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Following last week’s WGC-Bridgestone, which essentially served as a “poor man’s major” with the likes of Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods and Jason Day battling it out, the world’s best are at Bellerive Country Club in Missouri for the PGA Championship, the year’s fourth and final real major.
Television coverage for the tournament will be split between TNT (Thursday through Sunday) and CBS (Saturday and Sunday). If you don’t have cable or can’t get to a TV, you can watch a live stream of all the action on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of live TV channels, including both TNT and CBS (live in select markets). You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch coverage of the tournament on either channel live on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
Additionally, if you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” also comes with 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
If you just want to watch the CBS broadcasts on Saturday and Sunday, this is your best option. If you have Amazon Prime or want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch a live stream of your local CBS channel via the CBS Amazon Channel, which comes with a 7-day free trial.
Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the CBS channel, you can watch CBS live on your computer via the Amazon website, or on your phone, tablet or other streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
PGA Championship Live
Coverage of featured groups can also be watched live on your computer via PGA.com, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the PGA Championship app.
Preview
Last year, Justin Thomas followed up a 28th place finish at the Bridgestone with a win at the 2017 PGA Championship, the first major victory of his career. Now, we get to see what he can do at this tournament with an extra dose of confidence, as he enters Bellerive fresh off a four-stroke win at the Bridgestone, which vaulted him back up to No. 2 in the world.
“You can learn just as much from winning a major as I can from winning in Akron last week, or winning the Sony with a seven-shot lead on Sunday,” Thomas said. “You can learn as much as you want from anything, the hard part is sometimes recognizing what you learned.”
The only player with better odds to win the 100th edition of the PGA Championship this week is World No. 1 Dustin Johnson.
After firing a six-under 64 on Sunday to finish tied for third at the Bridgestone, DJ has now tallied an astounding two wins and four Top-5’s in his last five starts, with the only exception being a missed cut at the Open Championship. He’s first on Tour in strokes gained tee to green, first in scoring average, tied for first with wins and first in the FedEx Cup standings, and a win this week would establish him as the frontrunner for 2018 Player of the Year.
Plenty of other storylines are abound at Bellerive this week.
Tiger Woods’ continued ascent will continue to be closely monitored. He had another solid performance (T31) last week, and it seems only a matter of time before he gets that first win since 2013. He finished fourth at The Open a couple weeks ago, so it’s not out of the question his breakthrough comes at a major.
Jordan Spieth has just one Top-25 finish and a pair of missed cuts in his last six starts, but there will still be plenty of eyes on the 25-year-old as he makes his second attempt at completing the career Grand Slam.
A win for Rory McIlroy would not only break his slump of 14 consecutive major starts without a victory, but it would put into exclusive company with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only other players to win this tournament at least three times in the stroke play era.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. You’ve got so many more elite contenders, such as Justin Rose, Jason Day, Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka. You’ve got the sleepers, like Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau or Alex Noren. And, of course, you’ve got Ryder Cup implications.
Majors are always compelling, but with the sport so deep with talent right now, there’s just something a little extra special knowing that any number of about 30 guys could easily win. All three majors this year have been a lot of fun, and this one should be no different.