Haotong Li leads. Brooks Koepka is in perfect position for a three-peat and several other marquee names are still in the mix through 36 holes at the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. It’s all set up for what should be a riveting Moving Day in San Francisco.
Here’s the latest from the third round of the PGA Championship. This article will be updated frequently when play gets underway. (You may need to refresh the page.)
Saturday’s PGA Championship quick links
— Leaderboard
— Saturday tee times, pairings
— Get to know TPC Harding Park
— Meet 36-hole leader Haotong Li
— 3 things to know about Round 2
How to watch the third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday
ESPN+ will stream two hours of coverage from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET, before the action switches to TV. ESPN will air the action from 1-4 p.m., with CBS taking over the coverage from 4-10 p.m.
PGA ROUND 3 LIVE UPDATES
Final Groups into the clubhouse
The top of the leaderboard is set heading into the final round at the PGA Championship.
Dustin Johnson holds a one-stroke lead at nine under. Scottie Scheffler and Cam Champ are lurking closely behind at eight under. Colin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka and Paul Casey are knotted two strokes back at 7 under, while a host of other big names (including Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele) remain within striking distance heading into Sunday.
Rules mania at the PGA Championship
The 2020 PGA Championship hasn’t been short of strange rules incidents, from Rory McIlroy to Bryson DeChambeau and a few under-the-radar players in between.
So to help you avoid any issues of your own the next time you hit the course, here’s a quick run-through of the most notable moments, and how they turned out.
4 PGA Championship rules dilemmas and how they turned out
1. Bryson’s Driver Break
The first, and probably most memorable, rules moment of the 2020 PGA Championship was Bryson’s driver break on Thursday. It wasn’t his fault; as he explained afterward, he had hit his driver so many times that the materials had started wearing down. After a shot that went unexpectedly wayward, he leaned on his driver as he bent over to pick up his tee and watched it snap into two pieces.
Ruling: According to Rule 4.1, since Bryson didn’t break the driver intentionally, he was allowed to replace the broken driver with the same model without penalty.
Tiger explains Brooks’ major dominance
Few people know major championship dominance like Tiger Woods. Brooks Koepka is one of those people.
As Tiger gave his post-round remarks, he was reminded of just the sort of player who rises to the top under these sorts of conditions. As he spoke to the press, he gave a nod to Brooks Koepka’s name, right near the top of the leaderboard.
Tiger Woods explains why Brooks Koepka keeps contending in majors
“I just think that big events, you see the same guys, and we see Brooksy up there again. Guys who understand how to play tough golf courses and tough venues tend to be up there, whether there’s crowds or no crowds,” he said.
Leaderboard Shakeup
Haotong Li’s drive into the trees on the par-4 13th leads to a double-bogey. For the first time today, we have a new solo leader and it is…Dustin Johnson!
DJ has eight (!) birdies today and currently sits alone in first at 9 under. Li, Cam Champ and Scottie Scheffler all sit closely behind, while Brooks Koepka is two strokes back at 7 under.
Haotong Li vaults back up top
More leaderboard jockeying from a few big names, but Haotong Li remains atop the leaderboard at 8 under. Collin Morikawa is in the clubhouse at 7 under after a Saturday 65, tied with Brooks Koepka, Daniel Berger, Cam Champ and Paul Casey in second.
Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau drained a 95-foot BOMB on the 18th green to get to 6 under. Bryson heads into Sunday alongside Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele and Jason Day (for now) at two strokes off the lead.
Social media explodes at Phil’s TV debut
Making your live television debut at a major championship is a bit like jumping from the high dive without knowing how to swim. That is unless you’re Phil Mickelson.
Phil Mickelson’s broadcast TV debut was vintage Phil, and golf fans lapped it up
The five-time major champion made his TV debut during CBS’s third round broadcast of the PGA Championship Saturday, much to the delight of golf fans everywhere. Right off the bat, Phil was vintage Phil, cracking saucy jokes and displaying the extroverted charm that’s made him one of golf’s most beloved players.
If social media is any indication, Phil’s sky-high Q-score might have raised even higher on Saturday.
Haotong Li loses lead
Second-round leader Haotong Li bogeyed his first hole since the 17th hole during the first round, and four players are now tied for the lead – Li, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Champ, Jason Day and Daniel Berger.
Haotong Li maintains lead through four holes
Haotong Li parred his first four holes and has maintained the lead he had entering his round.
But the lead has dropped from two strokes to one.
At 7 p.m. ET, Li is at 8-under. At 7-under are Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler.
Jordan Spieth apologizes to Justin Thomas
Jordan Spieth shot a 6-over 76. He then apologized to playing partner and longtime friend Justin Thomas for it.
“He said walking off 18, he’s like, ‘I’m sorry, man. I just didn’t really give you any momentum,’ and that’s a good friend trying to take the blame,” Thomas said.
The idea of contagious bad golf is hardly a new one, even for the game’s best players. And while Thomas certainly didn’t blame Spieth for his performance, he admitted he’s been on the other side of an 18th-hole mea culpa.
“I remember I said that to him walking off 18 at Augusta in 2018 when he was, what, nine under coming up 18,” Thomas said. “I four-putted 16, I bogeyed 17, and I just really was trying to stay out of the way because I wanted him to birdie 18 and have a chance to shoot 10-under. I felt terrible, I kind of scraped it up the hole and he missed an 8-footer and I told him, ‘I’m sorry, man, I kind of screwed that up for you.’”
Jordan Spieth’s high-profile struggles have been one of golf’s hot-button issues for years. But even as he stretches past three years without a professional victory, Thomas was bullish over the state of his friend’s game.
“I know he’s going to be fine,” Thomas said. “I’m not just saying it because he’s one of my best friends. I’ve seen him get it around when he’s not playing well. I’ve seen him play well when he is playing well. All of us go through little spurts. It’s just for him, this has just been a tough one.”
You can read the complete story here.
The leaders are off
Leader Haotong Li and the players who ended the second round two shots back – Tommy Fleetwood, Jason Day, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and Mike Lorenzo-Vera – have all teed off.
Tiger Woods blames himself, not putter, for putting woes
Tiger Woods, by his own admission, has putted poorly this week.
Before the tournament, he switched to a longer model in order to help his surgically repaired back. It has nothing to do with the club, he said.
It has everything to do with the person holding the club.
“It is about reading the greens,” Woods said after his third round. “I just haven’t hit the putts hard enough. My feel and what I’m seeing just aren’t matching up. Getting committed to hit the putts a little bit firmer when I feel they look a little bit faster; as I said today, I did a lot more works on uphill putts on the putting green to make sure I off-set the golf course, and still the same result.”
Tiger Woods shoots a 2-over 72
Tiger Woods started poorly. He finished strong.
Woods bogeyed holes 8, 11, 12 and 13. He birdied 16 and 18 on his way to a 2-over 72. On 16, he dropped a 15-foot putt. On 18, he hit his approach to 5 feet and made the putt.
Woods is 2-over through three rounds and was tied for 61st when he was done.
A recent putter change is fueling Haotong Li’s success
Haotong Li is heading into the third round of the PGA Championship with a two-stroke lead over an impressive collection big-name players, and putting has been one of the keys to his success over the first two rounds. (He’s ranked 3rd in Strokes Gained: Putting).
But Li also made a notable putter change at last week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, opting to go from an Anser-style blade putter to a custom Odyssey Stroke Lab Black Seven head.
Although it’s a mallet-style head, it has a custom flow neck that’s designed to have more toe hang. Read the complete story here for more details.
Patrick Cantlay, Ian Poulter are early leaders for round of the day
Cantlay and Poulter are already in the clubhouse with third-round scores of 66 — the lowest round of the day thus far.
Cantlay’s perfect scorecard included four birdies and zero bogeys, and launched him 41 places up the leaderboard into T19.
Poulter’s round was a bit more up and down, with seven birdies and three bogeys. Both Cantlay and Poulter trail Haotong Li’s lead by five shots.
Tiger is struggling
After making the cut by a single shot on Friday, Tiger Woods needed a big day on Saturday to get himself back into the mix.
But unfortunately, his third round at TPC Harding Park was largely devoid of fireworks.
Woods is 3-over on the day, with only one birdie on the card. He trails Li’s lead by 11 shots.
Jordan Spieth plummets down leaderboard
It’s been a tough day for Jordan Spieth.
After making the cut on the number (1-over) on Friday, Spieth endured a bogey-bogey-par-par-bogey-bogey start on Saturday. Not ideal.
Spieth is currently 7-over on the day and 8-over overall, dropping him into 79th on the leaderboard — last place, of those who made the cut.
Spieth’s round has gotten a lot of airtime because he’s paired with Justin Thomas, who is playing well, and ESPN analyst David Duval thinks he knows what Spieth’s problem is: chasing distance.
“When we got done talking at the end of the year in 2015 after that historic season he had, one thing I said and cautioned him and hoped he wouldn’t do was chase distance,” Duval said on the broadcast. “He came back in 2016 saying he was trying to find 5 or 10 yards in the offseason and I was like: ‘oh boy.’
“I believe [Spieth] needs to let go of Cameron McCormick’s hand and start digging it out of the dirt himself,” Duval continued. “That’s nothing against Cameron … he just needs to figure it out himself.” Read the complete story here.
Justin Thomas explains his ‘low-slice’ driver from yesterday
GOLF Subpar host Colt Knost called Thomas’ drive on No. 16 on Friday “one of the coolest shots I’ve ever seen.”
Why?
Well for starters, it was what Thomas described as an intentional “low slice.”
At 285 yards, the driveable par-4 16th hole is too short for a driver and too long for a 3-wood. So Thomas hit a drive that only flew 25 feet off the ground. The shot had 84 feet of curve and traveled 237 yards over about 4 seconds. It then rolled for about 8 seconds and ended up right and past the hole.
Thomas made the putt for birdie to get himself on the right side of the cut line. Thomas’ performance thus far today (4-under through 15 in the third round) is proof that shots like that can really build momentum for future play. Read the complete story here.
Tiger Woods struggles to make birdies early on Sunday
Tiger Woods needed a low round on Saturday to get back into contention at the PGA Championship, but so far he hasn’t been able to get into red numbers. Through seven holes, he’s right where he started the third round: even par, and eight shots behind leader Haotong Li. Woods narrowly missed his first birdie of the day at the 7th, where his long birdie putt burned the edge leading to another tap-in par.
Jordan Spieth has fallen to four over on the day, five over for the tournament through 12 holes. Playing partner Justin Thomas remains at three under as we inch closer to the leaders’ teeing off between 5 and 6 p.m. ET.
Follow along with live scores on our leaderboard here.
Tiger opens with three-straight pars
Tiger Woods is on the course for the third round of the 2020 PGA Championship, albeit after starting with a much earlier tee time than he would have liked.
So far, there’s no movement on Tiger’s scorecard. He made par on the first three holes at TPC Harding Park, having left himself long birdie putts on each hole that lead to tap-in pars. He’ll need to get some birdies dropping soon to stay within reach of the lead.
Elsewhere on the course, Justin Thomas surrendered his first shot of the day and now sits at three under for the tournament, five off Haotong Li’s lead. Jordan Spieth has fallen to four over.
Follow along with live scores on our leaderboard here.
Justin Thomas is on fire Saturday at the PGA
The World No. 1 is making a big statement early in third round. Thomas is five under through his first seven holes and rocketing up the leaderboard. The 2017 PGA champion started the day at one over, but now he’s at four under and firmly in contention. If he drops a few more birdies before the leaders start, things could get really interesting.
