit it high and soft, and this green has some of the biggest contours. of any green on the property here now the green is unclear again and there are two groups on the 16th as they play down the hill so we stopped a little bit here as to the pace of play they were we are supposed to play in less than five hours , that is the expected pace of play, we have very little wind, we have soft storage conditions and we will not finish in less than five hours, this is the best you can get, great championship pressure, long and rough fast greens, you have to mark a lotball, the faster the greens turn, the slower the game.

I would say as a general rule on your home golf course, set that up if you're a superintendent listening, uh, I'm sure I know, but the slower the greens, the faster the rounds and look, this is an important championship, it is a great moment and it is also entertainment. Yes, we are entertaining you as if you were at home. The greens this week are at championship speed and that. okay for matt wallace who is leading alone now he just got another birdie look how matt wallace got there he birdied one and two early on and then he did this on the par five fourth.

I'd rather start over there half the field will start there today the other half will start there tomorrow and matt wallace, four time winner of the European circuit, including twice last year, shows the whole world that he really is one of the best players in the world world and there he is taking advantage of the easier parts of that golf course, surely that's what you have to do Matt Wallace is the champion Matt Wallace was in that discussion about the Ryder Cup and it seems like every year there is someone like Matt Wallace To be part of it of the European Ryder Cup team, there is a lot of discussion about how they should do it and then they win anyway.

Tigers, the captain of this year's President's Cup team, will have Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker, as one of his assistants will be the captain in play, it seems. You'd like, you'd think maybe not all the blocking right now, but the last captain the American team played in the Ryder Cup dates back to 1963, it was Arnold Palmer who did it at East Lake, by the way, or Tiger. I won a couple of months ago, we still have a couple of years to decide how it will go. Steve Stricker and Podrick Harrington will captain the next Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, I'm sure, I'm sure if Tiger doesn't make it, he will. a good opportunity perhaps to choose yourself.

I'd feel pretty good about him participating in the Australian President's Cup this year. I think that seems about right. Tiger with the honor here since the green is clear. He has 208 208 playing 221. This ball will come. At the bottom of this elevated green chase, there is a tremendous shot that makes it look very easy, but that shot the average player hits that ball in many different places besides 15 feet perfectly below the hole. How early did you know he was going to kick? Well, I think about it, I hope he can't see it and then the crowd told him the story. 201 is not as good of an angle from the left side, it just goes on top or next to this putting surface in two, very strong, although it's not quite happy. with that and kepca that sounded juicy this is his second since 205 and able to get it up there like I said, I miss it big time, getting to a place where the gallery has trampled if that was in that thicker and more intact place, there would be no chance that I could have made that shot, I don't even care.

If it's Brooke's capka and his strength wouldn't be able to do it, yeah, there were guys saying it used to be the six iron, that was the number, we wouldn't try anything but a six iron, good brother this week, they were thinking. They might have been a couple of clubs short of the creeks able to develop that up there, so three birdie putts will come here in this featured group on 15. They'll walk the big hills and turn around. and play again down the big hill, this is a wonderful amphitheater located here in Beth Page State Park, which is a good view of the hill and one of the steepest climbs, if not the steepest, on the golf course of tires, with a very intense green from back to front. many par four and a half are here at bethpage black and if Tiger can sneak this birdie putt he will pick a good shot and a half on the course at the end of the day, I guarantee there has only been one birdie today on 15 and you nailed it , Steve, it's a par 4 and a half 4.48 those tigers are waiting their turn, there's no way he should be talking to someone like her in a suit like that, the tiger monkey, he said, hey, what do you think that hawk's eye shows us the undulations of the green bowl effect on that front, you might see the whole location there one of the four days, but just one tremendous amphitheater beautiful par four if you're going to come and see some golf, that It would be a good place to do it.

Outside of pga.com, we're glad to have you with us. Tell your friends this is the only place to watch this round right now and it's exciting to sit with you and enjoy the four major championship trophies in this bracket. The last time you had all four major championship trophies in a group was when this guy had them all, so it was pretty easy, he just carried them around, yeah, and then there were plenty of times where he had three of the four, like this that this Something has happened, but to see it spread between three guys and then we tell them about the history between the three of them, back and forth, three not very good friends, there is no hard feelings, neither Tiger nor Brooks have played a bit living not far away. each other in south florida they are playing together a lot at times like this this one will go up the hill from right to left a little bit just looking to slow down he will probably take a four and run to the next hole and that was unfortunate under judgment someone turned on the air from the tires right against that collar that was right behind him, may have influenced the hit a little, yes that had to be at least a partial mistake, now kepka to tie for the lead becomes a good move. four there for kepca maybe you can take advantage of it to make par here on this 15th hole.

You are very happy that Tiger is looking to improve that with one, despite his birdie effort, he is sliding slightly to his right and he knows that this It would be a great boost. A boost in the round would not only get him going for his first birdie of the day, but would also get him ahead on a hole where not many people are making birdies. This reading of the green is presented by Sophie. It's easy to overread this one for Tiger. He is right. between the lines that is at the bottom of the cup first birdie today for Tiger Woods the one on one on the intangible that Tiger Woods has always had was the sense for the moment from the first round but he always knows when a birdie will prompt him to make "More great things, especially on a hole like this where there aren't many who will give up with just the second birdie of the day on the 15th.

He just knows it's confidence knowing that you've not only made a birdie but stolen one from the course," Steve says. scott this is trying to make up for a mistake by molinari what just happened to francesca a three putt bogey from a seemingly innocuous position it's always difficult and discouraging to follow up a birdie with a bogey especially so when brooks solidifies his par here on the 15th Walk up to the 16th tee with a tee coach who will show us this hole that is much more fun for the public when they come here to the popular country club in Bethpage quite dramatic drop from the tee just 60 yards. from the tee there is the crest of a hill you cannot see exactly where the landing area is you can see the fairway in the distance but the fairway does not sit perfectly on the player's eye from this point, get the ball on the side left of the fairway will give players a much better opportunity to attack this back left hole location, it opens up the hole a bit, although this green is very flat, as we found. a lot here at bethpage and players can try it on the green you will have a wonderful birdie opportunity here we will play a little shorter than the 488 yards as you go around the hill we are actually playing under par right now for the championship The Easiest 14th hole on the golf course Five birdies today just for bogeys I'd say it's all about location.

I think this back left hole location is the easiest hole location on the green. The most difficult would be on the front right. alex noren in the front group waiting to hit his approach shot tiger looks ready to get here he will be back up to the top of this hill in a moment the 18th tee is always nice as a player when you are sitting on high ground the tee It always feels like a little extra freedom knowing that you're going to be prepared to throw it far and wide and today I saw Tiger on the course playing around with the tee heights, teeing the ball nice and high and getting that high pitch. a little extra load, but I like what he's doing here.

I've liked this since he fused his backswing, the way he takes his practice swings for a long time with languid movements, just trying to free that backswing for a full turn, it's all faded slightly today. tiger, but not this one and you have a little bit of room to work from that left side, but that's not what I expected. All of these players aren't just looking to hit the fairways, they're looking to hit parts of the fairways and try to hit it too much to the left side, you pay the price, you just overcut the last tee shot.

Corrections are made when you raise your t shortly after hitting the ball. It's always a good feeling, a sign of confidence. Molinari hasn't done much. bad today, bad tee shot on the first hole of the day and then we're not sure exactly what just happened on hole 15. This hole fits his preferred shot style. We haven't seen any in the first rough cut yet outside of this highlight. group we will see how that affects francesco molinari when we return brooks kepca just one away from the first round of the pga championship here on pga.com I would like to welcome people watching on twitter, facebook and youtube too, I'm brian catrick along with steve scott our turner sports team we enjoyed our time here beth page black tiger has a twisted lie in the left gross here he just made his first birdie of the day which is not a twisted lie at all because francesco was the first spanish caddy to caddy it for an open championship winner, yes, considering he also carried josé maria olathal in the past and is definitely a veteran walking the streets, always unpredictable coming out of this first rough cut, sometimes you get jump shots, a sometimes you get a ball that spins so see if francesco can judge this correctly from 173 yes he can, what a shot for francesco molinari and a response after the bogey on 15. spectacular, what control, that ball definitely didn't jump off that first cut , well judged, well judged, searching tiger just throw this down the fairway with his practice moves here it's 168 yards to the hole see if he can get something out of it back there in the stance get real steep can you chase it?

Did you see how thick that lie was? a lot of Long Island rose out of the ground, pretty well done to get there. A lot of bad things can happen when you're on tough terrain like that. Long Island just got a little shorter now, kepca, it's about eight meters closer. at 160 and a good shot there allows a shot away from the leader now another chance to get one back with the tiger putter I knew he was going to have problems from there he got nothing with the lie I had the opportunity to talk to him in recent years and this This is a guy who told us all that he wasn't sure he would ever play golf again.

You heard it in the article a couple of segments ago and then the concern came up about him, could you even have an active lifestyle, his two kids are very active, they are playing soccer, he has a big backyard that he wants run and you're a parent, Steve, I think all parents are listening, especially if you remember the young, running around ages of your kids, so that's what he's got, he's got a couple of young run arounds that are jumping on him and you want to. To be a good father, you don't want to be that sore, grumpy father.

Oh, she loves playing soccer with his kids and it's certainly great to see. he mellowed over the years as a person, you can hear it in the interviews he gives and golf became secondary at that point and then you go back even a couple of weeks ago to the charlotte event that he had won before and you were hoping that that was his start between the Masters here and he said he wasn't ready because he wasn't ready to prepare. He was still celebrating the Masters victory and that was a very normal thing for a guy. That can't do many normal things and why wouldn't you celebrate that?

It was the best moment in all of sports. Where you have it ranked, I got it number one. I think so. I mean, it is. tremendous, but just inside 30 yards here for your pretty basic launch, throw and run, oh maybe even better than that, it's a type of shot you'd practice all day at home, live, with plenty of green to work with on medium soft greens. perfectly executed there spin control trajectory control so a bit of a tester for torque but not much that 60 degree lob wedge club has challenged the tiger so far but not there, it's knocking off some rust I mean we're looking The Rust is being knocked off, get a can of Rust-oleum and something, but we're seeing I mean a month off from playing competitively, but as we switch to kepca here, who hasn't taken much time off I should have.

I got a good reading fromthat pitch shot, by the way, that tiger just played sliding from left to right ever so slightly, you get the feeling he must be here. Steve one who moved a little more. He's read too much into some of the breaks so far today and that one. He moved more than I expected and Kepca gave himself a chance on each hole, he didn't threaten a bogey, but today he only missed one green, every putt seemed like it had a chance to go in, except that one, really, how good It was the one shot by Molinari tigers not even in yet and there was a time during the heyday when these were absolute formalities and it was one of the many areas of the game that was completely overlooked.

You know, many other things that were obtained in more spectacular ways. More headlines and you simply forgot how solid he was inside five feet. I'll have to say if there's a weakness in his game on tour it's been this distance here this year, yeah I really struggled at the end of last year. We also saw He goes with a couple different putters, even a different head style, with that middle mallet. These greens here at Beth Page will make a lot of players look really good, even if his form this week hasn't been all that spectacular, but this one is pretty.

Straight uphill here not much, this is your distance for par for birdie, right? Yeah, I think we can all relate to this and Francesco is up to the task, what a shot there, that's the dream birdie putt on 16. Still. I'm not sure what happened a while ago and I may still be thinking about it, but it was a strange three putt. We thought the first one might have been a mistake, but then he left the second one short and yet he won and is now down two. under so that was leading just a couple of holes ago the defending champion played the tough holes not everyone has played these tough holes Matt Wallace is on the front nine which is by far the easiest start now that you get to six things, start getting a little tougher, but matt doesn't care that he's already three under par that day, able to curl that on wallace four under par on his first six and he's the leader right now, There are a couple of Englishmen at the top, what do you think of that grip?

Matt Wallace was showing us with the little fingers on the trigger that he has an interesting way of putting the grip on the putter and it allows you to put both index fingers on the shaft, which is a little unique, but it's certainly working for him today. two shots back, Tommy Fleetwood played very well on his last trip to Long Island, almost finding Kefka on shot 63. and he screwed up the final round of golf that took us to 17. and only a part of this green surface of 17 is visible from where they are located. on the front right today is definitely the easiest location on the lower part of this green playing 199 yards, you should see some birdie opportunities here where this hole is located certainly much easier than on the upper back left terrace no one has birdied still seven bogeys today in 17 maybe we will see the first one in the next live sports broadcast in br live watch uefa champions league uefa european league national lacrosse league and more live above all, there is the group in front and there is also nowhere to go and look at all of the people it is a scene here every time you come to the New York market For anything, they are boisterous and they come in droves and when you have a group like this of the last three great champions , there's no doubt where the show is this morning and we're thrilled to be a part of it here at the PGA. com, with the hope that they would imagine for these guys and all these fans was that these three would still be part of history when they came to the turn and they are kepka, only two back, tigre and francesco just won, I think.

The interesting thing about the route here at Beth Page Black is that you have the first hole and then holes 15 through 18 on one side of that cedar swamp road that goes around the swamp, there are probably cedar trees there, so you'll see the It's like two different arenas, essentially 15 to 18. In the first one there will be, I would say, 75 percent of the entire population of the gallery will be located in these five holes and actually 15 to 18, so this. The 17th hole is simply a tpc without being a stadium per se, this is the closest to that type of arena, it is a wonderful amphitheater setting and there has been talk about the 18th and we will talk about the 18th when we get there. there, but maybe a change of route and one of them was to play from here near the tee of the 17th hole and while that may or may not have done what you wanted to do to play the 18th hole, it would have taken this away from you. atmosphere slightly that you are talking about more space for more people in this way the first rounds of the important championships are studied with patience the tiger knows that francesco knows it and is ready to start it is from 199 this shot is played a few meters uphill you see that elevation change and a little bit of the refreshing breeze hold that ball up there's a finger of that right front bunker that extends all the way to the front and he can be there and upwind here like you mentioned Steve, there's a boisterous crowd applauding him even before of him hitting, they're going to have a Ryder Cup here in a couple of years, there's only room at 17 for Tiger and that fluted six iron on the way is short and right too, that's right, Tiger, come on Brooks, come on, not a Es horrible to leave there a pretty simple uphill bunker shot, but not enough, sometimes it's hard to judge that win when you have this whole gallery and behind the green you now keep a good judgment of those two tee shots, hopefully you have enough cameras , please thanks. that to make the putting surface here you always learn more being the third player, let's take a look at the best putter presented by michelob ultra yes, good call steve, in fact he learned a little, something was not playing with that right front bunker I guess which is why haven't we seen any birdies here today on the 17th?

Well, they're not going to feel that wind much back there and now, could you imagine this scenario in a Ryder Cup when you only have 24 players and everything? of these sports fans who are the loudest in the game and maybe in all of sports supporting half of those guys who aren't supposed to, but you won't be able to stop it, it's going to be an incredible scene, no That's not to say it isn't an incredible scene already, but it will be five years from now in 2024, but the New York market is simply a golf hotbed. This is the start of your golf season here and you get the opportunity to watch the best players in the world do their thing and you know this is going to energize all these people in person and at home or wherever they are watching our telecast here , will stimulate them to want to go out. there and go play this afternoon or next week when a lot of people walked up the middle of that walkway, by the way, I'm not sure there are that many people who are supposed to be walking down the middle of the street, I don't know. can tell the media. where to go no you can't tiger, I'm not thrilled with his situation and francesco will be right next to him.

I mention that there is a finger of that bunker that reaches right where Francesco walks and that is the body language. from a guy who is rolling up his sleeves he could very possibly have covered his face that's how he acts and francesco is going back to the back here maybe that's why he's playing first I barely see the top of his green cap it's about six feet above the surface of that bunker, players can only see the top of the flagpole from there, oh my goodness this is awkward and yes, most likely torn off, this is the Australian rake, so if a ball stops there, It's a fried egg, bad luck.

We really manufactured a stance here, we just came up with a couple at 16 and had to do it again at 17. Shoot from there and you'll have to do it with the putter. I can't believe it, yes, Joey can believe it. Tiger, it was It's not going to be easy, he knew it, you're trying to fight your way back into the round, you build a little bit of momentum the other way and you get a break like that, you know he might just have a lie or a stance like that less than a handful of times all year and it had to happen right now, better Thursday than any other day, I guess, and it's a tough hole to have a lot of strength in here.

Kepca's second, very careful with that and very well done, seems like another neat part. number three player in the world boy all the stress francesco and tigre are under this doesn't seem to affect brooks he's playing in a different realm right now he's cool as ice call him ice man right he's just It's very calm, yes. in a situation where, frankly, if you put someone else out there, they're not going to come out and play, we're not going to be calm, our hearts are going to beat out of our chests. question, he just seems like he's, he's a walk in the park if you're going to do a long one, this is a really good place to do it because they'll hear it all over the county.

He was playing offense from a defensive situation. What happened there. Tiger is as good mentally as anyone in any sport that has ever existed, but I have to say that he was probably still recovering a little from that poor break. I mean, it's a human right, it is, it's not. You can just put up a wall and completely forget about what happened. You have to do it as a professional golfer, but that's part of that rust that we're just trying to do. These are all those things that happen during the course of a round. As? to handle adversity, how to handle certain lies, so okay Molinari, for your part, there you go, you just convinced him, as you can see, it's been kind of a rollercoaster for Francesco so far, Tiger will give this one all your attention and I say that. because in the next five holes he will play he will have four great birdie opportunities and he knows that right now it is again about momentum and building or maintaining momentum over the course of a round, he knows what he has to face in the next few holes , he knows that if he can hole this one even though it's for bogey, he'll feel a lot better going into those scoring holes.

I just saw the rod, but you can stay inside the hole. This would be a huge four for Tiger Woods, a double. to start the round that was sloppy and the first double of the day at 17 and Tiger shot himself in the foot here where did that come from you have a ball in a t of a perfect lie maybe you can forgive the one in ten but as a player which is unforgivable kepca saves par without problems for the defending champion two under two back big stretch next we go to the t in 18. The last tiger to play in the fairway of the group is 30 yards wide all the way and this would be I would have hit it if it was four yards wide, so that should lead to one of those good party chances you were talking about, Steve, that the last of the group, this before, was Francesco, a nice close tie that was stopped before that fairway bunker. there he is in the middle cut again and then he runs in the middle with the driver trying to carry everything on the right side, which you can do well, he can do it and look at that ball just stopped, perfect, he would have carried everything if he needed to towards down the right side which was a 302 yard drive with a roll foot Matt Wallace at 4 under just parred the par 4 7.

It's a converted par 5. There's Brooks Sam Burns 200 Tommy Fleetwood right there was Sam Burns. the web.com tour last year one in him newbie on the pga tour causing a bit of a stir there is max at home upstairs just one in charlotte a couple of weeks ago club pro jason karen local met the club pro pga at the mill river club here on Long Island even had up to 12 and 20 PGA professionals on the course, that's the case, five of them from this Met section that you were a member of for many years and, of those 20, it could have been Steve Scott himself.

You were on the course at the PGA Professional Championship, you gave yourself a chance, we're proud of you, I had the chance, I certainly missed the cut, unfortunately, but luckily I can summon some golf here with you and I think really what it shows is that. it shows all the hats that a pga pro can wear and I certainly enjoy, I enjoy this and I enjoy being around the game and playing it and getting going, but I don't have a 300 yard carry in my bag, maybe 270. so I do it would have done. It was difficult to compete here, but I certainly love it, I love doing it.

I also played Wells Fargo recently and will be playing in the Windham Championship later this year thanks to the Carolinas PGA Section where I had a good year. Last year, you were the player of the year and section champion in the largest section of the PGA of America. You're downplaying your accomplishments, Mr. Scott, and it would have been great to see you here. It would have been a very busy time. If you had qualified for this, you would have done it on Wednesday in Bluffton, South Carolina, and you would have had to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, the next day for the PGA Tour event.

Well, I think my future is less, there's less there than what is, but me. enjoy what i'm doing as a pga professional for the silver club golf society and the advanced club as we watch tiger evaluate thesituation here 137 yards long climb to the green full nine yards uphill this second shot plays nothing a nice high fade a little turn from left to right can't accomplish anything coming back to the front but a good spot maybe between the clubs didn't hit as full a stroke didn't have the spin back action it could have, but two solid shots there in response to the last hole, Joey just hit the putter that won 14 of his 15 major championships, was in the air , he's a good javelin catcher, right now, molinari, he was right in the middle, we lost track of him, here's the benefit of hitting the driver. it's 110 yards, 109 yards, excuse me, at this front hole location, yes that's bread and butter for Francesco, well done judging the distance, this is the type of shot and you get the feeling he's the type of player that maybe like Ben Hogan would do it. aim away from the flagpole so you don't accidentally hit it trying to miss by a couple of inches kepca from 101 great birdie opportunity here for brook brooks kepka and hand it to the guy on the plane who when he starts going through turbulence never lifts the sight of the newspaper, that's brooks kepka, the others are panicking, he's not panicking, i wouldn't be panicking either if i had won more majors than regular tour events.

He knows his place in the game right now and has solidified it a lot. Special player Brooks Kepca has many facets to the game, but the most important thing here at Bethpage Black is gigantic distance off the tee, which is what you need. Tiger is the furthest out of the entire group. Three good ones here in 18. You see. all these flags waving in the distance what these players are going to find have basically come from the farthest point of the golf course to this 18th hole and now they are going to work their way back to the front nine The way back to the front of the golf course and what you will encounter during the course of the day here: The wind could start from the northwest part of the property and then shift to the west and then even further. from a southerly direction as the day progresses so these players will have some wind to help them as they go through these front nine holes, yes there is actually only one hole heading into the wind on the entire back nine because it doesn't comes Back to the clubhouse, besides the small par three, they will be playing with a lot of help for the next few hours, it doesn't mean that they will necessarily be helped, well this would be a great putt for The tiger should slide a little from right to left , just bounce.

I always think that the rebound stat is always the most important factor in how someone feels inside. Can he overcome the problems he had in 17? The speed is also wrong. missed the line by a good six and eight inches and it kind of went away from him too and you touched it a little bit, only nine holes here this week, he played last week, but that's all you talked about, maybe Rust won't be playing in Charlotte, but I still don't necessarily have an idea of ​​what's happening on the greens, that's what we're seeing from Tiger. He knows this golf course in major championships as well as anyone with a US Open win at O2 and a tie for sixth at Oh Nine.

I knew it was going to be pretty comfortable around here, but just a little bit of a tiger like out of the gate, now Molinari should slide to his right, a very quick putt on the side gate and a beauty from Francesco, three early bogeys, two birdies late and then will make the curve. He's going to make the turn even, that's what champions do. They right the ship after a shaky start. You'll feel pretty good moving on to the other nine. Now Kepca has placed this ball as best you can just below the hole. This putt shouldn't have much room.

These are the kind of putts brooks kepka pours in with regularity has brought back the man to beat looks like the man of the hour no bogeys no problems most of the tough holes are gone matt wallace hits a shot makes kefka tie for the lead now that's really a back nine dream start, Tiger cleans up here for his par, couple of tough matches for Tiger, double at 17 as a head scratcher, he's got nine holes to dig. We'll see it live here on pga.com. Back here on pga.com featured Francesco Molinario's group coverage a moment ago with the first to have to choose his line and his distance on this wide fairway here he has done it to perfection and this also a moment ago also kepka now tied on the lead and look to the right that's towards the green field and now Tiger can't get stuck behind those trees and it looks like that's where he went and this may be another case that Steve as you mentioned with Brooks is so out of touch that he could work, maybe, I mean.

The whole location they wanted to get as far right as possible and the longer hitters can get past that corner there so we'll have to see what kind of tree issues, if any, that Brooks and Tiger have, yes I am . I'm not sure Brooks escaped from here. It might be okay, although it would take a couple of hours to get here from there. The co-leader reviews it. You used to work not far from here. Paramount Country Club. Another tillage design that is over. Continental through uh what's the bridge? The Tappan Zee Bridge. Okay, I think they might call it the Cuomo Bridge or something like that now.

They probably just built a new bridge there. Several million, if not billions of dollars. Lots of bridges around here. There are also many tolls. Yes, they ask if you want the toll pass and I think the answer is yes, I have a lot of tolls, okay, let's look for these tee shots here on the first few golf courses, we'll figure it out there, you see all the problems they have. they could get into tiger they just passed that tree on the right kept up they may just have a few branches in the way yeah it's just a matter of luck there on the right but they're just trying to in a lot of ways it's about the angle , you've got all that location on that left side, they can avoid those trees there, they'll see it pretty well, I mean, they'll have a sand wedge for this. first hole so francesco can take a look over there hey no problems in the middle guys one of the easiest holes on the golf course in fact it also plays under par and Molinari will be first from the center of the street.

Beautiful flat position, green light. situation looking away in disgust although it is not the best nor the worst I have a little bird look from there tiger situation again on the rough terrain a little thinner lie sometimes you see that under the canopy of the tree wonderful brown bounces there in the neck of the rough interior Molinari was well done there, it was nice, not sure exactly what was going on in the air Steve, but the ground helped him well wherever you are in the rough, you just want to make sure you don't come up short now .

Brooks and the guy who seemed to be in the most trouble gets out of there, maybe he was in the least trouble, he just made up something that, to take the initiative alone, that slit he took right there could have stopped starting a sod farm and even so. the ball had action, tell me how you do that, it does a lot of push-ups, four players at three under par and if those around the golf course watching the scores will know that this man is about to hit a springy wedge here you will have a wedge in two he has wedges where a lot of players don't have wedges but you get it four it's achievable he has a chance to definitely separate himself in the first steps here and shots like that Steve, you've seen the back and forth in the media, we know it's immensely long, but you don't seem to know it, he just doesn't take down the flagpoles very often, he doesn't make 40 feet, he doesn't hit the highlight reel shots.

He's not a standout type of person, but there was one right there. He doesn't seem to be in too much trouble, so he never seems to get out of much trouble. He just makes the difficult look easy and he wants to do it. being number one in the world, I guarantee you, he is two places away from that right now, three, and he knows that a victory here would go a long way towards making that happen. I think there are six players that everyone in the top six can get. there with a win this week oh complications in the golf rankings our calculations are difficult where is Molinari just needed some rhythm?

Yes, this green is a little uphill, the holes seem cut off in that corner of the green, there we will see how the hole is inclined, it simply ran out of rhythm when going up that hill these greens exceed 12 on the step meter, I think not you'd have to hit him, he'll hit it so hard, but sometimes you do, a tiger should have gotten a big taught with that speed right there a sloppy double to start an 85 yard third shot after missing the fairway and it wasn't a situation terrible that he chose to make a layup, it looked like he was making a smart and patient decision and then a sloppy third leads to a blocked six going back to the 17 leads to another double how many of these can you make along the way?

Well there's one, a birdie from the first for Tiger, back to two and he's not even willing to smile about it, this is a fight right now. Moving on, we're in the middle of round seven right now Steve, and so far the black course is still ahead in points, well he sees what Brooks is doing right in front of him, he knows he has to do it. . something just to keep pace now this for the lead and now alone at the top of the standings the defending champion and the strongest force in the major championships we have seen since Tiger himself is doing it again four under ten leading alone they come back through the round swampy road and there are birdies there too kepca the leader as defending champion of the 101st pga championship brooks kepca leading the way and we are watching his group present group coverage here on pga.com the three guys with all the trophies kepca molinari and

woods

and they're in that order right now brooks leads everyone at four under par a little backup on the second hole let's take a look at the making of a major presented by callaway i'm charlie bowling head golf pro at page state park kevin napier senior tour trailer technician andy wilson I'm the director of agronomy at that black page, so with the truck, the players want to have confidence that their clubs are right in each and every tournament, working with a player which makes sure of the lofts, lies and specifications.

They are correct, whatever we can do for them, we are here to do, I supervise the five golf courses and make sure that we are all ready for golf every day and we provide not only good conditions but championship conditions for the players of the pga championship Moving into May, the main season became more compressed when we heard in 2013 that we were going to host a PGA Championship, planning begins immediately and that included a couple of spring practices where we began to take note of how They see the trees and the grass. it was growing better at that time of year how you fertilize when you aerate the golf course also moved up our construction schedule we were rebuilding a lot of bunkers on the golf course and that gave us half a season less to prepare those things also get to the page Beth being on time with this truck is something that has to happen, there are no buts, going from Dallas to Bethpage, 2600 miles around the trip is a bit of a challenge, this truck, if it has to be towed there, it will be there, Bethpage Black is In tremendous condition right now, perhaps the best greens I've ever seen.

The putting greens were not aerated at all in the fall and have not been aerated this spring. The goal is to make them as firm as possible while the fescue is not. be so high, the rough is lush, it may actually be probably a stronger month for us in terms of grass conditions, Davids growing back, better ball marks, healing faster, players need everything the time possible to practice on that course to improve, there may be different conditions where they need a different club, they may need to modify a loft or lie. The weather up and down the East Coast has been a challenge, so even when players plan to arrive early, I think we've had some cancellations due to rain.

Experienced players here have a big advantage over the rest of the field. A successful PGA tournament for us. A successful PGA championship. What would make the PGA Championship great this week would be having the best players in the world in a small group to play. last four holes when the final putt comes in, hopefully we will have a great champion, we will be able to look each other in the eye and say job well done, all of our players performed well, this truck takes care of our players, adapts to their needs and certainly maybe a callaway win so let's go to the t on the second a moment ago our leader brooks kepka just one iron the preferred position is to the left although it seems that the easiest tee shot is the classic right, the tillinghast here alsoa moment ago francesco chillinghouse was all about angles sweeping streets from right to left that are very reminiscent of a winged foot design and then the tiger.

We'll look at several examples of this here on these front nine holes where the easiest tee shot leads to the most difficult approach. Pretty simple concept, Steve, you already know it all. Having been the head PGA Professional on a Tillinghast design for several years, Paramount Country Club, it sure is all about risk, reward, the great architects of our time build golf courses in that risk and reward scenario and yes, you should be rewarded for a brave tee shot or a brave approach and, uh, certain angles of the fairway provide a better position to attack certain locations of the hole and this one on number two is on this front right, kind of like the position from Brooks there and that left side of the fairway a little bit better, yeah if I could pick it, it would be like a dirty shot, yeah, it was 36, you said 30.

Okay, I love that they deal with already tight numbers. Brooks has 130 on the hole, but they had it at 139 all the numbers they said were already adjusted for the hill that's very simple simplicity is the answer to complexity brian and kepca apparently everything is turning towards the hole he's a magician and another good one for the leader the high fade is his bread and butter, all that location fit perfectly with his eye and then he executed Francesco, while a fraction above his feet might not fit well in all this location, when he is above off his feet, he wants to turn a little more from right to left, it seemed like he was going to get it.

Came out with a little kick to the right, but stopped very sticky, the rough here bluegrass po anna fescue mix, which is a fairway grass that got there, poana and rye, now tiger, the closest of the group at 110. beautiful position, location of the green light hole. got him ahead, good break at a good time for Tiger Woods, no doubt kicking the back of that forehead, he knows he's close, can't see it from the street, but the crowd reaction says it all now, that wasn't it The plan was that, I don't think the plan was, let's land this on the front strip, but it worked.

Kepker hit it more on the conservative target line, a little to the left, turn it to the right, Francesco doesn't know where his is, as he just pointed out. He will go up there and see it. He will be beside himself with anger. He could even break a stick. It's probably not right. All this seeing a lot of action today. He is the only par four at Bethpage Black under 400 yards. The tiger is not going to smile. mode we still did the boxing references there at number one you start your day with a double bogey you're in it you make another a few holes later you're really in it it'll be a while before he digs into the tiger mentality in the first round of the majors, I've heard it over the years and par is a good score, one under, even somewhere around par, spin your wheels, he knows it's a 72-hole event, he can't win the event today, so Above we caught a smile, Ricky got a smile and that's what the professionals among them are so good at.

There is a time to focus and there is a time to let go. You have to flip the switch when playing competitively. It's hard to play golf for five hours while playing today. Can you turn this around? Just jump to the left. Not bad. It will be an easy pair for Molinari. A little unfortunate to be in that place to begin with. What happens now? Kepca. The putt slides downhill a little to your right, the greens have such an infinitesimal amount of rest that sometimes, at the speeds they have, it is not always easy to discover it, but you can see the cup there tilted towards the cameras.

Brooks' left to right should indicate that this ball will slide slightly to his right, but he is licking his skills here just to set up the five under for the day, another golden opportunity for Brooks. It's hard to say you're in favor of less. and you're leading could easily have been two or three better right now without even blinking, he hasn't done anything wrong, the tiger has made a lot of bad chances to do something right here, back to back birdies got him on the par five, coming here in a hole, I have to avoid it. a harder one, but that's a problem, he had to start with something good, arriving late for Tiger to maybe start. to familiarize myself now with the nine hole practice round this week for Tiger Woods and yesterday I said that it was said to be Well, there are no health problems and I think that at this moment we must understand that Kepca remains at four under par. there will always be health problems Steve we are all about the same age it hurts every morning why burn it in practice right it hurts every day the old thing you are talking about practice yes right , no, don't waste it in practice. par for a francesco they move on to the difficult par three third 2 35 today angles of the green towards the left hole located 21 steps and seven from that left side the shot requires a very high and slightly stretched shot the green really moves away from the player on that side left you're going to see a lot of balls on that right front 30 or 40 feet to the right of the hole and that rough right back is going to get a lot of action just two birdies on this hole today so really uh all of this is really interspersed in some of those scoring holes here, a kind of hole where you want to make par and run to the fourth tee of a track, if you can find it for these players, only one hole has fewer birdies. that the third duel between brooks kepca and tommy fleetwood on long island again, kepca beat english last time shop online at pga.com for the best selection of official pga championship tournament apparel and merchandise, visit pga. com, okay.

I have people watching all over the world on all social media platforms Banana Ball Golf watching the way we would expect. Many people at work have their hat on us deep down. Steve. I like it. Don recognizes this game. Me too. that's a good call don in the video game where you move the target right next to the hole just press the bogeys button in blue it says death tax and brooks kefka leading a major that's what it looks like isn't it certainly Surely there is Fleetwood? he just made a bogey so he keeps eliminating himself jeff says jeff excuse me brooks kepca leading an important water it's wet grass it's green yes people are getting used to seeing that's no respect at all that's a lot of respect it's beating the best course in the game , TRUE?

Now and have you before Welcome to the

2019

PGA Championship at the legendary Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, On behalf of our PGA Professionals, we are thrilled to make our home in May as part of a new cadence for the majors. golf championships, the PGA championship. It is the most important thing for the golfer in all of us and it is special to hold this year's championship in a public facility, everyone can play the pga championship continually offers the strongest field in golf and is always full of drama with As we move to May the PGA Championship is positioned to boldly influence the future of our sport as we begin our spring golf season, our PGA Professionals can help golfers of all levels prepare to enjoy their own golf trip, so enjoy the PGA Championship and then visit your local PGA professional and play. you will love it for a lifetime everyone is welcome you know i had the chance to play here with susie and the golf course is so tough she almost didn't smile for a minute but it turns out she ended up smiling the whole time because she always smiles she is a very happy person and a wonderful president of our organization.

Tiger is now putting the ball in the ground while he waits for the group in front of the green, just now clearing, a couple of the guys in front went into the bunkers. on the left side and you're busy down there, so here we go for three in a row just what you'd expect from the number one greens and regulation leader on the pga tour right there, that was not a pitch shot. a full four iron right there i'm 235 landing like a dart just broke it tiger has some ground to make up he's five behind brooks yeah i got that shot too tiger kepka the leader only within 15 feet again perfect example little putt counterpunch and I know it may seem insignificant in the first round, but those little exchanges just say to that other guy hey, I'm here, I'm still here, great theater, how lucky we are to have this seat, could I throw another one between them?

We almost made it, we needed about two more yards for a hole that plays fourth, the most difficult. These players have made it look like anything but two birdies on the hole so far and we have three very good finishes coming up. This group has risen to the occasion. To the building, this group presented the four major championship trophies here and before the break we were talking about the tiger on his back and I think it just needs to be said because it's the best thing to do and the great question to ask now. It looks like Tiger is hurt.

Do you think he's feeling better? He is hurt and will always be hurt. He will be hurt every start he makes for the rest of his career. So you could put that part of the conversation. Behind you you won't see him running, jumping and bouncing up and down. He is 43 years old. He's had a lot of surgeries. That's just the new reality of where we are with Tiger Woods. The only thing that really caught my attention before. Actually, the final rounder was interviewed after his third round at the Masters and they said, "You know, with the time change, with the start being brought forward to his start, the time was about 9:20 that Sunday in that group." Finally, what time are you?" I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning, he said, oh, around 3:45.

I have to start the process. Yeah, he said around 3:45 in the morning, so you know, a good five and a half hours with six hours notice, so you know, I can't imagine what time. woke up this morning to get here, get to the tenth tee, there's a lot of things that influence what we're seeing here, yes, you can have a second and third breakfast if you get up at that point and no. To overdramatize it with him, half the PGA Tour has back problems and is injured, and if you ask him, this isn't going to be 100, you're talking about guys with lower backs swinging like this in this sport, you just have You have to smile and hold on because that's the reality now, so yes, everyone has that friend who wants to be the first to tell you that the tiger's back is hurt and he's right, the body has a great memory of how many golf shots you've hit in your life. and it's a very unorthodox type of movement, it's not a single plane type of movement, your hips move this way and you move laterally, horizontally, vertically, all at the same time, horizontally, it's not even a word horizon like it hurt you.

I was close, yeah, I graduated from Florida, I'm sorry, I'm sorry Gators, there's no way that doesn't hurt and you look at a guy like Brooks who has the same conditioning regimen and discipline that we've seen from you guys, you know , guys. that move builds up in the nfl, you're doing it to try to avoid injuries, you can run into it, which a lot of people thought tiger did and a lot of people thought rory and david duvall did. These were the first guys to come and go. They were in shape and Tiger and Duvall were really on the cusp of that.

Rory did the same thing, but Brooks says he's doing it to avoid injuries. It's about balance in life. I don't care what you do if you do too much of anything, it's never a The good thing is that I'm sure he has every coach in the world advising him on how much is too much as Molinari lines up this effort for birdie. Here he is the furthest from the hole and he is a kind of hope for the rest of us. the guy who works hard in the weight room but right now has enough time, that was enough and then it got away from him, but if the courses here get too long for a guy like francesco molinari and it's just the mad bombers who maintain that so we may have lost something but as long as a guy like this continues to thrive then the game is in a good place, the shorter hitters in golf have to pick the spots where they play well.

We have seen that with Matt Kucher this year winning at Mayakoba, he has had success at Harvard Town's rbc Heritage. The shorter golf courses have to take advantage of them. He is already the leader here at four under, leading only the chance to extend to two. shot advantage oh yeah he's got another kepca he's up and running watch out this could turn into a runaway reachable par five next sensational right there we're seeing a lot of great putts like the great Frank Jerkinian said in a tin cup, someone approaches him. The problem is that there is no one on this field who can push him, but they won't knock him down.

He's got solid cement shoes and it looks like he just did six business as usual for Brooks and you know what we use toget that. Look at this guy, we still do it, we still do it, that look hasn't gone away and it never will. You mentioned this number, Steve, and that's why it has a lot of first downs and many greens and regulation to get back to even. par for the championship, better speed than the last few, he's gotten a little aggressive, but he dies, there's that little counterpunch left that I mentioned a moment ago, Brooks responds to Tiger's tee shot and then puts pressure on Tiger in a sort of mini. way and tiger tiger flashes yeah if you wanted to look at this as a two man only match there was definitely some strategy, some cleverness on Brooks' part it was very helpful anyway being able to respond to the tee shot and then make the putt first the tigers make four birdies far from being in a match play situation kepca leads by two molinari with a good response there one almost escaped him, he didn't exactly have the right speed today he doesn't look either, he's still talking about it's even par , though even par, so they're headed to one of the great par fives in golf's major championships this quarter.

What do you think? It's simply a postcard from the tee. Beautiful strategic elements on this hole, the tighter you can get to that fairway. bunker to the left with the distance to take that corner of 298 from the back cut there gives the player a long iron maybe a hybrid of some kind on this elevated green above the hell of a half acre bunker there we are looking at a tremendous amount of birdies today, 26 birdies, in fact, and an eagle by chip from the right fairway of the green, which was max homa a little earlier today, recent champion at Wells Fargo, just a great par five here and this par five is shorter than the pair. 4 7 that we will see here in a moment, so it is a tremendous hole, but also a tremendous birdie opportunity.

Longest drive of the day was jb home at 3 13. You can get close to running out of a fairway if you hit it. much further than that visually interesting target, there are many possibilities, one of the few times in Tillinghast's design career where he punished short, short is good in most of his fields, he's not too punished anyway , but not here, that's fourth, so on a reachable par five. You know there's going to be a lot of action, there's actually about nine groups on the hole. I think most of the tournament has four kepca leading by two when we get back to the landing area opening the par five fourth and brooks kepca leading by two are on the team yeah you can't carry all that that's not good and there's not even anyone in that vicinity, you can lose a ball here, it takes little luck for Brooks to find that one, although being in May is not as exuberant as He may not be a good leader in a month or two, at least in that If you need a little more, that's fine. 290 takes it all and that wouldn't have been enough, but he's in perfect shape now.

Yes, the main goal here. On many holes here, hit the ball into the fairway, but dramatically increase your birdie potential by finding the short grass here. You have all the options now. Francesco loves the target line of him. Steve there, sometimes 30 yards to the right of where the other two start. favors that tie and you've seen his misses go that way today and unfortunately another one is going to cause a layup here at number four the search is on kepca's ball the first thing he did wrong today he still leads by two now you have a chance to play a beth page black just like these guys play the virtual pga championship now in the free wgt golf game available on your app store.

Opening round of the pga championship here on pga.com and they have found the brooks kepca golf ball. I found francesco molinari's ball and the tigers in the fairway no search involved there kepka in the wispy grass francesco back there in the steve fairway bunker the balls rolled back to the floor a little bit it wasn't an easy layup for anyone it means that although you will have to carry this ball about 150 yards up the length of this big bunker crossed here in four and very uphill, it was about 15 yards up the hill from this position on the fairway, this is a layup that catches your attention .

Did that catch the lip? He did it, caught the lip and could be in big trouble. He may not have even made it to the end of the first street, much less to the second. A setback from Francesco. Easy to do. Easy to fall behind. a little bit when you're trying to get it on that causeway up that causeway there and he stayed back a little too far and caught it fine, caught the lip kepka and ricky trying to figure out if they could get in from there and Brooks is getting mad and goes well, if you're going to use that kind of language or you have to go up there to pick a spot, this is what you were talking about, Steve, you can't see the landings completely blind from here.

You don't really have to go over that cross bunker if you want to make a layup, you can do it, it goes more or less next to it on your right, I mean it would just be a wedge and a wedge from this position depending on your lie, depending on where. this tree sticks out from its angle, the front bunker here is not the best place to be because you only see the very sloping top of the flag, so if you are going to place this, it will be on the right, give yourself a good hit. clear angle for his third to attack this whole location on the front right of the green, yes and the green is still unclear, I don't know if Brooks has made a decision, but I love the elephant, Ricky Elliot's effort to try hop.

Yes, he will need higher ground and then a jump. Francesco's ball only traveled about 20 yards after hitting the lip and Brooks is looking for 194 yards. This will allow Tiger to play first. However, we are ready to go from 2 to 10 onwards. let's see if it will hold up and it will be like that for Eagle for Tiger taking those deep front bunkers out of play and this is Francesco's third now or was it that Brooks one second was Brooks one second short and he left, he is able to get There was a tremendous amount of stick on that ball, it was hard to say exactly where, how that lie was, but he got a lot more than he bargained for from the t.

Well, here's Francesco's third, he's still 192 forever. That's just going to take off with a hybrid a popular spot on the par five fourth but he's there at three steve has big problems there when you can't get him right on number four but he doesn't come up short he's going to have to fight a little bit to make his part and the people who are trying to get into position now if they leave the clubhouse they are moving further away there is a halfway house after five I don't know if it's open right now make a pretty penny if it was and for Of course, the guy is waiting for the fifth tee, which is another great study in the angles of Tillinghast.

Kepca still leads by two and is right in front of the green in two, so disaster was averted here, Steve, we could have gone for the ball. I could have had it worse than that, no big deal, it was a little shortsighted, but these guys don't let it when they're at 200 yards or less, they really don't like to cheat if they don't have to. You had a good enough lie where you could make it happen well and you talked about this when you finished on 13. There are only two par fives here and that one is unattainable for almost the entire course and this one is achievable for almost everything. course, you hate to give this one away, there's no doubt about that, so you take a chance and scrape it around the green and hope you get a lie, he was a little short-sighted, but if the lie is reasonable, he should be able to get this up there and move on with his streak of birdies keep the pedal down when you're making birdies that's what I always say yeah we've looked at the scorecard so Tiger was very close to three in a row and Francesco got hot a couple of holes ago kepca It's just ruthless, stable and ruthless, right?

You know, he made two in a row at 18 and one just doesn't do anything wrong and evaluates everything. Would you rather be where Brooks is or where Francesco is? Brooks is because if he goes up and down he makes birdie okay he doesn't have as much green to work with but like Francesco does but you gotta like his climbing ability and Brooks just called a time out he's trying to judge the lie and trying. To find out, where is my lady if this one doesn't come out? There goes Bill Kratzer, our colleague here at pga.com and tnt, and it's what he thought was a pretty simple situation.

He comes to take a look and I'm No, now I'm wondering if this isn't an impending rules situation with Brooks, there's an abnormal ground condition, maybe some things he'll let Molinari throw here, it seems like I didn't want to play either, either. You know, the ones people talk about. speeding up baseball let's get a little idea of ​​that here just a second okay francesco is ready to go as it tends to happen so far there has only been one bogey in the fourth today in fact brooks had to ask to make sure what he was asking. but whatever it was, he never touched the golf ball, the ball was very low and something that seemed like maybe a hole to him and which was always good to check had to be a poor lie, he just couldn't judge it, so he will do.

We have to go up and down to match the two-time leader who is experiencing the first moment of rough waters here so far in his title defense, as we are pleased to welcome him here to our broadcast position, a seven-time All-Star from the national league, but he is also the ambassador of the PGA Championship, former Mets star David Wright, David, thank you for coming, thank you for having me. It was a pleasure to see you. How about Steve Scott? Did you meet him? Not for the first time you were looking for a golf lesson from Michael Breed yesterday.

The guy here can help me get nice and toned up a little bit, eh, yeah, I always love baseball players and their athleticism, okay or not, come on, yeah, oh, Brook is a former baseball player and now he That will remain on par, what do you do? Think about when you hear everyone talk about how Brooks is, you know, it may not even be this, it may not even be his favorite sport. He loved your sport, the best. That was amazing yesterday. Yesterday we went to the field and Brooks was practicing throwing it. and chipping and he came over and we talked for a while.

