Join us LIVE for the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. Watch all the action from the featured group of Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, and Gary Woodland.
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Contested each May, the PGA Championship is the second major championship in golf’s annual rotation, and perennially features the strongest field in the men’s game based on the Official World Golf Rankings. Known for dramatic finishes and notable champions, the Wanamaker Trophy—which has been awarded to the winner since 1916—is inscribed with names such as Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player.
The 2025 PGA Championship is set to take place between 8-11 May at Quail Hollow Club. The reigning champion is Xander Schauffele.
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We’re doing a good job faking it. We are It’s a long one. It’s a long It’s definitely It’s definitely a hard one. You know, when you tee it up and then first of all, you have to hit a perfect drive, you’re going to make boki. Yeah. Uh it’s intimidating. You You know, you’ve got those three big bunkers that are looking at you from the fairway. But if you miss that T- shot, then obviously it turn, you know, you’re just trying to scramble for a four. The green is pretty narrow, which makes it challenging. He kind of slips right to left. So you got to hit two really quality shots to go to look for birdie there. It’s just real a relentless golf course and it starts with the first hole. So they’re off and running. Hideki Matsyama Windam Clark and Tom Kim. Here’s a look at their T-shots at the opening hole. hearing Christian are eyes and ears on the ground. So you get a peek at what Hideki Matsyama has to face. Yes, thank you Shantel. As is the case this week, the the rough looks fairly lush, but most of the time the lines have been pretty decent. So Hidek is in no problem whatsoever. Just a very Yeah, just a very stiff opening hole. Back in 2017, only 33% of the field hit this greeny regulation. Not exactly a gentle handshake. Certainly not. When you see the scores uh produced from this morning wave, were you surprised uh knowing how saturated the course was? Listen, I know Sabair at the Greens, but certainly in the fairways that creates a little bit of a challenge. Well, the the quality of play is so good. It’s just it’s a difficult golf course. We got the best players in the world and you know you’re going to get you know a mix of great scores of not so good scores and hopefully our group today will be in the former. I think there’s every opportunity certainly Windham Clark’s game is tailor made for this golf course and has had success here before. What are we looking at for wind today Gary? Uh from my reading and just a a gentle southwesterly breeze. Has that picked up this afternoon? Yeah, it’s just picked up just a little bit. You know, it’s gentle. It’s 5 to 10 miles an hour, so it’s uh it’s not really anything that’s going to affect anything, but it’s it’s actually quite nice. Just keeps a little bit of circulation out here on a quite a steamy day. Yeah, 83°. Drastic change uh from Monday to today. In fact, Monday they weren’t even allowing spectators on property. That’s how wet and soggy it was. 61% humidity today. So, welcomed sight to see a 10 mile hour breeze coming through Quail Hollow. Hopefully I won’t ruin a pair of shoes like I did yesterday. So, we’re in good shape already. Gortex, baby. Yeah, Gary, who’s first to play? It looks like Well, on the yardage, Windham is first to play just outside 200 yds. On a hole, everything runs towards the back edge from the middle. see a number of greens like this where there’s a slightly raised area in the middle. It’s front slopes to the front, front half slopes to the back and the back half. So these greens, even with 4 in of rain, they have the subair system and they are firm. So he’s going to have to land this I think short of middle. So 204 for Windham’s approach. Wow. We see that so many of the greens here at Quail Hollow, they slope off to the back part. He carries it a little shorter. He’s in good shape, but not now. And Hideki out of the cabbage. 196 or actually 197 for Hideki. Play the run here. Came out quite low. That’s going to have run a long long way here. Watch this one go. Well, the thick rough behind the green saved it, Gary. That’s that’s doable from back there. Chantel, I’m not sure how many times we’ll say this today. Tom Kim last to go after the T-shots. My thoughts exactly. He smoked at a yard past Matsyama. So 196 for Tom again. Short middle spot you’re looking for and play for that release. That will pump his tires to kick off the round. throw a blanket over those three balls over the green. I’m going to call that a little bit of adrenaline there on the first hole of a major. All three of those, I think, missed their landing spots by a good 5 to 10 yards. Now, one thing a lot of people were talking about coming into this major championship was angle of attack, angle coming into the greens. Steve, can you speak to that of why given the conditions that we’re facing that’s so significant on these greens? Well, it’s more the fact that you’ve got to just put the ball in the fairway, then you can shape it into the corners if you have to. But with the flag locations that we’ve seen today that they’re obviously getable. Our leads at seven under par, a host of other players at four. So I’m quite frankly surprised the scores are this low on such a difficult driving golf course. Just as a reminder, eight under par was the winning score in 2017 obtained by Justin Thomas the last time that Quail Hollow Club hosted the PGA Championship. So there’s a little perspective for you with Ryan Gerard now at seven underpar. I didn’t see that. Raise your hand if you saw seven underpar leading right now midway through the first round here at the PGA Championship. Oh my goodness. I think we really need to say thanks to uh Keith Wood and his entire staff here, the golf course superintendent at Quail Hollow. They have done an amazing job with all of the rain we’ve had thus far. He in a note he sent to me, they he said they turned on the subair last Friday in anticipation of all this rain and it ran until this morning. So subair folks works. These are firm fast screens after what 4 ines of rain earlier this week. Good cart golf this group. Hideki with his third. Chantel Hideki with by far the easiest chip of the lot here. Perfect line landing into an ups slope. This is one you wouldn’t be surprised if he scares the hole from here. Gary Hideki is long and he’s good iron player, but he’s had a fabulous short game to accompany it. Yeah, it’s always been a traditional strength that doesn’t really get talked about, does it Steve? Because his striking so good. He’s penny one of the best chippers on the PGA Tour. Tom Kim’s turn to go. A little more awkward shot here for Tom. A little bit more grass growing to him. So there’s a bit more speed needed through the ball. Got to keep the speed up through the impact position. Short game has been much better the last few weeks. We went right under it. Right under it. Plenty left for an opening par for Tom. And Gary, with Windham right up against it, tell people at home what you have to do uh moving through the golf ball. Well, you just got to keep everything moving. Everything anything stops. Those hands are going to come in a little early. The club’s going to bottom out a little early and it’s going to come out soft. So, watch that body keep moving through the ball. kind of stabbed it up there. Actually, that was the opposite. That was beautifully done. Ways to get to the hole. Yeah, you’re just happy to make Yeah, you’re happy to make four on the first hole here. Any way you can get there. This putter ever so popular going back to when he won the US Open a couple years ago. Ricky Fowler kicked it off the trend, the Jailbird putter. It took off like wildfire. It’s kind of moved on to a new trend in 2025. A lot of lab putters out there, but Windham’s not going anywhere. Players are always looking for any advantage they can get. It’s always about the latest and greatest design. All right, this would be a good way to start. Knock this in for par and move on. It’s kind of one of those passes, isn’t it? That could well set up a good front n here if you can kind of escape after not a great chip straight up the hill from here. Well done. Well done. Paul Dori certainly knows this place very well even though Tom Kim hasn’t had as many walks around this ballpark. Paul of course former caddy of Web Simpson who calls this place home. Practice out of here often. and Hideki Matsyama in for par. No surprise that at the second hardest hole on property, only five birdies have been made there today. As we charge on to the next par four, playing 454 the second. It is a beast of a hole. The U golf course when it opened in the early 60s, the first hole was a short four and two was a short three down the hill. They got rid of two and created this long third hole here which plays 454 yards. You’ve gone from an easy first hole, easy second. Now you’ve got a very difficult third. Tendency here off this dog leg right is to go through, excuse me, dog leg left is go through the fairway on the right. For a player like Kadeki, he’s got to hug that left side perhaps go up over those trees you see at the corner. Not unlike the T-shot at the first. Oh, he’s going with three-wood. So Gary, he’s going with less than driver. Yeah, I think a wise idea as you say with that predominant shot. This hole is easier this week because of the soft conditions with that camber. If it’s firm, anything right will run into the rough. This week that ball is not going to run very far when it hits. So it actually widens his fairway. It’s kind of a little bit like Olympic club, isn’t it, Steve? Dog leg left, camber right. Yeah, I call you reverse camber. Exactly. It’s a good thing to your point the fairways are soft. I’ve got about 18 in a roll. No problem. Finish on the gap. No problem getting Yeah. to our number. Now, the way Windham’s looking, he is looking over this tree on the left corner, which will very much shorten this hole. You get this in the right spot. You’re going to be going in probably with a wedge. So, opportunity here to be aggressive. There’s so much talk about Scotty and Rory, but they both have complimented Windham Clark back when he did have a lot of consistency with driver and maybe we’ll see that on display today, Gary. Well, it’s his game is tailor made for here. Long and a good putter. So, you have a good week with a driver and a good week with a putter. Windom Clark will certainly be in the mix come Sunday. Caught the tree left. We didn’t see where it came down, but he’s got his work cut out for him now. Looks like a similar line for Tom Kim. Maybe just a little bit further right than that. Yeah, less than driver here. Just going to play it off of that corner tree. No, I have one in here for you. It looks like Tom Kim’s worked on his routine. Remember how slow and deliberate it’s become? It’s a little little pace to it now finally. Yeah, I covered him at the MX and it was painful to watch. So much thinking going on. So this is way better. Certainly a point of emphasis with the PGA tour cracking down on pace of play. We’ll be back with more from the first round. [Music] We still have no program and I only hear myself in one ear. Chint tell you the same. Correct. Yes. They told me to turn up the zoom knob, too, which I did. I I did too. He didn’t hit didn’t go. Yeah, this is uh [Music] tough. Sure. [Music] There are thousands of golf tournaments, the infamous six-man at the Clarksdale Country Club and the member guest at Cherokee and proams and amateur matchplay events. But really, there are only four golf tournaments. Sander with victory at Bhana Shambo. Another US Open championship. The champion golf of the year. Maroy has his masterpiece. This is the PGA Championship. [Music] Okay, some perspective from the second hole so far today in this opening round at this year’s PGA Championship. And boy oh boy, Winnham Clark likes to put that distance on display. Did he ever? Ball speed 194. Uh, and 337 yard uphill drive. That’s pretty good to say the least. Well, Tom Kim got the best drive out of his system at the opening hole. And so he is well back, but of course elected for position play with less than driver playing to his strengths. And by the way, I chatted with Paul Taori and asked him, “Hey, you know, when Tom Kim gets to a course like this where you’re just being plummeted with talk about length, said, “Yeah, it’s a little intimidating because of course with all of the weather we face coming into this major, um, that’s not helping the cause for guys who don’t have that kind of Windham Clark distance.” Bio here. Eight top five finishes on tour. Those three PGA Tour wins. They came fast, too for the 22-year-old. Gosh, he was 18 when he got on tour. A special temporary member, and he’s become a fan favorite. Well, Shantel, this is the the challenge. If you hit three-wood, and you don’t get it down the right side, you’ve got the big tree on the corner in the way. So, he’s going to have to sweeping hook here from 200 yards with the ball below his feet, Gary. Right. and keeping it low. Too many factors in this shot. So the force front and the slope short of this green isn’t a huge slope. So he can bounce it up and run it up there. Big feature of this course are big slopes short of the green. Oh, look at this. This is beautifully done. This is going to be really good. That is so clever. Well done is right. Running it all the way up to the green from 199 with those factors we outlined. Should be pleased. Uhhuh. Oh yes, he is. Hadi getting set. 157 is his number. A little bit more conventional here. So just a good thump with a wedge for Hideki down wind. Let’s see how this one reacts. There you go. Even with a short iron hit fall, it still bounces forwards. Seems disappointed, but he shouldn’t be. One never knows with Hideki from watching his reactions. Windom sifting through the numbers. Just shy of just 98 yards after 337 here. No, I’m not 10 yards. I think I’m I think it’s going to still spin. Okay. So, you want it just on top then? Yeah. What’s 5 10 14 78 88 92. Yeah. I mean, I think it’s just I mean, are we playing help on this? Yeah. Should should be help. All right. 92. I like a 90 shot though. Okay. See that wind now kind of pushing it to the right. To the right a little bit. If I finish on the tree. Yeah. Yeah. Be money. Perfect. I love it. So I think he pitches this on top. I think this jumps forwards past the flag. Be interested to see if he can get any grip after that. Not sure if he can bring it back from this first cup. Yes, you can. Can he ever. What a shot. What a drive. What a second shot. Let’s go back to what Tom Kim was able to produce from here. I’m so impressed because he doesn’t naturally hook the ball like that. Probably close the club face, put it back in his hands, and just play the most uniquely perfect shot here at the second green. Well, since we showed it, let’s focus on that for a second, Steve. I mean, they’re both all animated about it. It’s awesome. You’re not practicing that. So, how do you actually in real time tournament play pull that off? It’s in instinctive. It’s intuitive. Chantel, these players, they practice at home, they play around, they fool around with stuff, and uh it’s it’s always in there. And uh they summon it at the right time. And he clearly did so then. That was superb. These were some great memories. Boy, oh boy. Even if you’re an American fan, at the President’s Cup, the passion just exploding from Tom Kim made everybody fall in love with him. But I think it spurred more the US team on than it did his team with his uh You’re right about that. Goings on there. Yeah. Crazy enough, uh, he and Scotty Sheffler living in the Dallas area and practice, see each other. Uncle Tom is how he refers to himself with Baby Bennett of the Shufflers. And so, they’re friends, but not so much when it comes to President’s Cup territory. And Scotty had some pointed words facing Tom. All right, the second hole has only produced 14 birdies today. Playing no surprise over par. He’s saying that plenty. I get a sense we might add to it here. Shantel, three shots in great positions. I feel right to left for Hideki. 17 and 12 ft for birdie. [Music] [Applause] And Shantel, I was talking to Paul Tori before the round today. We were talking about Tom and just, you know, he struggled a little bit with his swing and he had spent a lot of time working on the swing and then that took away from the short game in the putting. So, it’s almost like a little bit of whack-a-ole. You start to get the swing coming back and then the short game went a little bit. So, he’s really dedicated himself to to that part of the game and everything feels like it’s coming in at the right time. You know, he was his attitude is great even though the results haven’t been great. So, that’s a huge part of it. Quite a big swinger left to right here. This is a good two or three feet left. 12 feet in front of Tom to pick up his first birdie. Well, they can’t complain about the greens here. Uh they are absolutely superb. There’s tiff dwarf overseated with po stepping about 12 and they are just stunningly good. That’s the beauty of not just the grounds crew being so meticulous putting in overtime hours. I mean, somebody needs to do a feature on the sleep patterns and the health of these guys major championship weeks. But certainly the subair plays a big role in getting this course ready to go. Well, Chantel uh Keith has called on a number of his friends in the world. He has 35 folks on his staff here and he’s got volunteers from all over the Carolinas, all over the world. Uh actually 45 on his staff. He’s got 90 volunteers. So 135 staff and volunteers for this event. A big thank you to them. Seven feet here for Windham to get on the board. Did you have any doubt, Gary? We didn’t. This guy can be lethal. Back at his most recent win, Pebble Beach, record setting fashion, albeit shortened due to the weather there. But boy, was that putting beautiful. And to think it could have even been better. Indeed. So Tom in for par and we move on to the third hole playing 488 today. It is a straightaway very difficult driving hole here. Very narrow in the landing area. That large bunker on the right protects the right side. If you go left the large tree there basically blocks out your second shot to this green flag stick today in the back left. And again, you make par on this hole and you’re very happy. [Music] So far today, playing 4.35 as the scoring average. Only three birdies found, 29 bogeies, three doubles at the third. And we watched Kepka today drive it right of the fence over there to the right, which is the practice area. I mean, it was a right to right shot. And that’s what derail kepta in his round today. Many big names falling victim to some big numbers. We can get into that later. Ory a ton of promise over par. Kep shot four over par 71 here. So when you see 7626 is the length of the golf course. It’s a par 71 folks with only three par fives. That tells you the other par4s are very long. Stretched out 7,626 yards. New tea boxes. And it’s wet. Chantel. You get no roll in the fairway. We’ll just throw everything at you and the kitchen sink. You want long? We got it. And yet, if you look at the leaderboard, there are a lot of players who are not long who played a beautiful round of golf this morning. Oh, we will dive into that juicy topic. Windom at the T. So, wind a little bit down left to right. That’s working towards the bunker. Needs to sit. Starting to shape the ball like Dustin Johnson used to do in his prime. There’s a lot of curvature to it, Gary. Yeah, it was easy to follow. A low squeezing cut there was was actually fun to watch. Quiet, please. So, the good news is for this, it’s a difficult drive, but at least everything sets out below you, so you see everything. There’s not anything hidden. And where that bunker pinches in, it’s still close to 30 yards, so it’s it’s not too bad. It’s just the length of the hole and the straightness of the hole, I think, makes this tricky. Hideki, I don’t think there’s a much wider stance in golf, is there? I was watching it. Looked wider than I remember and it bent over at the waist as well. Absolutely. He has tugged this one. Okay, though. right at the first cut. Steve, it was a very Hideki warm-up this morning. So, I I watched him and he had four driver shafts. He had an extra part and he actually had an extra seven iron as well, which I couldn’t quite figure out. So, you never This is an hour before his tea off time. It is uh a normal thing for him, but I’ve never seen anything quite like it. I mean, this is a major, too. This This is not like you’re playing some regular tour event somewhere. Tom Kim set at the third. That’s down the left side and that’s not coming back. That’s a double cross and a bad one with it that running down the cart path and left of it now. extra yardage sailing left and fans are unaware that they are right in the midst. Ah, yeah. I got a ball here. Well, next May, the PGA Championship returns to Aronomic Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania, right outside of Philadelphia. To register for tickets yourself, visit pga championship.com/register. Registration closes soon, so get in now. [Music] No. Nothing. No. No. Can I hop in your Zoom settings? I think you already did. I got a text to say turn off up the zoom and I did that. It didn’t [Music] work. So, the program audio music is coming from the zoom knob too. I’ve turned it up there and nothing. I hear no m. [Music] Yeah, neither of us have it on the Glen sound. We both are hearing it through our computers. Okay, we know you’re locked into Hideki, Windham, and Tom, but just a reminder, you can follow four different feature groups and holes on ESPN Plus. Watch your favorite players from Ta Green. All 18 holes, the green mile, a full slate here on ESPN Plus. Well, they Okay, so let’s show you what’s happening with the this tight treelined par4. And Tom Kim took a little cart path ride. So he now we’ll see get some eyes on just exactly what he faces ahead for his approach. But no surprise, Windham Clark left with 171 here. Got to get lucky when you miss the fairway here. One, if you’re in the rough, is it a decent lie? And two, a lot of trees around Quail Hollow. Well, credit Johnny Harris and his vision here. He likes to tell the story about a group of folks here in Charlotte that wanted to put a golf course together. This was land that was owned by Johnny’s family, the Morrison family. Uh, Governor Marson, North Carolina, owned this property. It was the largest dairy farm in the state. And so, they had the availability of land. But it was Arnold Palmer who convinced Johnny and his friends that this could be a pretty special place to have a golf course. We can always count on you for a good history lesson, Steve, which is just so cool when you think of whether it be TPC Srass, whether it be here, what the property looked like versus the beauty and the test that it is in 2025. It’s just crazy if you truly think about it. It is. Um, and what’s really cool about there’s a great membership here. Uh if you go in the men’s locker room, they have this big table in the middle of the locker room and around it sits sort of the the power brokers of Charlotte and they call it the table of knowledge. Okay, I am curious to learn more. But in the meantime, Tom Kim, gosh, it looks like he’s just a a fan about to hit up the beverage area. I got good news, Sean. So, at least this is not an overseated area. So the lie is perfect. How about that? Here is trying to figure out what he’s going to do. It almost looks like Hideki may go first. Yeah, that’s what we’re seeing too. So Hideki with 176 from that first cut. Yeah, and that tree is just going to take it over the edge of it. Not a problem at all. Flag cut just over a little ridge. If you play this aggressively, miss it short side, it’s not too bad. So this is an opportunity if you want to take it on. certainly done that. It’s just left of the hole just like at the first. That was the miss on the range. Just a little starting a little bit too far left and not coming back. So, be interested to keep an eye on that. Over the left, please. Thank you. Now, it looks like Tom, there were two options trying to hit a low cut. All right, buddy. You good? Yeah. All right. Or try and take it up and over. I think it’s going to be the low cup. Hold really still, please. We’re looking right behind his his sight line now. Gary, uh, where do you think he said? He looks like he’s going up. He’s got a lofted club here. Yeah, there’s a there’s an overhanging branch that I think he can get it under, but over. I think he’s going low. There’s there’s a look of just the setup here. Oh my [Music] god short of the green in a minute. Don’t forget about Windham. So this is that great example, isn’t it, of the advantage of overwhelm with power. See in the last hole and now this one. You take that bunker out of play. Yeah, there it is. Now left, right. Either way, it did change our shot. It’s just a solid nine iron finishing between the flag and the three. So the wind actually is coming left to right and the flag on the green was going right to left. So that was how they backed off there. [Music] Well done. It’s a nice dynamic. John Ellis, who was his assistant coach, transferred to Oregon to finish his collegiate career and decorated one at that, decided to leave the college ranks and get on the bag for Windom. They’ve been together ever since. And a really comfortable duo. I mean, it’s like a father figure to this 2023 US Open champion. Speaking of using that power and using that putter, certainly Los Angeles Country Club got to see that. It was a brilliant display of ball striking at LACC. I, you know, it’s nice that the world now has seen LACC for years. You know, it was very difficult to get on, very private, but they showed the golf world just how great the course is, and Windham took full advantage. His maturity has come a long way. I remember covering him in college and let’s just say when the anger rose, the clubs did not stay in the bag. So quick trigger. Is that what you’re telling me, Chantel? You read my mind. Little look at his major championship history since capturing that coveted trophy. There’s nothing there, is there? It’s amazing. It’s a head scratcher. So, nothing that you can kind of put your finger on. Is it just the release of getting that first one and then you’re trying to improve different things and that bleeds and leaks and Dart Sharpet? What makes you the best? I have a sense that when his long game goes bad, his driver goes bad, that creates the problems. But like today, he’s off to a great start. And if he keeps driving it like that, it makes the uh play of Coyle Hall a little easier. This is what we’re looking at. Hideki over the green. Tom Kim did get into that greenside bunker. So that’s where he’ll play his third after being well left off the tea, Gary. Yeah, Tom’s left in a great spot right here. Plenty of green to work with. Pretty simple shot. Just dump it out. Let it run to the hole. The sand here at Quail Hollow is called Spruce Pines 55. And rumor has it it comes from the same source of the mine that provides the sand down at a tournament in Augusta, Georgia. [Music] So koi, Steve, that’s a very similar chip to the one he had on the back of one for a deck. As I said, shortsided. Really wasn’t that hard here. Pitching into an up slope. Good line. Okay. Few feet coming back. Going back to the comment you made about the sand, Steve. That’s one thing I’ve always wondered. We talked so much about the greens. What happens with the rough when it rains, but what happens with the nature of the sand? I mean, how do you manage that? Well, the I used to be in the business. We built a number of golf courses and own and operate them. This sand here is great sand. It’s called it’s Gangle sand, which means it packs beautifully. And when you get rain like they’ve had today, they got great drainage in the bunkers. The sand becomes tighter and tighter. It’s actually easy to play from both from the fairway bunkers and bunkers around the green. They’re not fluffy, but they’re firm. And good bunker players like firm sand. I knew you’d be the guy to ask. Years of experience. And generally, Steve, everything collects to the bottom. Everything’s a steep face. Everything’s packed there. So, it rolls to the bottom. And actually, it gets better as the day goes on because the caddies are raking. It goes from sort of a machine ra at the start of the day to enough players been in there, it gets that lovely softer feeling where you could ball really sits up. This one coming right to left for Windom. Another good look. Yeah, 26 feet here for a guy who is positive in strokes gain putting this season. Okay, good. 62 best on tour. Not his best numbers, but certainly respectable in the grand scheme of things. A good start. One under through three. You take that and not complain. Hideki with just under four feet for his save. Just one of those early character builders for Hideki. and it was so up and down last week playing in in Philadelphia. Just played spectacularly well. Putted unbelievably on the Saturday and then really putted poorly on the Sunday. So, it’s kind of a lot of kind of his mo, isn’t it? Just the sublime to not so good day today. So, important part here just to get that confidence on the short ones where you can be more aggressive with the longer ones. Well, Gary, you were talking about his warm-up. You must have seen him on Monday when it was completely downpouring and this guy is out practicing this game right here. You can’t gain anything from that when the it’s just that wet. Let’s just see what will happen when a ball aquiplanes. It’s all research and he had his caddies hold umbrella over him as puddles of water everywhere. I’m thinking this guy’s out of his mind. Unbelievable. married to the game dedication. He’s got a big team around him. He may add a squeegee man the next time. Okay. Less than three and 1/2 ft for Tom after what was a wild ride off the tea. Never touch the fairway. It made park. Let’s go to our first par three of this round. 186. The fourth hole, as we’ve mentioned earlier, is a new hole that was added when they renovated the golf course. A modest length of 186 yard. The flag stick today on the left tucked against that bunker. You better come in there high and soft if you expect to get it close. So, you wonder where the birdies are on property. 17 birdies found at this fourth hole so far today. That’s pretty good. Yeah. And just a little leaderboard update. Ryan Gerard bogey the 17th. So, he now sits at six under setting the pace. This was not one of the holes that he birdied though. God, he went on a tear. 10 through13. Nothing but birdies. An eagle at the 15th. 16th par. And then that bogey as he makes his way to the closing hole. And he’s got about a 15footer for par at the last. He drove in the fairway bunker. Played short of the green. So he’s got his work cut out to save Par. There are some stats for today. I’m shocked that this hole is played underpar thus far in this first round. Why so? Uh I don’t think it’s an easy hole location to access. Now this this morning there was not a breath of wind. It’s like playing in a dome. At least you have some breeze this afternoon. Albeit not a lot. Gary, is that fair to say? Yeah. The good news is it’s working towards the flag. So, you want to get it close. You don’t have to take it straight at it. This is the only par three. Little hollow club that is playing under par. Starting at the sapphire just ride it. Okay. Give yourself some room just in case we misjudge this wind. So, have it come down just a little further right and just put straight across it instead of being, you know what I mean? point being like not as aggressive as we planned on being. All right. All right. Okay. There’s such trust between these two, isn’t there? It’s it’s a great relationship as you were talking about Shantel. It’s maybe don’t get the credit these relationships that they should do to be this close and have that much trust. So, I think that plays 15 to 20 ft right. And if it draws on the wind, great. If not, you still got a good look. Shortsided left, not so good. That’s where he started his line. Oh, not enough. That’s a surprise. Well, you heard him say no basically as soon as he hit it there. Hideki to Gary’s point. Very wide setup at address. Bends over from the waist. When you bend over, the club’s going to get up in the air. But in this case, Hideki kind of lays the club off. So if you look at down the line, as we are now, you’ll see the shaft left of the target. trying to hook it. A good looking shot here, Steve. Beautiful shot, of course. Seventh best in par three scoring. Talk about those irons. There you have it. Perfect leave here. 19 consecutive cuts in majors for Hideki. That’s that’s a tip your hat to that one. That is a badge of honor. You’ll never see Hideki mail in a round of golf. He is trying from start to finish. Now Tom Kim set to go. Very similar shot you just saw would be ideal here. Just try and play that little soft draw with the wind. Oh. Going back to just how this guy does it so well. There’s Adeki’s T-shot once more. You know what I like about Adeki swing? He finishes in balance. I’ve got couple grandsons who play it. I said just swing and finish in balance. A lot of good things will happen. We’re going to hear a little more on what to do. Right. Let’s check in with PGA professional Joe Howlet in Frisco, Texas from the PG of America coaching center powered by T-Mobile. Oh, I guess you’re on. Stand by. You’re on. Go ahead. Go. Yep. You can go. All right. I thought we were doing B- roll. Hideki Matsyama. Everyone loves the pause at the top of his swing. I like the pause at the top of his swing. Here’s a good thing that he does, and I’m gonna give you a drill that’ll help you with it. First of all, a lot of us don’t even know where the top of our swing is. So, learning where that pause might occur at least gives you an idea of where the top of the swing is. When you watch him get the top, I want you to notice one thing. That doesn’t give him license to slam the gas pedal and go as fast as he wants to. That makes him start in a very slow and deliberate fashion. So, when you get out on the practice range, go ahead and go to the top. You can pause for a second. Then you can swing through and hit. I can tell you right now, if you get too aggressive at the top of your swing, you’re really going to struggle. Pause. Get it out of park. And then put it in drive on the bottom. T-Mobile for Business exclusive 5G solutions partner. Thanks to Joe for that breakdown. Sound advice as we see this again. Here’s the grand scheme pitcher of the fourth hole so far today. The red balls indicate where birdies came from and so pretty position here for Hideki. Five left. And that was Windham’s ball out of the bunker as we were getting a little coaching lesson. It’s nice to be able to drop in like that cuz our viewers at home always are curious how they do certain things. So, I like that as an addition to our broadcast. This is the place to do it. PGA of America, the professionals at your respective golf course all throughout the United States and beyond, paying them some tribute and incorporating what they do so well right into this broadcast. Tom Kim, smart play, I think, to take out that fringe to pitch it over. Takes out a lot of the slope as well. Great shot from Tom. Well, Gary, you’re a member of the PJ of America. What are you 30,000 strong? And and the growth of the game starts with you. Yeah. Oh, exactly. I mean, it’s um you know, these are the true guardians of the game. This is the play people that pumps the clock every single day to to keep this game improving and retain members and retain people playing the game. And uh they do an incredible job and I think it’s always nice to thank your PGA member of America and uh it’s a pretty good job they do keeping us into this great game. They do talk about that. Fabulous show. Yeah. And while we’re on the topic, there’s a lot of people who are interested in golf, all different varieties of golf. Even if you go to Topgolf, there’s a PGA of America professional present there. Gary, maybe you could talk about if people are interested in following that career path. I mean, what are your ideas? What do you tell people? Well, I mean, the great thing is there’s so many tentacles of the PGA of America. You know, it’s not just teaching pros or club pros. It’s general managers. It’s it’s box stores. It’s it’s just it’s so many options if you have a passion for the game and that passion bleeds over. Pretty straight putt here. First birdie of the day paying off that beauty of a T-OT. [Applause] Steve, you know, Tiger Woods always said, generally speaking, if you get out of a tournament, even par on par threes, you’re far ahead of the game. But when you’re able to pick apart par threes, as uh Hideki does, top 10 annually, I mean, what can that allow you to do? you’re gaining strokes on the field if that’s the case. And you when you’re a great iron player, which Tiger obviously was and to some degree still is, you could take advantage of the par threes, but it’s all about knowing when to attack par 3s as well. And no one did it better. That’s the truth. Six feet for a sandy safe. Up and out early. If we look at the future sites of the PGA, you know, Aronomic next year, but then it goes to PGA Frisco, then Olympic, then Baltus Raw, followed by Congressional. So, elevating the championship by playing great courses. Disappointing drop shot there. Back to even par for this round. Tom Kim will try to keep his scorecard bogey free. Only three feet left for his safe. Tom’s caddy there. Paul Tori, a really good player in his own right. Played college golf at the University of Florida. Won the Florida Amateur Championship. And I just want to get that in. Well, it I would say that if he went to any school, but I think it’s a huge help that the Caddy thinks like a good player because he was once a good player and still is actually, but yes, he’s a Gator. Never know where Steve Melnik calls home. And did I mention we we won a national championship recently in basketball? I can’t remember if I said that or not. You all have been on a tear across uh college athletics and both our men and women’s golf teams are going to nationals which they start tomorrow at Lacasta for the women and the men next week. So, uh it’s a great event. College golf is terrific to watch. As we look at the fifth hole, a par4 453 dog leg ride. It’s the widest sort of corridor of many of the holes out here at Quail. Generous landing area, if you will. Uh most of the players will be playing a short iron into this whole location on the back right. Uh very accessible [Music] today. Just the movement of the greens. We’re talking about how the trends look at these putting surfaces here at the fifth hole. You see that movement and today so far seven birdies 4.11 is stroke average in this opening round. Chantel we had the pleasure of covering the SEC women’s championship from Pelican down in the Clearwater area and South Carolina beat Florida in the finals but I will tell you that South Carolina team is some team to watch. So, if I had to pick my choice to win this week, I think South Carolina might uh might be it. Wow. I am shocked to hear that statement, but appreciate the honesty. Well, they had they have a Curtis Copper and two other seniors, so they’ve got a lot of experience on their team. Always good to get in a little college golf. Hideki chose to go pro right away. decorated amer and he has the honor. Just got to fit it between the staggered bunker in you know Houdi won the Asian the first Asian Pacific amer and with it he got an invitation to play the Masters and he was low amitter and then became obviously Mast’s champion 21 the routes to get a master’s imitation by way of amateur play have produced some pretty strong talent and once they’ve turned professional ready for this at the amter dinner of which I’m I’m privileged to be asked to attend on Monday night of the Masters onethird of all Masters champions played there first as an amateur. I am not surprised by that stuff but that’s a good one. Tom Kim turned pro before he even turned 18. Okay, let’s hope we can have a more stress-free journey up this hole for Tom. That was a good start. So, here’s a question I had. Uh, I believe it was Ben Griffin who has asked any concern about mud balls, even just meticulous attention to detail getting this course prepared. Why is that not part of the equation from what we’ve seen so far given all the talk about the rain, Gary? right now. I think it’s because the the fairways are still so soft. It’s almost like there’s a layer of moisture that kind of you get a little smear of of mud on there, but you don’t get a plug of mud. Maybe as the week goes on and it dries out a little bit, you might start picking up some mud, but the the turf is so tight and meshed together. It’s as good a surface as you can get with all the rain they’ve had to not get the mud balls. That was the full send right there. Just spanked it. And there’s Windom Clark for you folks. Little extra juice on that one coming off of that bogey at the last. PGA Junior League is bringing friends, families, and communities together through the game of golf. All with expert PGA and LPGA coaching. Find a team near you at pga juniorleague.com. [Music] [Music] Uh we still are in the dark [Music] here. Yeah, we are. We we’ve got to be mindful when the caddies are talking. We can’t tell if if talking to me through my monitor or my uh computer. I can hear you, but I can only hear whoever’s talking to me through the computer. We do not hear that on our lens sound. I’m saying Yeah. [Music] No. Okay. We are We are only hearing very limited audio. Very low because we can’t control the volume. We do. No, we do through our computer. [Music] [Music] It’s the 107th PGA Championship once again. We’re back at Bale Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina. And what a welcome sight to see those beautiful flowers, but the sun in the sky. Little cloud cover at this moment in time. Just gentle breeze coming through with some humidity certainly making its presence known. We are following the featured group of Tom Kim, Windham Clark, and Hideki Matsuyama. Wind Clark. It is fun to see him with driver in hand. And Tom Kim giving this one a little extra. Here are what the ball pots look like from drives at this fifth hole. And those balls indicated in red, that’s where birdies came from with their approach shots. And blue would be what you see from pars. Anything else, bogeies or worse. So, good perspective of how to play this par four, Steve. Well, it’s uh all about positioning. You put it in play, you’ve got a shot toh make birdie, and they have done so here. Uh for those of you who saw the W maker trophy as we went to commercial I don’t know whether you know the history behind that Rodman Waker gave the trophy uh he and his family owned these elegant department stores in Philadelphia, New York and Paris and that’s where they made their fortune and he was a big golf nut and he donated the cup to be given to the PGA champion. It’s a good story. Just all kinds of interesting fun facts in the game of golf and trophy stories. Well, it’s like the Walker Cup. That was George Herbert Walker who gave the Walker Cup and most people didn’t know about it until recently until Bush 41 took office at Chantel. It’s just kind of neat to to trace the history back to things like that in related to what we’re doing here in the present. Sure. Mohareki Matsyama 147 for his approach. Great opportunity here. Another wedge in hand. So take advantage of these holes. Can be aggressive. It’s a little up slope short the flag so it will stop but a falloff right. That might catch the falloff. Off it goes. We like bud. I like it at the hole. just come down to far in the uh opening holes here, but he’s guided up and down every turn. So, you heard the advice. Just take this one straight at it. So, 145 for Tom. Tom has only found one green so far. I think we’re going to double it here, Shantel. I would hope so. [Applause] Uh-huh. Awesome. This is a great example, isn’t it, of the benefits of being able to bludgeon the ball. 330 or so. Way up there for Windom. 120 left. 22 if you want, just to give it a little bit. All right. Have it come down just left of it. So, you got a real good sense of how the ball’s reacting up there. Watching Tom’s ball land. So I think you can pitch this up there to pin high at least and I think it will come back. Wind just freshened a little bit there. It’s got to [Music] [Applause] go. There it is. Appears he did have the longest drive of the day so far in this fifth hole. So pay that off. That’s where all that strength comes in. Let’s take a peek at the leaderboard. 66 sets the pace. Ryan Gerard wasn’t able to capitalize at the closing hole. So seven under now falls to five under par, but still respectable after what we were talking about coming into this major championship. How about Luke Donald for under Ryan Fox the last man in the field winning at Myrtle Beach. He too shot a 67. Alex Smallley very familiar with North Carolina golf courses. Steven Joerger very erratic with the driver but he’s got the distance down pat. JJ Spawn once again part of a story and he is just getting things cooking. How about through six holes at four under Steve? Impressive boy. You know, he’s actually a darkhorse candidate to make the RDER Cup team. Who would have thunk it? And he’s playing well here again. There will be some fresh faces on that team, no doubt. And some difficult decisions for uh the captain who’s on the first page of the leaderboard, but Scotty Shuffler, two under par. Harry Hall, same spot. Garrick Higgo at the 69. Justin Lowour, who had a great start, uh fell a little far down the leaderboard. Lucas Glover threw seven holes. He too in that share of 15. John Rom carded a 70. So did Tony Feno. Very curious to see how Max handles this golf course. A place that he absolutely loves to play. One under par through seven holes. He needs things to improve in a hurry as uh we look ahead to what happens at Beth Paige Black. But you’ve got to start playing well now. Caught a glimpse of John Rom’s round this morning. Didn’t have his best stuff, but recovered to shoot one under. So, I think that’s a good sign. So, Hideki did get that fall off the victim there. So, his third. What do you see, Gary? Shantel, I’m a bit of a darts fan. Sometimes you have a couple of sightes to finish. He’s had two simple chips that he’s got close. This one might be the best of the lot. Very simple from here. Great touch. He makes it look easy, Gary. He makes it look easy when you miss it in the right spot, doesn’t he? Every single Miss Green has been in precisely the right spot. He’s played uh six holes now. Missed three greens, but part them all. I tell you what I do like about this course, Steve. Even though it’s a relatively modern course, there’s not much walk from Greens to the next TE. It’s a really good walking course. Yeah, this was not built with residential in mind, which is nice. Uh that can’t be said for too many new golf courses, but you think of the old great courses like Marian where you step off the, you know, the first green onto the second TE, that kind of thing. Uh that’s not the case in most of the courses today, but this is an exception. Windham Clark 13 1/2 ft. Another one that’s going to break fairly hard to the left when it starts to run out of pace. [Applause] Huh. Little sporty there with his effort. The post the post impact routine was interesting there. Steve hit it and immediately the hand went to the coin. It didn’t have it had less than half a second. That’s a terrible feeling. is a golfer. So, I I was talking to Ben Harrison, Tom Kim’s manager before the round, and he said Tom actually missed a cut recently, went back to South Korea to kind of go on a sort of a a body composition program to figure out some deficiencies, and now he’s got a really good plan. He’s lost about 30 pounds over the last year or so, and now he’s trying to get the right strength and the functionality. And there there could be a massive upside to that when I think everything falls into place for him. I think he’ll pick up a lot of distance. Well, that explains the the remake of the body. He looks good. 7 ft here to get his first birdie. And he does. What do you think about the maturity factor for Tom Kim? Came on the scene winning right away. Certainly some room for growth in terms of managing certainly his time on the golf course. We’ve seen him clean up and shortened that preparation for his shot. But what else have you seen in terms of the maturity for Tom Kim? you know, the the hallmark of these great young players these days is that maturity. It’s just built in. Uh, you know, most of it’s through a college experience. Obviously, Tom didn’t have that. To me, I’m fascinated to see how he’s going to sort of handle this mini slump because he’s been on that meteoric path all his life. He hasn’t had a slump and it’s sometimes it’s it’s tough to deal with it the first time. Same with Nick Dunlap. So, I think he’ll come out of it a better player when he puts it all together. If you look at his stats this year, Gary, it’s really pretty bad. He’s 44th in strokes gain putting and 120th in strokes gain off the tea. So that’s not a good combination. Working through it. His most recent win coming at the 2023 Shriner’s Children’s Open. And we move on to the par 3 sixth. This is where you uh you bring your uh your aame here to this par three. This is a beast of a hole. Perspective just how that slump has played out. One top 35 finish in 12 starts. That’s tough to swallow. Yeah, speaks to what we said. I guess the statistics bear that out. Uh this whole today playing 241 slightly downhill, Gary. Is the breeze hurting a little bit here? Sorry, Steve. I didn’t quite get that. Could you repeat that? I’m sorry. The breeze in the player’s face here as we look at a layout of this uh 6 measuring 241 today. It’s mainly straight across left to right. Okay. Only three birdies found at this hole. Three doubles or worse. So that paints the picture of why this hole is playing over par this opening round. That’s unusual when you’ve got no penalty area down there, too. You see the others there. Others are never good. Rory Maroy, Scotty Shuffler, Xander Schoffley all made others at the 16th hole today. Three double bogeies. That’s hard to wrap your head around. Yeah, we’ve gently touched on Roy Maloy, which was a massive storyline coming in, of course, completing finally an exhale, the career grand slam at the Masters, the first major championship, and moving into the second major. What can Wory do at a place that he has been so successful at Quail Hollow Club, a 74 in the opening round? How shocked were you, Steve? Uh, I was shocked at how poorly he drove the ball, honestly. I thought, boy, this is really in his wheelhouse. He’s got a great record here. He’s won here four times. And he goes out and he can’t find the fairway. I think he hit maybe three fairways today, maybe. And it was not pretty. So, honestly, 74 given the way he hit it is kind of what you’d expect. Yeah. We’ll take you through what happened with Rory. Here he was at the 11. The dog leg left par four. I think he finds the bunker left here. Now at 15, you don’t think the water’s in play. What does Rory do? He tugs it left. It did stay dry. It stayed dry. And now at 16, he get does the same thing. Dead left. Finds a severe downslope inside the penalty area. Lucky it did not go all the way in the water. Yeah, he may double there. He did start on the back nine and at the 18th he got lucky Chantel. He pulled it left. It’s in the penalty area, but he was able to play a beautiful shot out of there, but without the the tall grass, it goes in the water. The first hole, his 10th hole of the day. And so it was just climbing out of trouble for this guy. To your point, only four fairways found in this opening round. 74 Fer Rory. That’s why he is on the range now. Hitting drivers. Oh boy. There you go. The stats. It wasn’t pretty. Got off to a good start making about a 10-footer for birdie at the 10th. He thought, “All right, this is great. He’s going to go on.” Then he just started hitting crooked shots. He saved a lot of pars. Or it could have been worse. Listen to this. He made 44 ft worth of putts in 18 holes. I I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a number that low. It wasn’t a good day from start to finish. And now Kim ready to go here at the sixth. Just aim this at the right edge of the camera tower or take it straight at it. This one is absolutely on line with the flag. That’s a great shot. Regardless of the fact it’s maybe 30 ft away. looking to find his third green of the day. Such was the length of this course this week. Tom Kim actually took a wedge out of his bag and added an extra fairway wood. So he added a forward this week. Fancy armor. More of the traditional setup. Extra wedge and less wood. Four iron for heady. It’s just a bunch of low areas around this green short and to the right. I think it’s 130 of the day found at the other part three on this front nine. And it’s that same shot, the one that started too far left and stays left. And that will just trundle away. I mean, you were on the rain a little bit. Well, you guys were talking about how his underrated scrambling isn’t chatted about enough, so we just wanted to give fans proper perspective today. Short game clinic right now. Seriously to that point, Hideki is three for three scrambling so far today. Feel them both. Come up here. Gary, this is never a good sign, is it? Two clubs to the tea. The only thing it doesn’t short, right? Yeah, I think it’s a five. As long as it just lock straight up in the air, I think it’s perfect. I’ll put it on the ground, too. Yeah, I’m going to This is really tough to wrap your head around, too. This is He’s got a five iron, I think. Gary, yardage is 241. I crawled up there and came back, it’d be fine. This is the right club. It’s downhill and it’s about 225 to the front edge. So, I can see that when you get up close, it is amazing, isn’t it, Steve? You just to witness the speed through the ball, the distance as these guys hit it. Well, the clubs are lighter, the balls are better, and the clubs are two degrees stronger than they used to be. That’s exactly looking shot here that’s drifting on the wind towards the hole. All right. Okay, some work to do. We’ll see some scrambling once again on display from Hideki. We’ll be back with more first round coverage. [Music] [Applause] First round of this PGA Championship at Quill Hollow Club. If you’re just joining us, we’re following Hideki Matsuyama, Windham Clark, and Tom Kim. And look at what we’ve seen so far at this six hole, the par three birds, few of them. They came from those balls in red, blue all over the place. If you’ve got a gray golf ball on this chart, no bueno. Lots of bogies and even some doubles found at this 241 yard par three. Yeah, it’s not a surprise to see this whole play over par, but it’s it’s actually far more than I suspected. But all three players off to a good start. The next hole is a a getable par 57th. Got a couple players at one under par. You’d be happy with that at this point in the opening round of a major championship. Five under though sets the pace. Ryan Gerard, we’re just scratching our head how a 66 was produced here and it could have even been better had he not found some trouble at the 17th and 18th. But Green Mile taking its toll. And it’s amazing, Shantel, among those leaders. There’s not a single what you’d call bomber among the group. Uh they’re all a modest length off the tea, but credit them. They took advantage of the conditions this morning and shot low scores. Yeah, we’ll get into that more, but first once again, a short game for Hideki. Everything land sort of runs down a down slope here. Very very tight apron. Played it low with a bit of spin. I was always going to struggle landing on that firm green at that trajectory. Gary, the surrounds here is this new grass called Tacoma. And it’s the latest greatest thing. It’s tight. It’s dense. And they have encircled all of the greens here at Quail with that grass. And it’s wonderful grass from which to pitch. You can putt. You can play any number of shots from it. I think Hideki just picked the wrong shot there. It was a slide down. So now Windom with a far easier shot. Just bump it into the bank here. And it’s firm enough. It’ll bump up a little work. right now. A couple of disappointing efforts there. Mhm. Pace of play pretty good, Gary, thus far, you think? Yeah, it really is. Yeah, I mean, as we said, you know, it’s a long course and it’s soft and it’s, you know, is going to take a while just, you know, p purely to walk the length of the holes, but because there’s such short walks between the green and the tea, everything kind of flows nicely. I think the next walk is probably the longest on the golf course up to the the back tea on the seventh. But yeah, the it’s nice that the rhythm is good. So there’s no excuse for the players having to stop and start and then get out of their rhythm. I saw earlier in the day they were allowing groups to hit up on the drivable 14th hole, which is nice. Uh you can reach the next hole, the seventh and the 15th from the fairway, the other par five. Only three par fives again here at Quail. And now Kim with a putt for birdie. Actually Steve with you know after this first few feet it’s actually a remarkably straight putt once it gets going down the hill. Got the claw, the soft claw. Okay. A little longer than he might like, but he’s under the hole. So, Hideki looking over his foot for par here and just a gentle right to left to here. One of those ones that of that length you can be fairly free with it. Sometimes these are those ones that your expectations go down a little bit and the stroke frees up a little bit and you hit a really good p. So it’s a comfortable look for a righthander. Good opportunity to salvage something from maybe not his finest pitch. Yeah, coming from a player who is fourth in terms of strokes gained around the green on tour, but he’s 80th in strokes gained putting it bogey free today. Can you make bogey? Little bit too free there. Uhhuh. All right. And now Windham par. This is a slider. Looks like Gary left to right. Yeah, just on that left lip. I get a sense this is an easy one to overread. Yep. Not sure about you, Steve. I’d like to see a rule where once that ball’s down, you can’t readjust it. I’m with you. We’ll quicken our play a little. Absolutely. Whatever we can do to quick quicken up the paces, I’m in favor of started this round at 136. Okay. Good save. Yep. Good stroke. I’m a big fan of this relationship. It’s nice to have future group coverage to be able to clue in to the advice that John Ellis gives to his boss. Well, Shante, it was that was the beauty of full swing, wasn’t it? to get a little bit more insight of some of these players and some of their relationships on and off the course. It was quite powerful the episode that focused on Windham. Yeah, we don’t get a lot of personality or inside looks from many PG tour players. So full swing certainly served its purpose. Four feet and in for Tom Kim bogey free on the day and Netflix is jumping into the deep end when it comes to sports content. They’re going to be a real player in the future if they aren’t already. Sounds like you have some more intel, Steve. You’re going to share with the class. Let’s just say that they may be another bidder at the table for a number of franchises. Whoa. Okay. All right. Let’s see if this bogey putt goes in, Gary. And I want to find out more from Steve’s intelligence. He’s got it all. The history, detailed college info, and apparently rights information as well. All right. All right. Well, let’s check in with PGA professional Joe Howlet in Frisco, Texas from PG of America Coaching Center, powered by T-Mobile. We can go. Shantel, Steve, one of the premiums this week is obviously hitting the fairway. For our viewers out there, one thing that the tour players at this highest level have is control over the club face through impact. That seems pretty obvious, but I want to give you a little exercise or a little drill. Gen speaking for a friend, most of us get a little happy and a little wobbly down here as we go back through impact. Key is, can you slow those hands down a little bit? This is what I want you to do. I want you to split your grip apart. We’re not going to play like that, but we’re going to make a practice swing. And you will notice when you split your hands apart, if you try to do something crazy with your hands, you’re not even going to be able to swing the club. So, if we can split our grip apart, you can control the club face a little better through impact. If you get really courageous, you can try and hit one that way. Huh? Split your grip and you’ll split the fairway. Straight is great. Remember that. I’ll tell you who uses that split grip to practice with and that is a guy named Rory Mroy. Joe Howlet just dropping the facts there. T-Mobile for Business exclusive 5G solutions partner. Love sprinkling some Joe Howlet in and giving viewers. Listen, everybody at home, if you’re watching, you’re not going to hit it just like Rory, but you probably doing a little practice swing at home or wherever you may be watching. So, having some of these tips, grabbing that one, not too shabby. All right, seventh hole. What are your expectations here at this par five, Steve? Well, it is an awkward driving hole. You want to take it down the left and sort of let it peel toward the penalty area on the right. You certainly don’t want to go right and and go just the opposite. So, I suspect all three of these golfers are aiming left and going to try to let it fall to the right. He had a pretty generous landing area. Good 25 to 30 yards wide from the bunker to the penalty area. Tom Kiming three greens so far. Three fairways rather. Well, once you do that, it’s a green light. This should be a very simple hole from that position. Yeah. Well done. 288 average driving distance for Tom Kim. 326 for Windom. 30 yards over four rounds adds up to a lot, doesn’t it? Huge advantage length. Slightly anxious look there. I think he stayed up. Yeah. Got the safe sign. Your throats. Go ahead, Gary. To the point of talking about we’re just outlining over and over again. Look at what Windham can do. Look at he’s the last to play his second over and over. But then you look at the leaderboard. You got Luke Donald in the picture. You got guys that are not known for their distance. What’s going on out there? Well, the I mean, the interesting thing is all these are world class players and and even at short to medium length, you’re going to have a great ball strike around and you’ll shoot a great score, but over the course of four rounds when you’re hitting two, three, maybe four clubs more into every hole, it eventually data will win and it’s just such a disadvantage to be that far behind. We’ll see though come Sunday. Eggi coming off of that bogey. And to that point, Brian Harmon was on the range this morning right beside Ory Maroy. And somebody made the comment, “How are you going to manage this horse?” And he basically pretended to cut off Ory’s legs and the guys around him, indicating that would be his only chance if he was the last man left in the field since he is not known for his driving prowess. Okay, we’ll be back at this par five seventh hole with more. or you’re watching feature group coverage on ESPN Plus. Jack, he has won his fourth CPA. He has taken the torch and he’s running with it. Bills fanatics rejoice. A phenomenal talent and a major champion. [Music] [Music] The PGA Championship being played in Charlotte, North Carolina. Barbecue Town. What’s your go-to order when it comes to barbecue? Depends on which barbecue. There’s Texas barbecue. There’s Korean barbecue. There’s Japanese barbecue. I do like barbecue. I will say tri tip from uh California. Charlotte. Big on barbecue. I don’t think I’ve had North Carolina barbecue before. Some ribs, pork, pull pork, and some sausage. Okay. I mean, that sounds amazing. Burn ends all day long. Do you have a preference when it comes to the region? It’s not a good question for me. I try not to do a lot of meat at home, so like I don’t really go to barbecues. These guys haven’t lived until they’ve had Lexington barbecue. Come on. Yeah, I am just shocked the final statement there. Uh, try not to eat a lot of meat at home. That’s where the protein’s at. He’s working on shaping up that body. And yeah, I want to know what’s in the diet now. I know where Gary’s from. There’s a pretty good barbecue over in Birmingham. M do tell we got one or two that uh get my business once in a while. Very pleasant. Yeah. So, what region are you putting down on the survey, Gary? It’s got to be Alabama, obviously. The the humble swine. Tennessee barbecue. Swine. [Music] Well, the seventh hole, as we said, is one of the most demanding T-shots out here. And all three players are in play, but two really skirted the right side of that fairway in that penalty area just to the right. But Clark’s in great shape. Only 206 to the flag stick. I hate that we’re outlining this over and over again, but it paints the picture here. Windham well ahead of Tom Kim. They are waiting for the group ahead to play. Group which includes Jordan Spith, Ludvig Oberg. There’s the driving distance numbers. William Clark within the top 20 as he has been. since getting on tour. Steve, we I go back a little bit to the to the length of the and the softness of the golf course. There is a tendency for a lot of players, I think, to try and force a little bit, try and hit it harder. You the players I’ve talked to have said, “Hey, look, I’ve just got to be really, really disciplined here. Even though the fairways are fairly wide and it’s soft, I’ve got to just stick to my game. I got to play the way that I know I can play. I know if I try to start pushing it and finding extra, I’m going to mishit it and it’s going to actually go shorter and more offline. I couldn’t agree more. If you get out of your comfort zone, you try to hit shots to your point, Gary, that you don’t ordinarily hit or want to try to hit or try to reach deep when you don’t need to reach deep, uh, you’re always going to get in trouble. Well, here’s the good news. The last one and then that group in front. A lot of people wondering, will Jordan Spith find his form? He’s one over. Think he hit us a regular one first. What happens? I don’t want you over here trying to scribb the proverbial box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. I can’t think of a better analogy. All right, green clear. Kim set to go. 233 for Tom. He’s got a lofty wood, a fivewood wind back into him a little bit right to left. So again, it’s just freshened a little bit. Really pleasant out here right now with a little bit of cloud cover. Section of the green the flags on is about 10 yards wide. That’s just left of it. making into that bunker. Yeah, Gary, I think the yardage is short of the green. I don’t think you take on the full yardage to the flagship. You play short given where that hole location is. Yeah, and in my mind, that was just the wrong trajectory there. That low, the low piercing one, he needed a little bit more height and softness. I thought he was going to bring it up and hold it up against that wind a little bit. and key from 228. Good lie in the step cup. Anyone who has been in that bunker Tom Kim is in has been able to produce birdie. So now Hideki that’s way left. Way left. That’s up in the spectators now. He’s got zip. This is going to be tough. That’s where you’re begging for a good lie here, Steve. Yeah. Now, Shantel, this is where we’ll see the benefit of speed and power. This ball’s actually settled down a fair amount, but Windham has that ability to just launch it out there. He’s found three greens so far in this opening round. So, just over 200 yds. I’ll be interested to see where he tries to play this. So I, as you said, Steve, I think aiming short here, have a nice pitch up the hill will be the right thing, especially with the ball sitting in the rough a little bit. Yeah, if you carry it past the flags, it’s going to roll 40, 50 ft past the hole at best. That’s going to be short. Sounds like I think he had a worse lie than we thought, Gary. That was the speed needed. As I said, I I I looked at that line. I thought I could get maybe 130 or 40 yards out of it, and he got 170. Wow. Steve, is one of these houses up the right side of Seven, one of your little weekend spots? Pretty nice, isn’t it? Uh Johnny Harris’s brother Cam Cammy Harris is up to the right just opposite the screen here. U Simpsons nearby and over there to the right of 14 and 15. There are some equally beautiful homes. It’s just a great area. This is a South Park area. This was the Marson Lane as we talked about earlier and it’s just been developed so tastefully. It’s just a wonderful place to live. There’s a reason they call Charlotte the queen city. Here’s the perspective at the seventh hole. And balls in red indicate where birdies were produced from. One lonely eagle out there today. Bogeies. Those gray balls. Couple off to that left side in the thick stuff. It is a true riskreward par five. And that lone eagle of the day came from Alex Smallley. As we mentioned, capitalized his round in a share of second and he shares that with Luke Donald, Ryan Fox, Steven Joerger, Aaron Ry. and Ry just getting things cooking. Four under through seven. And Shantel, I saw Austin Wednesday afternoon or Wednesday morning, he was first alternate. So talk about take advantage of getting in. Yeah. When Windom transferred to Oregon, the Oregon squad plays at Eugene Country Club. I happen to cover US women’s amter there. And it’s a spectacular golf course, but more importantly, it’s really tight. So, I think it helped Windham shape the ball, put it in play. Coming back into the wind here. Windham. That was nifty. Was it Didn’t see that one, Steve. I did not either. Carrie Hey and his staff do a fabulous job of setting up these championships for the whole locations, the T locations. Credit him. Uh it’s always a fair and stern test. Look at the reaction of Windom. That was from 37 yards. Okay, that ball you see there, that was Hideki. Hideki was over up against the ropes and advanced his next shot just at the sprinklers. So Tom Kim now fairly simple shot for Tom actually going to be landing on a little into the grain area. So take out the slope should settle down fairly quickly. [Applause] went up. Still work to do to keep on that trend. Everyone in that bunker so far today has produced birdie. Actually, in all honesty, that wasn’t a very good bunker shot from Tom. just kind of came out lord and knuckly and it’s like he was caught between two shots whether to fly it over that slope or land it on it and didn’t really look very convincing to me. Yeah, his reaction speaks truth to that. There is a PGA rules officials stationed at every hole on the golf course should they be in need of a ruling, which you see there with Hideki. He’s getting relief from that sprinkler. Did you get to see his shot to hear, Gary? It was another one that was a bit of a head scratcher. As good of a chipper as as Hideki is, it wasn’t that tough of a lie. the ball was sitting up and he just I mean he just kind of quit on it and it just came out landed in the heavy rough and rolled down there. It was uh very unlike a deck especially after the chipping we had seen to this point. Sure. So now back up up the hill into the green. [Applause] We are not seeing the best showing from anyone in our featured group at this part five. This should be the gimme hole. Yeah, if you get it in play off the tea and make it look a little bit trickier, aren’t they? Windom now with 15 ft. It’s just an awkward flag because you got to fall off, you know, 15 ft left, you got to fall off 15 ft right and it’s just on a very narrow section of this green. See if Windham can figure this one out. So SL just very slightly downhill from here. There’s just a little high point right where he’s standing. So just move down to the right. Trying to get back under par. Positive so far in the round in terms of strokes game putting. That’s a disappointing five. Really back up to that second shot, Steve. Yeah, but uh the lie obviously was more difficult than we thought. And he played a good second and a lovely pitch, but it’s again, as Gary said, the whole location made it tough. And now Kim, after that indifferent bunker shot, Gary, I agree with you. I didn’t think it was that tough and uh that was barely a passing grade. Bunker players always been a little bit on the weaker side of Tom’s game. So something that the great news for Tom, there’s always so much room for improvement, I think. So, he’s proved that he’s a world-class player and he’s got a lot of things he can get better at, which is very encouraging. This one moved just a little left to right. 11 ft. This will be his second birdie. Should drop that pace. Boy, that was a dead straight putt. almost try to move move left at the end there. That was a head scratcher. I think he hit a really good putt there. This for par for Hideki. Less than four feet. Okay, I had to avoid backto back drop shots and a disappointing hole. The eighth hole coming up is almost drivable today. Probably by Windham, not by Kim. Maybe by Hideki. Just a few feet here for Tom to clean up. Never hesitates to get that ball out of the hole. green card though this far. All right, paint the picture here as we make our way to the eighth. Well, the picture is this. It’s a wonderful opportunity to have a go at this green. Bunker right is kind of where you don’t want to go. You usually aim at the edge of that large tree to the left of the green. And anything short is fine. You can almost get to the club, get the driver to the putting green surface today, but uh these wet conditions make it tough. This is the only par four on the opening nine that is playing under par. Exactly. If you look up there, you’re going to see somebody standing two yards right of the tree like you know two yards right of the tree coming down just right. So they were talking about the massive oak tree just left of this green. So just on the right there just slightly right of it perhaps should take the bunkers out of play down that left side. First one not in play. Second one is quite low there trying to slide it down there. Good low. Good start. He’s watching anxiously. Very clever. Well done. Just on that top cut. Yeah, that’s good there. Okay. Probably just started barely enough. Love it. Yeah, the wind should hold it up and then maybe move it a fraction to the left. Get a sense we might see the second gear here. The flag’s in a pretty nice spot with a little sort of bowl area. There’s a nice little back stop behind it. So, you can throw it way up there. Gary, always tempting for the long hitter to do the brave here. Leave it. Leave it. Leave it. Trying to slide it off that left bunker, but it’s not sliding. That’s fine. Wind. That’s not a bad leaf. going with less than driver or Gary. Okay, so he’s throwing analytics out of the window. As I said, it’s a very, very accessible flag. Yeah, whether you’re pitching it from 50 yards or if you’re hitting a full wedge in there. So, this will be interesting to see at the end of this hole if he gets it in play off the tea, who can get it the closest. First things first, get in the fairway, which we’ve got. Yeah. Nobody cares how you make Bernie. Just how you make Bernie. That’s it. Position play. There you have it. Well, today’s live odds are brought to you by ESPN Bet Sports Book. Let’s take a look. 40 to1 for Hideki Matsyama, Windham Clark, uh, and Tom Kim. Got to really have some confidence to throw your support behind Tom Kim. No surprise since this is not a place that Tom Kim feels the most comfortable at. But you surprised, Steve, to see 90 to1 for Windham? Well, honestly, no. I mean, he’s done nothing currently to warrant a better odds. You know, the open was two years away almost now. So, that’s probably about right. Okay. A winner at Quail Hollow. Would have thought there’d been a little more love behind him, but lock in your PGA Championship winner at ESPN Bet Sportsbook right now. New customers can get $100 in bonus bets when you make your first $10 wager. We showed you those numbers. Download ESPN Bet app. Sign up with the promo code birdie to get started today. [Music] [Music] The PGA of America and our more than 30,000 PGA of America golf professionals. We love this game. [Music] First round coverage of the 107th PGA Championship. We’re back at Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte, North Carolina. Such a great golf market. Players love this golf course. And good to see sunny skies finally after dumping of water over the last 6 days leading up to the second major championship of the year. Looks like quite a bit of cloud coverage at this moment in time. Hideki, it’ll be first play. I think Hideki’s got to pitch this at least pin height because I think you can use that back stop. And that’s the that’s the safe play. Just bring it back off there short of the flag. Could bring it off the front edge. Nipped it nicely. There’s pin high. There’s the slope. Nicely done. Who says you’ve got to try to drive a green, right? I was just about to say here we are seeing less than driver off the tea and he said, “I’ve got a plan. Sit back and watch.” Other two players, Clark. Oh, we thought maybe he’d be driving the green, but that one snuck out to the left. And Tom Kim at just 31 yardds left to the pin to play. Lindam [Music] should be Tom Kim first. So he psyched us out. I tell you what, Tom dropped the hammer on that one. Send it way up there just behind Windam. So you got two options here. one bumping into the bank which I think he’ll do or have a higher risk shot pitched on top. These banks despite being wet are not overly soft but that one just to stay okay but we get lucky. [Music] Now Windham. So right now data has been disproved with Hbecki’s performance from a full wedge out. Windham again got to look at that front slope. See if you can judge it. And that’s going to be short as well. So it was all set up by the flag there. I mean to be close to the green with that big slope between you and the hole made things tricky. One of them luckiest ball stake there. Again, this is the only par4 on the front nine that plays under par. So, what we just saw at the fifth from this group of players and what we see now and another peak out the leaderboard here at the PG championship, Ryan Gerard setting the pace at five under. At 4 under you got Luke Donald, Ryan Fox, Alex Smallley, Steven Joerger, Cam Davis now in the conversation along with Aaron Ry who’s through eight holes so far. Alex Norin just behind them and a share of eighth carding a 68 along with JT Poston. Rio hits Nicovaria Matt Fitzpatrick. Interesting to see him on the first page of a leaderboard with Robert McIntyre and a host of other players. just learned yesterday that Matt Fitzpatrick is now working with Mark Blackburn. That English connection is going well, isn’t it? We’re getting seeing a lot of top players come to Birmingham, Alabama for a little tuneup. Say you’re you’re hogging all the talent in Birmingham, huh, Gary? Exactly. Now, I want to apologize for calling Alex Smley Austin Smallley. Austin was one of my friends growing up. So sometimes there’s a a name in there that doesn’t quite come out, but he was first alternate on Wednesday. So great story for Alex uphill here. Well played, right? Forget about what we said with that second shot. He just wanted to show off that putter. Another look here from Windham off the green. Second birdie of the day in an unconventional way. Certainly not what we expected off the te from Windham, but now back under par. Now Tom’s turn. 12 ft coming out two for two. That was a very similar line to the one we just saw Winder make. So, certainly a nice picture he’s had. Aha. So you see Shantel data is undefeated. Goodness gracious. M Hideki who opted for less than driver off the tee. Beautiful second to 5 ft. So a tickling little one straight down the hill. Just move it just a little bit left to right. So the left half putt I [Music] think a little golf cap there. All three of our players birding the par4 eighth. Time for a little more yardage as we move up to the ninth. Five. The last thing they need here. Yeah, the par4 night has been pushed back to 531. Think about that. A par4 531. I’ve seen a bunch of hybrids played into this green today. It is a beast of a hole. If you don’t put it in the fairway off the tea, I don’t think it’s possible to reach green in two. So the fairway is a must. [Music] Okay. At this ninth hole, we’ve seen only three birdies, 40 bogeies, and then you see that graphic showing one other second toughest hoe. Scotty Shuffler, one of those players who was able to find a birdie at this par four. So the top that bunker should be out of play. You go ahead and let things rip and not reach it. Certainly makes it a little bit of an easier drive. Beautiful shot there. A little low peeling cut. An early tea pickup. But more importantly, he’s playing quicker. Seriously, it’s got it was awful for the longest time to the extent that players didn’t want to be paired with it. It completely ruins your routine, your your the cadence to your game. And uh he’s gotten better. So, credit him. Now, Windon’s got to take this further down the left side cuz that bunker is in play. Windon finding only three fairways today. Think that may be in it. Sure is. Gary. I don’t know. In the bunker, but he’s drawn a good lie. Was that same shot we saw on two, Steve? That one that started basically down the left tree line and moved a good 30 yards in the air, left to right. Wow. Sorry, number three. And now Hideki. I think the same for Hideki as Tom. I think he can swing fairly freely here. This will be just out of his range to reach that bunker. Beautiful swing. Best swing of the day there for Deckey. Oh, that’s only perfect, Gary. That’s beautiful. The results to match. You might not have expected about midway through this featured whole round Tom Kim to have the best score of Windam and Hideki, but don’t forget you can follow four different featured groups and different holes on ESPN Plus. Watch your favorite players from te to green. All 18 holes are covered. This is the pallet that you have to choose from ESPN Plus all day long. Today is the 107th playing of the PGA Championship. We’ll be right back. [Music] If you’re just joining us, we’re following Hideki, Matsyama, Windham Clark, and Tom Kim. We’re at the ninth hole, and swinging out of your shoes used to be an expression, but he kind of had to stomp back into that right side, Steve. Well, he pushed off so hard he kicked his shoe out there. There you go. There you go. Not quite the Scotty Sheffller shuffle. Oh, maybe that could be a cramp. Yeah, just a little bit of a leg cramp there. That’s no fun. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him too much. Keep an eye on that, though. All right, so setting up this stretched out par4 in perspective where the T-shots what they produced in terms of scoring at this hole. Only four birdies and only one of them from outside of the fairway. Second toughest hole here at Quail Hollow thus far in the first round. And there you have it. Random Clark finding himself decent lie in that fairway bunker. Tom Kim, I mean, we talk so much, of course, about distance dominating this game, but for a guy who has low ball flight, what percentage of players on the PGA tour would you say have that low ball flight like Tom Kim does, Steve? Not many. Not many. Particularly when college kids today, amateurs are taught to hit it hard, hit it high. So he is uh in the minority. All these kids today chase speed. Yet here he is bogey free, two under in this group. So take that. Oh, credit him. He knows what he’s capable of doing. He didn’t try to get outside it, outside of his comfort zone, and he’s playing really well. It’s been fun to watch. Sure has 234 for his second. Gary doesn’t want to land it any further than 220 because it will release from here. Good use a little bit of wind helping left to right. Just pinh high left is a tricky up and down. kind of coming up and out of it, Gary. You could tell. Windham is set from that fairway bunker and 215 for Windham. Got to get this up very quickly. It’s about a 3 or 4ft lip about 5 yards in front of him. Gary, how impressed were you last week at the 72nd hole when Seph Straa found the fairway bunker and I don’t like this. Played a four iron to the green. Yeah, I was right there actually covering that group. It was very very impressive up close. It looks like Hideki is going to go first. 214 for Hideki. He has that second gear that he uses judiciously that this was one of those examples. He absolutely rip this one and I think look pitch this about 200 205 would be ideal. Oh, this looks good in the air. Still a good shot. Don’t have to worry about pace of play for Windom. I wasn’t able to see the club here. Steve, does it look like he’s got more loft and he’s going to lay it up short with the green or is he got a little bit more club and going to try and get it up quickly? Uh I think the ladder that’s got to go a little bit may catch that front bunker. Oh no, it’s okay. That’s going to be just fine. Make par any way you can here at the ninth. Lots of talk once Windham won his first major championship about working with Julie Ellen. All of these guys have teams around them. They just seemingly grow year after year. I mean, 10 years ago, nobody had a sports psychologist that they spoke to regularly. How valuable is that in 2025, Steve? Well, I’m old school. Um, I just remember, you know, guys like Nicholas and Palmer and Hail Irwin, you know, the really good players who didn’t have a swing uh coach really or a physio person or psychologist. Uh, it’s just a change in the game. You know, it’s become such a big business, big purses. Uh, if it makes you a better player, have at it. I think sometimes though the danger is you become too reliant on your swing instructor and too reliant on your psychologist. Talked to Lanny Watkins once. He said his sport psychologist was a guy called Jack Daniels. So uh interesting. Perfect. Now pair that with uh some of this barbecue we’ve been talking about and you got yourself a happy meal. There’s nothing nothing better than barbecue and bourbon gentle. Come on. Perfect pairing. Steve, I know you’re old school and Gary, I know you uh certainly treasure old school values, but the culture has completely changed within the game. Well, it’s like the same with every sport, isn’t it? You you’re constantly evolving and, you know, I like to see it. I like to see how much golf has come on and developed and evolved in the last 10 to 15 years. You know, I was playing on the tour 10 10 12 years ago and you know, the teams and the entouragees were there, but not not for everyone. It now it seems like if you don’t have one, you are you are giving up a competitive edge and it’s so competitive. It’s such high standard and they’re so hungry coming up that you if you’re staying the same, you’re moving backwards. So, you have to have every help that you can possibly get. And where it’s most notable, Gary, is on the practice tee. I mean, the practice tea is crowded out there and it’s not crowded with players. Yeah, it’s hard to elbow your way for Rome to uh get anything done. Well, Windham saved a few bucks on the swing, coach, since uh he mostly gets guidance from his caddy. So, that was a two for one in terms of the payroll. Here he is with his third. You want to take the slope out of play here to pitch it just on the other side of it. Look at this. Oh, well done, Steve. It’s interesting watching Windom hit shots around the green. He hits a lot more driving shots, doesn’t he? Than you would see a lot of other players hit. Relies a little bit more on spin than height and softness. Very play. Well, just what you’re comfortable with and, you know, maybe the way you’ve grown up, maybe the the course conditions you grew up on. Now Tom had a similar very similar type of bunker shot on the seventh on the par five. Didn’t hit a very good shot. So why don’t you just dump out here and just let it release to the hole. Pretty simple here. Just like that. Well, I saw two or three scrambling so far today and that would have matched the stat Hideki opting for wedge from here, Gary. Well, it’s another one of those perfect leaves. Just very, very basic chip here. Very little slope between here and the hole. So another one where there’s every opportunity that this will scare the hole at least. It’s amazing, Gary. He loves the howlfted wedge just off the green. That was hit a little heavy. It didn’t come out very good. We call that the chunk and roll. There you go. Gary, are you a fan of deep rough around greens or do you like the shave bank and the rolloffs and the options they bring? I certainly love the the rolloffs because if you get a shot from a flat lie coming up to an upper level, it makes it far harder. These guys technique is so good out of the heavy rough where the ball’s close to the green and you know, you maybe 10 yards closer and far simpler to hit that shot. It looks more complicated and it looks more difficult, but with good technique, it’s a pretty simple shot. Yeah. always like to give player options. And when you get in the thick stuff, it’s just it’s a gouge. All three players for par within 4T. Take that back. Windham has three extra inches. Oh my. Ah, that’s too bad. Played a beautiful pitch to there. Back to even with those two bogeies matched with two birdies for Windham. It’s a little tale of his year