Golf

PGA Championship 2016 viewing guide: Coverage schedule and how to watch live online from Baltusrol

The last major of the season is somehow already here -- so let’s all avoid our work and watch the next four days.

by Trevor Reaske

Updated Jul 28, 2016, 9:00 PM UTC

Eric Sucar-USA TODAY Sports

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PGA Championship 2016: Leaderboard updates, results and more from Thursday’s round

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The PGA Championship is often referred to as the fourth major. Not only because it is the last of the four major championships, but also because it sometimes seen as the least important. And while that may or may not be true -- we’ve got one argument for why it’s the best -- this tournament does not lack excitement and drama.

How about the last decade or so? Last year, we saw Jason Day set an all-time major scoring record and bring home the Wanamaker Trophy for his first major championship. Or how about two years ago when Rory McIlroy battled Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler in the dark to make for a spectacular and wild finish. Unknown Y.E. Yang took down Tiger Woods, DJ grounded his club in a bunker, the list goes on and on, but you get the idea. This tournament is always super entertaining, even if doesn’t get the publicity it deserves.

The PGA Championship also features the deepest field of the four majors. It may be last on the calendar, but it is certainly the strongest when it comes to talent. The full top 100 get an invitation and 97 will tee it up this year at Baltusrol. Speaking of that talent, this week will feature the world’s best all at or near top of their game, on a course that has hosted several U.S. Opens and PGA Championships. It won’t be hard to find a compelling storyline this week.

Dustin Johnson comes in as probably the best player in the world this summer, having won twice including that first breakthrough major at the U.S. Open. Phil Mickelson dazzled us at Royal Troon a couple weeks ago, posting rounds of 63 and 65. Other players that are supposedly having down years like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth will no doubt like to put to bed unsubstantiated claims that they are struggling with an emphatic win.

And those are just four possibilities!

For the coverage this week, CBS and TNT will handle the broadcast, with the CBS talent and production handling a majority of the duties for both networks. So get ready for more Jim Nantz, who bookends your majors season as usual.

Since this major might have snuck up on you, I understand if you weren’t able to take off work. There are also several options for online viewing at PGA.com, so that’s a good way to ignore your work in late July on Thursday and Friday.. The streams will be necessary as TV coverage doesn’t begin until 1 p.m. You can certainly tune into TNT beforehand, just be warned, you will have to endure several episodes of Charmed and Supernatural before coverage starts.

It’s not the most robust coverage schedule for a major, especially after coming off The Open, where Golf Channel went live from the very first tee shot at dawn on Thursday morning. But the combination of streams and weekend TV coverage should get the job done. Here is your full media schedule for the week at Baltusrol (all times ET):