Presidents Cup 2015 TV coverage: Schedule and start time for Saturday’s matches

The Presidents Cup is actually a competition now. The International side got up off the mat on Day 2 and cut into a 3-point deficit by winning Friday’s four-ball session. They earned 3.5 of a possible 5 points and now trail by just one point heading into Saturday’s double session in Korea. After the opening day rout, the Internationals winning the session was critical to making the weekend worth watching, and potentially for the future viability of the entire event.

It was a welcome development for the PGA Tour, who organizes the event, fans, and the TV partners. The Presidesnts Cup lacks the appeal of the Ryder Cup because, well, the USA always rolls to an easy victory. It’s difficult to incite much interest when they keep winning and by comfortable margins that make the final few sessions on the weekend almost irrelevant. The fact that it’s in Korea and played in the middle of the night obviously doesn’t help the American TV audience, but that doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have to be a priority for the success of the event. The Internationals just need to keep it close and make it a game.

They have done that now and Phil Mickelson has also, yet again, done his part to stir up some interest in this match play competition halfway around the world. Playing in his 21st straight team competition, Mickelson made a rookie mistake by playing the wrong ball. It resulted in a mis-applied ruling and general chaos throughout the evening as players, fans, rules officials, and the broadcast tried to sort out what the hell happened. Phil then holed out from a fairway bunker, halved his match, and dropped a wonderful taunting bomb on his International foes in the post-match press conference.

What had been a sleepy start to the Presidents Cup was jolted to life by Mickelson, whose comments crushing Tom Watson at last year’s Ryder Cup became the primary takeaway from that team event too. So Golf Channel, which is broadcasting the event live every night into the witching hour, has something juicy to work with and they pounced on Phil’s gift.

Saturday’s double session also means play will start much earlier in Korea and give the American audience a chance to watch a full session at a reasonable hour. The first session should run from about 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET on Friday night -- the always nice but rare primetime golf coverage. The second session could go past 4 a.m. into Saturday, so we’re in for a long march with eight points up for grabs.

The full match schedule and tee times for the day are here. And here are your media options for Day 3:

Update: Inclement weather in Korea forced a one hour delay over there Saturday morning. The first tee time will not go until 7:05 p.m. ET Friday back in the States so expect the second session to start late as well. Darkness could become an issue if there are further delays.

6 p.m. Friday to 4 a.m. ET Saturday -- Golf Channel

Noon to 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday -- Replay on NBC

3:30 to 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday -- Replay on Golf Channel