The second major of the year is here, and we’re as excited about the PGA Championship as any other major in 2022. The Nanshan site is as charming as the existing site. Gil Hanse and his team reverted to the classic Perry Maxwell design a few years ago, and if conditions are steady and fast (which should last until Friday rains anyway) – we should get a challenging test in Tulsa .
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One of the biggest storylines tracked earlier this week: In Nanshan’s past seven majors, all seven players lead after 36 holes. Difficulty has historically made it a difficult place to make up for quickly. This is a different Nanshan from recent major history, plus, as we mentioned, there’s a storm forecast Friday afternoon – so will the course play softer over the weekend and come back from the back easier? We have to see.
Now, let’s enjoy one of the best weeks of the year for golf lovers: the 2022 PGA Championship at South Hills Country Club.
PGA Championship 2022 Live Updates (all times ET):
11:25 AM: Rory and Tiger missed their birdie attempts on the edge of the 17th hole. Spieth also made par. The majors have cooled a bit, but McIlroy still leads at 4 under while Woods remains at 1 under. Max Homa and Will Zalatoris are still at 3 under, joined by Justin Rose and Davis Riley. Cameron Smith, on the other hand, was surprisingly slow to hit two-plus on eight holes. However, it is still too early. Very very early.
11:07 AM: Rory failed to make his fifth straight birdie on the 16th hole, but was happy to par on the 532-yard par 4. McIlroy found a fairway bunker and missed the short game on the green, but chipped to two feet for a distance shot. Jordan Spieth wasn’t so lucky, as he made his second bogey in a row to one shot or more. Woods stayed one under par after hitting a very solid par.
10:47 AM: Rory McIlroy held her daughter in front of his mural on the eve of the tournament and said, “That’s when Dad was good.” Well, Bobby, your dad is still really, really good. Rory just birdied his fourth straight birdie to lead at 4 under. When Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth made bogeys on the par-4 15th, he took two shots on both of his partners.
10:33 AM: boom! Tiger made a birdie on the 221-yard par-3 14th hole from 15 feet. Woods made his second birdie of the day to 2 under, but he trailed partner Rory McIlroy, who also birdied the same hole. Jordan Spieth kept par on the tough par 3 to stay one under. So far this has been working great for this marquee group.
10:16 am: Spieth and Rory proved fine in the front bunker, but Woods had his toughest shot after dropping the green from 88 yards to the back bunker. However, from an embarrassing lie, Tiger pared comfortably within 3 feet and stayed at 1 under. Spieth missed the birdie from 10 feet and Rory converted the birdie to 2 under after a nice bunker hit. He trailed Max Homa and Will Zalatoris. Can you imagine golf tweeting if all the favorite sons stick around?
10:08 AM: We’ve heard a lot about how long a pair of par-5 holes at Nanshan are, but both Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth comfortably made two after teeing off on the 13th hole. Ling’s decision. However, both appeared in a greenside bunker that also had bushes. We’ll have to see what lies they’ll draw. Meanwhile, Tiger came down on the left side of the fairway, less than 100 yards from the fairway.
9:52 am: Spieth also birdied his 9-foot putt to join Rory and Tiger at 1 under on the first three holes. The special group atmosphere in the morning is strong.
9:39 am: The story of the tee 3 on the 12th is amazing. Woods hit the fairway fairly easily with a controlled Stinger iron from the tee. Jordan Spieth thought he missed his tee to the left…but the hole left a dogleg and his ball bounced into the fairway. Then Rory McIlroy hit the dogleg, driving the ball about 330-plus yards into the fairway. Multiple ways to do it!
Tiger was 100 yards away from the hole than Rory, but he still pushed the hole to about 20 feet on the 12th. Rory, who was only about 95 yards away, held his approach to about 3 feet for a chance to join the Tigers at 1 under.
At the same time, we have a new co-leader at the top of the board. Wilzara Torres just made a long birdie on the par-4 12th to 2 under to tie Robert McIntyre, Ye Young and John Daly for the lead.
Daly had a great morning. He nearly dunked on the first hole…hit the flag on the other No. 3, then hit the ball with his chip on the seventh. The beginning of the 1991 PGA Championship.
9:34 AM: Tiger, Rory and Spieth had good birdies…and they’ll make par on the par-3 11th. Rory’s birdie bid actually skipped Spieth’s ball mark…the second time we’ve seen someone do it in coverage this morning. Kind of weird…
9:26 am: Tiger, Spieth and Rory were all on the green on the par-3 11th. It looks like the winds are starting to strengthen (maybe) a little…but it’s still very mild there and with stronger winds expected for most of the week, this is the time to take advantage.
9:21 am: That was Tiger Woods’ dart on his opening hole (the 10th). He hit a perfect knockout wedge to about 3 feet…and gave him a good birdie to start Day 1.
We’re used to Tiger’s rough start to the first hole of a major…so it’s an impressive way for him to start his day. By the way, when he won the 2007 PGA here, Tiger started on the 10th hole…and birdied the first.
The back of a tiger…John Daly and Ye Yang. What year is this? ! Gang Yang made a birdie on the par-3 sixth hole… JD made a birdie on the par-5 five. This is Southern Hills Thursday in retro style.
9:11 am: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are all on the 10th fairway… let’s take a look!
Observers at Nanshan on Wednesday noticed that the Tigers were moving a little slower than Monday or Tuesday…we’ll see how the 15-time Grand Slam champion plays on Thursday morning.
8:50 am: Birds are flying! Sam Horsfield made a birdie at the start. Ryan Palmer made a putt on the 12th hole for 1 under. California club pro Michael Bullock started the 10th hole with a birdie.
Xander Schauffele joined the group at 1 under, one of the best shots we’ve seen on the 10th hole all week. His wedges spun perfectly to within two feet…and the X-Men kept him warm from the weekend in Dallas. We now have 7 players at the top of the leaderboard at -1.
8:39 am: One of the morning’s featured groups is now on the tee! Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau all found fairways with less than a driver on the 10th.
8:24 AM: Let’s thank club pro Matt Bouchert of Isleworth CC in Windermere, FL, for topping the early leaderboards on day one with John Daly and Robert MacIntyre.
8:17 am: Jingdong! ! ! John Daly nearly dunked a wedge from 133 yards…then he made a birdie from 5 feet. The 1991 PGA champion tops the list at age 56! I mean, last year we won 50 years… well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. But the really impressive start was the long-hitting, popular past champion.
Bobby Mack also started his first round with a birdie on the par-4 10th. We were tied early on the chessboard.
8:05 am: The action is also on the 10th tee! Ryan Palmer, Robert MacIntyre and Alex Noren also found fairways.
8:00 AM: We officially started in Nanshan! Three former PGA champions John Daly, Sean Michel and Ye Yang all found the fairway on the downhill par 4 tee.
In fact, Long John just drove 343 yards to start the day…the 56-year-old breathed a sigh of relief and warmed up early!
Players will tee off from two tee boxes (1 and 10) starting at 7 a.m. local time (8 a.m. ET). Past champions John Daly, Sean Michelle and Ye Yang will tee off on the first hole soon.
Here’s where all the first-round flagpoles are… It doesn’t look like the PGA of America puts many flagpoles in the middle of these sloping Maxwell greens. We’re excited about the way the players really control their approach and short game around these greens.
For a quick preview of the course, we highly recommend our “Every Hole At: Southern Hills” video featuring drone footage and analysis. By the way, Rory McIlroy cites this video in his own research on Nanshan… need we say more?
More PGA Championship coverage from Golf Digest:
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