It’s hard to have a bad leaderboard at a WGC event, and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational always seems to deliver firepower at the top. We have that again this weekend, with 49 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings teeing it up at the start of the week and many of those top players rising up the leaderboard by the weekend.
WGC Bridgestone Invitational 2017 live stream: Tee times, TV schedule, and how to watch Saturday online
The annual stop at Firestone always produces a big-time leaderboard and we have that again heading to the weekend in Akron.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Jimmy Walker, who will defend his PGA Championship next week, is on the 36-hole lead at Firestone. Walker has and is battling Lyme disease this year, so it’s been an unpredictable struggle and he was quite candid that it could become a struggle at any moment this weekend. There’s a lot of firepower chasing him, naturally, with so much of it in this limited no-cut event. In the red and well within striking distance are Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama, and big Thomas Pieters, who is currently in solo second at 5-under. Walker’s two-shot cushion is, needless to say, precarious with 36 more holes to go on the South Course at Firestone.
There are plenty of vocal critics of the Firestone setup who argue that it lacks character and becomes a monotonous slog of long par-4s. Those critiques aren’t without merit, but the players always say they love it and it consistently produces strong leaderboards. It’s hard to go wrong with the field that keeps coming to Akron. The best in the world come in from all over the globe with the PGA coming up the following week. This serves as a natural, and extremely lucrative, prep appetizer for the final major. Whatever your issue may be with the course, this remains one of the premier stops on Tour and this weekend should be another strong finish.
CBS will have the primary coverage for the final two rounds in Akron. This is one of their big stretches of the golf season, with a WGC, a major, and the first leg of the FedExCup all coming within a four-week span. Then Jim Nantz and company head out for football season and hand the reins to NBC. Nantz will be on the call this weekend, but did a little pre-golf TV booth giggling at the nearby Hall of Fame game this week, showing up with Tony Romo for a promo with their NBC counterparts.
Golf Channel will have their usual early-round coverage on Saturday before kicking it to Nantz and friends. PGA Tour Live will also have featured holes coverage up and running all day if you need a morning fix. Here are all your media options:
Saturday’s third round coverage
Television:
Noon to 1:30 p.m. — Golf Channel
2 to 6 p.m. — CBS
Online streams:
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Live featured holes (2nd/12th/16th) stream
Noon to 1:30 p.m. — Golf Channel LiveExtra simulcast stream
1:30 to 6 p.m. — PGATour.com/CBS simulcast stream
Radio:
1 to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208 and streamed here)
TEE TIMES
Here’s your tee sheet for the third round in Akron:
- 7:50 a.m.: Gary Woodland, Billy Horschel
- 8 a.m.: Lee Westwood, Danny Willett
- 8:10 a.m.: Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Chris Wood
- 8:20 a.m.: Shaun Norris, Russell Henley
- 8:30 a.m.: Pat Perez, Mackenzie Hughes
- 8:40 a.m.: Andy Sullivan, Jeunghun Wang
- 8:50 a.m.: Hideto Tanihara, Louis Oosthuizen
- 9 a.m.: Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed
- 9:10 a.m.: Brian Harman, Sam Brazel
- 9:20 a.m.: Wesley Bryan, Francesco Molinari
- 9:30 a.m.: Marc Leishman, Jason Dufner
- 9:40 a.m.: Satoshi Kodaira, Jon Rahm
- 9:50 a.m.: Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick
- 10 a.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson
- 10:10 a.m.: Kyle Stanley, Emiliano Grillo
- 10:20 a.m.: Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar
- 10:30 a.m.: Fabrizio Zanotti, Justin Thomas
- 10:40 a.m.: Thorbjorn Olesen, Rod Pampling
- 10:50 a.m.: Bernd Wiesberger, Paul Lawrie
- 11 a.m.: Ryan Moore, Henrik Stenson
- 11:10 a.m.: J.B. Holmes, Si Woo Kim
- 11:20 a.m.: Bubba Watson, Andres Romero
- 11:30 a.m.: Rickie Fowler, Brendan Steele
- 11:40 a.m.: Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose
- 11:50 a.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Branden Grace
- 12 p.m.: Bill Haas, Kevin Kisner
- 12:10 p.m.: Renato Paratore, Xander Schauffele
- 12:20 p.m.: Scott Hend, Hudson Swafford
- 12:30 p.m.: Daniel Berger, Ross Fisher
- 12:40 p.m.: Kevin Chappell, Thongchai Jaidee
- 12:50 p.m.: Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott
- 1 p.m.: Paul Casey, Harold Varner III
- 1:10 p.m.: Alex Noren, Tommy Fleetwood
- 1:20 p.m.: Jordan Spieth, Jason Day
- 1:30 p.m.: Adam Hadwin, Russell Knox
- 1:40 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Charley Hoffman
- 1:50 p.m.: Zach Johnson, Rory McIlroy
- 2 p.m.: Jimmy Walker, Thomas Pieters
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