After two days of some typically-hot weather in Tulsa, Okla., temperatures have dropped considerably on Saturday at the PGA Championship. Out with the buckets of sweat, in with the sweater vests and long sleeves at Southern Hills.
Due to dangerous weather in the area this morning, tee times were actually pushed back by 37 minutes. The first man off was Brian Harman, who is playing as a single in the third round. He pegged it at 7:37 a.m. central time, 8:37 a.m. ET.
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It will be twosomes the rest of the way from there, all going off the par-4 first hole. Tiger Woods and Shaun Norris, teeing off nine groups after Harman, have gotten their third round underway. Jason Day, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka are among the bigger names set to tee it up shortly after.
We’re still just over four hours from the leaders, with the final twosome of the day—Will Zalatoris and Mito Pereira—going off at 2:50 p.m. ET. While Zalatoris has gotten semi-used to this type of pressure by now, it will be Pereira’s first time on a stage this large, which will make it fascinating to watch.
PGA Championship 2022 live updates (all times eastern time):
12:02 p.m.: Check that. Woods’ ball spun off the front of the ninth green, and his chip for par rolled about 10 feet past the hole. He was able to make it and save bogey for a front-nine 41. Not great.
11:57 a.m.: As if it wasn’t playing tough enough, it’s beginning to rain at Southern Hills. If you thought you were going to come out and make a huge move on Saturday, you thought wrong. Right now, even par is looking like it could be a really good score, and it might help you actually gain ground on the field. Tiger Woods will not be shooting even par today. After making a par on eight, Woods found a fairway bunker at the ninth and then hit his second directly into the face of the bunker. He was fortunate to get free relief from an embedded ball, and he just put his third on the front of the green. Two-putt bogey looking very likely, which will mean he’ll make the turn in six-over 41.
11:41 a.m.: Tiger Woods did some extremely hard work on Friday evening to make the cut, but at this point you have to wonder if it was even worth it. Another bogey at the seventh sees him fall to five over on his round, eight over for the tournament. It’s good that he’s getting extra reps, but if it’s going to be this bad you have to ask if it’s even worth putting the extra stress on his body. Knowing Woods, he’ll continue to fight. First-team, All Grit.
11:38 a.m.: A couple of major champs, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm, have begun their third rounds. Rahm made par on one and then failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker on No. 2, dropping him to three over. Back at the first, Koepka hits the green in regulation from the rough and has a decent look at birdie. It’s playing tough out there, folks.
11:26 a.m.: The only player on the course anywhere near the top 20 is England’s Laurie Canter, who tied for third at the DP World Tour’s Catalunya Championship just three weeks ago. That marked his best finish of 2022. Canter is playing in his first ever PGA Championship this week and just his third major. At one under through three holes, Canter sits in a tie for 30th at one over for the tournament.
11:23 a.m.: Triple bogey for Tiger at the sixth. Ouch.
11:19 a.m.: More water trouble for Woods at the par-3 sixth. His tee shot comes up about 30 yards short, prompting him to ask caddie Joe LaCava “is that in the f—ing water? I mean, how f—ing far is it playing?” Tough start for the 15-time major winner. From the drop zone he misses the green left, and now he has work to do just to save double.
11:06 a.m.: Tiger misses a mile left with his drive at the par-5 fifth, forcing him to have to punch out into the fairway. And by punch out we mean a massive rope hook that these people got a little too comfortable standing in the way of:
I am happy to report that no one was injured in the making of this Tiger Woods rope hook, but still, that is just a wild place to stand. Woods went on to save his par and everyone will live to fight another day.
10:52 a.m.: Tiger appeared poised to get one back at the fourth, where he pumped a drive that left him with just 71 yards to the flag. His controlled wedge shot was vintage Woods, his ball stopping on a dime and leaving him with about eight feet for birdie. But it caught the lip and missed. He settles for par to remain one over through four holes, four over for the week. Meanwhile, his partner, Norris, who hit his drive into a literal ditch, somehow muscled it on to the back edge of the green and then holed a BOMB for birdie. Sums up golf right there. Woods plays the hole perfectly and makes a disappointing par, Norris takes a wild route and somehow makes birdie.
10:34 a.m.: After pars at No. 1, both Tiger Woods and Shaun Norris found a creek off the tee at No. 2. Fortunately, they both avoided serious disaster, knocking their third shots on the green and two-putting for bogey. Woods, who was sweating like Shaq at the free-throw line on Thursday, is now decked out in long sleeves and his famous Nike sweater vest on a chilly day in Tulsa. The wind is already gusting early, too, which should make for a must-watch third round should it continue to gust this afternoon. It’s apparently cold enough for Louis Oosthuizen to break out the ski mask:
You can also tell how tough the conditions are by the fact that no one is making a serious climb up the leader board just yet. The low round on the course belongs to Webb Simpson, who is two under through four holes and two over for the championship. Of the 25 players on the course, only two others are under par today (Hideki Matsuyama and Sebastian Munoz).