The year’s second major is here, and we’re as excited for the PGA Championship as any other major of 2022. Southern Hills is as intriguing of a venue as there is. The classic Perry Maxwell design was restored a few years ago by Gil Hanse and his team, and if conditions are firm and fast (they should be until Friday rains anyway)—we should be in for a challenging, treat of a test in Tulsa.
(Scroll down for the latest updates)
One of the biggest storylines to track early in the week: Of the past seven major champions at Southern Hills, all seven players led after 36 holes. The difficulty, historically, makes it a tough place to make up ground quickly. This is a different Southern Hills than in recent major history, plus as we mentioned, there is forecasts for Friday afternoon storms—so will the course play softer on the weekend and make it easier to come from behind? We’ll have to see.
For now, let’s enjoy one of the best weeks of the year for golf fans: the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.
PGA Championship 2022 live updates (all times eastern time):
9:26 a.m.: Tiger, Spieth and Rory all find the green at the par-3 11th hole. It looked like the wind is starting to pick up (maybe) a little bit … but it’s still very benign out there, and with the stronger winds projected for most of the week, this is the time to take advantage.
9:21 a.m.: That was a DART from Tiger Woods at his opening hole (the 10th). He hits the perfect knockdown wedge to about 3 feet … giving him a great look at a birdie to start Day 1.
We’re used to Tiger’s somewhat rocky starts at majors on the first hole … so that’s an impressive way to begin his day. By the way, when he won the 2007 PGA here, Tiger started on the 10th hole … and also birdied the first hole.
Tiger’s one back of … John Daly and Y.E. Yang. What year is this?! Yang just chipped in for birdie at the par-3 sixth hole … JD rolled in a birdie at the par-5 fifth. It’s a throwback type of Thursday at Southern Hills.
9:11 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods are all in the fairway on the 10th hole … let’s have a morning folks!
Observers on Wednesday at Southern Hills noticed that Tiger was moving a little slower than Monday or Tuesday … we’ll see how the 15-time major champion holds up on Thursday morning.
8:50 a.m.: The birdies are flying in now! Sam Horsfield rolls in a birdie at the first; Ryan Palmer buries a putt at the 12th to get to 1-under. And California club pro Michael Block started with a birdie at the 10th.
Xander Schauffele joins that group at 1-under after one of the best shots we’ll see all week at the 10th hole. His wedge spun perfectly to within two feet … and the X-Man keeps his hot stretch going from the weekend in Dallas. We now have seven players atop the leaderboard at -1.
8:39 a.m.: One of the featured groups of the morning are now on the tee! Hideki Matsuyama, Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau all find the fairway with less than driver on the 10th hole.
8:24 a.m.: Let’s give our due to Matt Bouchert, a club pro at Isleworth C.C. in Windermere, Fla., who joins John Daly and Robert MacIntyre atop the early leaderboard on Day 1.
8:17 a.m.: JD!!! John Daly nearly dunked his wedge from 133 yards out … then he holed the 5-footer for birdie. The 1991 PGA champion is at the top of the leaderboard at age 56! I mean, last year we had a 50-year-old win … OK, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. But really impressive start from the long-hitting, popular past champion.
And Bobby Mac also started his opening round with a birdie … that one at the par-4 10th hole. We have a tie atop the board early.
8:05 a.m.: The action is off the 10th tee as well! Ryan Palmer, Robert MacIntyre and Alex Noren all find the fairway, too.
8:00 a.m.: We’re officially underway at Southern Hills! All three former PGA champions, John Daly, Shaun Micheel and Y.E. Yang find the fairway at the downhill par-4 opener.
In fact, Long John just drove it 343 yards to start the day … the 56-year-old is loose and warmed up early!
The players will be off two tees (1 and 10) starting at 7 a.m. local time (which is 8 a.m. eastern time). The past champions group of John Daly, Shaun Micheel and Y.E. Yang will start things off on the first tee shortly.
Here are all the first-round pin positions … it doesn’t look like the PGA of America put many pins toward the middle of these sloped Maxwell greens. We are excited at players being faced with really controlling their approaches and short-game shots around these green complexes.
For a quick preview of the course, we highly recommend our “Every Hole At: Southern Hills” video, which features drone footage and analysis. By the way, Rory McIlroy cited this video in his own research of Southern Hills … need we say more?
MORE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE FROM GOLF DIGEST: