Golf

Quicken Loans National 2018: Time, TV schedule for Tiger Woods and the field for Thursday

Finally, Woods has come back to D.C. He’ll be out late on Thursday and here’s how you can watch the Big Cat go for his third win at his own event.

by Brendan Porath

Jun 28, 2018, 3:00 PM UTC

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Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Quicken Loans National is off and running at TPC Potomac outside Washington, D.C. The event was once a highlight of the PGA Tour’s summer schedule but it has sputtered in recent years. The field is weak again this year and it’s likely this is the last National ever, with Quicken choosing to throw their money behind a Detroit event next year and no title sponsor coming forward for the D.C.-area tournament.

One thing The National does have going for it this year is the return of its host. Tiger Woods is back after missing the last two years. Woods, of course, missed just about everything on the schedule the last two years but is back playing a full, healthy season for the first time since 2015. Woods obviously changes the entire dynamic of a tournament, especially when he’s looking for his first win in almost five years.

Woods will bring the crowds and the TV attention back to this event. But the reality remains that this field is pretty thin. You only need to look at the featured groups streams on Thursday, when Woods is playing later in the day, to see the dearth of starpower here. It is, quite honestly, a disgrace that the Tour and more of its stars do not patronize it. I know it’s a tough spot on the schedule but Woods has lined everyone’s pockets for years now and the Tour should emphasize its importance more than it has. This week, the National will also be up against an LPGA major, a Senior tour major, and a strong French Open on the Euro Tour.

Woods will be out at 1:20 p.m. ET alongside Bill Haas and Marc Leishman, two of the bigger names in the field. So he will be well into his front nine when Golf Channel goes live on the air at 3 p.m. ET. PGA Tour Live should have all his shots from the very first tee box though if you have a subscription there. You could also sign up for a free ESPN+ trial if you’re looking for a workaround to that subscription, and use it for the start of his round Thursday afternoon and his full round Friday morning.

Here are your media options for Thursday at the Quicken Loans National: