Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy square off in the same group on Thursday and Friday at the PGA Championship.
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Check in each day of this week’s Masters for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topic in the tournament, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com.
The 2022 PGA Championship begins on Thursday with supergroups aplenty, and the most hyped one isn’t even the threesome with the top three players in the world. All eyes will be on Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods when they tee off at 9:11 a.m. ET on Thursday (and again at 2:36 p.m. Friday). Easy question: Who takes low honors in that threesome?
Sean Zak: Spieth thru 18 and Spieth thru 36. Rory rarely comes out firing during first rounds of majors. And Tiger, well, it feels like there’s a ceiling on the best round he can shoot.
Jordan Spieth already delivered one of the best performances of the week
Alan Bastable: These super-groups always seem to be a bust, in terms of scoring, that is. Too much hype, not enough birdies. For that reason, I think Tiger has a good chance to be the low man, because he won’t need to go crazy-low to take the honors. By all accounts, he’s been smoothing it around Southern Hills this week. No reason that won’t continue Thursday. It’s Woods, with a ho-hum 70.
Josh Sens: Sean’s answer seems perfectly sensible. But because the perfectly sensible almost never happens, I’ll take Tiger to lead through 18 and 36 before the wear and tear on his leg takes a toll and Spieth passes him. All the nuances and delicate shots that Southern Hills requires — all three of these guys have them. But, even after all these years, Tiger is in a different sphere.
James Colgan: Woods through 18, McIlroy through 36. No, I don’t think Tiger is going to set the world on fire on Thursday. Quite the contrary. But an easy, breezy 69 is both completely within the realm of possibility and likely to best both McIlroy and Spieth, who I bet will be somewhere around one under after Day 1. A Friday 66 from Rory will vault him near the lead, though, and Tiger won’t be able to keep pace.
Jessica Marksbury: Spieth through 18, and Spieth through 36. Although I’m thrilled — I still can’t believe Tiger is in the field this week! — it’s hard to imagine him keeping pace with Spieth and McIlroy. And between those two, I think Spieth has the most promising momentum for a course like Southern Hills, especially if he can get the putter in check.
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