Xander Schauffele will look to defend his British Open title against a field led by Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler when the 153rd Open Championship begins at Royal Portrush on Thursday.
The Open announced tee times for all golfers including McIlroy, Scheffler and Schauffele on Tuesday.
Schauffele, JJ Spaun and Jon Rahm are set to tee off at 4:48 a.m. ET (9:58 a.m. local time) on Thursday. Another notable group in Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland will tee off at 4:58 a.m.ET (9:59 a.m. local time).
Scheffler, joined by Collin Morikawa and Shane Lowry, will tee off at 5:09 a.m. ET (10:09 a.m. local time).
Bryson DeChambeau will join Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose in teeing off at 9:48 a.m. ET (2:48 p.m. local time).
McIlroy will join Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood with a tee time of 10:10 a.m. ET (3:10 p.m. local time).
The full list of tee times can be found at The Open’s website. Competition kicks off on Thursday when Padraig Harrington, Nicolai Hojgaard and Tom McKibbin tee off at 1:35 a.m. ET (6:35 a.m. local time).
Schauffele went into the final round of the 2024 Open facing a two-shot deficit, only to turn that into a two-shot lead with a dominant 6-under 65 on the final day of competition.
Rose, who will begin the tournament in DeChambeau’s group, and Billy Horschel, who will miss The Open amid his recovery from hip surgery, finished as runners-up.
Schauffele will now look to become the first golfer to defend his title at The Open since Harrington in 2008.
Rose will seek redemption from both last year’s near-Claret Jug miss and his recent runner-up finish at the 2025 Masters after a playoff against McIlroy.
McIlroy, who finished tied for 47th at the PGA Championship and tied for 19th at the U.S. Open after his Masters win, admitted in June that he has struggled with motivation after completing his career Grand Slam.
The Open’s location in McIlory’s home country could serve as motivation for him to record another top finish in a major tournament. He told reporters this week that The Open was “the tournament that was circled, even more so than the Masters” on his 2025 calendar.
Scheffler, who is riding a streak of ten straight top-10 finishes, including a PGA Championship win heading into this week, is seeking his first title at The Open. He finished last year’s competition at Royal Troon tied for seventh in his best career performance at the tournament.
The Open Championship will take place from Thursday through Sunday this week at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
Source link
