The battle for the 154th Open Championship is about to commence with the tee times for the first two rounds at Royal Birkdale announced.
Southport local Matthew Baldwin will hit the opening tee shot of the 2026 Open Championship when the first round begins at 6.35am UK time (1:35am Eastern Time) on Thursday July 16.
The weather forecast at Royal Birkdale is for bright and breezy conditions so expect a firm and fast test for the 156 competitors looking to win the Claret Jug this week.
There doesn't appear to be much of a draw advantage at first glance with the weather, although Thursday morning starters may have the strongest winds to contend with.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is playing in the morning wave in the first round with a 9.58am BST (4.58am ET) tee time, playing alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton in a hugely interesting group.
DeChambeau is looking to avoid missing the cut in all four Majors this year, while Scheffler missed his first cut in almost four years at last week's Scottish Open. The trio have a 3.04pm BST (10.04am ET) start time in the second round.
Rory McIlroy headlines another feature group alongside Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick - with this trio of Major winners starting at 3.15pm BST (10.15am ET) in the first round and then returning Friday morning for their 10.09am BST (05.09am ET) slot in the second round.
Another huge featured group sees Jordan Spieth, the 2017 Open champion at Birkdale, playing alongside huge home hope Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm in a trip that should attract a massive gallery.
Those three tee off at 10.09am (5.09am ET) in round one and then 3.15pm (10.15am ET) in round two.
The fourth featured group sees 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry playing alongside PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai and five-time Major champion Brooks Koepka. They tee off at 2.53pm BST (9.53am ET) on Thursday and return for a 9.47am BST (4.47am ET) tee off on Friday.
154th Open Championship tee times - round one
All times BST; For Eastern Time -5hrs
- 6.35am: Matt Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas
- 6.46am: Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan
- 6.57am: Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan
- 7.08am: Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean
- 7.19am Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
- 7.30am: David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate
- 7.41am: Sungjae Im, Daniel Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)
- 7.52am: Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith
- 8.03am: Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)
- 8.14am: Hennie du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Dan Bradbury
- 8.25am: Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)
- 8.36am: Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren
- 8.47am: Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth
- 9.03am: Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune
- 9.14am: Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Hojgaard
- 9.25am: Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
- 9.36am: Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland
- 9.47am: Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
- 9.58am: Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
- 10.09am: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
- 10.20am: Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor
- 10.31am: Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig
- 10.42am: Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)
- 10.53am: Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonezawa, Caleb Surratt
- 11:04am: MJ Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald
- 11.15am: Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro De Castro Piera (a)
- 11.41am: John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen
- 11.52am: Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman
- 12.03pm: Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter
- 12.14pm: Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)
- 12.25pm: Sepp Straka, Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama
- 12.36pm: Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber
- 12.47pm: Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger
- 12.58pm: Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis
- 1.09pm: Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li
- 1.20pm: Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick
- 1.31pm: Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)
- 1.42pm: Johnny Keefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima
- 1.53pm: Louis Oosthuizen, Jesper Svensson, Jack Buchanan (a)
- 2.09pm: Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert
- 2.2pm: Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, JT Poston
- 2.31pm: Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
- 2.42pm: Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Nicolai Hojgaard
- 2.53pm: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
- 3.04pm: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg
- 3.15pm: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 3.26pm: Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)
- 3.37pm: Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nico Echavarria
- 3.48pm: Peter Uihlein, Alistair Docherty, Francesco Laporta
- 3.59pm: Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Sam Bairstow
- 4.10pm: Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard Bjoernevik Skogen
- 4.21pm: Kazuki Higa, Jiho Yang, Nevill Ruiter (a)
154th Open Championship tee times - round two
All times BST; For Eastern Time -5hrs
- 6:35am: John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen
- 6:46am: Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman
- 6:57am: Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter
- 7:08am: Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)
- 7:19am: Sepp Straka, Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama
- 7:30am: Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber
- 7:41am: Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger
- 7:52am: Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis
- 8:03am: Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li
- 8:14am: Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick
- 8:25am: Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)
- 8:26am: Johnny Kiefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima
- 8:47am: Aldrich Potgieter, Jesper Svansson, Jack Buchanan (a)
- 9:03am: Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert
- 9:14am: Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, J.T. Poston
- 9:25am: Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
- 9:36am: Collin Morikawa, J.J. Spaun, Nicolai Hojgaard
- 9:47am: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
- 9:58am: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Luvig Aberg
- 10:09am: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 10:20am: Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)
- 10:31am: Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nico Echavarria
- 10:42am: Peter Uihlin, Alistair Docherty, Francesco Laporta
- 10:53am: Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Sam Bairstow
- 11:04am: Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard Bjoernevik Skogen
- 11:15am: Kazuki Higa, Jiho Yang, Nevill Ruiter (a)
- 11:41am: Matthew Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas
- 11:52am: Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan
- 12:03pm: Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan
- 12:14pm: Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean
- 12:25pm: Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
- 12:36pm: David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate
- 12:47pm: Sungjae Im, Daniel Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)
- 12:58pm: Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith
- 1:09pm: Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)
- 1:20pm: Hennie Du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester, Dan Bradbury
- 1:31pm: Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)
- 1:42pm: Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren
- 1:53pm: Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth
- 2:09pm: Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune
- 2:20pm: Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Hojgaard
- 2:31pm: Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
- 2:42pm: Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland
- 2:53pm: Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
- 3:04pm: Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
- 3:15pm: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
- 3:26pm: Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor
- 3:37pm: Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig
- 3:48pm: Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)
- 3:59pm: Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonezawa, Caleb Surratt
- 4:10pm: MJ Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald
- 4:21pm: Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro De Castro Piera (a)
