Presidents Cup 2017 live stream: How to watch Friday online

It’s Friday so you were not really planning on being that productive at work anyway. You’ll find ways to avoid doing what you’re supposed to, playing around on your phone and getting lost on the internet. You’ll maybe take a couple of extra walks around the office or go out for an extra coffee to kill time. The point is you’re just trying to run the clock out on the week to get to happy hour or wherever it is you plan to go on your merry way.

The good news is there will be a sports distraction to stream — whether it’s sneakily or conspicuously is your choice. The second session of the Presidents Cup tees off just before lunchtime on Golf Channel and should run until 5:30 or 6 p.m. ET, giving you plenty of cover to bridge the gap until you can eject from work for the weekend.

You might say golf is not really your thing, and that’s OK too. It’s not a lot of people’s thing. But this is a little bit different golf. It’s match play and in a team setting, so there are actually player emotions, occasional confrontations, and a real rooting interest. It’s kind of fun even if you know absolutely nothing about golf, and all the best American players are here. So this is a bit different — here’s the scene at the first tee:

Golf Channel will go live with coverage at 11:30 a.m. ET and the entire broadcast will also be simulcast streamed via its LiveExtra service. Mike Tirico had the reins for much of the coverage on Thursday, and Tirico doing more golf is always good by us. The usual lead NBC duo of Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller will also be involved.

The venue, Liberty National, is also the most scenic course in this competition’s history, with stunning views of the Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan. Whatever you think of the course’s architectural merits (and there are justifiable critiques of that), it presents as well for TV as anything ever has for what is a made-for-TV event.

So ignore your work and watch some golf on Friday afternoon. Here’s your coverage schedule for the second session at Liberty National:

11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Golf Channel

11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Noon to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208 and streamed here)

Four-ball takes more time than Foursomes, which can move rapidly with just two balls in play between the four players in a match. You also get concessions early in a hole and matches that may only go 14 or 15 holes, cutting out the last hour or so of a projected round.

With Four-ball, each player is playing his own ball from tee to green and of course some pick up at different points in the hole, but it still takes much longer than Foursomes. So tee times start almost two hours earlier than they did on Thursday for the first session and they’re spread out with 15 minutes between matches, compared to just 12 minutes for Foursomes. Here’s the lineup we’re working with on Friday afternoon: