The 151st Open Primer ⛳️

07/20/2023

By: Jeff Yoder

Tee Times, Featured Groups, Favorites & Everything You Need to Know for the 151st Open Championship

The Open Championship is officially underway at Royal Liverpool! Golf’s bittersweet major is arguably one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. It’s the fourth and final major of the season, so sit back and soak it all in. Here’s everything you need to know about the host course, favorites, and today’s tee times.

Get to Know Royal Liverpool

This is the 13th time that Royal Liverpool (better known as St. Andrews) will be hosting The Open. The seaside links course sits on the west coast of England and has only seen two champions this century: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Royal Liverpool is notorious for its tight fairways, steep green runoffs and incredibly deep bunkers. The remodeled par-3 17th Hole will annihilate players. When Tiger won back in 2006, he hit irons off almost every hole just to keep the ball in play.

The Forecast

As if the narrow fairways weren’t challenging enough, the elements will add to the difficulty. The weather forecast predicts steady 10 mph winds for the first three days with even stronger winds on Sunday. Along with the wind may come rain. As all golfers know, rain has no place on a links course, and wind has no place on a tight course. It looks like both of these unwelcome guests will be showing up to the party.

The Favorites

To no one’s surprise, Rory McIlroy is favored to lift the Claret Jug again after nine years and his win at the Scottish Open last weekend. Scottie Scheffler has not finished outside the top-12 in a PGA event since October, and he’s finished in the top 10 of every major this year. He’s also the No. 1 golfer in the world right now. Rickie Fowler sits among the world’s best golfers as a favorite to win The Open after his first win in 96 tournaments at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and the usual suspects are also lurking.

The Open Championship Odds

R. McIlroy (+525), S. Scheffler (+750), J. Rahm (+1200), R. Fowler (+1200), T. Fleetwood (+1500), C. Smith (+1500), B. Koepka (+1800), X. Schauffele (+2500), T. Hatton (+2500), C. Morikawa (+2800), S. Lowry (+3000), D. Johnson (+3000), J. Spieth (+3000), P. Cantlay (+3000) | Full List of Odds

Tee Times (Featured Groups)

4:03 AM: J. Spieth, M. Fitzpatrick, J. Day

4:36 AM: P. Cantlay, B. Koepka, H. Matsuyama

4:47 AM: S. Scheffler, T. Fleetwood, A. Scott

4:58 AM: C. Smith, X. Schauffele, W. Clark

5:09 AM: S. Lowry, R. Fowler, R. MacIntyre

5:20 AM: C. Young, S. Woo Kim, B. DeChambeau

9:37 AM: K. Bradley, S. Im, J. Niemann

9:48 AM: V. Hovland, T. Finau, J. Thomas

9:59 AM: R. McIlroy, J. Rahm, J. Rose

10:10 AM: C. Morikawa, M. Homa, T. Hatton

* All times ET for television coverage

For a full list of tee times, click here.

Golf fans, set your alarms. It’s your last major for seven months, and the tee times will be bright and early for American viewers. Live Blog & Leaderboard (In Action Now)

ESPN: The Open 2023: Storylines & Players to Watch This Week

Golf.com: ‘They’ve Created a Monstrosity’: Caddie Blasts Open Championship’s 17th Hole

Photo: Stuart Franklin/R&A / Getty Images