How to watch The Barclays live online, TV schedule, radio and more

The PGA Tour’s postseason begins bright and early on Thursday morning at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ. The Barclays is the annual Tour stop in the New York area, rotating to different courses and always serving as the first of four legs in the FedEx Cup. Much like The Players, the FedEx Cup is an event that the Tour owns and is determined to make work and hype up, often through big money purses and bonuses. There will be $67 million ($32M in four purses, and $35M in playoff bonus cash) doled out during this year’s playoffs.

And of course a chunk of the funds that make the Tour such a successful operation come from their TV deals. The Barclays will be a CBS production, but it’s their final golf broadcast of the year before they transition full-time to football matters. NBC carries a swath of the schedule and some of the bigger events on Tour, but it’s CBS that would probably be considered the flagship network of the circuit. But with the FedEx Cup running into the start of NFL season, it just doesn’t work. Jim Nantz can’t be everywhere at once, so NBC holds the rights to the final three legs of the postseason.

Neither network, however, will carry coverage during the first two days of The Barclays. Golf Channel will have their typical first and second round coverage, running the broadcast from 2 to 6 p.m. ET on Friday. That’s an hour longer than the average PGA Tour event they cover on Thursdays and Fridays. Unfortunately for GC, the tee sheet is weighted pretty heavily in the morning with the biggest names in the field. Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, and Jordan Spieth are all out before 8:30 a.m. ET. Unless there’s a weather delay, they will be long done with their rounds before Golf Channel goes live at 2 p.m. The afternoon draw features Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar, and Jim Furyk.

Fortunately, PGATour.com will have a featured groups stream up and running by 8 a.m. ET so there should be coverage of some of those big names playing in the morning before TV. And if you’re stuck at work in the afternoon, Golf Channel will have their simulcast going via their LiveExtra service.

UPDATE: Apparently, they’re having trouble with the featured groups stream at PGATour.com Thursday morning. It’s not running at the moment. The Tour tweeted to download their mobile app and launch it from there (that hasn’t worked either for me yet).

UPDATE No. 2: Everything appears to be up and running and back to normal as of 10 a.m. ET. Stand down and watch Rory, Bubba, and Jimmy.

The coverage for the week is not quite as comprehensive as when Golf Channel and NBC, Comcast sister networks, share the duties. But it’s still more than normal as the PGA Tour continues to push the FedEx Cup. Here are all your media options for the opening round at The Barclays:

2 to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel

2 to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel simulcast stream

Noon to 6 p.m. -- PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208)