PGA Championship 2012 Tee Times: Pairings and Predictions for Final Round

PGA Championship play resumed at 8 a.m. Sunday morning on the Island Course at Kiawah.

Rory McIlroy has begun to pull away from the pack after his second successful third-round performance. After shooting an opening day 68, McIlroy fell victim to the treachery of the Island Course on Friday, dropping a 75 for the day. On Saturday, though, and into Sunday, McIlroy bounced back and took the fight back to the course, finishing the third round with a 67 and a three-stroke lead.

Does he have the endurance to maintain that lead in the final round?

Vijay Singh double-bogeyed the 15th hole Sunday morning and fell to a tie with his partner Tiger Woods for sixth place, five strokes back.

Neither Woods nor Singh is out of it and could make a run during the final round this afternoon.

Let’s take a look at the pairings and tee times for the final round on Sunday afternoon.

Notable Final-Round Pairings and Tee Times

Time	Golfer	Golfer	Golfer
12:17 p.m.	J. DUFNER	J. ROSE	B. WATSON
12:28 p.m.	T. CLARK	P. MICKELSON	A. BADDELEY
1:01 p.m.	G. MCDOWELL	J. DONALDSON	I. POULTER
1:23 p.m.	P. HANSON	V. SINGH	T. WOODS
1:34 p.m.	T. IMMELMAN	A. SCOTT	S. STRICKER
1:45 p.m.	R. MCILROY	C. PETTERSSON	B. VAN PELT

Check out PGA.com for full final-round tee times and pairings.

Round 3 PGA Championship Leaderboard

Pos.	Golfer	Total	Today	Total
1	Rory McIlroy	-7	-5	209
2	Carl Pettersson	-4	E	212
T3	Bo Van Pelt	-3	-5	213
T3	Trevor Immelman	-3	-2	213
T3	Adam Scott	-3	-2	213
T6	Steve Stricker	-2	-5	214
T6	Peter Hanson	-2	-2	214
T6	Vijay Singh	-2	+2	214
T6	Tiger Woods	-2	+2	214
Notables:
Pos.	Golfer	Total	Today	Total
T11	Ian Poulter	-1	+2	215
T21	Keegan Bradley	+1	E	216
T21	Phil Mickelson	+1	+1	217
T28	Jason Dufner	+2	-4	218
T28	John Daly	+2	+1	218

Final round prediction:

As we have seen up to this point, predicting the leaderboard at Kiawah is a volatile endeavor. However, after three rounds of play, these world-class golfers are beginning to get the hang of the challenging Island Course.

The shifts in the leaderboard are not likely to be as severe as this race has been narrowed to a couple key players in the final round.

Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods have become dark horses as they have fallen five strokes back of McIlroy. They’re not immediate threats to the lead but are within striking distance.

Rory McIlroy has surged through the rain-delayed third round to take a commanding lead. His inconsistency from Day 1 to Day 2 is concerning and he may not be able to replicate his excellent first- and third-round 67s.

Carl Pettersson has played solid despite shooting a third-round par on Saturday and Sunday. If he can play consistently and knock in a couple birdies, this major is within his grasp.

There’s also the rising Steve Stricker and Bo Van Pelt, who shot excellent 5-under par scores in the third rounds.

Who will it be then, who can withstand Kiawah and the rest of the pack?

The smart bet is on McIlroy, but conventional wisdom tells me Tiger Woods is never out of a tournament. A strong push in Sunday afternoon’s final round will be enough for Tiger to come-from-behind and add another dramatic comeback win to his legendary career.

Follow me on Twitter @BigHoagowski