Every week on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and DP World Tour, as well as during professional golf's major championships (like the Masters Tournament), the weekend is the most exciting time. Winners are typically crowned on Sundays but not before the field is often cut after the first two rounds.
Once the cut is made, how tee times, pairings and the order of play are determined changes in a significant way.
In the final two rounds, scoring determines everything.
After the first two rounds and a 36-hole cut is made, pairings are based solely on total score through the preceding round. The lowest combined score from the preceding rounds goes out in the final pairing with the next-best (or tied) player. The highest combined score to make the cut winds out going out in the first tee times in weekend rounds.
Following the third round, the pairings are changed again based on total score through three rounds, just as the third-round tee times are determined by total score through two rounds.
In the event of ties heading into either the third or final round, the player who finished their round first goes out last (first in, last out, or FILO). It is beneficial to finish first if you're going to finish in a tie.
In the event a two-tee start is needed to complete weekend-round play, the tee sheet looks like a V of sorts, with the lowest scores going off last off the first tee and the worst scores going off last off the 10th tee. The middle of the field goes off first from both sets of tee boxes.
During the first two rounds of events, players are usually grouped together in twosomes or threesomes based on a somewhat random pairing system. Players with certain status and accomplishments can get preferred tee times -- not really early and not really late -- on the PGA Tour, but players can't pick who they play with in the first two days.
It's a unique system, but it works to identify the best players.
Even on LIV Golf, which has a shotgun start, they send out the players with the best scores through two and three rounds out on the first hole in their third and fourth rounds, giving those players the opportunity to play the course in proper order from hole Nos. 1-18.
