The 2026 Open Championship will provide one last major championship stage for the best golfers in the world this season. Royal Birkdale will host the 156-man field vying for the iconic Claret Jug and the coveted title of Champion Golfer of the Year, and the action begins Thursday morning. Don’t miss a moment by diving into the 2026 Open TV schedule and coverage guide so you can watch as much golf as possible through the weekend.
The R&A has given fans a chance to plan their viewing schedule — particularly for those stateside who will have to determine exactly how early to wake up to watch their favorites here in the United States. The first notable group in the first round will tee off at 2:19 a.m. ET, as Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick serve as the main attraction in the first wave, for those who decide to wake up early or stay up late for the start of the tournament.
The most notable groups in the second wave start around 4 a.m. with the headliners being the 4:58 a.m. tee time featuring reigning champion Scottie Scheffler alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton in a group that could produce fireworks — both positive and negative. The group behind them will feature Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm at 5:09 a.m., as golf fans stateside can pencil in a 5 a.m. alarm for Thursday to catch some of the top stars in action.
In the late wave, action picks up with Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns and Adam Scott at 9:31 a.m. and then heavy hitters Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark and Ludivg Åberg at 10:04 a.m. They’ll be followed by the marquee group of the later tee times when Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Matt Fitzpatrick tee off at 10:15 a.m.
Below is the complete schedule of tee times and groupings for Thursday’s first round at Royal Birkdale. CBS Sports’ experts have come together for a full slate of 2026 Open picks and predictions, along with a narrowing of the 156-man field to the nine golfers most likely to raise the Claret Jug come Sunday.
2026 Open Championship tee times, Thursday pairings
All times Eastern
1:35 a.m. — Matthew Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas
1:46 a.m. — Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan
1:57 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan
2:08 a.m. — Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean
2:19 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
2:30 a.m. — David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate
2:41 a.m. — Sungjae Im, Daniel Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)
2:52 a.m. — Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith
3:03 a.m. — Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)
3:14 a.m. — Hennie Du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester, Dan Bradbury
3:25 a.m. — Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)
3:36 a.m. — Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren
3:47 a.m. — Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth
4:03 a.m. — Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune
4:14 a.m. — Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Højgaard
4:25 a.m. — Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
4:36 a.m. — Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland
4:47 a.m. — Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
4:58 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
5:09 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
5:20 a.m. — Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor
5:31 a.m. — Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig
5:42 a.m. — Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)
5:53 a.m. — Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonexawa, Caleb Surratt
6:04 a.m. — M.J. Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald
6:15 a.m. — Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro De Castro Piera (a)
6:41 a.m. — John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen
6:52 a.m. — Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman
7:03 a.m. — Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter
7:14 a.m. — Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)
7:25 a.m. — Sepp Straka Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama
7:36 a.m. — Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber
7:47 a.m. — Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger
7:58 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis
8:09 a.m. — Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li
8:20 a.m. — Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick
8:31 a.m. — Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)
8:42 a.m. — Johnny Keefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima
8:53 a.m. — Louis Oosthuizen, Jesper Svensson, Jack Buchanan (a)
9:09 a.m. — Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert
9:20 a.m. — Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, J.T. Poston
9:31 a.m. — Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
9:42 a.m. — Collin Morikawa, J.J. Spaun, Nicolai Højgaard
9:53 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
10:04 a.m. — Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludivg Åberg
10:15 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
10:26 a.m. — Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)
10:37 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nico Echavarria
10:48 a.m. — Peter Uihlein, Alistair Docherty, Francesco LaPorta
10:59 a.m. — Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Sam Bairstow
11:10 a.m. — Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard Skogen
11:21 a.m. — Kazuki Higa, Jiho Yang, Nevill Ruiter (a)
