2017 PGA Third Round This And That

/

The second round was completed early Sunday 75 players advancing to the weekend at Quail Hollow. Play commenced at 9:50 with co-leaders Kevin Kisner and Hideki Matsuyama set to tee off at 2 pm ET.

The course took on more rain overnight and figures to be susceptible to scoring, especially with high humidity and more rain forecast throughout the day.

Jaime Diaz on why Kevin Kisner is ready for his big moment and this would be a doozy given his South Carolina roots and connections to the host site.

Dan Kilbridge on Hideki Matsuyama positioning himself for a weekend run at his first major champioship.

Jeff Babineau on a resurgent Jason Day, who enters the round two back.

Jordan Spieth made good use of the rules again in an otherwise lackluster showing so far, notes Jeff Ritter at Golf.com.

Spieth also has written off the career slam hopes this week, writes Brentley Romine at Golfweek.

There were several Phil Mickelson takes, starting with

Dave Kindred wonders if father time is catching up with Lefty.

Alan Shipnuck tried talking to Mickelson's current and former caddies for insight but didn't have much luck.

Players were in a hurry to get out of town Friday night and avoid a Saturday return, even though this is a major where they're treated like kings here at Quail Hollow. Kevin Casey with a roundup at Golfweek.com.

I'm guessing this did not go over well in many executive quarters:

 

 

TNT ratings were up Thursday

Turner Sports’ multi-platform coverage of the 2017 PGA Championship generated substantial audience increases across television, digital and social platforms.  TNT’s exclusive first round telecast – Thursday, from 1-7 p.m. ET – averaged a 0.8 U.S. HH rating and 1.1 million total viewers, increases of 14% and 9% over last year’s comparable coverage.  Thursday’s first round telecast on TNT also garnered huge increases across all core demos including a 107% lift in Men 18-34 and 93% growth among People 18-34 over last year.
 
TNT’s opening round telecast peaked with an average of 1.3 million viewers and a 0.9 HH rating from 5:30-5:45 p.m. ET, based on Nielsen Fast Nationals. Top rated local markets for Thursday’s telecast include Orlando, Oklahoma City and Fort Myers, all tied with a 1.9 HH rating.
 
Thursday’s first round coverage also scored for PGA.com, managed by Turner Sports, with a 64% increase in live video views and 29% growth in time spent watching live video over last year.

The weather forecast? Still concerns about finishing Sunday night.

Your live streaming, TV Times and groupings from PGA.com.

Golfweek's listing of times and groupings.

Follow Golfweek's Live Blog for the fastest and best updates on the action.

Tee Times:

Get this one a lefty set now, and dad a proper seat!

Getting in some practice swings at the #pgachamp.🏌🏼

A post shared by PGA Championship (@pgachampionship) on