Follow along with live scores on our leaderboard here.
How to get to tickets to the 2021 PGA Championship (you need to act fast!)
Fans are not permitted at this year’s PGA Championship, but that hopefully won’t be the case at next year’s event, which begins in May 2021, just nine months from now. Here’s everything you need to know to get tickets to the 2021 PGA Championship.
How to get tickets to the 2021 PGA Championship (you need to act fast!)
The 2021 PGA Championship will be held at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course in South Carolina, the site of Rory McIlroy’s 2012 PGA Championship victory, the first Wanamaker win of his career.
The tournament will run May 17-23, but if you want to be among the lucky throngs of fans outside the ropes, you need to act fast. Really, really fast… Read the complete story here.
Spieth struggles early in Round 3; Tiger Woods tees off soon
Jordan Spieth fought admirably in Friday’s second round, clawing out a two-under 68 to make the cut on the number. But the three-time major champion couldn’t keep the mojo going early on Saturday. Spieth opened with back-to-back bogeys on 1 and 2 to fall to three over.
Spieth’s friend and third round playing partner, Justin Thomas, made birdie at 2 to improve his score to even par. Tiger Woods is set to tee off for the third round at 1:00 p.m. ET alongside Keith Mitchell.
Follow along with live scores on our leaderboard here.
Tee times, pairings for Saturday’s third round
Tee times for the third round begin at 11:10 a.m. ET, with the final group teeing off at 6 p.m. ET. Below are the final four groups to tee off (all times ET).
5:30 p.m. – Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Cameron Champ
5:40 p.m. – Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose
5:50 p.m. – Jason Day, Daniel Berger
6 p.m. – Haotong LI, Tommy Fleetwood
See all of the tee times and pairings here.
Haotong Li — mercurial, talented and supremely confident — is your PGA Championship leader
Haotong Li is much like the weather around Harding Park: mercurial and prone to bluster. He doesn’t lack for confidence — he has carried a wedge stamped with HAOTONG IS THE MOST HANDSOME MAN IN CHINA — and is known in Tour circles for having a revolving door of caddies. Li, 25, was the talk of the 2019 Presidents Cup, the brightest spotlight under which he has competed, until now, given he holds the 36-hole lead at the 102nd PGA Championship.
Capt. Ernie Els benched Li for the first two days at Royal Melbourne and then, when Els reluctantly called Li’s number, he shot a 41 on the front nine during Saturday morning foursomes. Li was then dispatched by Dustin Johnson in singles, the moment when the U.S. team tied up the Cup on the way to a comeback victory. Later that day, Li had heads shaking on social media when he was spotted scrolling on his cell phone during Els’s emotional speech at the closing ceremonies.
Tour Confidential Daily: What’s been the biggest surprise at the halfway point of the PGA?
There is no denying Li’s talent. In 2017, he roared home in 63 to nearly steal the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. At the tender age of 25 he has two European Tour victories, including the 2016 China Open, which made him a larger-than-life figure in his home country. “He’s like a god over there,” says Els, partially explaining the stamping on Li’s wedge. Another revealing moment came at the 2017 French Open, when Li chucked his broken putter into a pond on the 11th hole and his mother, not knowing it was damaged, waded into the murky water to retrieve it.
Now, Li is on the verge a big-time breakthrough, having shot a bogeyless 65 on Friday (missing 14 fairways!) to roar to the top of the leaderboard at the PGA Championship. And don’t think he doesn’t know it: At 5:30 p.m. local time, more than five hours after he’d finished his second round, Li was still entrenched on the range, banging ball after ball into the cool evening air. In his last six rounds on Tour, Li posted a score better than 73 only once, falling all the way to 114th in the World Ranking. But the volatility in his game is part of Li’s secret.
“He’s got all the weapons in the bag,” says Adam Scott, a Presidents Cup teammate. “You know, I guess I’d call it erratic, but he’s got all the tools, as you see through two rounds here. He’s got the arsenal to take it low but we don’t see that kind of consistency out of him, and that probably matches his personality a little bit. He’s young, and that’s kind of golf he plays. He plays pretty much all guns blazing, and when it comes off, it’s really good.”
Read Alan Shipnuck’s complete Li profile here.
Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia among notables to miss the cut at PGA
The weekend is officially here and only 79 players will take part at the PGA Championship.
The cutline was set at one over late Friday evening, eliminating most the field, including all 20 PGA club professionals. Tiger Woods himself flirted with the cutline Friday after shooting 72, but his 68 from Thursday proved just enough to help him get through. A late birdie-par-par finish helped his cause. He’ll begin his third round early Saturday.
Rickie Fowler was not so lucky. Fowler made a great run to get back inside the cutline Friday afternoon but a costly whiff on a short putt is what he’s likely thinking about right now. It led to a double bogey on the par-4 6th hole. Another bogey on the difficult 8th did him in.
Other notables to miss the cut:
Tyrrell Hatton, three over
Sergio Garcia, six over
Marc Leishman, two over
Jim Furyk, two over
Henrik Stenson, two over
Kevin Na, three over
Matt Kuchar, three over
Max Homa, five over
Matt Fitzpatrick, four over
Graeme McDowell, six over
Danny Willett, seven over
Can Tiger Woods still play his way into contention at the PGA Championship?
Tiger Woods’ re-emergence last month at the Memorial was a play in three acts. First, he came out red-hot. He birdied two of the first three holes, surged to the top of the leaderboard and sent golf fans into a tizzy.
Then he faltered on Friday, looking out of sorts all round before a furious rally to make the cut.
Over the weekend, his game stalled out en route to a T40 finish.
So far, Woods’ week at the PGA Championship is following the same script. On Thursday, he came out hot and worked his way into the mix with a two-under 68. Friday he took a step back with a two-over 72. Now he’s even par heading to the weekend, one shot inside the cut line and eight shots off the lead. T45.
So far, it’s tracking pretty similar. But Woods didn’t fly cross-country to finish T40 again — so how does he keep this weekend from continuing on the same trajectory? Here’s the blueprint for Saturday and Sunday at TPC Harding Park.
Get hot with the putter
One of the bigger equipment-related surprises of the week came when Woods benched his trusty Scotty Cameron. The move seemed to pay off on Day 1, when he made 115 feet of putts and finished 36th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting.
Day 2 was another story. Woods looked out of sorts on the greens from the first hole, where he missed a seven-footer for birdie, and missed a handful more good looks on the opening nine. Through seven holes he’d holed just eight feet of putts.
Woods attributed the poor putting to a combination of factors. For one thing, he and Justin Thomas agreed that the practice green was significantly faster than greens on the course, and it took some time to make the adjustment. He got tentative on some grainier putts, too, afraid to send them too far past the hole. Afternoon gusts made it trickier to calculate. And the greens got slower as the day went on, too.
Read Dylan Dethier’s complete Woods recap here.
Brooks Koepka says no reason to worry about mid-round treatment at PGA
No one has slowed Brooks Koepka at the PGA Championship the past two years. Brooks Koepka won’t slow Brooks Koepka this year.
Three times on the back nine at TPC Harding Park on Friday, the two-time defending champion laid on his back while receiving treatment on his left hip. Three times, he got up. Koepka birdied the 18th hole, shot a two-under 68 and is two shots behind leader Haotong Li after Friday’s second round.
“It’s fine,” Koepka said. “I woke up this morning, it was tight, and worked out and it got even tighter and then we loosened it up. It was a little tight when I was hitting balls on the range, but it’s nothing to be worried about. We’ll loosen it up again and it will be a lot better.”
Koepka said his surgically repaired left knee was not the focus of the treatment.