The final major of 2017 is officially underway, and the storylines are endless for the 99th PGA Championship. Despite what you've been reading or hearing, there are more things happening at Quail Hollow than just Jordan Spieth's pursuit of the career Grand Slam — although that is certainly the biggest story of the week. Spieth would become the youngest to ever accomplish the feat by six months, topping Tiger Woods.
We'll try to contextualize what the feat means as the week goes on, and if it starts to look like it's a real possibility. Spieth is the biggest storyline, but there are many other stories to cover. Among them, the PGA Championship moving to May starting in 2019 at Bethpage Black. That will set off a domino effect for the rest of the schedule, but golf officials hope this positions golf's biggest events in a position that doesn't compete with football. Smart moves.
And in terms of this week, Quail Hollow makes its debut, though PGA of America president Pete Bevacqua essentially said there was a 100-percent chance the Charlotte site would host another PGA in his presser on Wednesday. The venue is soggy right now, but it's going to still play tough — especially the new first hole. Anyway, keep it right here for the latest news, scores, tweets and highlights from Quail Hollow.
(All times ET)
10:50 AM: Sergio's struggles continue on the stretch known as "the Green Mile." He follows up his double at 16 with a bogey at 17 to fall to two over.
Koepka and Spieth save pars and remain at even.
10:40 AM: Koepka, Spieth and Sergio make a mess of the 515-yard par-4 16th. Koepka and Spieth were able to grind out two bogeys to stay at even, while Sergio's second shot found the water and he made double to fall back to one over. Now they get the 226-yard par-3 17th, which is surrounded by water.
Dustin Johnson – remember him? – makes his second birdie of the day at the par-5 15th to get back to one under, two back of Woodland who leads alone. Tony Finau and David Lingmerth join Herman and Casey at two under.
10:25 AM: Gary Woodland joins Casey at three under with a birdie at the par-5 seventh. He has just eight putts in seven holes. Looks like those tips from the Presidents Cup captain are helping.
Right after Spieth makes his first birdie of the day at the par-5 15th, he finds a fairway bunker on the long par-4 16th. His playing partners, Sergio and Koepka, made par at the 15th and also both found trouble off the tee at the 16th. All three guys are at one under, but have some work to do to stay there.
10:03 AM: Paul Casey takes the solo lead at the PGA Championship thanks to three birdies on his first five holes, all on par-4s. He's at three under and leads by one over Matsuyama, Wood, Herman and Gary Woodland, who just made his second birdie of the day at the 249-yard (!!) par-3 sixth.
At the short par-4 14th, Spieth and Koepka each drove the green and were left with putts of over 110-feet for eagle. They both walked away with par, as did Sergio.
9:40 AM: Just like that we have some fireworks. It's a four-way tie atop the leader board at two under between Paul Casey, Chris Wood, Hideki Matsuyama and Jim Herman. What a group!
The marquee group is through four holes now, and Koepka and Sergio leading the way at one under after making birdie at the par-3 13th. Spieth's made all pars and is even.
9:21 AM: At the 12th, Spieth takes a ridiculous line on his long birdie putt, aiming about 15 or 20 feet right of the cup. Of course, it was right on line but came up just short. He'll clean up his par to stay even through three holes. Koepka and Sergio also tap in their par putts and sit at even as well.
9:04 AM: Koepka's birdie just slides by and he taps in for par. Sergio gives a shot right back with a bogey, while Spieth makes an eight footer to save par.
Chris Wood is now alone at the top. He's at two under through three holes.
9:00 AM: Koepka hits the longest drive of the day so far at the 11th, then pures his approach to within 10 feet for birdie. Spieth and Garcia both miss the green with their second shots.
Meanwhile, Scotland's Russel Knox and England's Chris Wood each get off to hot starts, both making birdie on their first two holes. They are now in a two-way tie for the lead after Matsuyama bogeyed the par-4 12th (his third).
8:45 AM: Spieth's 20-foot birdie attempt just slides by on his opening hole, the par-5 10th, and he settles for par. Playing partner Brooks Koepka also makes par, but Sergio Garcia makes birdie to get his 19th PGA Championship off to a great start. It seems this marquee group has a pretty famous athlete following them inside the ropes as well:
https://twitter.com/PGATOURSMartin/status/895626615375450112
8:31 AM: Jordan Spieth begins his pursuit of history with a perfect tee shot on the par-5 10th hole. Spieth is playing alongside Masters champ Sergio Garcia, who yanked his drive left, and U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepka, who bombed it past Spieth by about 20 yards.
8:23 AM: Hideki Matsuyama, fresh off a five-shot win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, birdies his first two holes. Shocking news, we know. The World No. 3 is a popular pick to win major No. 1 this week. If he keeps making putts from 52 feet like he did on his first hole, the field at Quail Hollow is in trouble.
8:19 AM: If you're wondering about the weather, the sun is actually out in Charlotte on Thursday morning. And despite all the doom and gloom forecasts, it looks like we're in for a great day of golf:
(* Knock on wood *)
8:14 AM: We're not sure this is a sign of things to come for Jordan Spieth. But it's pretty cool — as Spieth walked off the short-game area, he holed his last chip shot. Of course he did.
He hasn't teed off yet, and Spieth's doing Spieth things.
8:05 AM: We are 20 minutes from the group of 2017 major winners (Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia and Brooks Koepka) teeing off Quail Hollow's 10th hole. They will be followed by the 8:35 tee time of World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Henrik Stenson. Unfortunately, TV coverage on TNT doesn't start until 1 p.m., but these two marquee groups will be live-streamed on the PGA Championship app. Hope you've been conserving your data on your phone this month. . .
7:40 AM: Here's a look at the pin positions for round 1: