Tiger Woods brings another boost to the PGA Tour’s OTT streaming service

Tiger is out early at TPC Sawgrass and there a couple ways to watch his second round with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler.

Golf’s fifth major, or whatever you want to call it at this point, will be in business bright and early on Friday morning at TPC Sawgrass. That’s because Tiger Woods is back at The Players for the first time since 2015 and he’s going off with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler in a breakfast trio. It’s a boost for the PGA Tour’s marquee event and its over-the-top streaming service, PGA Tour Live. that will cover every shot of the morning round.

Tiger tees off at 8:27 a.m. ET on PGA Tour Live so that means just about his entire round will be played outside Golf Channel’s TV coverage window. Golf Channel picks things up at 1 p.m. ET and by that time, Tiger’s group should only have a hole or two left at the Stadium Course. The pace was five-hours plus on Thursday but things should move slightly faster in the morning. Expect a round that runs to about 1:30 p.m. ET.

This entire year has been a boon for PGA Tour Live, which now has a couple full seasons under its belt. Tiger obviously changes the demand for the service and they’ve made sure he’s always on the stream, as you’d expect, for one of his first two rounds in his seven PGA Tour starts this year. Now the stop at Sawgrass is up and having partners like Phil, who is almost certainly missing the cut, and Rickie, certainly add to the demand. It’s the Tour’s biggest event and this is the biggest group they’ve had for this streaming service here.

If you do not have a PGA Tour Live subscription, ESPN’s new OTT service, ESPN+ is now also an option. They added the PGA Tour Live inventory to their lineup in a deal that was announced around the Masters. It’s a straight simulcast of what’s happening on PGA Tour Live. They’re also offering a free 7-day trial right now so that could be an option if you’re not trying to pay to watch just one Tiger round that’s a Friday morning diversion.

Here’s your second round streaming and media schedule for The Players Championship:

Friday’s second-round coverage

Television:

9 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Golf Channel “Live From” The Players

1 to 7 p.m. — Golf Channel

Online streams:

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

• ESPN+ also now has simulcast of the PGA Tour Live coverage

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

Featured Groups (PGA Tour Live subscription required)

• 8:16 a.m. — Jason Day / Henrik Stenson / Sergio Garcia
• 8:27 a.m. — Phil Mickelson / Rickie Fowler / Tiger Woods
• 1:30 p.m. — Bubba Watson / Dustin Johnson / Brooks Koepka
• 1:52 p.m. — Rory McIlroy / Justin Thomas / Jordan Spieth

9 a.m. to 7 p.m. -- PGA Tour Live featured holes coverage -- Nos. 12 & 17 (No subscription required)

1 to 7 p.m. -- Golf Channel simulcast stream

Radio:

Noon to 7 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 92/208 and streamed here)