PGA Championship 2016: Tee Times and Predictions for Top Opening-Round Pairings
If the last major of the golf season is able to come close to matching what happened in the British Open earlier this month, fans will witness a tournament to remember.
Henrik Stenson fired a remarkable 63 in the final round to win that tournament, and that score came three days after Phil Mickelson opened it with a 63 of his own.
The golfers may not be able to go quite so low on the long and difficult Baltusrol Golf Club track in what is likely to be a hot and rainy Springfield, New Jersey, but that doesn't mean the PGA Championship will not be a competitive and exciting tournament.
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One of the traditions of the PGA Championship is to group the winners of the first three major championships together on Thursday and Friday. Masters champion Danny Willett, U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson and Stenson will tee off at 1:45 p.m. ET Thursday and again at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
"The Masters - Danny Willett
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 25, 2016"
U.S. Open - Dustin Johnson
The Open - Henrik Stenson
PGA Championship - ❓ pic.twitter.com/PksCmR2Cbc
While Willett deserves credit for rallying on the back nine of the final round to wrest the title away and earn the green jacket, it seems the majority of the golf world will focus on Johnson and Stenson.
Johnson overcame a history of failure in the majors with a memorable run at Oakmont, Pennsylvania, while the Swede may have been even more impressive when he got the best of Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon, Scotland.
Thursday predictions: Willett, 72; Johnson, 69; Stenson, 70
Mickelson was razor sharp at the British Open, and he probably would have earned the title if Stenson had not been so relentless. He comes into the PGA playing sensational golf, and he should have a legitimate opportunity to win.
Lefty will play with defending champion Jason Day and Rory McIlroy on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. and Friday at 1:45 p.m.
Mickelson won the PGA Championship the last time the tournament was played at Baltusrol in 2005, and McIlroy already has two PGA Championship crowns to his credit.
Day and McIlroy have played together 15 times, according to Mike McAllister of PGATour.com. In their last meeting, Day defeated the Northern Irishman one up in the WGC-Dell Match Play Championships.
Thursday predictions: Mickelson, 71; Day, 70; McIlroy 69
Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson will play together at 1:25 p.m. Thursday and 8:10 a.m. Friday.
Garcia has been fighting his entire career to win a major championship, but he has yet to break through. However, the Spaniard and his fans should be encouraged because he finished tied for fifth in the U.S. Open and the British Open.
Spieth has struggled in the majors since blowing up in the final round of the Masters this year, and he did not play at his best at the U.S. Open or the British (tied for 37th and tied for 30th, respectively).
Watson has a wonderful opportunity to show off his power on a course that favors long hitters. The Florida native gains an average of 1.039 shots off the tee, and that ranks third in that category, according to PGATour.com.
