2014 PGA Championship pairings and tee times set for Sunday’s final round

When the week started at Valhalla, we penciled in Rory McIlroy for a late Sunday tee time. And the heavy favorite at the start of the week is right there in the Sunday final pairing of his third straight event, going for his third consecutive win.

McIlroy will play with fellow Euro Bernd Wiesberger, an Austrian player who has had some success on the Euro Tour this year but has absolutely no experience in contention at a major. Wiesberger caught fire over his final three holes, sticking two approach shots within three feet of the hole and then cleaning up a tap-in birdie on the gettable par-5 18th. The AP’s Doug Ferguson put together the total distance of Wiesberger’s final three putts, and it was astonishing:

That finish earned him a date with McIlroy, the reigning Open Champion, a past PGA Champion and the No. 1 player in the world. Wiesberger has only made one cut at a major before this week, and had never BROKEN PAR at a major until Valhalla. He wasn’t exactly scared off playing with Phil Mickelson on Saturday, but the final group on Sunday at a major is an entirely different proposition.

The penultimate group features the top two challengers to McIlroy’s bid for a fourth career major. The Butch Harmon duo of Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler will be out together, and that’s about as comfortable a pairing as you can get. Both play practice rounds together at every tournament, and Mickelson has transformed from somewhat of a mentor to Rickie into one of his closest colleagues on Tour. Fowler has played the better golf all year, and is trying to join Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only players ever to finish inside the top 5 at all four majors in a season. But Phil has the major championship experience, and has one of the hotter putters rolling in the field right now. Regardless of who jumps up to challenge McIlroy, this group will provoke the loudest cheers of the day in Louisville.

McIlroy may be playing a different game than anyone else on the planet, but the players at the bottom of the tee sheet around him will probably present the biggest obstacle to a major win yet. His first three came comfortably, but these are pretty much all the top names in the game right now. Here’s your final round tee sheet at Valhalla:

Update: A mid-afternoon rain delay has pushed tee times for the leaders back to 4:19 p.m. ET. It will be a close one getting done before sunset at 8:42 p.m. ET