Golf is one of the few sports that offers almost no opportunities for primetime TV coverage. There’s an occasional west coast stop that may just dip into primetime back in the East in the first few months of the year. And every few years there’s a West Coast U.S. Open. But that’s about it until the fourth quarter of the year, when the top pros mostly rest, save for a few starts around the globe to collect some nice appearance fees and promote their “brand” in Asia and Australia.
How to watch the WGC-HSBC Champions live online, TV schedule and more
Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and almost every top name in golf is in China this week at the year’s final event in the extremely lucrative WGC series. Sure there’s football and NBA and NHL and, well, everything else, but why not stay up, get weird, and watch late-night golf?
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The WGC-HSBC Champions is the highlight of this fallow October through December stretch. It’s the least prominent of the four WGC events, but it still draws most at the top of the world rankings. While Doral and Firestone are almost must-play events for everyone in the States, some opt to pass on the late-season trip to China for the HSBC. This year, however, Jason Day is really the only top player missing. Four of the top five in the world rankings are here, including Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. Those two will play other events, either on the Euro Tour or in Australia, but this is really their last event of the year against a deep world-class field like this.
It’s also a nice little primetime telecast for Golf Channel, which will come on the air at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday night back in the States. The entire field will be out on the course by then and Spieth will be more than an hour into his round. McIlroy will tee off with Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson in what is, in my opinion, the best group on the tee sheet.
They go at 9:45 p.m. ET so expect to see their every shot during the GC window, which is scheduled to run until 3 a.m. These limited field WGC events usually move much faster than that and I’d expect that McIlroy group to be done just after 2 a.m. ET, which isn’t the craziest hour (compared to the Presidents Cup a month ago!) back in the East and definitely manageable out west -- just toggle between that Clippers-Warriors game and this legitimately loaded golf tournament.
If you want to relegate golf to the second screen, or just watch on your phone in bed as you fall asleep, you will be able to simulcast stream it via Golf Channel’s LiveExtra service. Here are your media options for the first round:
Wednesday/Thursday’s 1st round coverage
Television:
10 p.m. Wednesday to 3 a.m. Thursday -- Golf Channel
8 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET Thursday -- Golf Channel (Replay)
Online streams:
10 p.m. Wednesday to 3 a.m. Thursday-- Golf Channel simulcast stream
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