Thursday predictions: Spieth, 73; Garcia, 72; Watson, 70
| Starting from No. 1 | |||
| 7:00 a.m. | Bradley Dredge | Patton Kizzire | Mark R. Brown |
| 7:10 a.m. | K.J. Choi | Tommy Sharp | Jon Curran |
| 7:20 a.m. | Jason Kokrak | Josh Speight | Kristoffer Broberg |
| 7:30 a.m. | Darren Clarke | David Lingmerth | Daniel Berger |
| 7:40 a.m. | Aaron Baddeley | Kevin Kisner | Emiliano Grillo |
| 7:50 a.m. | John Daly | Padraig Harrington | Vijay Singh |
| 8:00 a.m. | Victor Dubuisson | Marcus Fraser | James Hahn |
| 8:10 a.m. | Soren Kjeldsen | Billy Hurley III | Scott Hend |
| 8:20 a.m. | Matt Jones | Rikard Karlberg | Charley Hoffman |
| 8:30 a.m. | Robert Streb | Vaughn Taylor | Kevin Na |
| 8:40 a.m. | Gregory Bourdy | Jonas Blixt | Roberto Castro |
| 8:50 a.m. | Ross Fisher | Omar Uresti | Greg Chalmers |
| 9:00 a.m. | Zac Blair | Smylie Kaufman | David Muttitt |
| 12:15 p.m. | Joe Summerhays | Yuta Ikeda | Colt Knost |
| 12:25 p.m. | Ryan Palmer | Rob Labritz | Gary Woodland |
| 12:35 p.m. | Alex Noren | Andrew Johnston | Scott Piercy |
| 12:45 p.m. | Shaun Micheel | Rich Berberian Jr. | Rocco Mediate |
| 12:55 p.m. | Tony Finau | Anirban Lahiri | Matthew Fitzpatrick |
| 1:05 p.m. | Danny Lee | Matt Kuchar | Luke Donald |
| 1:15 p.m. | Jim Furyk | Francesco Molinari | Shane Lowry |
| 1:25 p.m. | Bubba Watson | Jordan Spieth | Sergio Garcia |
| 1:35 p.m. | Patrick Reed | Justin Rose | Charl Schwartzel |
| 1:45 p.m. | Danny Willett | Dustin Johnson | Henrik Stenson |
| 1:55 p.m. | Graeme McDowell | Webb Simpson | Louis Oosthuizen |
| 2:05 p.m. | Ryan Moore | Kyle Reifers | Ben Polland |
| 2:15 p.m. | Mitch Lowe | Kevin Streelman | Young-han Song |
| Tee No. 10 | |||
| 7:00 a.m. | Chris Kirk | Wyatt Worthington II | Freddie Jacobson |
| 7:10 a.m. | Jason Bohn | Jeunghun Wang | Brian Gaffney |
| 7:20 a.m. | J.B. Holmes | Brian Stuard | Hideki Matsuyama |
| 7:30 a.m. | Tyrrell Hatton | Harris English | Matt Dobyns |
| 7:40 a.m. | Rickie Fowler | Ernie Els | Zach Johnson |
| 7:50 a.m. | Chris Wood | Branden Grace | Jimmy Walker |
| 8:00 a.m. | Justin Thomas | Rafa Cabrera-Bello | Paul Casey |
| 8:10 a.m. | Brooks Koepka | Brandt Snedeker | Lee Westwood |
| 8:20 a.m. | Adam Scott | Keegan Bradley | Jamie Donaldson |
| 8:30 a.m. | Jason Day | Phil Mickelson | Rory McIlroy |
| 8:40 a.m. | Bill Haas | Jamie Lovemark | Andy Sullivan |
| 8:50 a.m. | George Coetzee | Rod Perry | Hideto Tanihara |
| 9:00 a.m. | Nicolas Colsaerts | Jhonattan Vegas | Ryan Helminen |
| 12:15 p.m. | Michael Block | Harold Varner III | John Senden |
| 12:25 p.m. | Kevin Chappell | Johan Kok | Troy Merritt |
| 12:35 p.m. | Russell Henley | Fabian Gomez | Thorbjorn Olesen |
| 12:45 p.m. | Rich Beem | Steve Stricker | David Toms |
| 12:55 p.m. | James Morrison | Brandon Stone | Billy Horschel |
| 1:05 p.m. | Jason Dufner | Martin Kaymer | Y.E. Yang |
| 1:15 p.m. | Bernd Wiesberger | Byeong Hun An | Brendan Steele |
| 1:25 p.m. | Marc Leishman | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | Russell Knox |
| 1:35 p.m. | Jim Herman | Thongchai Jaidee | Thomas Pieters |
| 1:45 p.m. | Soomin Lee | William McGirt | Joost Luiten |
| 1:55 p.m. | Brad Lardon | K.T. Kim | Peter Malnati |
| 2:05 p.m. | Daniel Summerhays | Cameron Tringale | Rick Schuller |
| 2:15 p.m. | Brad Ott | Bryce Molder | Si Woo Kim |
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