Rory McIlroy heads into The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush with hopes high across the UK golfing community in 2025. This year’s championship once again draws some of the strongest groupings on the circuit, and as play gets underway on Thursday, all eyes will be on how the Northern Irishman handles his late‑early draw. McIlroy, fresh from a major win earlier this season, is paired with two‑time PGA champion Justin Thomas and England’s own Tommy Fleetwood for the opening two rounds, giving the home crowd plenty to look forward to.
On the other side of the draw, world No.1 Scottie Scheffler is grouped with Collin Morikawa and Shane Lowry, who famously lifted the Claret Jug at this same venue in 2019. Defending champion Xander Schauffele will also be one to watch, teeing off alongside US Open champion JJ Spaun and Spain’s Jon Rahm.
For golf fans, the field is stacked with familiar names. Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose, Aaron Rai and Matt Wallace all line up determined to make an impact from the very start. Several leading amateurs also join the mix, hoping to prove themselves on one of the sport’s biggest stages.
To help you follow the action more easily, here’s a selection of key opening‑round groupings and tee times (BST), starting from the first tee:
| Time (BST) | Players |
|---|---|
| 06:35 | Padraig Harrington (Irl), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den), Tom McKibbin (NIrl) |
| 06:46 | Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Guido Migliozzi (Ita), KJ Choi (Kor) |
| 06:57 | Cameron Smith (Aus), Marco Penge (Eng), Justin Hastings (x) (Cym) |
| 07:08 | Jason Day (Aus), Taylor Pendrith (Can), Jacob Skov Olesen (Den) |
| 07:19 | Phil Mickelson, Daniel Van Tonder (Rsa), Ryan Peake (Aus) |
| 07:30 | Max Greyserman, Byeong Hun An (Kor), Niklas Norgaard (Den) |
| 07:41 | Jordan Smith (Eng), Haotong Li (Chn), Dustin Johnson |
| 07:52 | Darren Clarke (NIrl), Davis Riley, Lucas Herbert (Aus) |
| 08:03 | Kevin Yu (Tpe), Julien Guerrier (Fra), Mikiya Akutsu (Jpn) |
| 08:14 | Thomas Detry (Bel), Chris Gotterup, Lee Westwood (Eng) |
| 08:25 | Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) |
| 08:36 | Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Matthew Jordan (Eng), Filip Jakubik (x) (Cze) |
| 08:47 | Henrik Stenson (Swe), Stephan Jaeger (Ger), Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) |
| 09:03 | Kristoffer Reitan (Nor), Martin Couvra (Fra), Adrien Saddier (Fra) |
| 09:14 | Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Justin Walters (Rsa), Bryan Newman (x) (Rsa) |
| 09:25 | Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Ryan Fox (Nzl), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng) |
| 09:36 | Sepp Straka (Aut), Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia |
| 09:47 | Sam Burns, Aldrich Potgieter (Rsa), Brooks Koepka |
| 09:58 | Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Jon Rahm (Esp) |
| 10:09 | Shane Lowry (Irl), Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler |
| 10:20 | Corey Conners (Can), Wyndham Clark, Tom Hoge |
| 10:31 | Denny McCarthy, Nico Echavarria (Col), Patrick Reed |
| 10:42 | Matti Schmid (Ger), Ryggs Johnston, Richard Teder (x) (Est) |
| 10:53 | Dylan Naidoo (Rsa), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), John Axelsen (Den) |
| 11:04 | John Suh, Oliver Lindell (Fin), Jesper Sandborg (Swe) |
| 11:15 | Sadom Kaewkanjana (Tha), Riki Kawamoto (Jpn), Sampson Zheng (Chn) |
| 11:26 | Stewart Cink, Matteo Manassero (Ita), Marc Leishman (Aus) |
| 11:47 | Francesco Molinari (Ita), Jesper Svensson (Swe), Connor Graham (x) (Sco) |
| 11:58 | Zach Johnson, Dan Brown (Eng), Daniel Hillier (Nzl) |
| 12:09 | Adam Scott (Aus), Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (x) |
| 12:20 | Laurie Canter (Eng), Elvis Smylie (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Esp) |
| 12:31 | Andrew Novak, Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Matt Wallace (Eng) |
| 12:42 | Davis Thompson, Dean Burmester (Rsa), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn) |
| 12:53 | Si Woo Kim (Kor), Shugo Imahira (Jpn), Sebastian Cave (x) (Eng) |
| 13:04 | Michael Kim (Kor), Bud Cauley, John Parry (Eng) |
| 13:15 | Matt McCarty, Shaun Norris (Rsa), Angel Hidalgo (Esp) |
| 13:26 | Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im (Kor), Daniel Berger |
| 13:37 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den), Romain Langasque (Fra) |
| 13:48 | Aaron Rai (Eng), Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall (Eng) |
| 14:04 | Justin Leonard, Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Antoine Rozner (Fra) |
| 14:15 | JT Poston, Chris Kirk, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) |
| 14:26 | Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) |
| 14:37 | Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Min Woo Lee (Aus) |
| 14:48 | Bob MacIntyre (Sco), Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose (Eng) |
| 14:59 | Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg (Swe), Viktor Hovland (Nor) |
| 15:10 | Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) |
| 15:21 | Harris English, Nick Taylor (Can), Tony Finau |
| 15:32 | Lucas Glover, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven), Tom Kim (Kor) |
| 15:43 | Brian Campbell, John Catlin, Frazer Jones (x) (Eng) |
| 15:54 | Nathan Kimsey (Eng), Jason Kokrak, Cameron Adam (x) (Sco) |
| 16:05 | Daniel Young (Sco), Curtis Luck (Aus), Curtis Knipes (Eng) |
| 16:16 | Young han Song (Kor), George Bloor (Eng), OJ Farrell (Eng) |
Viewers can follow the Open 2025 action live on Sky Sports Golf from 6.30am on Thursday. For up‑to‑date tee times and official coverage, visit the Open Championship website.
If you enjoy reading about major events that shape sport and culture, you might also like our recent piece on Brendan Barns on Culture, exploring how international events influence London’s own scene.
For more updates on The Open 2025 and insights throughout the championship, visit EyeOnLondon – and we’d love to hear your views in the comments on who you think will lift the Claret Jug this year.
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