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Photo by Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR
By Shane Ryan
At the tail end of Rory McIlroy’s post-match presser on Thursday—he defeated Jhonattan Vegas, 2 and 1, to keep his weekend hopes alive—he was asked if he had any interest in the ultra-hyped Jordan Spieth vs. Patrick Reed showdown. Rory’s eyes lit up, and the question hadn’t left the journalist’s mouth before he interrupted:
“I have a lot of interest in that,” he said, drawing laughs. “What time are they playing?”
When told they had an afternoon tee time about four hours after his early match teed off, McIlroy was ecstatic.
“Hopefully I get done early, I can watch it.”
Finally, as they dragged him off stage, he was asked what outcome he hoped for. Without missing a beat, he said, “Penalty drops everywhere.”
Spieth and Reed are 2-0 in the group stage, and the winner will move on to Saturday’s round of 16. Interest in their match has been sky-high since Reed was drawn in Spieth’s group at the selection show Monday night, and it has remained, by far, the biggest storyline of the event. The two are Ryder Cup teammates and friendly rivals, and if the initial hype wasn’t enough, Reed upped the ante earlier on Thursday with a half-incendiary, half-hilarious comment about their experience together at the Hazeltine Ryder Cup.
They tee off tomorrow at 1:32 p.m. Austin time (10.32pm UAE time).
TV Coverage
OSN Sports 3 HD will carry live coverage on Friday from 10pm UAE time. They’ll also carry coverage on Saturday and Sunday from 6pm UAE.
Friday Tee Times (NOTE: The UAE is nine hours ahead of the stated Texas tee times):
Group 11
9:30 a.m. — Marc Leishman (0-2) vs. Branden Grace (1-1)
9:41 a.m. — Bubba Watson (2-0) vs. Julian Suri (1-1)
Group 6
9:52 a.m. — Rory McIlroy (1-1) vs. Brian Harman (1-0-1)
10:03 a.m. — Jhonattan Vegas (0-1-1) vs. Peter Uihlein (1-1)
Group 14
10:14 a.m. — Phil Mickelson (1-1) vs. Rafa Cabrera Bello (1-1)
10:25 a.m. — Satoshi Kodaira (0-2) vs. Charles Howell III (2-0)
Group 3
10:36 a.m. — Jon Rahm (0-1-1) vs. Kiradech Aphibarnrat (2-0)
10:47 a.m. — Chez Reavie (1-1) vs. Keegan Bradley (0-1-1)
Group 10
10:58 a.m. — Paul Casey (2-0) vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick (0-2)
11:09 a.m. — Kyle Stanley (1-1) vs. Russell Henley (1-1)
Group 7
11:20 a.m. — Sergio Garcia (2-0) vs. Xander Schauffele (2-0)
11:31 a.m. — Dylan Frittelli (0-2) vs. Shubhankar Sharma (0-2)
Group 15
11:42 a.m. — Pat Perez (0-1-1) vs. Gary Woodland (0-1-1)
11:53 a.m. — Webb Simpson (1-0-1) vs. Si Woo Kim (1-0-1)
Group 2
12:04 p.m. — Justin Thomas (2-0) vs. Francesco Molinari (2-0)
12:15 p.m. — Patton Kizzire (0-2) vs. Luke List (0-2)
Group 12
12:26 p.m. — Tyrrell Hatton (2-0) vs. Charley Hoffman (0-2)
12:37 p.m. — Brendan Steele (1-1) vs. Alexander Levy (1-1)
Group 5
12:48 p.m. — Hideki Matsuyama (1-1) vs. Patrick Cantlay (1-1)
12:59 p.m. — Cameron Smith (2-0) vs. Yusaku Miyazato (0-2)
Group 13
1:10 p.m. — Alex Noren (2-0) vs. Tony Finau (2-0)
1:21 p.m. — Thomas Pieters (0-2) vs. Kevin Na (0-2)
Group 4
1:32 p.m. — Jordan Spieth (2-0) vs. Patrick Reed (2-0)
1:43 p.m. — HaoTong Li (0-2) vs. Charl Schwartzel (0-2)
Group 9
1:54 p.m. — Tommy Fleetwood (1-1) vs. Daniel Berger (0-2)
2:05 p.m. — Kevin Chappell (1-1) vs. Ian Poulter (2-0)
Group 8
2:16 p.m. — Jason Day (1-1) vs. Louis Oosthuzien (1-1)
2:27 p.m. — Jason Dufner (1-1) vs. James Hahn (1-1)
Group 16
2:38 p.m. — Matt Kuchar (1-0-1) vs. Ross Fisher (1-1)
2:49 p.m. — Yuta Ikeda (1-1) vs. Zach Johnson (0-1-1)
Group 1
3 p.m. — Dustin Johnson (0-2) vs. Kevin Kisner (1-0-1)
3:11 p.m. — Adam Hadwin (1-0-1) vs. Bernd Wiesberger (1-1)
