Valspar Championship 2018: Time, TV schedule for Tiger Woods on Sunday

The PGA Tour has not been struggling during Tiger Woods’ absence. It’s seen a crop of young players, superstars, come up and replenish the game. It’s as deep as it has ever been, with young studs from a bunch of different countries hammering the ball off the tee, winning consistently, and bagging majors. The PGA Tour has not been some desolate wasteland during Tiger’s multiple injury rehabs that have put him on the shelf or made him uncompetitive, really, since 2013.

Business has been good, and yet...we’ve been waiting for a day like Sunday at the Valspar Championship. Because no matter how good business has been, it does not compare to Tiger returning to make it rain in a way the sport has never seen. We’ve got real signs of life from Tiger now, who has been competitive in his last two starts and now begins Sunday at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course just a shot off the lead and in the second-to-last tee time. The last two days, Tiger’s early Friday round and his late Saturday round, were distinct reminders of how different it is when he’s in contention and the star of the show. It’s been a frenzy for the freaking Valspar, an underdog tourney that was once the forgotten stepchild of the Florida swing. It’s been madness and it’s all because Tiger is back.

Sunday should be more of the same frenzy with Woods teeing off alongside Brandt Snedeker at 1:50 p.m. ET. The entire field is going as twosomes off No. 1 tee, so the pace of play should be right at four hours. That will set up a 6 p.m. finish on NBC, barring no major delays.

It should go without saying that Tiger winning a PGA Tour event — not a major, just a regular Tour event — would be one of the great sports stories of all time. If Tiger is in the hunt, or on the lead late on Sunday, this should compete with and eclipse all the Selection Sunday drama, which is rightfully one of the best days of the year. It’s all within range and we’re set up for a massive final round in Tampa.

Golf Channel will be live on the air at 1 p.m. ET. There will be a golf tournament already in progress with plenty of world-class players doing their best. But this will all be a prelude to Tiger’s tee time and expect continuous cut-ins to his range session, putting green work, and everything in between before he actually hits his first shot. Golf Channel will give way to NBC at 3 p.m. ET. There’s no coverage gap but there will be a quick break as they switch in a new booth, going from Steve Sands and Frank Nobilo to Dan Hicks and Gary Koch. Here are all your coverage options for the final round of the Valspar Championship:

1 to 3 p.m. ET — Golf Channel

3 to 6 p.m. ET — NBC

1 to 6 p.m. -- Golf Channel / NBC Sports LiveExtra simulcast stream

1 to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 92/208 and streamed here)