He wanted to ask a lot of questions about baseball. I wanted to ask a lot of questions about golf. So we were just playing ping-pong with each other, so it's a pretty fun day. We're right here in the middle of it. This is the group that everyone wants to see. Have you been out there watching these guys? We walked with them for their front nine today we went with Tiger, Brooks and Molinari and what. amazing atmosphere, I mean, it was really special, I think I mentioned, this is my first in-person major to be able to, you know, partnering with that group for my first nine was, really, really special, this is for Eagle, here we go. quite special also eagle for tiger in four he has four less in his last four and jumps frogs one less for the championship maybe it was me maybe I was unlucky for him yes, I thought you were going in the opposite direction with that you sit with us and look how things have been going he was inside the arms got to the front nine and you know he's turning it on well now he's certainly turned the corner david things have improved for tiger

woods

two doubles on the card steve and now an eagle he flips a switch better than anyone, I've mentioned it before and he just knows when to make it happen, and so does our, this man sandwiched between us just knows when to make it happen now Molinari for his five, this would be a tough ride. on this fourth hole, what if he didn't hit the fairway, he didn't hit the green, he didn't even hit it close to five anyway, he caught the edge of the fairway bunker and that guy just wouldn't have given up If it hadn't been like that? for a pineapple between him and the 15th green at augusta national that could have been different, kepke had a couple of good looks in the final stretch of the masters and also this for par, so he remains bogey-free during the week and continues to lead until Ho-hum David, is there a baseball equivalent to a guy like Brooks Kepca?

A guy who just keeps his head down does his job but continues to excel. Yeah, we tried calling those mills and I think that's one of the biggest similarities. between baseball and golf is that you have to try hard even when you don't have it that day baseball we play so many games these guys play so many rounds of golf you know you find a way to compete it doesn't feel good find a way to do it to get a score baseball eliminate a hit eliminate a walk you know how to do other things in your game that maybe you just don't know how to work to find another way to win the game and I think that's one of the biggest similarities with these guys and what we did was we you know being a grinder is probably one of the best adjectives that can be used to describe tons of similarities, like you pointed out, and the tiger grinding right in front of us.

He started the day with a double bogey, made another one on 17 and is one down as he heads to the fifth big par four here tremendous strategy once again, just after number four, you must place the balland more, download the br app today. Well, we'll join some of the TNT coverage here in a moment. Report from the stands doing a special one-hour pregame show before TNT's coverage coming at 1 p.m. ET They'll have everyone on their show, we only have these three guys, but you know, this week feels like a tournament. Well, everyone wants to know how he was going to do at the practice facility.

This morning there were 30, 35, 40 people. out there hitting balls all eyes were on the tiger, everyone, all the media, it's almost like we weren't, you know, the people there were just, they were just going through the motions, they didn't even exist and, you know, In many ways, that's true, because Tiger's world, you know, is golf and golf is Tiger, so he's the big curiosity and the race is back. It's one of the great records in all of sports, as we talked about previously with Jack Nicklaus, whether it's 20 majors or 18 pros. Majors is one of those benchmarks and the game begins again.

I think we're seeing some of that, just some of that rusting. The inability to go out and play in the tournament has cost Tiger some shots today, certainly, yeah, I think. That is a great observation, only the nine practice holes and no golf between the masters and here kepka in another difficult situation and the most difficult tests remaining of the day for par, without a doubt, the longest putt I can remember I mean, everyone. Putting has actually been a two-foot touch, so this game always tests you, no matter how well you are playing, there will always be some opportunities over the course of a round that will challenge your concentration and your ability to putt. block. everything and get the job done at that point, okay, Tiger got a little frisky with one of these back at five that was definitely a tough putt and he finished with three putts.

How does this one compare to that one? This one has a bit of speed to it, this 6th green is overall the flattest on the property, it is in a small area with the surrounding terrain but it is very very flat and that is why you see the kepca ball running , there is. There's not a lot of back-to-front or front-to-back movement, it's almost a pancake, but if anything this ball will come from his right a little bit, but certainly in the back your mind you know, hey, I just put three legs on it. . Again we have seen it a couple of times, safety first, he will go back to the hole.

I always called him one of the best lag putters I've ever seen and he just has a sense of speed, which is an innate factor that he's always had. He took it with him, got really good speed right there, but missed the line by a couple of feet. He came back a little bit to the left, but not a gimme, but certainly over the course of his career, he's thrown a lot of those when he had to, but. Molinari here with a great opportunity 4-3 his speed has been down all day, that has been the struggle for Francesco.

Usually when you're behind the hole, you imagine the green will slope from back to front, as most greens tend to do, and it just did. It doesn't feel the amount of gradient very well, but it doesn't go up or down too much either, so it will be fine. He's definitely struggling, you just won't see it on his face, I'm not sure we'll see much of it. kepca if this doesn't come out i wonder what we'll see if he does it just to stay bogey free oh my god he's just steely he's a robot how about this round of brooks kepka? he leads by two and that's only because luke list has gotten four under you say whatever you want about brooks kepka if you don't think he's one of the best players in the world you're not paying attention i love the quote brooks said tell me I can't do something and I can't wait to prove you wrong and that's what you seem to be doing here.

I mean, he's gotten a little silly with some of the things that have been said on TV. Now it's gotten a little silly. I understand some of that is because of work, but it's gotten a little out of hand and Brooks is responding with the golf clubs today. Francesco is still trying to figure it out and Tiger can't take them for granted. He missed a couple of these today. longer than this, so a solid two-putt par after missing the fairway in six difficult final stretches, up golf courses that take us to the seventh, which when most people play is not a par four, oh, they're giving the players a break. today, moving up from the 524-yard mark, it's just 4.95.

Maybe I can turn that corner and pass the stretch of trees on the right, there, again, a very flat green. I mean, if there's a hole that's about 500 yards away, it's a semi-fair par 4. I would say this is it, but you have to choose your line and your distance from the center of the green. Two putts get your four on your way. Only three birdies on this hole today. so another par four and a half on the scorecard here at number seven, well they're making a lot of fours, there's been a double and you're right, it's interesting to see a par five, a converted par 5 moved up to the range medium, although this There are not even long distances at mid distance today, but as we see our wind meter, it will play a little more than the actual yardage, so those fairway bunkers in the distance become target bunkers, they have little more 300 yards and he didn't. pointing at him, he's trying to find a cameraman out there, what's the deal with that Steve?

I think if Brooks kept building a golf course, he would build a lot of holes like this and the number five that sweeps from left to right, that would be Brooks' kepca. design we might see in about 15 or 20 years, maybe you think it would punish the left too much, who knows that Tiger is also designing golf courses and has always enjoyed the little tiger designs that fade and bleed, they are imminently fair Have you played any of them? I know not, I've seen pictures of many, many, and Blue Jack National and its affinity for Augusta National comes to mind, very playable, looks very friendly, yes it's a beautiful designs, but then you know it has a small part three courses there they call the playground and he knows where golf is and the future of golf and he makes it fun, okay, it's not a medium length par four for francesco, this is all he wants.

Like the number five, he will have to find a line a little further to the left than the fellow competitors he is playing with. They've pulled this one across the street again and it's exactly the same thing that happened on five, so Francesco is struggling a bit. he is one over the tigers again to match kepca leading by two he is dominating again brooks kefka leading by two and making it look easy even when he was a little out of position on the last hole talking about out of position here is molinari having to make a layup again steve Yeah, I think at the end of the day we're going to have to have a strokes gained statistic, but on these left to right holes, when you're a shorter hitter and you're trying to hit hard, the tendency is to hit. hooks, your right side gets too involved, you close the clubface and we see the ball going left, he missed it, left on all these long holes, the guilty green is not clear and Tiger and Joey, who They don't talk much about shooting, we will have some time to have a discussion about this.

Joe Lacava was left in the bag during Tiger Woods' layoff with all the surgeries. Now Green Clear was offered another job. He said he would be fine taking the time at home. willing to wait for the tiger to come out and that was surely worth it. Tiger invited him to the White House for the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony recently, yes he got a shout out, that's what caught the president off guard at 14. It's a fairway and a green, he's got some things to figure out before tomorrow afternoon's round, but he'll have some time to do it and recover a couple of steps closer.

I'm right in the middle of the green ball falling like a pitching wedge, yeah I mean he's got the subs on them they're just running the ball right now Steve just tried to get some minutes for a freshman, he's a a little early for that but kepka checks all the boxes right now okay we talked about tiger getting the presidential medal of freedom and he tweeted. It is an incredible privilege to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom considering the history of those who receive it and what this means to me and my family. It is also very humiliating.

Thank you all for your support and I hope this inspires others to never give up on their dreams. he had his mom there and Sam and Charlie Joe and a nice sunny day. Furthermore, the list of honors he has earned here in his career is getting shorter. Steve of the things he hasn't gotten. I don't think he has a Grammy. However, no, there are no Oscars to speak of, well, he should have won an Emmy for that performance at the Masters because he was a tearjerker. Yes, he even went to the rear. Remember everyone that we played early on Sunday.

Everyone who maybe didn't understand that message. I tried to stay away if you listened and knew who won you probably went to watch the broadcast anyway you cried again now Molinari with the layup left himself with a hundred par on the last hole and he's at 101 now he's pretty good at layups. These guys knew coming into this week that coming out of position you would probably have a lot of shots of that length. We are seeing Francesco not blink when he is faced with that situation. Well, what we're seeing here is that he actually follows this.

