2023 PGA Championship preview: Full schedule and how to watch golf major action live

The second men's golf major of 2023 is the 105th PGA Championship which gets underway on Thursday (18 May) at Oak Hill.

This will be the fourth time that Oak Hill is staging the PGA with Jack Nicklaus (1980), Shaun Micheel (2003) and Jason Dufner (2013) the previous winners on the tricky par-70 course in Rochester, New York.

The course was almost entirely remodelled in 2019 but accuracy off the tee remains important with deep fairway bunkers and thick rough lying in wait for stray drives.

Twelve months ago, Justin Thomas overcame a seven-shot deficit after 54 holes to win in a playoff at Southern Hills in Tulsa and claim his second PGA title and major triumph.

He will be at Oak Hill to defend his title, but runner-up Will Zalatoris is absent after back surgery which has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Jon Rahm's victory in the Masters at Augusta, his second career major title, saw him return to number one in the official golf world rankings (OWGR) ahead of Scottie Scheffler.

Rory McIlroy was the defending champion the last time the PGA Championship was staged at Oak Hill, and he will be looking to bounce back from missing the cut at Augusta.

Rahm was chased home by two multiple major winners in Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, both of whom are members of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League.

The ongoing row between the PGA Tour and LIV shows no sign of abating with Mickelson hastily deleting a tweet in which he criticised what he saw as collusion between the PGA Tour and OWGR over invites to majors.

One big-name absentee is four-time winner Tiger Woods who is recovering from ankle surgery after he withdrew during the third round at the Masters.

Sergio Garcia, who was a teenager when he memorably duelled with Woods at the 1999 PGA Championship, has also failed to qualify for his first major since that year's US Open.

The 2017 Masters champion has dropped to 189 in the world rankings since joining LIV Golf.

Who is playing at the 2023 PGA Championship?

The PGA Championship boasts the biggest field of any major with up to 156 players teeing it up at Oak Hill.

As well as being the biggest field, it has a fair claim to be the toughest with no amateurs in the line-up. Also unique to the PGA Championship is that 20 spots are given to club or teaching professionals who have come through regional and national qualifiers.

The size of the field means that the first two rounds sees groups of three starting at either the 1st or the 10th with the latter taking on the back nine first.

Both men's Olympic champion golfers will be in the field with Tokyo 2020 winner Xander Schauffele and Rio 2016 gold medallist Justin Rose hoping to add another big win to their CV.

Hideki Matsuyama, who became the first Japanese man to win a major when he claimed the Masters title two years ago, is also keen on returning to the winner's circle.

2023 PGA Championship - Schedule

Thursday 18 May: First round starts at 7am (Eastern Daylight Time/EDT) with groups of three starting their rounds at the 1st or the 10th hole.

Friday 19 May: Second round, followed by the cut after 36 holes, with only the top 70 players and ties making the weekend.

Saturday 20 May: Third round starts at 7.45am.

Sunday 21 May: Fourth round, followed by Wanamaker Trophy presentation after the final player has completed the 72nd hole. In the event of a tie for first place, there will be a three-hole aggregate score play-off comprising the 14th, 15th and 18th followed by sudden death.

2023 PGA Championship - Players to watch

Jon Rahm (Spain)

With his long hitting and spectacular putting, it seemed like only a matter of time before Rahm won the Masters.

And he fulfilled his destiny at Augusta in April, carding a final round of 69 to overhaul Brooks Koepka and claim his second major title.

That victory saw the 28-year-old join Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal, and the late Seve Ballesteros as Masters champions from Spain.

No Spaniard has won the PGA with Garcia runner-up in 1999 and 2008 to Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington respectively.

Scottie Scheffler (USA)

Scheffler has played nine tournament so far this season and has not finished "worse" than T-12. Last year's Masters champion is in hot form, and his consistency always ranks him among the top contenders.

Brooks Koepka (USA) 

The two-time PGA Championship winner might have slipped in the world rankings but he is finally healthy and not to be underestimated.

Xander Schauffele (USA) 

The Tokyo 2020 gold medal winner has not had a great run yet at the PGA Championship finishing only once in the Top 10 in six tries but his recent form speaks volumes. He was tied for fifth or better in four of his vie tour outings this year.

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)

And never bet against Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy who won the last of his four majors at the 2014 PGA Championship having also captured the event in 2012.

The list of co-favourites is long and includes Sungjae Im, Tony Finau, Cameron Smith or could it be Patrick Cantlay's time?

Matt Fitzpatrick, who won his first major at last year's US Open, flies the flag for Britain while Norway's Viktor Hovland is also in the mix by his share of third place at the PLAYERS Championship.

2023 PGA Championship - Tee times

The full schedule of groups and their starting tee times will be confirmed by organisers on the eve of the first round.

Further information of the pairings can be found on the official PGA Championship website.

2023 PGA Championship - How to watch live action

Event coverage is available in over 200 countries, with digital livestreams and TV broadcasts in most regions.

In the United States, ESPN will show the first two rounds with ESPN+ streaming early morning action, featured groups and holes 14, 15, and 18.

For rounds three and four, ESPN+ will stream the early action with ESPN taking over until 1pm local time before handing over to CBS for the rest of the day.

In the UK, Sky Sports has exclusive live coverage. Check local listings for broadcast details elsewhere.