PGA Tour partners with Facebook to provide 60+ hours of free streaming, live coverage of eight events

It has been a busy month or so for the PGA Tour and its expanding media partnerships—the latest bit of news coming with the tour announcing that it has partnered with Facebook to provide live coverage on the social-media platform's Facebook Watch service. Most of the remaining regular tour events on the PGA Tour schedule, including this week's Quicken Loans Invitational, will broadcast featured coverage of morning groups in the third and final rounds for free. The service, which launched for last week's Travelers Championship and will run through the Northern Trust Open, will engage fans in the coverage, including incorporating questions and comments.

The Facebook announcement comes just a few weeks after the PGA Tour announced a $2 billion global deal with Discovery to create a multi-platform, Netflix-style home for pro golf. That deal, which starts in 2019, includes the live broadcasting rights of tour-sanctioned events outside the United States, totaling up to 150 events.

On the Facebook deal, the PGA Tour's VP of media business development, Chris Wandell, said: “We are thrilled to add Facebook to an already impressive lineup of global digital and broadcast partners. The PGA TOUR has put a premium on distributing exclusive content on emerging media platforms with a goal of reaching new and diverse audiences.”

Viewers can find the Facebook coverage at 8:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through the remaining tournaments: the Quicken Loans National; the Greenbrier; John Deere Classic; RBC Canadian Open; WGC-Bridgestone Invitational; Wyndham Championship; and the Northern Trust. Video will conclude when the Golf Channel's lead-in coverage begins.