The group here is a microcosm of the entire total driving statistic. You have Molinari at 63rd and he is the worst in this group and scored the worst today and then you have Kepca who is tied for 9th in the total driving stat and leads this. The group and the tournament seemed easy for Brooks, it didn't seem easy for Francesco. Well, Francesco is very tough mentally. He works with Dr. Dave Allred in performing it. You know he's not necessarily a swing coach, but his performance coach allows him to. he teaches him how to be tougher in practice, you know, they call it, uh, you know?

Did they interrupt the normal flow of a block-style practice where you just came in and hit a bunch of seven irons? You know, they change suits, they change objectives, they make your practice as if you were playing a tournament, it puts some pressure on the situation and you tend to get much more out of it and since working with Dr. Allred, well, you have seen the results that has done uh remarkably remarkably well, we talked about that trophy that Francesco took from Tiger in the open championship by taking the lead and winning the claret jug, but he had also taken another trophy from Tiger just before that, winning the Tiger's own golf in Washington DC by eight strokes.

Tiger did not play. you gave him the trophy, the right, right look, that must give you a lot of confidence, except that when Tiger Woods gives you a trophy, that kind of started Francesco's career and Francesco also won the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year there in Bay Hill . The guys from his silver club golf society showed up right after that, but Francesco was playing about an hour ahead of the leaders and he just put up a number that no one could touch, he shot 64 in that final round and one thing you have to do. The take away from him is that he's a closer, he closes the deal when he comes into the hunt, he closes the deal like this guy here, yeah, that's another place where the tiger has won prolifically from long distance, this is the preferred method for the tiger leave the flag up it's not attended to just get the speed right it just drops slightly from left to right a couple of these got away today not this one this one was too timid and it's in that range again and we're in On all three putts was a pitch that left him within five feet on the 10th and then it was a putter that got away from him on the 17th.

I'm not sure it was really from the sidelines, I don't know. if that was officially a putt but it definitely happened and then we saw it happen at five, which was a three putt, this would also meanwhile be at the top of the leaderboard, here's this boring guy and another great place, Mr. cool. and that one fools them all, so now Molinari that year of his career last year changed almost all of his clubs, including the putter, very interesting and very strange, but he has had continuous success, so yes, tune very well thank you . Another missed punch in the fairway will lead to another bogey for francesco molinari and it's just a slow bleed at this point for him, he made those three birdies on 14, 16 and 18 he held on but this brute of a golf course is going to win, look in the whole scheme of the golf tournament, although in the championship, one under par, he is in the top ten, so he is only three shots out of the top ten, but he feels like he is way behind because he is playing with the guy who is making a jump on the field right now, so it's kind of a false feeling. of not playing very well, these guys are still there, even par, par is tied for 14th, so you know, we thought, oh tiger, six back, but there's not that many people between him and kepka, so It's good to keep that in perspective too.

Yeah, that's a big one.point that gives you an idea of ​​what these guys might be feeling and specifically our group, now they may not have the best idea of ​​what's going on on the golf course, very isolated here with one clear guy for two, it's par just another. one they're missing left and right, but the five foot range hasn't been kind to the tiger, he's just not releasing the putter, he's missed some types of leaving the putter blade open a little bit, hitting these putts in a tournament competition, can't I? I can't stress it enough, it's just different than doing it like you do in the medalist, it was sloppy at 17 for that double and this was sloppy at seven, two pretty good shots and then three putts and kepca just won't back down.

Hey, remember when you three made a seven putt? Yeah, I didn't, in fact, I didn't make any bogies today, six under par and they still lead by two, they're heading to the par 3 8th, which is one of the parts. You may not make it to the golf course, so let's take a look at a hole that not many people are familiar with. This eighth hole plays downhill about 10 yards down the hill. 223 yards on the card. In fact today that oak tree is about 50 feet up and will come into play with your visual and if your shot comes out a little lower than you want it can definitely influence at least your line of sight to this hole location right rear, located on the upper terrace of this green. par here very very good score don't see the players trying to get back to that upper terrace today because if they fail it will be a penalty situation for them so par here excellent score go to the ninth make your birdie There you will also notice that the only pond in The entire property is right here on the eighth hole, so they don't have to paint a lot of red or yellow lines around the penalty areas, so they save on the budget in that, yeah, fourth.

The toughest hole on the golf course, this par 3 8 and a little back up here and coming up in just a few moments we will be live on tnt welcome back to beth's page this is the featured group coverage of Tiger Woods Brooks Kepca and Francesco. molinari on pga.com I'm brian catrick along with pga member steve scott and we get to the par three eighth with kepca in full control of this golf tournament and unfortunately a couple of groups on the hole as we are getting bonus cover from hideki matsuyama hitting a tee shot on the par 3 8th, but steve we've been watching a clinic so far from brooks kepka, the defending champion who has seemingly avoided all trouble here at beth page black, has played some gigantic golf.

The course looks very easy, he knocks it off the tee, he's hit a lot of fairways and he's on top so he's really dominating this course at this point but it's also exciting to watch and this is what kepca looks like so far. and this group starts again on the difficult opening back nine having to start on the long par 4 10th into the wind he's behind the green you're just looking to make a four you're hoping for and then kepka with a statement from the start it's the flagpole, it's one below the other, it doesn't matter, it's just in the center, perfect, he didn't birdie the par 5 13th, which is a great opportunity when you're as long as kepca, but the next boring hole will make this one two under par up to 14.

Trying to chase down a couple of guys who started again on the front nine where it's a lot easier, Kepco with the toughest start, hands down, par four, position 18. perfectly , truly a dream start for brooks kepca, he was able to hit this shot from 101 yards, put some action on it, bring it back under the hole, absolutely perfect little mass and he would make it to the turn three under par 32 leading only when he reaches the first hole that misses right on the next hole and then houdini this from just 88 yards puts some action on it from the thick rough easy damn your touch on bertie yeah that almost seems unfair I'd do that to get to four under pair. a short second doesn't produce a birdie a long third after Tiger put one in there at 2 35 kepca had this in response, it was a counter hitting situation and Brooks hit back and Tiger ended up missing right after Brooks extended his lead right there . on number three at five under par at one point he was three strokes ahead on the par five fourth is achievable kepca had trouble making a five he gets to the fifth, which is a really difficult hole, no problem another short iron on another putt middle distance one more birdie on brooks' card kepca is six under par and at the time he was leading by three his walking pace hasn't changed from the beginning until now he doesn't get too excited and I think we're seeing that that's paying dividends in this moment and I have been very patient as you pointed out and this is a situation where we have seen this backup happen four or five times throughout this round and they are going to wait here for our timing to be perfect, we are not going to get there to see our featured group hit golf shots at least here on the 8th so we'll take you back here to fill you in on las vegas presented by caesars vr rewards next and of course the tnt coverage which we'll continue here on pga . .com will eventually play the 8th, we promise Steve Scott and I'll have that TNT coverage below.

Alright, that was good Steve, that was a lot of fun, unfortunately we couldn't show the TNT audience any golf shots. except the living, they saw a lot of good things, so yes, they got to see kepca run at 6 under par. We will see it on day 8 when we return. Brooks Kepka leads the way at six under par in this 101st PGA Championship. We're at Beth Page State Park We're at the black field This is the tough one The one with the warning sign I'd like to welcome those of you watching now on Directv, as well as our audience who's been with us the entire time. tomorrow.

On pga.com the tnt coverage is also going on and they have all the highlights and all the groups. We have this outstanding group that has been waiting here on the 8th for about 10 minutes and what a tee shot to be sitting here, Steve to 23. and the green is still not clear now the good news is that it plays downhill, but in this part of the golf course here the wind causes a bit of chaos, the crowd is still at it, well the flag is placed in a group heading up that hill towards the ninth tee, you can see in the background a wonderful spot on the golf course Although it's very remote here on one corner of the property, it's a pretty big goal if you're not trying to make your way back up to this entire location, but you have to settle for a steep 40 foot incline if you do, this is pretty good at that. and right on the slope, it will get a little worse again, but the line was a good strong shot, although with a victory going up and the long wait, they had to make that shot a lot of time to think right there and not flinch for the moment in That all was well, the third hole played a similar distance.

Tiger and Brooks both hit laser beams there. Brooks had that one lined up, we'll see. If the tiger can respond this time oh same thing slow a little further to the right that's where you have to leave it even though that's the mistake you're going to make a mistake go up the hole on the hill that's only five steps above the edge off that slope today a pretty demanding shot with a big change of terrain and a distance of 223 yards oh no it could use something easy here it usually doesn't come from outside 220 onto the slope and back downhill but a good shot was not excellent.

The shot was close to one, but for a guy who struggled with speed all day, Steve, the tests just don't end for Francesco and as a player, two over par with two to play par, is that number you would love to get . Go back and this is not a great hole to think about bringing back one of the last golf courses that a Tillinghast designed here in 1936 he designed four of the five courses at the same time. A huge company. The green course was actually part of a We established another country club and the city acquired it, we ended up with a five course complex that people here on Long Island have claimed as their own When these guys are done, our other featured group, including this man who is in the practice area in this part. of the yellow field, by the way, which is being beaten by the best players in the world right now.

Luke Alvey and Michael Breed will be on hand to guide you through the afternoon's featured group coverage and we've heard a lot of support for Tiger, obviously in this group, the leaders of this group, but there will be a lot of vocal support for Phil Mickelson this afternoon here at pga.com. This afternoon should be tremendous here and it always gets a little more interesting in the afternoon. I had lunch and had a drink, a drink, a coke or something, yeah, just Thursday afternoon, just wait until tomorrow, the scene will grow just trying to judge the lie here and figure out how this ball will come out of this first rough cutter you have chosen. a slightly elevated club, maybe a nine iron or a pitching wedge just to hit it on the green and get back into position and roll it like a putt, that's a good call, your two sand wedges, neither of them have chrome so there's some more very clever shot making to come, we'll see how it works, maybe it was too clever.