this year, isn’t it? have just been just a little bit off and just, you know, a slightly loose drive and then a miss short part. Maybe not a great chip. You know, all of these little things. You feel like he’s really really close, but it’s just just not quite at the exceptional levels that he’s been used to of playing at. I get a sense he’s close, though. Nice seat here for Decki. Tom Kim, best putting this featured group. He’s made 42 feet worth of putts through eight holes. Another three and 1/2 ft here. That’s good for 32nd best in the field so far today. So very straight up for Tom. Certainly a very impressive opening nine for him. The par five coming up. Oh, he’s scrambled well, putting well, and that is why he is bogey free. Two under par is Tom Kim, 41st in terms of official World Golf ranking. How about Ryan Gerard at five under par, 11th hole, a long way to the hole, but he was just collecting them at the turn. on the 12th. Kept it [Music] rolling with confidence. Let’s show you more. 13th hole. Nice T-OT. Two feet. We’re in. Want to see some fireworks? Let’s go to 15. Carolina native feeling very much at home here. He was feeling it in this round. Oh, go low. So, plenty of birdies on the scorecard, but three bogeies, two of them coming at the 17th and 18th holes, but five under pars. That’s the pace. Four runners where you find Luke Donald, Brian Fox, who was a winner last week, Alex Smallley, Steven Joerger, Cam Davis through 11 holes. Keegan Bradley, our Rder Cup captain for the USA squad. Adam Scott in the mix. How about that? It’s not all 20 year olds taking advantage of a place where you can drive. Alex Norin in a share of seventh with a 68. You got Aaron Ry, he’s climbing up this leaderboard. JJ Spawn two under through 10 holes. And Tom Kim in a share of 18th with that group. [Music] Well, the 10th is a 591 yd par five downhill. You kind of drive to the crest of this knob up here and then play down to the green from there. You got to avoid those bunkers on the left. Anything in the fairway, you got a chance to knock it on the front of the screen. You miss it short right, you’re better off stick on the front right portion of the green, but it’s it’s getable today. Haven’t seen many eagles, but a lot of birdies. Have 50 birdies. So, this is a place you want to grab one if you can. 4.79 the scoring average so far today after a little bit of the weight. Tom Kim with the honor. The wind freshening from his right. So, he kind of throw it out to the right there and let the wind carry it. These are very wellplaced bunkers, aren’t they, Steve? All of them are here. Basic in the landing zones of about 95% of the players. That looks perfect. So much is made, Steve, about the green mile. the closing three holes, but how do you have to think your way from holes 10 through 18? Well, they’re all different in so many ways, but the key again, I know it sounds pretty simple, but you just you got to put it in play off the tea. There’s Hideki. I heard Johnson Wagner talk about this stretch, which Ryan Gerard capitalized on, is his mindset as a member of this course, is grab the birdies where you can because you know you’ll have to hold your breath for the last few holes. I’ve always felt that in competitive golf, it’s always about the next shot out of the right come down right on that. Well, Hideki not in the short stuff. Let’s see what Windam does off the tea now. So, I think with this wind direction, I think he can knock it past this bunk at about 330. Oh, yeah. [Music] [Applause] only perfect. Time for a snack. We’ll be right back as the boys make the turn here. 10th hole in the opening round for our feature group coverage. [Music] This is the tournament that celebrates the backbone of golf. Those professionals giving lessons as a warm-up or a practice technique. It’s great. And running pro shops. And they’re the reason they’re pro golfers. and weekend warriors alike. They’re the reason the game remains vital and [Music] alive. Michael Cartrude is making his first major championship appearance here at Quail Hollow, but he had to work a little extra for the opportunity, making it all the more special to finally be on this stage. [Music] Michael Cartrude is headed to the PGA Championship means everything. I have two kids, family. To be able to qualify for a major championship, it’s an honor and uh it’s also something I’ve worked for my whole life. 4 years ago, we’re trying to make it on the Latin tour. Now, fast forward, I’m a class A PJ professional and I’m lead assistant at the Bears Club and super proud of where I’m at and to qualify for a major is it’s great. My wife is so supportive of what I do and my dreams and my goals. I’m so thankful for her constant effort to push me and to make me better and support me through everything. It’s great. Michael Cartrude had to survive a fourway playoff going to four holes at the PGA of America professional championship. And here is how things look for the Corbridge financial team. The group of 20 Tyler Colette who just blasted the field, winning easily. The rest of the 19 players had to earn it to get into this field. But no surprise uh with all the talent he put on display, he is at the top of this leaderboard. One over par. Brandon Bingham, he too threw six holes in that 67th position. Michael Cartrude three over through 13 holes. But man does it feel good to be at your first major championship, Steve. Indeed it does. I think he won by 10. uh Chantel, he just blew away the field. And it was great to hear Wright Thompson’s voice over. Wright lives in Oxford, Mississippi. You can see Wright sitting on a rocking chair drinking a big bottle of or glass of bourbon as he watches all the co-eds go by. Sounds like a good day to me. By the way, nine of the 20 of the Corbridge financial team are making their first major championship appearance. You know who takes, you know who takes the greatest pride in all that? The members who are part of the culture that helped him get to this championship. Absolutely. Hideki from the thick stuff here. 297. Good news is the grass is growing with him and that’s the use of that hybrid there to get through there and keep the club face open. That was a great shot from that position. Yeah, Chantar, I was I was honored enough to I’ve covered the PGA professional championship for the last 5 to 10 years and it truly is a special week for these PGA professionals and the balance that they show to balance their responsibilities at the club with the members and get their game in the good a shape as they can get it in is pretty impressive. And to cover that playoff was was something really really special. It was emotional at the end. It was heart-wrenching for Brad Larden who just turned 60 who almost made it the PGA Championship. So, there’s so many great stories. Brad was hanging in there. I mean, Michael was missing putts left and right. It was quite shocking. Hit a really solid ball and move a hair right. Let’s see how close Tom can get it. Plays downhill a decent amount. Wind coming a little bit right to left. I tell you what, Steve, I’ve been impressed how far Tom has been hitting it today. Certainly longer than I’ve remembered seeing. I’ve covered many times. Yeah, you see Windham Clark’s ball there in that four or five yards ahead of him. 295 is what he’s been hitting at on average today. Has Tom Kim average this season? 302. Oh, that’s left and going left. That’s way way w of the mark there. If you’re going to miss it, that’s not a bad spot. That’s actually a pretty decent angle up the green. It was just a I think one of those circumstances of just being on the outer limits of that threewood and just trying to find a little extra tend to get the arms a little fast. Now Windup can certainly reach in two from here. You’re aiming well left trying to play that low squeezing cut and he’s played it just over cutting again towards that bunker. just has not had it in sync. Windham Clark, another look at his second here at the par 510th. We’ll be back with more. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Back with you. Opening round coverage of the PGA Championship. If you’re just joining us, we’re following Tom Kim, Windham Clark, and Hideki Matsuyama at the 10th. Hideki now with his third from 109. Should stop fairly quickly. There’s a slight slope towards the front edge. Second bound should stop. Should spin a little bit on that second bounce. Got a bad first hop, gear. You went left on him. That was perfect distance control. Here’s some perspective at this par five. 591. So, who’s doing what? You got Windham snuggled almost to the green. Tom Kim over on that left hand side and rough 51 birdies. It’s rather an undisturbed area where Tom Kim is. So, it’s pretty thick. Balls just nestled down a little bit, but he’s got a loads of green to work with. And it’s just a very gentle ups slope to that where the flag is. So, good news is there’s there’s nothing complicated. It’s now just about trying to read the line, trying to figure out how that ball is going to come out and how it’s going to release. You feel like it’s just going to knuckle a little bit and just release just a little bit more. And that’s one of my best tips for short games with those at home. Most people grab a club and try and fit the club to the lie. The pros will read the lie and then pick the club and pick the shot. That will help your short game immensely. 37 yds to the pin. So, here comes the tumble. Easy. Easy. All right. Good play. Gary, a lot of players I have watched have taken a putter from this area below the grain of the right. Uh, London’s going with a lofted club here. Yeah, I think it again it matches the way he plays shots where he drives it a little bit lower. So, these banks are pretty firm even though it’s been wet all week. About a 4ft slope he’s coming up, but let’s see how that’s that ball just slammed in there and still released. Pretty good there. [Applause] Well, they made a mess. of the previous par five, the seventh. Can they redeem themselves here at the 10th? And the par five is where you got to grab at least one birdie, hopefully two. And as you say, it’s uh making hard work of it. Decki just has a just a really, really gentle left or right p. Really not too much break to this. the away man with 24 feet. Just feel like all three of them or sorry Windder in particular just need something something to happen like an unexpected birdie like something like this right here could well set them up for a little hour run. kind of like that. Wow. Announcers jinx, but let’s just let Gary do some predictive putting. There you go. Shantel, I am quitting on any other prediction from now on in. Well done. Hideki Matsyama 80th this season in strokes gain putting. The only category he loses strokes to the field is off the tea and just by a small margin. Windham Clark’s turn for a birdie. This from six feet. Oh, we’re going. Sorry. Tom Kim has nine feet. So, another one of those pretty straight parts. I feel like it should break a little bit further left than I think it actually does. I just feel like it’s easy to overread this unless it’s right. What’ you call this, Steve? The soft claw. Yeah, soft claw. It’s just got a couple of fingers on it. Neither of his birdies found at par fives. All right, Windham, hold up your end of the deal here. Played a beautiful T-shot. Second chop just so decent pitch. Let’s just cap it off here. It’s not at his best stuff on the greens today, huh, Gary? It’s uh it’s just been a little up and down, isn’t it? This is one of those ones I think just rides the ship. Get yourself back on the par. You are trying to call it again. Oh, this is a this is a given right here, Shantel. This is a US Open champion. This is going in for his third birdie of the day. Just over six feet for Windom. Aha. Gary the psychic. Hopefully quitting now. Company at the top of the leaderboard. Five under par includes Cam Davis with Brian Gerard as our group makes their way to the 11th hole. What do we see at this par for Steve? Always the tight landing area. The wind today in the players faces. You got to miss the bunkers left. You don’t want to be in the deep grass to the right. So driving the fairway. Black stick is getable, but that’s the key. Driving the fairway. I feel like I’ve heard you say that before. Yeah, I’m just a broken record. You know, [Music] just when you’re out of position, uh then you just got to struggle for part. You take birdie out of play unless you get really lucky in the rough. But know some of these holes here, they they set up at an angle that you’ve got to just fit it just right to find the fairway, which is good designwise. It’s very good. 13 birdies, 32 bogeies, and seven doubles. I think that’s just set up by the T-shot here, Shantel. It’s very easy to get a little quick in it. lose lose it in the trees left and it’s easy to steer away down that right side and lose it in the tree line right. So back into the wind. You don’t have to take it over this bunker. If it wasn’t into the wind you would normally take it basically on the right edge of that bunker. Hideki finding four fairways so far. That’s challenge in the bunker. He’s talking to it, but there it is. Good. You’re fine even there. And then anything obviously a little left. less than driver Gary for Windham perhaps just one of those shapes that doesn’t quite suit his eyes. It’s a right to left hole and I think with drive you’d have to take it a little bit too close to that left tree line with as much shape as he’s been hitting today. It’s nice though when a 3wood still goes 290 straight. Can’t relate. If you can. Yeah. Good shot. Yeah. I like the play though. That’s fine. Interestingly, the tour average is that 90% of the players who drive it in the fairway make par or better. Well, that adds up with what you keep telling us to find those fairways. Now, Tom Kim bogey free finding seven of eight fairways so far today. Good swing there. Very similar line to Matyama. Beautiful shot there. Very nice. We’re seeing some good golf today. Bright skies and some nice play that we’ve seen with our featured group, Windham Clark, Hideki Matsyama, and Tom Kim. all together for our ESPN plus coverage here. Quail Hollow Club. [Music] care. Here we need go. The Wana Maker weighs 32 lb. What weighs more, the Wana Maker or the Stanley Cup? I know this question, but I forgot it. I should write it down next time. Stanley Cup. You are correct. And I believe you’ve probably held both. I’ve held both. Yep. Have you drank out of both? Yep. That’s wasn’t hard to do. Hockey players are very strong. The Stanley Cup seems to be very big. And I would guess that it’s not like fake and plastic. So, we’re going to go with Stanley Cup on that one. I don’t even know what it looks like. That’s probably embarrassing to say, but uh let’s go with the water maker. Uh Wana maker should have gone with your instinct. Golly, I knew it. Has to be Stanley Cup. It is, but only by 2 lbs. Dang. I’m going to go with the W maker. It’s heavier. Chucks. Maybe next [Laughter] year. Well, that’s quite a trivia question. They stumped more than half these players. You know, they asked that every year and every year I forget. They should have asked Conora who won the water maker and uh apparently it was a little too heavy for him because the top quite literally came off. Yeah, that was at Harding Park, wasn’t it? I believe sure was 2020. little extra adrenaline grabbing a major and grabbing that trophy. Well, as Windom sifts through this yardage here, Gary, now that we have seen you truly walking each step of this golf course, are you surprised at the score that has the lead right now, five under par? I I think that was about where my expectations were. You know, I go back to Valhalla last year and it was a similar length, similar softness, and you can’t legislate against players who carry the ball 300 yds plus. So, even though it’s long, the ball’s not running, they can still hit short irons into the majority of holes. And, you know, there’s really not much you can do against the best players in the world on a soft golf course. But, uh, you know, I get a feeling it’s amazing how much the course has dried out, um, overnight. It’s completely different in the fairways. We’re not going to get any run the rest of the week, but there was standing water and it’s just all completely disappeared. It’s just a a phenomenal um you know condition course despite four four plus inches of rain. Incredible. Yeah, we were talking about the sponginess of the fairways and the fact that we would not get mud balls. How has that played out? Dried out with what we saw humidity wise matched with the sun and a gentle breeze coming through it a little bit too, you know. It’s just that it’s just that the quality of turf is so good. It’s it’s like a a mat, a mesh, and so the mud is not permeating through it when it lands, which is incredible. We can drop them. We’ll keep them on for years, maybe. Quail doesn’t lack for resources and Johnny Harris does not want to have the best players in the game feeling like the they don’t have the best conditions for the championship. So nothing is left to chance. I like it pretty much straight in. I like it coming down at the 11. Johnny a good player in his own right. Actually played golf at the University of North Carolina over there in Chapel Hill. Yeah. Perfect. Yep. Perfect. It’s a perfect club for us. Used to carry about a three handicap. Seems like there was a little extra discussion here for Windom, Gary. Any idea why? I don’t think so. They seem like they were pretty set on the club. 192 flag right in the middle of the green here. Right on the dividing ridge. Like it’s just a perfect sail for him. Huh. That was from 192 for Windomki. His approach will be 168. Let’s see if Hideki can get this figured out. It’s just that the wind is above the trees and up by the green. You can feel it a little bit more there. I think that just got Windham didn’t hit it as well as he could, but it certainly came up quite a bit short than he thought. A lot of these greens are exactly like this. The front half slopes of the front edge, the the back half slopes of the back edge, and this is right on that dividing ridge. It’s a good reminder since Hideki has fallen victim to sliding off the back of the green certainly more than once this round. Green right on top of that knob. Anything long is just going to do that trendle fast. [Music] Tom Kim 160. Outstanding position here for Tom. He fitted it all the way down there to the narrowest part of the fairway. And now an opportunity to be aggressive here. I think pitch this 15 ft short of the flag. She’ll get a little bounce and leave it in a really good spot. You saw what happened to Hideki’s ball that just released on that down slope. He’s found all but one fairway today. Finding six green so far. [Music] Look at this. Wow. How about that, Steve? Good stuff. That is absolutely superb. We got to see this again. Taking dead aim. He liked it in the air. was admiring it, admiring it, and now loving it. That close to Eagle. Okay, let’s pay some respect here. He’s 120th best, and I say that respectively. The Strokes gained off the tea on the PGA Tour. He’s top 40 in approach to the green, so he certainly knows his strengths. And we just saw it right there. Yeah, that was so well done. That’s kind of in his wheelhouse to your point. Put it in play off the tea and allowed him to take advantage of his strengths. How about the clustering of where PGA Tour players elect to call home, which is something that, you know, maybe you’re a casual golf fan tuning in for a major championship and people might not be completely familiarized. It’s not like an NBA team, an MLB team, NFL where you have a place you have to call home. Golfers can play wherever they want and uh a good chunk of them choose to call Dallas, Texas home, Tom Kim being one of them. When you have the kinds of Scotty Shefflers around you to be able to play practice rounds with on the chance that you are home, how does that impact your game? Well, it’s all positive. And Kim’s case, as you said, the friendship with Shephard right here where we live on St. Simon’s Island, Sea Island, we had six players from St. time was playing in the Masters a few weeks ago and they all get together and play here and and and they uh you know they they play for just enough that you got some bragging rights at stake so it’s good to be competitive and and I get it. South Florida has the same contingent of players now, but uh wherever you’re comfortable in Dallas, I think Dallas started to be a home because of the great airport there centrally located. You can get in and out pretty easily. We have an airport here on the island at Sea Island. If you’re able to fly privately, it makes it very convenient. Gosh, got a cottage here at Quail Hollow. Steve, talking about flying private from St. Simon’s life is good. Well, a lot of guys get together here as they do probably in South Florida and they share a plane or ride share kind of thing. So, it works out well. These hours add up. It’s a quality of life issue and over a period of a 12 months, you know, those those hours can can become meaningful days. Windham calls the Scottsdale area home. And that was a nice shot from him, wasn’t it, Gary? Yeah, that was just that that perfect type of shot. hit it in low, use a little check, bump it into a bank, and that was piece of cake there. He made it look simple. It wasn’t as simple as he made it look, but it certainly suits the way he plays those shots. And Gary, you’ve got Seb Straa living in the Birmingham area, do you not? Yes, we do. Birmingham has become a a really good little a really good little area to base yourself around. We got Shaw Creek and Greystone Country Club that you know allow the players to come out there and great practice facilities, great golf courses. So Greystone right now is hosting PGA Tour Champions Region’s tradition. So it’s a hot bed. It’s just like Sea Island without the ocean. You got Best Savia, you got the Country Club of Birmingham, Mountain Brook, Old Overton, got a just a wealth of great courses there. goodness because different grasses, different topography as well. So, we got a lot of choices which is great as you say. Now, up the hill here, pretty straight P for Hideki. 33 ft for him to go back to back. We talked a lot about the rain. Monday, spectators weren’t even allowed on property at Quill Hollow Club. Some people just love the grind. Yaki Matsuyama. He was seen completely drenched in the rain practicing his putting with his caddy holding the umbrella. It was quite a ridiculous sight. I’m just showing you what he was able to do with a beautiful shot. One of his three birdies at the fourth hole, the par three. And back to the 11th for Windham for cleanup. Good save. Very good safe. Okay, we were teasing this. I saw this on Austin Ecro’s Instagram and I did the same thing everybody else did. I told everybody about it. Is this guy serious? I mean, standing water everywhere. is like, “Hold on, I want to work on some things.” Well, apparently some positive memories as we saw just a hole ago at the 10th producing a 24 foot birdie putt. So, who are we to knock the grind? All right, moving on to the 12th, Steve. 12th is, I think, one of the more underrated driving holes. You got the large trees left and right. If you don’t fit it in the fairway just right, you’re going to be blocked out. The flag stick today is right on the top right portion of the green. To get it close, you run the risk of taking on that uh slope behind it. So, you got to be careful when you attack the [Music] flag. This 12 hole only 11 birdies. 36 bogeies and some rut rows, two doubles. Well, Shantel, if there was ever a chance of a mud ball, this would be where it would be at because the ball’s coming in from such a high angle and this was the softest area yesterday. So, I’ll be really interested to see what the conditions are when the ball lands. But, as you said, Steve, it is a I think it’s an aesthetically really pleasing drive, isn’t it? Just to fit it between everything. You aim at that left greenside bunker and it’s only about 25 yds wide in the landing area. So, a little bit more difficult. Actually, in 2017, it was the the hardest fairway to hit about 50% of players hit it. And to your earlier comment, I believe it’s the lowest part of the golf course, hence the moisture down there. Yep. If you hit it 310, it gets past that tree on the right. Feel really, really free here. just started right in the middle of the lip. Tom Kim has never really made much noise in major championships. Certainly not at the PGA Championship, but his best finish came last year as he is now three under and bogey free at the 12th hole. So Tom been doing what you need to do in control of his driver, hitting it very, very straight. And you just got to keep doing this. You just got to keep relying on this for the the whole tournament. And I think this is where it’s all going to be set up for Tom to have success. Keep doing this. You’ll have a chance even though you’re not the longest in the field. A little leaderboard update. Picking up a birdie at the sixth hole. Cam Davis now the leader. Six under par. That started right and went right. Let’s go past the tree. Gary, you think it’s almost beneficial for some players who might overthink things, the fact that there was limited amount of time to prepare for this major due to the weather circumstances? Yeah, I think there’s a lot to that. you know, people, you know, obviously the majors are on a pedestal and with that comes players maybe trying harder or working harder and get out of their normal rhythms and routines. You know, a lot of the time for the PGA professionals who, you know, are so excited to have an opportunity of playing a major, they will tend to overwork unless until you played a few few u PGA championships. So, there is probably a lot to that give you a little bit more energy come the weekend as well. In contrast that to Rory who played nine holes Tuesday and nine holes yesterday. That was his practice routine. That is way left early. Wow. Somewhere between those two will be good. Okay. The tea is yours. Windom. Yeah. Certainly to me that the whole suits a fade. So you can look down that left side and just peel it off that left green side bunker. Would certainly feel comfortable. This looks great. And it is position A, the 107th playing of the PGA Championship. It is a beast of, of course, Quail Hollow Club. We’re back with more featured group coverage here on ESPN Plus. How about Cam Davis at the top of the leaderboard here in the opening round of the PGA Championship. He began his round on the back nine. Picked up a birdie at the 10th hole and lots of good play on display for this PGA Tour winner. Boogie the 13th picked up another birdie at the 14th and this at the 15th. Watch it go. [Applause] Nice touch from behind the green. Our for 18th hole, the second watching it. How good is this? Okay, made the turn at three under par. Picked up a birdie at the first hole. That putter and the beautiful T-shot at the par 3 fourth. Another birdie. Five under and the sixth hole. Rolling the rock. Oh yeah. Walk it in, will you? And that’ll get you to the tippity top here with Ryan Gerard. Now a stroke behind Luke Donald four under with Ryan Fox. Alex Smallley. Steven Joerger. How about Keegan Bradley? Three under par. Adam Scott through 13 holes in a share of seventh with Matt Fitzpatrick and Victor Havlin on the course now. Hey, people were poo pooing Victor Holland saying, “Oh yeah, okay, he won, but I don’t know how his major championship form was. I had some hope, Steve.” Well, Victor is always in search of perfect. And as you say, don’t let perfection get in the way of the good. And if he can get out of his own way, uh, you know, he’s got a immense talent. I mean, I stand in awe of his talent, but don’t make the game harder than it is. All right, Hideki. Uh, Carrie, I mean, what does he have if anything? Well, he clipped a tree off the tea. I think this is actually a very similar shot to the one we saw Tim Tom Tom Kim play on. Number two or sorry, number three. Big hook around the tree. Sorry, number two. Yeah, a big hook around the trees. Good light, but there’s a massive slow short of this green to see if we can get it running up. Started right. Gary, can you help us? Yeah, just short of the bunker down the It may have just toppled into the right green bunker. So, pretty good effort from there. It was just such a massive slope, he couldn’t crawl up there. And now Tom Kim. So, managed to avoid any trouble. Just in a little bit of pine straw. Keep those feet as quiet as you possibly can. 136 flag about 10 feet on top of that big slope just short of the flag. When you get in pine straw, it’s a little bit like pickup sticks. You want to move the pine needles around, but you’re so afraid you’re going to move the ball. That’s why you don’t want three cups of coffee. That’s right. Great analogy. I don’t know if they still make those. Probably not. I guess the kids today would look at me like I had two heads. Yeah, they’re on their PlayStation. Mhm. That’s long and left. He’s got his work cut out for him, but not so here with Wendon Clark. A perfect T- shot. It just has kind of been what we’ve seen to this point. Any mud that gets picked up in the ball is just a tiny little smear. There’s just a little bit of ball shouldn’t affect it. 134 and he’s only found five greens so far today. Just a tick off over and over. Trying to play it low to bounce it back there. Oh, this is that was so good, Steve. That needed four more feet. That was going to be really tight. Yeah, that was clever. I like that. And now it’s off the green. It is off the green. I like the play though. That’s not the first time you’ve said that today, Steve. What does Windam do different? That’s unconventional. That allows for a little more creative freedom. He works backwards from the shot that’s required and he just makes it happen that way. And he’s got great imagination. Even though he plays left to right all the time, he can go the other way when when asked and play a low shot like that. As Gary and I said, it was a perfect shot to try to skip it back to that back right hole location. Imagination. That’s a word we don’t hear constantly since we’re nosiving into all these stats on the PGA Tour. Gary, what percentage of players in this day and age would you say have that kind of imagination? It’s certainly less than it was 10 years ago. I mean, you’ll be surprised that, you know, some of these younger guys, you know, even though they’re they’re based in numbers, there is still that element there. I I just don’t think you could be successful without it to an extent. Now, some obviously have way more than others. Now, a little bit of imagination needed here. This is a very tricky shot for Hideki where he’s got that massive slope between here and the hole. So, got to see if he can drive it up that slope. He’s five for six scrambling. But this is first look at a sand save. Just going to wait for the group in front to hit off the T. That’s a new T to the right here of the 12th green. It’s It’s right and lower. where it used to be back behind the uh camera tower you see there but they moved it to the right. So to beat Steve this is a shot that wind would feel pretty comfortable doing hitting it low and driving it for Hideki tends to hit a little higher a little bit trickier where that slope is right where there’s every chance he’ll hit it and spin back. up. [Applause] The long bunker shot is hard enough, but to have a pin location like that makes it even tougher. Dastardly with a capital D. You don’t hear that word every day. I think well we’re doing the sort of the is it me is it you for the guys on the next T. Now this is actually a pretty tricky shot here Steve. If this doesn’t get the right contact this will release and could easily run off the green. So the line is decent but you still got to get the right contact here. He’s perfect scrambling today is Tom Kim. Steady, steady, easy. There it goes. How did that start, Gary? Run. Run, Tom. There we go. [Applause] That was uh 44 440 speed there. Impressive. I’ll [Applause] say not quite 40 yard dash speed, but it’s pretty good for a golfer. We’re all athletes. Shantel, I fully agree. Should see me bench pressing 90. It’s impressive. Six times, uh, Gary. Well, I might get up to eight if I’ve said well. Looks like quite a bit of movement in the flag. Is the wind picked up this hole? Just a little bit. It’s pretty constant. Just sort of that 7 to 10. So the very similar shot to what we’ve seen Windom play a lot here. That low bumper bank shots easier in the second cut. Z. It is a very old school method of playing and that’s the shot that I grew up playing that I’ve had to learn how to use the bounce and I really want to go back to that and I don’t know how to do it again. It’s it’s weird, isn’t it? You train yourself and I just I come across that shot all of the time and I’m stuck. But I’ve kind of committed to using the bounce more and it’s it’s going against what I believe. You said the fifth wedge you bag you’d be fine. Okay. Exactly. Die looking shot. Fourth shot. All right. Take your medicine. Take your bogey. Move on. You got out of position big time. [Music] What’s up? Gary, This would be like stealing for Kim if he makes this for par. Yeah, it really I tell you what, I think he hit a really good chip. It was just so difficult because everything just ran away from it. Just got to keep the speed up here. This is I think a little bit slower of a pot than it looks. 15 ft for a bogey free round to be preserved. Good try to stay. All right, hang in there. Yeah, that 5 ft left for Windom here. Well, this putt is slow and you got to match up very carefully the break and the speed here. It’s the early break that gets you on these butts. Everything’s drags to this right edge of this green, doesn’t it? So, I think it’s just on that right lip. Very well done. And you know where this next tea is. Yeah, it really fits better uh to the right there. It’s lower and you shoot up into the slope of the green from there as opposed to way left of golfers left of that current location. Now let’s give you some perspective of what we see here at this 205 yd par three. Yes. So you go uphill the flag stick left, but you just play off the middle of the green. Don’t flirt with going left here. You don’t have a lot of room for error. and the movement of the green as the arrows indicate false front where it will just fall in front of the green. I think Shantel, this is the way you play defense on. I know it looks pretty benign, 205 yards, but uh just make par, move on. group up ahead still on the green, Gary. It appears it is indeed. Yeah. And it’s one of these holes with a a massive fall off for sure. And and as the course dries, yesterday that ball was running off about 15 yards. I think by the end of the weekend, it will run off 30 to 40 yards. So the the course is just changing minute by it. It’s uh it is testament theage and the conditioning that group ahead Ludvig Oberg at one under Patrick Reed even par and Jordan Spith three over here in Charlotte North Carolina. A little feature of highlights from the wildlife today here at the PGA Championship, Quail Hollow Club. Last time we were here in 2017 for this major championship, eight under par and the winner, Justin Thomas. So many good storylines, Steve, coming into this major. I mean, people were going to be hypnotized by, of course, could worry go for two in a row. Has he been unleashed? Doesn’t appear so after uh that overpar opening round, but people wonder Jordan Spe, what could he possibly do with his chance to slam dunk at that career grand slam? Scotty Sheffler, of course, always someone you need to pay attention to. And even last week, Tommy Fleetwood showing some promise, perhaps getting that first major championship. You know, Tommy is someone I keep thinking and hoping that he will find his way into the winner circle for that major. He certainly has been there a lot. I so admire his game. I I really admire even more the way he plays the game. It’s a class act. Certainly. So, and even another waker winner, Colin Morawa, felt like he was starting to find his groove, making a caddy switch. Big change. Yeah, it’s it’s always about uh the the intangibles, I call it, between a caddy and a player. And those intangibles not are not always the same among player caddy. L big Oberg playing in only his second PGA championship last year missing the cut. Lub was right in the Masters this year until a dreadful finish on 17 and 18, but he was right there. You forget that. You know about Justin, of course you know about Rory, but Ludick was there to the end. I think so because yeah the draw a little further. Yeah% where you’d have it coming down on the wind push. Yeah just a hard I kind of I I didn’t mind the draw actually. Yeah. Um kids are kid you see the guy in the Yeah, I was looking at the guy in the blue just right at the guy in the orange. I have it come down right there. So start a draw down. Yeah. And if you feel more comfortable with a straight one just I’m fine that gets there too. All right. Speaking of Justin Rose, he is one over making the turn. Windom with the honors here, Gary. Looking to land this about 195 yds. Gets it right on top of that slope on the falls front. Short sideed himself. Stay right there. It’s on an up slope, which may not be too bad there. Straight down. Tom Kim coming off of his first boogie of the day. He’s found seven greens so far in this first round. It’s one of those shots, Steve, that with the the whole green slopes off to the left. If you do play it aggressively and run off short side, it’s not too bad because you’re pitching back into the slope. So, if you want to be, if the numbers right and the club’s right, you can be semi-aggressive with this. Okay. He’s flared that one. That’s a wave to the right. The whole green is yours, Hideki. So the the shot he’s been fighting is that one that he tries to fade and it starts just a little left and stays left. Might be a better shot. Might be just trying to play a little draw here from the center of the green. Only 17 birdies found here so far today. Closest to the pin, Gary, Tyler Colette, one of the Corbridge Financial Group 20. like it. We’ve got some scrambling to do here at the par 31 13th hole. Quail Hollow Club, the host of this year’s 2025 PGA Championship. We’ll be right back. [Music] [Music] 2021. He slipped on the green jacket carrying the torch for Japan. Just one executed shot after another. Certainly that iron work we’ve come to know and love on display, Steve. Yeah, it was a breakout moment for Hideki. But this moment right here, his caddy Shota Hayafui bowed in reverence to the course, took the flag. It was a unbelievable gesture. Well, that moment went viral and printed on t-shirts. There’s plenty of respect in this game, but that certainly was a beautiful showing of it. This team has been a great pair. Part of the Olympics last year. Little rough sailing getting out of Paris. And they certainly had another great memory to kick off this year, winning in record setting fashion at the kickoff to 2025. Caplua was devoured by Hideki. Poor Colin Morawa. He’s like, “I just don’t know what else I can do. This guy is ridiculous.” Pretty close to the exact quote. I think he had an expletive in his. Yeah, probably. Here’s a second shot at the 13th for Tom Kim. Clever. Very clever. 35 under00 par. You think that will hold for long? The way guys are playing, what we’re seeing, course setup. Well, Scotty Scotty took a shot at it a couple weeks ago. He sure do. That was his first win of the season after seven last year. And Clark his second. And one more to scramble here. Hideki. kept it under the hole. That’s fine. He is fourth best when it comes to sand save percentage is aki so far this season on the PG tour. I mean going back to what you were saying about the Asia Pacific amter getting him into the Masters for the first time going on to slip on the green jacket. We’ve seen flashes of absolute brilliance from Hideki Matsyama, but at the same time, the injury has been the bugaboo. I mean, 11 PGA Tour wins, and you kind of wonder, even at 33, could there have been more? Yeah, you make a good point there. You know, all golfers deal with these minor injuries and and and they affect each player so differently. You could have something like, I’m making this up, tendonitis in your elbow and that could sideline you for a long time. So, you just hope that you you can play unhe hurt and um sort of escape, if you will, the issues with injuries. 11 is not a bad resume. Not to uh take anything away from him. w with a ma with a major I might add. Yeah. Has 6 ft 8 in to save par. never got it high enough. That’s his third bogey of the day going back to even now. Windham Clark’s first PGA Tour win came at this venue for the regularly scheduled PGA Tour stop. 19 underpar. He won by four strokes over Xander Schoffley. Poor Xander. I mean, he keeps getting into contention here and it just gets ripped away from him. And amazingly, uh, Windham has played in four PGA Championships in the past, only made the cut one time. And that was at KE when he was like 75th. So doesn’t have a record of any kind in this championship. Hideki with 5T. He’s gaining a stroke and a half on the field with the flat stick. So let’s see it on display. There you go. Aha. Good up and in. Currently seventh in the world. He is a true icon. Chantel in Japan. He is their hero. He’s the face of Japanese golf. But he represents himself and the game very well. Tom Kim’s turn to scramble. 4 and 1/2 ft. remains two under. Pick up a birdie or two coming in. He possibly drive the 14th hole coming up. 15 reachable in two par five, but then 16, 17, 18 will decide the fate. And to your point, here’s the water that surrounds the upcoming holes. Starting with the 14th up that left side. Same for the 15th. And we saw Rory get a little frisky. I really like this. So Tom Fazio reimagined this as a drivable par4, but you’ve got to fit it among all of those bunkers there guarding the right hand side of the landing area. You’ve got to tumble it down from the right. You don’t want to carry it to the green. A lot of players, the longest players going with a 3-wood. You can still reach the green easily with the 3-wood. Looks easy sometimes, but some also plays hard. Here’s one you can take advantage of. 55 birdies. So, you don’t want to be the odd one out. Yeah, earlier in the day they were waving up groups. I’m assuming they’re still doing the same. If there’s a group on the green. Yeah, the group ahead appears to be finishing up. I would have noticed. I know you would. I was just helping. So, Kim going with probably a 3-wood. You can run it on this ground. You could land it 30 yards back and with the lay of the land, it uh it’ll scoot the ball down toward the putting surface. So, six under leads, but two under par is good for a share of 19th. This is the second easiest hole at Coil Hollow Club. [Music] The first being the 15th ahead. It’s going left. That’s got to be careful. There’s water there. Oh, that has found the water. Yep. Those ripples. Not good. Yeah. Deck is turn. going with an iron. You remember the eighth hole he laid up with a 3-wood. He’s laying up here with an iron and it’s going to be Oh, that’s okay. First cut. That’s fine. Rely on his wedge game. Yeah. Still right there. 10 balls have found the water at this hole and one of those is Tom Kim Windham’s turn now. It doesn’t fit his fade, so he’s got to be careful here. Yeah, he lost it. Right. It’s amazing how many awkward shots that you hit when a hole doesn’t fit your eye. The winner at this property, Windham Clark. Hoping for a little more from him, even par on the day as the water has some friends here at Quail Hollow Club. [Applause] [Music] One, two, three. Uh, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Do we get an A? Steve, were you eating raisins out of the container with a spoon earlier? Yep, that was never seen that in my life. Well, I didn’t want to take the time to put them in a bowl or something. They’re just kind of a pickme up. You caught me busted. I sure did. I have never seen someone love raisins enough to the point that they just have them straight. So, I just needed something a little pickme up. Good for you. I’m glad you got the course doesn’t move. The opponent does. Ahead, behind, around the course, up and down the leaderboard. Both are the enemy. Not either or. Yes. And to win a major, you’ll have to beat the course and your fellow [Music] competitors. Short par4, but there’s company in the water. Tom Kim right in the H2O. Hideki Matsyama electing for an iron off the tea. snuck right up in that first cut and Windham Clark way out there on the right side. I would call that the good, the bad, and the ugly t-shots here in 14. Sum it up perfectly. Mhm. Not a one. Well, Hideki’s okay, but the other two not so good. Just figuring out where it crossed before the drop here for Tom Kim. He gets two club lengths, but uh he didn’t want to go too far up the hill, so he got a reasonably level and flat line. And that is something that the pros and specifically the caddies who know the rules are very good at at the professional level, knowing how to take a drop. Well, the good rule of thumb is that if it’s a penalty drop, you get two club lengths. If it’s a um temporary obstruction or a a catch basin for the drainage, you only get one get relief and a and a club length. So, keep that in mind. left for that. Well, it’s off the left. I know the ball’s You like that start line? Okay, come on. My guess is he’s going to play out to the right. If he goes at the flag, there’s no way he can stop it. He’s certainly set up that way. Third shot here for Tom Kim. He took it on. He’s see the result. Got greedy and his reaction. Oh my god. Nowi second shot. It’s going to be a little right of the flag stick. 53 yds to the hole. And you see how difficult that was to try to go on that line. I can’t imagine wind what Windham’s got here. He’s got to be careful. He can go long very easily here. [Music] Taking it high, moving the ropes. All kinds of concerns for Windham. Landed absolutely perfect. They have certainly mucked up this very relatively simple drivable par4 here. and the par five seventh they made a mess of and here at the 14th they’re not producing much in the holes that you’d like to see some opportunity in that yeah he’s in that large drain there to what we just mentioned he gets relief and a club length and I’m guessing he’s going to putt it from here just to be safe. Yeah, for a guy who we’ve outlined the imaginative mind around the greens and how he plays his shots a little different than others. Playing it safe with that water lurking not a bad idea. All right, Tom Kim from the Greenside Bunker. Fourth shot. That’s pretty good. That’s pretty good. Oh, that would have been some [Applause] far. Thank you, Madison. Beware of the early celebration. Yeah. Count yourself fortunate to make five after you’ve kind of hacked it around here. That was a brilliant bunker shot. [Applause] That’ll be a second bogey in the last three holes after making bogey at the 12th. Gosh. Three under through 11. Yeah, they’re kind of spewing oil right now, Chantel. And they got one more getable hole, then the rest, 16, 17, 18. Anything but will have 25 ft ahead of him, but Windham Oh, a wedge. I’m surprised. I’m surprised. He’s bold. He’s very confident. That’s all I can say. Just be short conscious. What percentage of players do you think would use a wedge here? 10% maybe. It’s not a bad play. Pretty sporty. Yeah, you’re pitching off this tight to homegrass we talked about earlier. It’s a good play. That’s why the higher handicapper, you know, loves to putt it or a great uh club choice of clubs is to take a hybrid and use a putting stroke with a hybrid. It’s an easy shot. Easier shot rather. Yeah, my problem is I don’t practice that. So, I’ll just resort to putter. Wind him five for eight scrambling today. You hate to hear eight scrambling opportunities through only 13 holes. Uh, that’s not good. Definitely not good. So, Hideki 24T here. He’s gaining almost two strokes on the field with the putter. How about that for his fourth birdie of the day to move to two underpar? And Windham’s got a little bit longer than I thought. He’s got about five feet away here for par. Yeah, the camera angle made it a little deceiving. Mhm. So, at best, this group’s going to play the whole one over. Now, this putt is right back into the grain. Chiff dwarf always follows the setting sun. Well done. Good finish. Well, that confidence paid off. I’m impressed. Gentel, you’d be amazed at the number of good players that get the chipping hips. BJ had it went cross-anded. You know, Matt Fitzpatrick, it went cross-anded. All stemming from maybe little jittery hands around the [Music] greens. All right. Good par there, Becky. Well, it’s not often we’re highlighting a bogey, but let’s check in with PGA professional Joe Howlet in Frisco, Texas from the PG of America coaching center powered by T-Mobile. Shantel, Steve, I just saw two shots. I saw Tomkins Kins. I saw a shot I don’t have the skill set for. And then I saw another shot I don’t have the guts to hit, but I’m going to try and show. really want to just control your follow through, but you got to be aggressive while you do it. So Kim played kind of a unique shot for viewers out there. If you just get up here, you can pop the ball out. It’s not going to have a lot of spin on it in case you have the flag stick real close to you. Control your follow through and you’re going to control how far it goes. And someday I’ll get some guts to try that other one. Joe, good advice. We appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. Well said. We’ve got to see this again. Got right to the hole and decided it didn’t want to go in, but watch that swing. All great bunker players have fast hands, and that’s what he did just then. Did it beautifully. Not the exact result he was hoping for, but a heck of a shot nevertheless. Yes, it was in the water off the tea. But to finish like that, a bogey, you can walk away with at least a little smirk. Gary’s back with us and we’re at the 15th for Hideki. Little left to right wind here. So, he’s pushing it towards the bunkers. So, you got to take it a little bit closer to that tree than maybe you want. Come on back. Oh, get there. Wow. [Applause] Gary, would you ever take a 3-wood, maybe close the face a little bit if you wind them and hit a low hook down there to just kind of run it with the slope of the land. Well, that’s certainly, you know, with the shape that he has and a driver and having to take it so close to that tree, that’s certainly something that will possibly be a shot, but I think he’s just got to go with what his strength is and just take it right down that left side. That’s where he’s aiming. He started actually over the edge of the lake. It looks great in the air. Well, kudos to him. That’s actually terrific. Good play. You got to you got to play your shape, don’t you? I mean, the way they train themselves now nowadays, modern players, it’s a very one-dimensional game off the tea. And you know, maybe back in the days of wound balls and and different faces and everything, it was easier to work it anyway. But, uh, I think you just if you know it’s moving back to the right, man, just go play it. I remember JT at the 72nd hole with the players played that fivewood back in his stance and just hit a sharp hook out there. It’s gutsy shot but he pulled it off. And now Kim. So the distance Tom’s been hitting it today. That right bunker at 315 may be in play. 298 is average driving distance today. Can’t be disappointed. Well, hit the green at the PGA Championship with ESPN Bet Sports Book. Start off the tournament with $100 in bonus bets when you make your first $10 wager. Download ESPN Bet app and sign up with promo code birdie. Get started today. [Music] [Music] Let’s take a look at the leaderboard here in the opening round of the PGA Championship. Cam Davis putting on a show. Six under par. Only one bogey. That coming at the par three 13th hole as he is closing it out at the ninth. JT Poston at three under with a host of other players. Tier Hatton, Aaron Ry through 15 holes. How about Rafa Compos through 10 holes? He could keep climbing. Scotty Sheffler. You surprised in Scotty Xander and Rory’s play today? Um, disappointed for Rory, pleased for the others. How’s that? Seems fair. And here with our featured group, Windham Clark, Tom Kim, and Hideki Matsyama at this par five. Tom Kim now a little bit further back. But in position, Hideki Matsyama over in that fairway bunker and Windham Clark scooted ahead there. Birdies came from those balls in red. You got some eagles out there indicated by yellow. And bogeies are worse. Only a few here. And those are indicated with the gray balls. This is the data that players are given by their coaching staff, by their stats team before a major championship. They literally get a packet of information, Steve. It’s down to that much of a science at this point. So, you’re not just doing the homework on the golf course. We were literally sifting through pages. I just wonder when is too much too much? Let’s go back to field players. How about that? Yeah, there you go. 272. Odki got out of position in the bunker. All he could do is lay up and now what became an easy par five is not so anymore. But Kim’s in great shape. Set to play Gary. Just inside 270 for Tom. So winds uphill. Big bunker short. Wouldn’t be terrible today. wind just into left to right. So Tom’s got to have his Sunday best up there. That short right. That should be really good. It’s a great lead. Good night. Left it any better. Good play. I’ve been doing all Yeah. Yeah. They’re working, but I saw what they was. No, they’re frame. So, 99 of the top 100 players in the official World Golf ranking in the fields this week. The only one missing, Billy Horchel out with hip surgery. Here’s a little fun fact. Nine of the last Waker Trophy winners have been earned by American players. Does that trend continue, Gary? Well, the law of averages have said, “No, it’s time for the rest of the world to step up.” Look at what you did with that. I like that ride a cup year. Yeah. This is it. We’re going to turn it all around. Yeah. The Europeans have eaten up PGA Tour wins, including last week with Seb Straa. monster. Come on, Chantel. So, you’re saying we can use him at Beth Page this year? I wish. Born in Austria, came to Valdos. He speaks South Georgia. Okay. All right. Uh Windham going with a long iron here. Smashed it way up there. Good 30 yards past Tom. Slight down slope though. So slight down slope first cut trying to get it up the hill. Got to take advantage of a length here. Certainly is impressive to get it that high from that lie. I think that’ll be okay there, Steve. I do too. I think it’s a good lead. An easy bunker shot going right back up the hill. If it carried over, likelihood it goes through the back of the green. That was struck. Well, 342 off the tea. The longest drive here today was Nikolai Hoygard. 350. [Music] And to Gary’s point, he played his typical left to right shot, took the lake on, faded back over the trees, and got rewarded with a good T- shot. Hideki, meanwhile, uh, taking his time to get to the screen, should we say. Yeah, was not rewarded with his T-OT. If he’s in the first cut of rough, he’s it’ll be hard to spin it. Hence, hard to get it close to this front hole location. It’s actually a relatively thick lie here, Steve. So, missed the fairway and then missed the fairway with the layup. Suddenly make this hole a lot harder. I’ll say, “Oh, wow. We can’t even see the ball.” He gave that everything he could, and that’s not going to get to the green, but that was pretty impressive to move it that far. again. Five Eagles, 56 birdies here. Only six bogeies. And Hideki making this harder than it needs to be here at the 15th. The last par five of the day. talking about nine of the last WMaker Trophy winners, American players. This is more of a realistic stat though. Each of the last eight PGA champions, championships rather, were won by someone who already had multiple major championship titles. Speaks to experience. Not afraid of the big moment or the big stage. That’s good. I like that. You know what seems to be talked about not enough is the fact that getting into team play, whether that be president’s cup or on a Ryder Cup, that really produces kinds of players. I mean, look what it did for Scotty Sheffller. Not that he wasn’t probably already going to do wonderful things in the game, but it seems to be pretty pivotal. Well, remember he got picked on that team at Whistling Straits and everyone questioned that pick and boy did he exonerate himself well and uh that of the captain’s pick. Sure. He went from a who’s he to a who’s who. very fast. What a cool shot. You know, Ludvig Ludvig was very much like that for the last RDER Cup over in Rome. He’d only turn pro three or four months. Yeah, your first major the Masters and you make a splash. Pretty impressive. Let’s see a splash here from Hideki. That’s a perfect high. [Music] Uhhuh. Just what we expect. a look at what Windham has ahead. This his third. Yeah. So, a fairly simple shot here. Another good lie. It’s one where it’s just that first bouncer going to be just a little to the right with the angle of the slope coming out of this bunker. [Applause] That is superb. Good play. Good for Steve. It’s amazing the trajectory he has, but the spin he gets on it. It really is spectacular how he plays his shots around the green. We’re watching it again. [Applause] very handy. Where’s Joe Howlet when you need him? So, Gary, this the fourth longest layout in PGA Championship history at 7,626 yards. Does it feel every bit of it? Yes, it does because there’s a there’s enough uphill shots as well, but it’s, you know, when you fly at 300 yards, it it it doesn’t seem that long for a lot of these players. This is a very makeable chip from here. Look at this. Was that on tape, Gary? That was beautiful. After what we just saw at the 14th, he said, “All right, this one’s going in for Eagle.” Back to three under par is Tom Kim. [Applause] Well, Hideki tapped. Not his best showing at this par five. [Applause] One more look at the magic in the hands here. Tom Kim. Gary said it was makeable and it was. [Applause] As players navigate their way around the course this week, danger will be lurking in the form of the green mile. The last three holes at Quail Hollow have been called a nightmare over the years. Here’s why. In the PGA Championship in 2017, there were more double bogeies or worse on these three holes than there were birdies or better. Okay, so of those 12 were triple or quadruple bogeies. And listen a bit this that matches the number of triples or worse on the first 15 holes. A lot of the danger comes from the water that’s in play that we showed you. And since the PGA Tour returned here in 2003, more than 1,800 golf balls have found the water in this stretch of holes. So all that to say, in recent history, no finish in major golf has been more treacherous to navigate than this one. Not Wingfoot, not QA, and not Carnasty. When it comes down to it, no one is safe walking the green mile. What is at stake? Well, a major championship on the line and 161718 looking you in the face, Steve. Yeah, it’s only 535 yd par five with a lake down the left, the lake behind the green, bunker’s right, but other than that, it’s not a very difficult hole, Shantel. You know, kind of a walk in the park. We’ve seen so many balls find the lake long and left. Scotty was there earlier. which was a real shocker. The stacks. Yeah. Three birdies all day long. Starting like right edge of that scoreboard. Sorry. the number five to start yardage at a par4. Not exactly a welcome sight for Tom Kim. Well, I got good news. At least it’s a little bit downwind, a little bit right to left. So, it’s a very comfortable wind shape and wind direction. Make it just a little easier. I missed it. Okay. Nice soft bounce. That’ll be fine. Just be a long way in. Five. Yeah. Oh, you mean to like stay short? Yeah. Oh, I see what you’re saying. Yeah, I get that because then I have to thread it. Yeah. 311. 311. I was hit the lower. Yeah. Right. You come post that. Yeah. I really like that. Right to left. So, this is one of those cases that Yeah. Windham doesn’t have to smash this and he’ll still have a very comfortable shot in. And so this wind is a comfortable win where you can just hold it up a little bit with that cup and still have a relatively short club in 308 Carrie. Gary, you nailed it. Ball speed 186. He got to 194 earlier today. So that was all about putting the the ball in play. Yeah, I think that’s a really good sign of discipline, isn’t it? Because it’s easy to get distracted at the start of the green mile and a massive par four and you’ve got to give it a little extra. Yeah, Windham stayed very much within his comfort levels there, which is that’s his kind of his fairway finder and and it’s a nice fairway finder to have, isn’t it? Carry 308. Yeah, he’s to your point, he’s already long enough. So don’t run the risk of putting it somewhere other than the fairway trying to gain extra yardage. So Hideki has the tendency to maybe try and swing it a little hard on some of these types of shots. And that one’s leaking just a little bit right like the previous drive. Just okay. Yeah. Okay. Right. The green mile continues as we track this feature group from start to finish here in the opening round, the 107th PGA Championship. We’ll be right back here on ESPN Plus. [Music] They call it the green mile and it’s justified. I think it’s the toughest stretch of holes in the world. You have to hit perfect shots or you’re going to make bogeier much worse. You’re trying to sign for three pars. You know, if you get a sneak a birdie in, that’s an advantage. There’s nothing hidden. It’s right in front of you and you got to go execute. Hit some golf shots. That’s for sure. [Music] When people come off this golf course, the last thing they remember is the last three holes and they think that green mile that keeps getting longer somehow. Even in perfectly calm conditions, every single shot is a test. Well said by John Rom. The green mile somehow keeps getting longer. It quite literally has backing up to the 16th. It’s hard to imagine a par 4 525 yd and they and they move the tea back to get there. So, uh it it made it even harder just with that length alone. Right. Today playing 535. Yeah, that’s right. 49 double bogeies or worse. Three holes we’re talking about. There’s a reason why we highlight this stretch anytime we come here. By the way, you just saw Justin Thomas who of course won this championship the last time it was played at Quail Hollow Club. He’s one of the only three players to make birdie at the 16th hole today. The other two were Walkman and Aaron Ry. And JT pitched in from behind the green and thick rough to do so. You think about it, the 1678, you got to hit five full shots. Okay. Uh, does that sound like a lot? No. But it it really is. And you’ve got to you can’t miss one of the five and expect to escape bogey free on these last three holes. What do we have? What does Kim have left out there? Well, he’s got 232 and it’s a completely blind shot, so not exactly ideal. There’s a tree above this hill and it’s about 15 to 20 yards left of that. That’s the basically the only landmark you have up there. Now we’re looking from behind the player. And to your point, Gary, we see nothing but the slope of the hill, trees to the left of 14. And so it’s gone up there. And he’s got a decent look at it. Now you just got to trust. And Steve, you and I have played enough Links Golf where sometimes you get your best shots, don’t you? Because you’re not distracted. You’re hidden to a very specific target instead of avoiding something. Sure. So look at a pitch this about 215 yards would be ideal. The whole field was hitting a lot of 30 and 40 foot lag putts yesterday from the middle of the green up to this back left. Wind is helping from the right. It’s a five to started at that right bunker and it’s staying there. The tree moved. Must be it. Hideki’s turn. Yep. Now Decki. So, Hideki always been a very good long and mid iron player. I think this is one of these shots that I wouldn’t be surprised if he hits a decent one here because this sort of just look it sets up really well. I think it sets down below you, the wind coming right to left. You aim this right in the middle of the green and just let it just drift over there and just get a little bit of release. He’s top 25 in terms of approach from over 200 yards 212. What? I think he’s done it as well. This is on an incredible line. Just going on the wind now. That’s got to sit. See? Oh, go. Got right up against the thick stuff. What a bad break. And wound up, Gary. That’s just those two cuts on that bank there that it’s high enough to slow it down where it just nuzzles up against that thick cut. That’s going to test Hideki. 