Koepka, the world number one, finished tied for fourth at the Open Championship in Northern Ireland last week, nine shots behind winner Shane Lowry. He finished at 6-under for the tournament and any slim hopes of clinching a fifth major disappeared as he bogeyed the first four holes in the final round.
Things went even worse for McIlroy, who disintegrated under pressure in the first round, carding an 8-over-par 79. The Northern Irishman’s chances of triumphing at Royal Portrush were dead and buried by the time he reached the second hole after making a quadruple-bogey eight at the first. The four-time major winner shot a spirited 6-under in the second round but missed the cut by one shot.
Koepka and McIlroy will be the penultimate group to tee off from the first tee on Thursday and will be joined by Jason Day. Like McIlroy, the Australian missed the cut at the Open and is still looking for a first PGA win in over a year.
The trio will be preceded by Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar and Jordan Spieth, who will tee off at 1:48 p.m. ET.
Even without Lowry and Tiger Woods, the 63-player field at TPC Southwind contains 46 of the world’s 50 top-ranked golfers. Among them is world number 2 Dustin Johnson, who will tee off from tee number 10 alongside Paul Casey and Justin Thomas at 1:04 p.m. ET on Thursday.
Technically, Johnson and Thomas can both be considered the defending champions ahead of the tournament. The former won the 2018 PGA Tour event at TPC Southwind last year, which was known as the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The latter won the WGC Invitational in 2018, which was then sponsored by Bridgestone, and was held in Akron, Ohio. The PGA’s decision to merge the WGC Invitational with the FedEx St. Jude Classic, has led to a certain degree of confusion.
Phil Mickelson also tees off at 1:04 p.m. ET, but he will do so from tee number one alongside Thorbjørn Olesen and Haotong Li.
Here are the selected tee times for the first two rounds.
Selected tee times (All times ET)
First round—Thursday, July 25
Tee number one
12:31 p. m. —Adam Long, Tyrrell Hatton, Mikumu Horikawa12:42 p. m. —C. T. Pan, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott12:53 p. m. —Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau, Matt Wallace1:04 p. m. —Phil Mickelson, Thorbjørn Olesen, Haotong Li1:26 p. m. —J. B. Holmes, Alex Noren, Philip Eriksson1:48 p. m. —Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth1:59 p. m. —Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day2:10 p. m. —Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed, Lucas Bjerregaard
Tee number 10
12:31 p. m. —Patrick Cantlay, Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood12:42 p. m. —Brandt Snedeker, Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen12:53 p. m. —Gary Woodland, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele1:04 p. m. —Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas1:26 p. m. —Webb Simpson, Danny Willett, Jim Furyk1:37 p. m. —Chez Reavie, Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick
Second round Friday, July 26
Tee number one
12:31 p. m. —Webb Simpson, Danny Willett, Jim Furyk12:42 p. m. —Chez Reavie, Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Fitzpatrick1:26 p. m. —Patrick Cantlay, Marc Leishman, Tommy Fleetwood1:37 p. m. —Brandt Snedeker, Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen1:48 p. m. —Gary Woodland, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele1:59 p. m. —Paul Casey, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas
Tee number 10
12:20 p. m. —J. B. Holmes, Alex Noren, Philip Eriksson12:42 p. m. —Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth12:53 p. m. —Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day1:04 p. m. —Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed, Lucas Bjerregaard1:26 p. m. —Adam Long, Tyrrell Hatton, Mikumu Horikawa1:37 p. m. —C. T. Pan, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott1:48 p. m. —Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau, Matt Wallace1:59 p. m. —Phil Mickelson, Thorbjørn Olesen, Haotong Li2:10 p. m. —Billy Horschel, Justin Harding, Shugo Imahira
TV coverage
The tournament will be broadcast in its entirety on Golf Channel, while CBS will broadcast the final two rounds.
Live stream
All four days of the tournament can be watched online via PGA Tour Live and on Golf Channel’s digital platforms, while the last two rounds will also be available online via CBS Sports website.
A live stream for all four rounds will also be available via fuboTV.
TV schedule (All times ET)
Thursday, July 25
Golf Channel, 2 p. m. —7 p. m. PGA Tour Live, 9 a. m. —7 p. m.
Friday, July 26
Golf Channel, 2 p. m. —7 p. m. PGA Tour Live, 9 a. m. —7 p. m.
Saturday, July 27
Golf Channel, 12 p. m. —1:45 p. m. CBS Sports, 2 p. m. —6 p. m. PGA Tour Live, 9 a. m. —6 p. m.
Sunday, July 28
Golf Channel, 12 p. m. —1:45 p. m. CBS Sports, 2 p. m. —6 p. mPGA Tour Live, 9 a. m. —6 p. m.
