Arnold Palmer Invitational 2018: Time, TV schedule for Tiger Woods on Thursday

Tiger Woods is back in the Thursday morning wave again this week on the PGA Tour. Woods will be out early in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational alongside Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama. They go at 8:23 a.m. ET, giving you plenty of time to ignore more of your work before you check out for the NCAA tournament around lunchtime. In fact, it’s probably best to just skip the whole dang day and don’t even put up with the pretense of looking productive.

Woods has been in the early Thursday / late Friday draw in most of his PGA Tour starts this year. But last week was a switch and he ended up igniting the Tampa crowds first thing Friday and breaking PGA Tour Live’s streaming service in the process. There will be comparable interest Thursday morning at Bay Hill, a place where he’s won eight times and is now the heavy favorite to win again.

Here’s hoping the PGA Tour Live feed is prepped and ready to hold up against a rush should he get on a roll in the first round. There will be thousands trying to bridge the gap to tip off of the tourney and Woods at Bay Hill is the perfect way to do it.

Bay Hill is a course that’s lined with water hazards, typical for a Florida track. If the wind gets up, it can be a brute and the rounds can extend to the five-hour mark. The Tour will send them off split tees in groups of three for the first two days. With the extra hour of daylight, there really should be no issues getting everyone in on time unless there’s some sort of lengthy weather delay. Expect Woods to finish up around 1 p.m. ET.

Woods starts on the back 9 with Hideki and Day, who have both played with him in the past. Day and Woods have become fairly close in recent years, with the Aussie texting Woods often while he was out injured looking for advice. Day is also one of the winners at this event during this lengthy Woods absence from a course he’s owned over his career. But now he’s back for the first time since 2013 and looking to follow the same path from five years ago — a win. It’s going to be a wild Thursday morning that’s worth locking in to before the tourney really gets going in the afternoon.

Here’s your media schedule for Thursday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

2 to 6 p.m. ET — Golf Channel

7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.— PGA Tour Live starts with coverage from range and opening holes

• 7:30 a.m. - 8:45 a.m. — Free PGA Tour live stream on Twitter

Featured Groups (PGA Tour Live subscription required)

3 to 6 p.m. — PGA Tour Live featured holes Nos. 14 and 16 coverage (No subscription required)

2 to 6 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

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