208 for Windham. I’ve really enjoyed watching Winder play today with all the power, the ability to hit different shots. Gary, distance measuring devices are legal this week. Are anyone Is anyone in this group using a rangefinder? I haven’t seen anyone. Okay. Right there. It’s off the right corner like a touch of health. Sorry. No, I was just saying it’s just not like a smash line. All right. Still okay with draw. Still okay with draw. You don’t need to drip down a little bit. Yep. I love that. I love that. Okay, perfect, bud. There’s the confirmation. And there’s that great relationship where there’s just that incredibly positive last thought before he swings the club. That’s just waved out a little to the right there. That’s fine though to get it on the top level. That’s a very, very good shot. There you go. Seventh green foul today. Might as well be here. All right, so that’s two of the five full shots he’s got to hit. Give him an A for both. Windham at one under par. That’s good for a share of 29th right now on the leaderboard. There is company at the top. Pair of 66 shot by Ryan Gerard and Cam Davis. You got Luke McDonald in a share of third. Ryan Fox, Alex Smallley, Steven Joerger, Aaron Ry. Then a share of eighth at three under par, Alex Norin, JT Poston, Rio hitsune, Nico Etchavaria, Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert McIntyre, he’s still got Ben an finishing his round, Tier Hatton, Colin Morawa, a waker winner. And of course in our group, Tom Kim, Scotty Sheffller with the 69, Adam Scott and plenty of company in the two under party. Anything par better today is good. Rory’s got some work to do tomorrow being three over. Jordan speed struggling made some late birdies, but he’s a couple over, I think. I haven’t checked his card lately, but two players who uh probably have a lot on the line. Smith in this case could join Rory in that ma major Grand Slam category. Yeah, Jordan’s at four over par right now. Brooks Keepa at four over par as well. Justin Rose at three over and you mentioned Roy Moy three over par as well. So uphill all the way for Tom and everything runs away past the hole. So tensing will become up short here. Steady, steady. Not bad though. Fedeki right up against that rough Gary. Well, you you watch players body language and there’s not too much messing around and and looking and relooking and trying different shots. So, I think it’s one where it’s just laid up enough where you can slide that club under. Just pop it up there. Almost hopped it in. [Applause] Well, Gary, we were talking about the resume of Hideki Matsyama a couple of holes back. Of course, he won the Masters in 2021, but are you surprised we haven’t seen him in contention more at major championships? I think it just talks to the the strength and depth of world gold, doesn’t it? Where there’s so many players that can win major championships. you know, maybe back in, you know, Tigers day or Jack’s day, you may have looked at 20 players and, you know, of that 20, maybe only 10 were playing decently for that week. I just think the strength and depth is so deep now that you can play really well in a major and finished 15th. Tell that to Xander Schoffley. This is an amazing stat with Odi. I think this speaks volumes. He’s played in 48 major championships and has only missed five cuts. That’s pretty good. That is a badge of honor just like his consecutive made cuts at majors that you outlined earlier. Windom had that lengthy 36 foot eagle putt. There it is. Longest active streak, which is not a surprise. takes a lot of pride in his game and it shows. You said earlier on, Steve, he he almost carries the weight of a nation, doesn’t he? There’s so much expectation and so much scrutiny on every part of his game. I I when I was a rookie, I played quite a bit with Rio Ishikawa and he had the same amount of scrutiny and wasn’t getting the results and it was just it was so taxing I think because there was so much coverage of every shot, every practice round and everything that came with it and you know Hideki has handled that stress and that pressure so well. This one just breaking very very gently to the left. Oh, Hideki best by seven. The next best in terms of consecutive cuts made at majors is Xander Schoffley. G to your point Aoki suffered that in his career as well. Um he carried the banner for the Japanese player and it really got too much for him. He came close to winning, you know, a couple majors and didn’t get it done and I think he retired before his time because of that. It’s it’s tough. It’s I mean this it’s just such a hard thing to do to make a living at golf and especially when people care about you and and people, you know, want to know why you’re struggling. You know, even at my level of playing PGA Tour golf, you know, there were so many people that were always checking on you and making sure everything was all right. When they looked at your results, you just got to try and get away from getting defined by results and just get back to doing what you do best, which is play golf. Well, you nail it. I I I speak to like our college program at Florida. I said, “Don’t let the your golf score define who you are as a person.” They have a hard time separating the two. 10 ft here for Tom Kim for par. See a big pot here to back up the previous holes. Eagle. That’s three bogeies in the last five holes. Yeah. Yeah, when I said that last put was for eagle. Thinking about the yardage of this hole. In fact, you’ve got 3 ft left here for Windom. And of course, this just for par. It [Music] was a very unwind like P. The first part, wasn’t it? To leave it that far short. Mission accomplished. Part 16. Well, despite a bogey a moment ago, Tom Kim still the best round in this group, but you thought that at the beginning. Well, the iron game is his strength, and we’ve seen that on display over and over again, even taking it low, Steve. Yeah, very creative. He’s sitting the shot that is called for and he does it well here at 11. Watch this. That close for Eagle. He did make one, but we’ll show you first what happened at 14. T-shot in the water and so this would have been for par but early celebration flag got in the way and so he settled for Bokei and at the 15 he wanted revenge so he got it with that double circle just picking apart the golf course moving on through the green mile here You go from one hard long par four to one hard long par three. You play defense on 17. It’s so easy to actually hit the green left of the flag stick and find the water. So you want to aim right, miss right. If you take on the flag stick, you got to be very careful. You got to sneak up on it from underneath the hole. You can’t fly it back to the flag stick. Expect it to stop. 227 yds today. They can vary the um T location here on this far. It makes makes it interesting. I’m guessing there’ll be a front left hole location later in the week. Uh it’ll play much shorter than the 227. 3.37 the scoring average here. The third toughest hole. Only nine birdies found today. want to come down. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Closest to the pin today. Nicovaria 4T 5 in. Yeah. Perfect. Same kind of draw. Yes. Perfect. I love it. So, I’m starting to cry on that camera guy that’s where the Rolex is. Yep. I love it. Feel that same shot you just hit. Another one of those green Shantel that slopes the front half slopes to the front edge. The back half slopes of the back edge. So if your pitch is on top of that dividing ridge, it will run to the back edge. You really need to pitch this just short of it. Try and get it toppling over and running down. That one was not going left. That is way right. That was the both hands on the wheel, one foot on the brake swing. Gary, it’s amazing how that that wobbly blue stuff left gets in your head right on the way down. This will be the first time we see him scrambling in this round. And now Kim. So 227. I think you’re looking to land it at about 210. That should get just short of the dividing ridge and start moving over it. Plays downhill 7 yds. Down went right to left. So it’s the equivalent of about 190 yard shot. Heat. Heat. He’s found half of the green so far today. Tom Kim King really nice balance finish there. [Music] A miss hit you think undoubtedly. Yeah, I mean missed his landing spot by a good 15 yards there, Steve. If you’re going to earn a PGA Championship, this is quite the stretch to earn it on, isn’t it? Is it ever? This is that bridge you can’t pass. [Music] Here’s Hideki. Let’s go. The Green Mile has certainly earned its status and title. We are back with our featured group coverage in just a moment. [Music] The greens are green. The fairways are green. The jacket for a few of them is green. The mile is green. 16, 17, and 18 at Coil Hollow. The money they win for hitting a tiny white ball is green. The losers will be green with envy, and the winners will leave the green expanse of grass behind the gates of this place, reflecting in the mirrored sterling silver of a trophy, strapped into the front seat like a [Applause] friend. Xander Schoffley, victorious one year ago, went on to win two major championships once he broke through. Impressive stuff. Speaking of green, this is that green mile stretch and at the 17th hole, only 35% of players who have come through have hit the green in regulation. That’s 49 of 135 players, Steve. That does not surprise me, Chantel. It’s just a hard hard shot. And it’s okay to play defense. It’s okay to play out to the right and try to make three. You know, the worst you can make is four. You just don’t take the flag stick on. Nobody in our group finding the green. There’s a Windom Clark short in the roughi a little bit further up shoulder grass and Tom Kim over in that green side bunker where only bogeies are worse have been produced from. So it’s a shot Shantel. It’s certainly long but the good news is the last third is downhill. So, if you can get it pitched to a point, it will release down the hill towards the hole. I think this is actually a little easier than the previous bunker shot he had. I think he’ll knock it closer. Gary, he’s gotten a lot of practice from bunkers today. That’s the truth. Three for five out of them. That was his sixth attempt then. Windom forced to go higher here. It’s it’s quite interesting Steve watching how he plays these shots. He grips right at the end of the club. You’d see most players grip quite a bit further down the grip. So he can slide the club head underneath the ball easier. And this is special. William, isn’t that impressive to see the different types of shot he plays around the greens? It’s so multi-dimensional. It’s very, very impressive up close. Well, earlier Gary, I was asking you for perspective on how many guys can do what Windham does, and you said, “Well, everybody essentially needs imagination to play at the highest level on the PGA Tour, but how many guys are doing that kind of stuff?” Well, I I I just go back to the the amount of low shots he plays. There’s there’s very few people play that shot on a consistent basis as their go-to shot. This is a fairly simple shot for Hideki. Again, you can use the slope to your benefit. Seventh best on the PGA Tour in par three scoring. Well, again, a real tribute to Carrie Hey and his folks for masterful setup here for this first round. I don’t think there’s been any whole locations that you would call patently unfair or inaccessible. I simply challenge the best players in the game to respond to them. But the pace of play here has certainly slowed down here and this group we’ve been watching. Maybe the green mar may have something to do with that. Well, we started this featured group coverage at 1:36 p.m. It is 6:36 p.m. Just about. So, you’re saying it’s five in counting, Chantel, for those who are keeping track. That’s right. Steve, you’ll be on your second bourbon by now. I would think of 130. Absolutely. [Music] There’s the jailbird putter. 6 feet 6 in here for Windam. Well, this routine Gary started to get tiresome and I don’t mean to pick on him, but he just he’s making it harder on himself. Just pick the line, stand up, and and go. It’s certainly not a disaster of this hole, but after that great second shot, you would have expected to knock that one in and give you that little momentum boost, wouldn’t it? Going down 18, Steve. Yeah, making it difficult on himself. And he’s at odds with himself as well with a most difficult T-shot of the day coming up next. So, Windham’s just snuck a little bit. Looked like it snuck a little bit to the right, which actually confused me a little bit. I thought it was going to come maybe just a little bit left. So, depends what Hideki saw. I’m close. Not outside the hole. That’s one just doesn’t it defies a little bit of gravity there, doesn’t it, Steve? When you got that slope behind you that should be going towards the back edge. It’s I agree. Yeah, I just think it’s one of the most difficult grains to read when the back half the green to your point. Backto back bogeies for Hideki. hit it over 16 right here at 17. Failed to get him up down either time. Boy, that’s a that’s a frustrating end to the round, isn’t it? Where you’ve kind of you’ve not really played the best golf, but you’ve sort of just hung in there, given yourself an opportunity and all of a sudden, not from anything disastrous, just a little bit off, make a couple of bogeies, and now you got a little bit of a struggle, especially with a tough 18th to come. Less than four feet here for Tom Kim. This for par Sandy save and he would be the only one out of that bunker to do it. It’s been an animated round for Tom Kim. [Music] 18. Here we go. Yeah, there’s no out here. There’s penalty area. the creek down the left, bunkers to the right, further right are trees who I’ve seen so many players today who bail out, find themselves in the trees. Same with the second shot. Although today the flag sticks on the right back part of the green. So the ply area to the left should not come in play, but you know it’s always there. [Music] And from Sweden, one big home. 13 birdies at this power four closing hole. 4.3 the stroke average today. Sixth toughest on property. So just a couple groups ahead, Justin Thomas. He loves this place. Getting down and dirty. Steve Chantel, he actually got lucky. I happened to see it off camera. He pulled it left. It hit the rocks inside the penalty area, bounced up above that, crawled over this rock, and stopped short of the water and was able to actually get a club on it. So, can himself fortunate that he was able to have a putt for par. That’s unbelievable. I do like the 18th. I think it’s one of the great finishing holes in the entire tour and the PGA Championship. Yeah, players very complimentary about this three-hole stretch of golf and certainly how 18 plays. Tom Kim with the honor. Gary, the players would certainly prefer it not to be a left or right wind. So, it’s one of those ones you can steer away from that creek and it starts really going up on the wind, takes it towards that bunker. There’s the bunker very much in the landing area for Tom. Just looked a little bit more static over that one, didn’t he, Steve? It was a lovely look. And he he double crossed it. I mean, it’s a horrible swing. That may be behind the the hospitality suits. Yeah. Well, those fans were looking at indicated such on the I mean, he’s dry, but at what expense? At what cost? That’s when Hideki and Winnham says, “I wish I hadn’t seen that.” I was just about to say, I mean, obviously these are totally different wheelhouse players, but how much does that creep into Windham’s mind going next? Well, Windham’s got a 3-wood down that left creek line and that’s not cutting. That may well be wet. Oh boy. Oh boy. Unbelievable. He’s better off taking that driver, Gary, hitting that big sweeping fade or slice out there. Yeah, I think I mean still it’s he would hit it past that bunker with that drive and it’s still a good 30 yards wide. So, yeah, it was as well as you’ve been hitting it and as reliable as that shape is, certainly I was surprised. Just a reminder, Hideki’s only found six fairways today and he is coming off of backto back bogeies. Ah, that’s maybe going to hang in there. Needs a soft bounce. Couldn’t quite see it from our camera angle, but wow, we’ve got a lot of work left here with Tom Kim and Windham Clark way left at the 18th hole. [Music] It was one of the hardest holes really I think I’ve ever played. You know, I missed in this a very popular spot and I was trying to find my ball and um caught myself kind of swimming a little bit. Tom K. Oh jeez. Oh no. Oh no. Oh, it’s all going wrong. So I was told that my ball crossed the water. It was just in the mud over there. And as soon as I went in, it was it was kind of it was kind of sketch. Once my foot got in, I was like, there’s no looking back. I went full in and it just got my shirt and everything. And there’s one point where I couldn’t get myself out. I think for the first 3 minutes it was all right. Okay, I’m trying to find this ball. I’m dirty already. And the last eight minutes were just, okay, how can I get out of here um alive? I smelled for a little bit. It got bad. I was I was excited to shower. That’s at first seeing a golfer take a battle in the creek. Don’t hurt yourself. Someone help Tom. He’s gone missing in Allen’s Creek. Where is he? There we go. Okay. It was really late in the day, so I really The whole group thought maybe there was no cameras up there. Seeing that many cameras on me, I knew something was off. Is it Joe Scard looking straight ahead, seeing a camera with a red light on? They know they’re on television right now. I definitely went full in, but it didn’t really help when I didn’t find my ball and uh I went through all that. So, um no, but it was a it was a great experience. [Music] That was a lot more entertaining than what we just saw from Justin Thomas at this hole. What you saw from Tom Kim came in 2023 at Oakill and he had three holes left to play after that. So it wasn’t just the fact that he opted to go in literally getting down and dirty, taking a little bath after to get as much of the mud off as possible. Uh but he still had to finish the round. That was Thursday to kick off the PG championship. So meanwhile here at Quail Hollow at the 18th hole, we got a situation, Gary. Well, Tom has taken TIO relief from behind the chalet up there on the left. Waiting for us. Okay, he’s dropped it in the area that’s going to have a lot of foot traffic. So, it’s going to be trampled down. So, he’s actually turned out really well. So, not a problem from Tom. The only problem is the distance 218 to the flag. And they are using a rangefinder here. And I think that’s a great thing because you get out of position like this, there’s no way you can scramble up in the fairway, find a yardage, walk it off, help your your fellow player. So, um, I like this. Steve, I know the PGA Tour are experimenting with I think five events this year and see if it changes the pace of play. Hope it does. jump. Gosh, people were so critical saying that that might slow down pace of play because guys would confirm their numbers. But to your point, Steve, that’s the first time we’ve seen anybody in our group have it out and that was because he’s out of position. Yeah. Straight left to right. Normally we can’t get quite the speed. You want to take a couple off? Does that make you feel better? Okay. Start wide, buddy. like that white flag like four yards left of all in between the blue ones. That’s perfect. The right hand bunker is not a bad play. Bumper’s doable back in the right. So, the good news is I can certainly see plenty of the ball. So, clean contact shouldn’t be a problem. [Music] Seven or eight irons. probably comes out hot. It was so hard to move. And now Windham Clark is uh I guess Hideki first to play. Yeah, Windham hit it in the water. So he’s taken a penalty drop. Hideki from just inside 200 yd. So he can finish with a good two good swings back to back here. Maybe the best swing of the day from Hideki. That’s gorgeous. Good call, Gary. I agree. That only his seventh green today opening round. So, Windham Clark is going to have a pretty significant hanging line. All going to depend on the quality of the line when he drops it. Well, he got to place it because it bounced and rolled into the penalty area. So at least he got his hand on it. The lies decent trying to make no worse than five. He might have a putty par. It’s now just about mitigating the poor shot of the tea and not compounding it here. Right. I think you would describe this. The last few holes have been played at a furerial pace. What a term. It started left, Gary. Where where did that end [Music] up? Actually, I’m getting a point from a member of the spectators up among them left of the penalty area, I think. So, yeah. Yeah, I was uh he just came out soft. Well, the final three holes here at Quillhalla are certainly living up to their reputation and not in a good way. Now, this has been a challenging finish for our featured group. Crazy to think that Tom Kim two under par with Windham Clark and Hideki Matsyama at one over. Nobody has played out of this bunker today but Tom Kim. Well, Tom would have preferred to be in this front right bunker, not this one up near a pin high because everything lands on a down slope here. So, he has that perfect contact. Needs that first bounce to be soft. I didn’t quite see that, Gary. What happened? Left it in the bunker. He did. Just trying to get a little too cute with it. You get lucky after that awful drive and then you compound it. This is what it’s all about. You put yourself in a position the last thing you want to do is turn a what would be a bogey wouldn’t be terrible take double bogey here is going to you kicking yourself. So same for Windham. So Windham with a good 60 yds or so. That’s his fourth shot. That’s got to sit. That ball. Now Tom now with his third once again from this greenside bunker. This is his fourth Shantel. Excuse me. Yes. You see the intricacies of that green side bunker, that short side. Everything runs away. It’s almost impossible to short stop it close to that hole. [Applause] A lot of waiting for poor Hideki, the only player hitting the screen in regulation. I tell you what, Shantel, there there will be an element of fatigue, leg fatigue at the end of this week. You know, with all the the stress and the practice and the walking and everything that comes with it. I’ve just walked from the grass and the fairways onto the car path and it feels completely different. So, it just sort of saps your leg energy just walking, you know, in the especially through the raft and then maybe some softer fairways. I know these guys are in tip-top condition, but it does wear on you eventually, especially with the strain of a major championship. It’s kind of like walking in soft sand on a beach. Yeah, I did Kiwa Island the PGA Championship a few years ago and was walking 36 holes. I slept well. That was a doozy of a walk. You were there with me, weren’t you, Shantel? I will never forget that walk. In fact, so two longish putts for bogeies here for Wendom and for Tom. Meanwhile, Hideki got about a 10 11 footer for birdie. He’s been waiting a long time to finish this hole. It’s like ice in the kicker, isn’t it? It is very appropriate. Over 22 ft here to avoid double for Wind to finish. It’s a little element of speed to this one. Good likes it. Oh, there you go. Just here to keep things interesting. [Applause] Never has a bogey felt so good. I mean, that third shot from his knees to finish with a 22 foot bogey putt. [Applause] We’ve got great news for you, Hideki. It’s your turn. Finally, I can make the wait worth it. It’s coming just a little bit to the left down that hill. Well, of course, a par finish. Two putt par from 12 ft. And last but not least, 8 ft left for bogey for Tom Kim. Yeah, this would be really good because he’s he’s played reasonably well and if he walks away with a double here, it’s uh not going to leave a good taste in his mouth. Quite the tale of the nines. Tom Kim bogey free. The only player in this group to do so on the opening nine. And three bogeies and a double to finish this green mile. 71 is what he will sign for. Such a promising round to start. mix in an eagle. Man, he took us for a ride. So, Windham Clark one over par. Hideki Matsyama won over par. And Tom Kim heads into the second round even par. Thanks for watching our ESPN Plus feature group coverage of the 2025 PGA Championship from Quail Hollow. We’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for joining us. It’s the PGA Championship. A tournament where legends and long shots both have shined. Can it be? Yes. Had that one the PGA Championship Lure. Oh, he’s done it. Coverage continues Friday. [Music] [Music] Gary, good job today. Great job out there. Sorry about your uh equipment issues. And Chantel, same to you. Gotcha. Okay, we we appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah, no worries. There’s a lot of moving parts, so thank you for working to fix it. Heat. Heat.
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