Tour players are 50 50 at seven feet and it looks like it's zero percent from about that range today. He's got another one that's and that's a great putt if he wants to have any shot at it, even pardon himself with a birdie on nine, so he's just trying, he's trying to get some momentum, that's what this whole thing is about. day, of knocking off some rust on the front nine, building some momentum trying to get his uh, don't use his term, I feel like it's okay, Francesco's fields have got it wrong on the longs, see if we can get it right.

This is a much higher rise than what you will actually see on the screen. Here he is going up about three. feet of elevation from that low area, there aren't many putts like that on the practice screen so you'll only learn that by playing the golf course and now the streams extend the lead steadily, nothing forced though, that's what have. We've noticed all day that he hasn't forced the issue, he's let the round come to him and it just looked easy, you're trying to close like he has done now with a par here in a par in nine shot 64.

You know that as a player and you know that's the start we're looking for and it certainly would be a shame to lose one after you've had a great day. Well here we go with this range again, PGA Tour players have improved. last year it's actually 50 50 at eight feet, that's about what Tiger is here eight feet 10 inches, so he's closer to nine. He usually reads his own putts, usually not calling Joey, but he's not sure how much rest he's had. I haven't done any of them yet, what a day of back and forth, a couple of doubles, there was an eagle and that one got away here at eight, when you look at those last three bogeys.

Steve, quite a sloppy job on the usually tidy Tiger Woods. He's kind of a kick in the teeth when you have that start that you made on the front nine only to get back under par afterwards, I mean, he's scratched and scratched from the start with that double bogey on his first hole. ten then just throw them back because it's painful, Francesco had a lot of those today too after leaving them short, he's up to the challenge, it's a good two putt par, both Tiger and Francesco could use an adjustment in the stimulus. meter, whatever it is, it doesn't matter, I think if he gets a foot slower or a foot faster, they just haven't dialed this one in today, this guy has figured it out, yeah, that's been all he needs to be the leader . three with one hole remaining is a clinic given by the defending champion that will be presented later this afternoon here on pga.com we saw phil mickelson warming up on the course rory mcilroy in the group and jason day the three pga champions and all Me I wonder what this afternoon has in store for us.

Looks like you're having the best weather of the week so far, Steve. It looks, uh, it looks pretty solid. Now the conditions have not really been a story today, but they have been a whole story. All week it's been cold, it's been wet, but coming into today, actually a couple of us had a couple of showers before the Capco group started, but nothing major and it hasn't been a story since they put on the ball is in play and these guys are in for a wonderful ride this afternoon Luke Alvey and Michael Breed will guide you through coverage of the afternoon's feature group here on pga.com A hole to finish in our featured group of the Tomorrow, although it is par 49,474 yards, this fairway has the steepest slope of any fairway on the entire golf course, puttingt from the right, players would love to take it up to that upper terrace on the right, which gives them a clean view of the green. 286 yards to cover the left fairway bunker, so it shouldn't be a problem for Brooks Kepca. oh but he threw another one well, well he got away with it, where did that come from?

What did that do? This hole goes the other way, Steve, maybe he thought he was going to cross the street, I wantI mean, it hit him like that. long, I mean, every time he doesn't hit where he wants, he may think he's offside, but the wind must have held the ball up a little. Francesco aims straight for her, it's not often that you hit four and a bonito. vocal reaction there was pointing, gestures and murmuring and the ball ended up in the fairway, it didn't look like it landed in the fairway either, but it's fine now, francesco narrowly avoided the old divot hole there, that's the last thing he needs, I think this is there big hole here for Tiger.

He won't be playing for about 24 hours from now, so he needs a good picture and something good to sleep on. He has one more chance to do it. Pretty solid move right there, which is the best. direct route, you can take the green, the final stretch here for our morning feature group, when we return to pga.com, we are in ninth and Brooks maintains the lead of this golf tournament in dominant fashion, leading by three groups still ahead. waiting to clear the green and that has been the case, the pace of play was never fast this morning, this is the first time in over 30 years that players teed off in 11 minute increments multiplying the extra hour of daylight of the day, now they were able to do that and We're way to the east, but on these back nine things have really slowed down a few times, which teaches you to turn your concentration on and off when you're playing golf.

You know these guys aren't locked up all the time. It doesn't matter if it's a normal four hour round, you have to be able to turn it on and off at those times and they're not far off a woodpecker, apparently some of Brooks' numbers today so far we see the ball positions holding up. has driven it far enough to be able to see the green molnari quite well and the woods will be very visually intimidating with that bunker deployed right in front of their faces, the green may be and the flagpole may be completely obscured to them, so it is beneficial to hit it to the right for Kepcke, even his bad shots turn out to be quite good, players will mark him with a full back left location, let's say one of the easiest hole locations on the green planet in the middle of the green. and give yourself a nice flat birdie putt.

This is one of the flattest greens. You won't have to go up to big terraces like they did on number eight, so there is a great view from behind Brooks Kepca looking for his The 14th green of the day is not bad, shows that in a minute now Molinari will pick the top of a tree up there, you can even see that tower. He will be climbing again. That part of the street is about 10 feet below where Brooks Kepca is. I just played after making very uncomfortable decisions, okay, the last best look at him makes him bite and sit up.

Tiger's numbers haven't been terrible. 10 of 14 fairways, only two of five fighting here were Brooks' shot. I don't expect him to have too many problems from now on even though he is long range and fits the stereotype perfectly kepka nine of 14 fairways now 14 of 18 greens only 24 putts today he made 88 feet of putts today steve four of four struggling 88 feet of putts there was a time, a major ago, when we were told his hands weren't good, his touch wasn't good. I'm pretty sure at this point we can decide that everything is pretty good. We could safely throw that out the window.

He's still rock solid, you know, and he's got someone like him, he's always in the media, he's always in the spotlight, he's someone that people look to to play really well and be able to know that you're that guy. something else, but to be able to go out and actually do it and put a state, this is a statement from the beginning that hey, I'm playing with Tiger and this is what I did, look at me, look at the world, yeah, I mean this. He's the guy you should be watching, we've been watching him and him all morning, the defending champions, winners of three of his last seven major championships, played in the contest he's not winning.

It surprises me how, huh. he has won more majors than actual tour events, three to two. I guess it's the level of focus and intensity he brings, that maybe those other events just don't seem as big or important in his mind, I can't imagine why he wouldn't be a favorite next year in 2020 either. The PGA Heads to Harding Park in San Francisco for the First Time May 11-17 For Official PGA Ticket Opportunities Visit The 2020 Dot Com Slash PGA Championship Might Be A Little Lively That Week Too Go Francesco he's in a tough situation here, a lot of guesswork on the tough terrain, that had to be pretty good, wonderful execution there, one more test for francesco, him and the tiger, both two over par, both could have gotten a lot more out of their Rounds, Francesco.

The day started with a wayward tee shot, I actually had to make a provisional and ended up making bogey. Well, 88 feet of putts made, we told you that for kepca that is a lot, generally anything over 70 feet of putts made in a round is going to be enough. be pretty spectacular, you could add 33 more feet right here, this put a little exclamation point on the day, I wouldn't let it go, brooks kepca is doing his thing, he's playing his own event and he's doing it like no one else. seven-under par 63, the second-lowest round in the history of major championship golf.

Well, I'm not sure many people saw that on the cards, maybe from brooks kepca, but that's a score that may be no comparison to the rest of the week. perfect almost perfect I guess he missed some putts at the beginning but 63 matters if you play any golf course 63 is fantastic wow the critics will find something tiger for a final birdie I have to hit it that has been the story of both Tiger and Francesco the speed has down, they have done quite well, but a very sloppy finish for Woods, who was once again tied in the tournament, he was one under four, which was his 15th hole today, 13th hole, however, the math works. and then you see the three sloppy bogeys coming in 72 It's hard to sleep well when you finish a round like that, but you'll have plenty of time to regroup, make a new game plan for tomorrow, you'll get out, it'll be a little warmer, you won't have to get up so early, warming up your back at four in the morning, you can do it much later, but you will have to regroup a little.

It's been a pretty tough Thursday for Molinari too. It's fitting that he had to push for one more and be able to talk about one in 72 for Francesco. I also think that's what strikes me about kepca, is that he just makes that putt, there's no big fist bumps, he's just a little putter, he shakes his head. the gallery like yeah, I'm brooks and the crowd was barely interested, you talk about the gallery, these big New York sports fans, that was a 63, other than Brandon Grace who shot 62 in the open championship, that was the reference point, I think the galleries. feed off the player in that sense and maybe that's what we got from Brooks Kepca, you're right and maybe why some of the big moments didn't feel so big, but this was gigantic, it's a four-shot lead for the defending champion , just to walk in the park, I have to give it some love. gotta give him we gotta keep giving him love he's a stalwart at the major championship stage what a statement in a standout opening pool round as defending champion held off Tiger and St Louis in August and just stiffened Him and the rest of the field here today, Brooks Kefka, has had several major trophies and gave the field the Heisman seven under par, 63 four leads over Tommy Fleetwood and Luke List.

Tiger and Francesco are able to recover and regroup. and they can get through the weekend and everything else, but the rest of the field has their work cut out for them when when he gets back, these guys are going to do everything they can to track down Brooks, who's tough to catch.