British Open TV schedule 2017: Coverage of Thursday's first round at Royal Birkdale
One of the game’s most punishing courses welcomes back Europe’s most prestigious tournament.
The third PGA Tour major event of the year tees off Thursday when the world’s best golfers try to tame the Royal Birkdale golf course at the 2017 British Open. The biggest question leading up to this year’s tournament is whether or not the tour can build another new star or if an established veteran will walk away with the Claret Jug.
First-time winners have dominated the top tier of golf the past two years. The last seven majors have been won by players earning their first taste of the game’s brightest spotlight. Players like Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Henrik Stenson, and Sergio Garcia have all earned their first major victories since 2015. That year’s British Open was the last time a repeat winner — Zach Johnson — claimed one of golf’s four most important championships.
There are several strong candidates to keep that streak alive. Jon Rahm only has one PGA Tour victory under his belt, but he’s the eighth-ranked player in the world. Rickie Fowler has finished in the top five in six different majors, but he could finally break through in England this weekend. Hideki Matsuyama is one of the game’s rising stars at 25 years old and just finished tied for second at the U.S. Open.
They’ll all look up at Dustin Johnson, the current betting favorite to leave Great Britain with a shiny sterling trophy. Johnson is the world’s current No. 1 golfer, but he’s had awful luck at 2017’s major events. A slip and fall down the stairs forced him to pull out of the Masters with a back injury. He was healthy for the U.S. Open, but a +4 score through two rounds prevented him from making the cut.
The British Open presents a chance for redemption, but it will be a challenge. Each of the world’s top 25 golfers will take to the Royal Birkdale in hopes of taming one of the game’s toughest courses. The 128-year-old club will host the event for the 10th time, subjecting players to a classic links-style layout replete with deep sand traps and large, undulating greens.
A lack of water and trees will allow the tour’s big hitters to take some chances off the tee, but a multitude of fairway bunkers will punish even the slightest mistake. Those open fairways and the course’s proximity to the ocean also mean gusty winds can create havoc for even the most experienced players. This was apparent back in 2008, the last time the Open came to Birkdale. Padraig Harrington struggled to a +3 final score — and still won the tournament by four strokes.
Here’s how you can follow all of Thursday’s opening-round action on television, over the radio, and online.
Thursday's first round coverage (all times Eastern)
Television:
1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. -- Golf Channel
Online streams:
1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. -- Golf Channel broadcast simulcast stream
1:30-11:30 a.m. -- "First Tee" stream
4 a.m.-3 p.m. -- Featured holes stream
Radio:
3 a.m.-1 p.m. -- Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio (Ch. 92/208)
Tee No. 1, Thursday (all times Eastern)
1:35 a.m. -- Mark O'Meara, Chris Wood, Ryan Moore
1:46 a.m. -- Maverick McNealy, Phachara Khongwatmai, Stuart Manley
1:57 a.m. -- Stewart Cink, Sandy Lyle, Jeunghun Wang
2:08 a.m. -- Paul Broadhurst, Thongchai Jaidee, Roberto Castro
2:19 a.m. -- Tom Lehman, Ben An, Darren Fichardt
2:30 a.m. -- Soren Kjeldsen, Billy Horschel, Danny Willett
2:41 a.m. -- Matthew Fitzpatrick, Steve Stricker, Emiliano Grillo
2:52 a.m. -- Jason Dufner, Branden Grace, Bryson DeChambeau
3:03 a.m. -- Alex Noren, Russell Knox, Ian Poulter
3:14 a.m. -- David Duval, Prayad Marksaeng, KT Kim
3:25 a.m. -- Younghan Song, David Horsey, Dylan Frittelli
3:36 a.m. -- Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Charles Howell III, Shiv Kapur
3:47 a.m. -- Russell Henley, Fabrizio Zanotti, Peter Uihlein
4:03 a.m. -- Alexander Levy, Brendan Steele, Webb Simpson
4:14 a.m. -- Wesley Bryan, Anirban Lahiri, Alfie Plant
4:25 a.m. -- Darren Clarke, Gary Woodland, Harry Ellis
4:36 a.m. -- Padraig Harrington, Pat Perez, Thomas Pieters
4:47 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Si Woo Kim, Jordan Spieth
4:58 a.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas
5:09 a.m. -- Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood
5:20 a.m. -- J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker, Shane Lowry
5:31 a.m. -- Richard Bland, Shaun Norris, Luca Cianchetti
5:42 a.m. -- Yi Keun Chang, Chan Kim, Mark Foster
5:53 a.m. -- Sung-Hoon Kang, Tony Finau, Matthieu Pavon
6:04 a.m. -- Alexander Bjork, Joe Dean, Robert Streb
6:15 a.m. -- Robert Dinwiddie, Julian Suri, Adam Hodkinson
6:36 a.m. -- Andrew Johnson, Adam Hadwin, Todd Hamilton
6:47 a.m. -- John Daly, Adam Bland, Connor Syme
6:58 a.m. -- William McGirt, Toby Tree, Jamie Lovemark
7:09 a.m. -- Matthew Griffin, Austin Connelly, Matthew Southgate
7:20 a.m. -- Cameron Smith, Bill Haas, Callum Shinkwin
7:31 a.m. -- Michael Hendry, Brian Harman, Martin Laird
7:42 a.m. -- Ernie Els, Ross Fisher, Bernd Wiesberger
7:53 a.m. -- Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Kaymer, Aaron Baddeley
8:04 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia
8:15 a.m. -- Andy Sullivan, Joost Luiten, David Lipsky
8:26 a.m. -- Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Paul Casey
8:37 a.m. -- Matt Kuchar, Richie Ramsay, Ryan Fox
8:48 a.m. -- Kevin Kisner, Charley Hoffman, David Drysdale
9:04 a.m. -- Jimmy Walker, Hideto Tanihara, Thorbjorn Olesen
9:15 a.m. -- Jhonattan Vegas, Brandon Stone, Sean O'Hair
9:26 a.m. -- Daniel Berger, Pablo Larrazabal, Yuta Ikeda
9:37 a.m. -- Paul Lawrie, Kevin Chappell, Yusaku Miyazato
9:48 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel
9:59 a.m. -- Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood
10:10 a.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Marc Leishman
10:21 a.m. -- Scott Hend, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Bubba Watson
10:32 a.m. -- Paul Waring, Kyle Stanley, Kevin Na
10:43 a.m. -- Giwhan Kim, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Dodt
10:54 a.m. -- Haotong Li, Kent Bulle, Haydn McCullen
11:05 a.m. -- Jbe Kruger, Nick McCarthy, Ashley Hall
11:16 a.m. -- Ryan McCarthy, Laurie Canter, Sebastian Munoz