PGA Championship Round 1 live at Aronimink

The 2026 PGA Championship began on Thursday, May 14, at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, with the first round starting at 6:45 a.m. Eastern. The 108th edition of the tournament opened with a 156-player field at the Donald Ross course outside Philadelphia, where Scottie Scheffler arrived as defending champion and Rory McIlroy as the reigning Masters winner. (pgachampionship.com) Thursday’s schedule stretched from the first tee time at 6:45 a.m. to the final group at 2:27 p.m., according to the PGA Championship’s published pairings. (pgachampionship.com) CBS Sports said Round 1 streaming began in the morning on ESPN+, while television coverage was scheduled for ESPN from noon to 7 p.m. and ESPN2 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. (golf.com) Eastern. The opening day drew attention to both the leaderboard and the logistics of following the event. GOLF.com and CBS Sports published viewer guides and pairings in advance, while live updates and leaderboard coverage were running across major outlets on Thursday. ### Which groups were at the center of Round 1? (pgachampionship.com) Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm were grouped together at 8:40 a.m. from the 10th tee, in the highest-profile morning pairing listed by the PGA Championship and PGA Tour. GOLF.com ranked that trio among the tournament’s best groupings, and the PGA Tour called it the highlight grouping of the morning wave. (pgachampionship.com) Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose were scheduled for a 2:05 p.m. start from the 1st tee in the afternoon wave. Other featured groups included Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Åberg and Rickie Fowler at 8:18 a.m., and Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Tyrrell Hatton at 8:29 a.m. (golf.com) ### When and where could viewers watch the first round? CBS Sports said Round 1 live streams ran from 6:45 a.m. to 7 p.m. on ESPN+, with featured holes starting at 7:30 a.m. and featured groups at 8 a.m. The same outlet listed television coverage on ESPN from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on ESPN2 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. (pgachampionship.com) GOLF.com said ESPN and CBS split tournament coverage across the week, with ESPN carrying the first two rounds and CBS taking over the weekend afternoon windows. Paramount+ was also listed among the streaming options for later rounds. ### What made Aronimink a focal point this week? Aronimink Golf Club is hosting the PGA Championship for the second time, according to GOLF.com. (pgachampionship.com) The course in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, sits on the major rotation as a rare stop for this championship, and the PGA of America’s tee-time release identified the event as the 108th PGA Championship. The PGA Tour said Scheffler was trying to defend the title he won in 2025, while McIlroy was chasing a third PGA Championship and his seventh major. (cbssports.com) Those storylines helped shape pre-tournament attention around the opening round at Aronimink. (golf.com) ### Was weather part of the opening-day picture? USA Today published a weather forecast for Thursday’s first round, and Yahoo Sports said overnight showers were part of the pre-tournament picture entering the opening day. Those reports pointed to conditions as one of the variables around the start of play, even as the published tee sheet showed the round opening on schedule at 6:45 a.m. (golf.com) Eastern. Thursday coverage also centered on real-time updates. USA Today, The Athletic and CBS Sports all carried live pages or live leaderboard coverage as the field moved through Round 1. (pgatour.com) ### What comes next after Thursday? Friday, May 15, is scheduled to bring Round 2 at Aronimink, with ESPN again carrying television coverage from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, according to GOLF.com. CBS Sports said weekend television coverage is set for May 16 and May 17 on CBS from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern, after early coverage on ESPN. (golf.com) (usatoday.com 1) (usatoday.com 2)