After a rain-soaked Saturday at Oak Hill, the skies have cleared on Sunday in Rochester, paving the way for what should be an epic final round of the 2023 PGA Championship.
(Scroll down for live updates)
Yes, the difficulty of the golf course, plus some major championship Sunday pressure, will still make it extremely tough on the final groups. But conditions are ripe for scoring, which should allow those just a few off the lead like Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Rose to make a Sunday charge.
Don’t sleep on club pro Michael Block, either. The man is playing for a spot in next year’s Masters, in addition to playing for some serious history.
They’re all chasing Brooks Koepka, who pointed out in his post-round presser on Saturday night that he’s chasing some history, too. A victory on Sunday would give him three Wanamaker Trophies, a feat only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus have accomplished. It would also be his fifth major, a total only 19 players have ever reached. Koepka, at six under and leading by one, will play alongside Viktor Hovland in the final group at 2:30 p.m. ET. Hovland is going for his first major title, as is Canada’s Corey Conners, who will be paired up with DeChambeau in the penultimate twosome.
PGA Championship 2023 live updates:
4:07 p.m. — Bryson DeChambeau isn’t going away. He’s just birdied the gettable eighth hole to get to 1-under on his round and just three back of Brooks Koepka’s lead. Scottie Scheffler had just birdied 7 and 8 and stood within three of Koepka, but he found the thick rough at No. 9 and failed to convert on a 9-footer for par, so he drops back to 3-under, which is now four back.
4:02 p.m. — It’s no shame to bogey the ultra-difficult sixth and seventh at Oak Hill, which is what Brooks Koepka just did. This one will sting for Koepka, though, after a great tee shot up the right side of the fairway … but our leader found a really tough lie in the greenside bunker. Koepka left his third shot about 35 feet shy … so that’ll lead to his second straight bogey.
Viktor Hovland follows Koepka with a bogey, remaining one back. Hovland found the thick rough on the right off the tee and elected to lay up short of Allen’s Creek with his second. He couldn’t get up and down, and that’ll move him back to 6-under, one back of Koepka.
As CBS’ Trevor Immelman just pointed out regarding Koepka, if you had told him he’d play his first seven holes in 1-under par, you’d imagine he’d take it. It probably won’t feel like it after the trouble at 6 and the bogey at 7, but he’s still in the driver’s seat. Though it felt like he might’ve been running away with it just 30 minutes ago…
3:49 p.m. — Ruh Roh. What seemed like a potential blowout less than half an hour ago is now a legit ball game as Koepka’s tee ball at the diabolical sixth hole finds the junk. After a lengthy debate as to where the ball crossed the red line, Koepka drops and goes on to make bogey. Hovland makes par to reduce the cushion to one and now those at four and three under are back in it as well. That said, first-round leader Bryson DeChambeau at four under shouldn’t be all that optimisti. In the last 17 PGA’s the first-round leader has gone on to win just twice, with Jimmy Walker in 2015 and Brooks Koepka in 2019 the only ones to pull it off.
3:31 p.m. — As Viktor Hovland stands over a lengthy birdie putt, CBS’s Dottie Pepper says, “He needs a touch more pace on his putts. Just half a roll.” The Norwegian then proceeds to follow instructions, his ball reaching for the lip of the cup before stretching half a roll into it to get within two of Koepka.
3:20 p.m. — Talking with Jon Rahm about club professional Michael Block’s play, CBS’ Amanda Renner notes that Block only hits about one bucket of balls a week. Rahm responds incredulously, “God, how much is he beating me by?”
2:53 p.m. — Brooks Koepka stakes his approach at the par-4 second and rolls in the birdie putt to stretch his lead to two. Should he win he will join some heady company of players with three or more PGA Championship wins. The only others are Jack Nicklaus (5); Walter Hagen (5); Tiger Woods (4); Gene Sarazen (3); Sam Snead (3). When talking about playing for history, this is what it looks like.
2:39 p.m. — Victor Perez makes it four birdies in a row and goes from one over par to 3 under and tied for fourth. Perez’s play is emblematic of the fact that even on a difficult course, soft conditions are like raw meat to tour professionals, who have their distances on approach shots very much dialed in.
2:21 p.m. — Trevor Immelman says he was texting with Mike Weir—the only Canadian golfer to win a men’s major at the 2003 Masters—and Weir said he would be glued to the TV today, watching fellow Canadian Corey Conners. Ironically, Conners didn’t return the favor when Weir won, telling the Masters Journal this year that as an 11-year-old he couldn’t bear to watch Weir’s putt to force a playoff. “When Mike had a six-foot par putt on the final hole to force the playoff, I ran out of the living room,” Conners said. “I couldn’t bear to watch it. I was sitting on the staircase and heard my dad let out a loud cheer. I was so relieved. I told Mike that story years later and he got a good laugh out of it.”
2:02 p.m. — And the crowd goes wild! PGA professional Michael Block receives a folk heroes welcome as he introduced on the first tee. Jim Nantz comments on CBS that it is the loudest applause on the first tee all week. Less than 10 minutes later, playing companion Rory McIlroy gets the ovation as he stiffs his approach shot at the first—just the kind of start he needed.
1:53 p.m. — The middle of the course remains a formidable test. After starting out hot throught he first six holes, both Cam Smith and Chez Reavie have cooled off a bit, Smith with a bogey at the seventh—that he was a bit lucky wasn’t worse—and Reavie with four straight pars and a bogey on 10. That’s not “bad” by any stretch, but it may show us that if the pack chasing Koepka is going to go get him, it might have to happen early.
1:17 p.m. — Much has been made of the changes to Oak Hill before this championship. The course was re-routed, trees were removed, greens were reshaped. To highlight the work that was done, architect Andrew Green tweeted this morning that eight of the first nine hole locations are in “‘new’ or expanded green space.”
12:49 p.m. — They’re each (probably) a bit too far back to make a move, but Chez Reavie is three under through six and Cam Smith is two under through three. They started the day out of the mix, but with the weather cooperating, it is clear the course is much more getable than it has previously played this week. Good news for those chasing Koepka later this afternoon. Also good news for Koepka, who posted consecutive 66s in subpar scoring conditions anyway, and could just run away with this thing.
12:19 p.m. — The last two PGA Championship winners have completed their tournament. Phil Mickelson closed his week at Oak Hill, while Justin Thomas closed with a par. If Brooks Koepka closes this thing out later this evening, we may see Mickelson again on the 18th green for some LIV Golf fraternizing.
Another subplot here, Mickelson’s longtime caddie, Jim “Bones” Mackay is now on the bag for Justin Thomas. Such has been the case for years now, but this is the first time they’ve been paired together in a major since Mickelson went scorched earth on the PGA Tour and aligned himself with LIV Golf. This is how the two said goodbye after the round:
11:52 a.m. — Other notables making an early, mini charge include Adam Scott, who just made his third birdie of the day at the par-4 eighth to climb to three over for the championship. He’s tied for 20th along with Schauffele and a host of others who have yet to tee off. In the pack right behind them at four over is a group that includes Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm, both two under early in their rounds.
11:44 a.m. — Here comes Xander! A birdie-birdie start gets Schauffele to three over, nine off the lead but inside the top 20, where he lives at major championships. It’s becoming clear that the first few holes are providing an opportunity for guys to get off to hot starts, which should produce some interesting jockeying later this afternoon.
11:10 a.m. — What a difference a day makes. After monsoon-like conditions had everyone wondering why they played the PGA in Rochester in May on Saturday, Sunday has turned into a top-10 day. Temperatures are in the mid-60s as we type and they could get as high as 73 in the afternoon. There is some wind expected, which is just how it should be on Sunday at a major, but these players will trade breezy conditions for sopping wet ones any day of the week.
While most on the course have no chance of winning the tournament, it’s worth pointing out that there are some birdies to be had. Surprise, surprise, Jon Rahm has made back-to-back to begin his final round, jumping 15 spots on the leader board in the process (T-42 to T-27). At four over, he’s 10 back. Last year’s surprise story, Mito Pereira, is also at four over after making birdie at No. 1. The best round on the course belongs to Adrian Meronk, who is three under through 10 holes, putting him at five over, T-36.
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