2014 PGA Championship TV schedule: Coverage and start time for Thursday’s round

Most veteran media members and players said they had never seen anything like it. The word “surreal” was repeated over and over again to describe the scene. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee analogized it to a “stick hitting a hornet’s nest.”

When Tiger Woods arrived at Valhalla for a PGA Championship practice round, a manic crowd and frenzied media couldn’t contain themselves. The gaggle of media folk crowded around an empty parking spot with his name on it, and that was before they ever knew if he was coming at all. The fans lined up 8 to 10 deep just to watch him hit balls on the practice range. And then that madness swarmed down to the first tee for a stunning, bizarre setup to the start of what is usually some sleepy practice.

The Wednesday afternoon practice round jolted the 96th PGA to life, enveloping the Louisville course. It was a stunning reminder of how different and how much larger Tiger is than any other golfer, ever. He is the top draw for the fans, the PGA Tour, and TV partners.

So it’s puzzling, frustrating, and stupid that one day after whipping up the crowd and bringing this major to life, Tiger will play his first round in relative obscurity and out of view of the TV cameras. Woods goes out with Phil Mickelson in the morning half of the draw, teeing off at 8:35 a.m. ET. He should wrap up his opening 18 right around 1 p.m. ET. TNT, which doesn’t broadcast golf all year except for this event, comes on the air at 1 p.m.

The TV schedule, of course, has been set in stone for long time, well before Tiger ever had a tee time. But the 1 to 7 p.m. ET coverage window over the first two days guaranteed that Tiger wouldn’t be on during one of the first two rounds. It makes little sense, especially given that the PGA isn’t beholden to antiquated traditions for limited outside TV coverage like Augusta National. Presumably, the six-hour window, which is more in line with a regular PGA Tour broadcast and not a major, is part of an old rights deal. The U.S. Open and British Open are both carried live for 10 to 11 hours during the first two rounds. The entire day’s tee times play most of their round during the broadcast, and you’ll always be able to see Tiger at those majors.

Fortunately, if you have Internet, you can watch most of Tiger’s opening round on PGA.com’s marquee groups stream. That can be a pain to operate, but it should come in handy for a large chunk of the audience that’s not in front of a TV and at the office. It’s the start of a solution, but still doesn’t make up for a major championship’s TV coverage ignoring half the field in each of the first two days.

The marquee group in the afternoon when TNT does come on the air will consist of Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson, and Martin Kaymer. That’s the traditional PGA grouping of the season’s first three major winners, and they tee off at 1:45 p.m. Aside from the six-hour coverage window on the first two days, the one big gripe with the PGA broadcast is that it’s commercial and human-interest-story heavy. There were repeated complaints last year at Oak Hill and requests to just show more golf. The problem may be one more of perception than reality, but you should still prepare yourself for plenty of ads.

Here are all your media options for Thursday’s first round:

1-7 p.m. -- TNT

8:30 a.m-7 p.m. -- Marquee groups on PGA.com

1-7 p.m. -- Par 3 stream on PGA.com

Noon-7 p.m. -- SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio

8 a.m-7 p.m -- Marquee groups via the PGA Championship app

1-7 p.m. -- Par 3 stream via the PGA Championship app