The 2026 Open Championship will provide the final major tournament stage for the world’s best golfers this season. Royal Birkdale will host a field of 156 men vying for the prestigious Claret Jug and the coveted title of Champion Golfer of the Year, and the action begins on Thursday morning. Don’t miss a moment by dipping into 2026 TV schedule and coverage guide so you can watch as much golf as possible over the weekend.
IR&A has given fans a chance to plan their viewing schedule — especially those in the states who will have to decide how early they’ll wake up to watch their favorites here in the United States. The first group featured in the first round will tip off at 2:19 a.m. ET, as Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick serve as an attraction in the first waves, for those who decide to wake up early or stay up late for the tournament.
The most notable teams in the second wave started around 4 a.m. with the headliners at 4:58 a.m. featuring reigning champion Scottie Scheffler along with Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton in a team that could produce fireworks — good and bad. The group behind them will include Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm at 5:09 a.m., as golf fans can ring the 5 a.m. alarm on Thursday to catch the top stars.
Follow the action throughout Round 1 with an open live leaderboard and updates on Thursday.
In the final wave, Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns and Adam Scott will continue at 9:31 am and top hitters Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark and Ludivg Åberg at 10:04 am.
Below is the full schedule of tee times and groups for Thursday’s first round at Royal Birkdale. CBS Sports’ experts have gathered for a full slate 2026 Open selection and predictionand a reduction of the field of 156 people of nine golfers likely to lift the Claret Jug come on sunday.
2026 Championship tee times, Thursday pairings
All Eastern times
1:35 am — Matthew Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas
1:46 am — Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan
1:57 am — Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan
2:08 am — Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean
2:19 am — Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick
2:30 am — David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate
2:41 am — Sungjae Im, Daniel Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)
2:52 am — Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith
3:03 am — Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)
3:14 am — Hennie Du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester, Dan Bradbury
3:25 am — Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)
3:36 am — Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren
3:47 am — Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth
4:03 am — Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune
4:14 am — Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Højgaard
4:25 am — Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee
4:36 am — Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland
4:47 am — Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
4:58 am — Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
5:09 am — Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm
5:20 am — Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor
5:31 am — Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig
5:42 am — Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)
5:53 am — Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonexawa, Caleb Surratt
6:04 am — MJ Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald
6:15 am — Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro De Castro Piera (a)
6:41 am — John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen
6:52 am — Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman
7:03 am — Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter
7:14 am — Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)
7:25 am — Sepp Straka Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama
7:36 am — Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber
7:47 am — Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger
7:58 am — Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis
8:09 am — Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li
8:20 am — Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick
8:31 am — Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)
8:42 am — Johnny Keefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima
8:53 am — Louis Oosthuizen, Jesper Svensson, Jack Buchanan (a)
9:09 am — Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert
9:20 am — Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, JT Poston
9:31 am — Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
9:42 am — Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Nicolai Højgaard
9:53 am — Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
10:04 am — Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludwig Åberg
10:15 am — Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
10:26 am — Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)
10:37 am — Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nico Echavarria
10:48 am — Peter Uihlein, Alistair Docherty, Francesco LaPorta
10:59 am — Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Sam Bairstow
11:10 am — Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard Skogen
11:21 am — Kazuki Higa, Jiho Yang, Nevill Ruiter (a)
Who will win the 2026 Open Championship, and which longshots will shock the golf world? Visit SportsLine now to see the proposed leaderboard, everything from a model pegged to 17 major golf pins heading into the weekend, including the past five Masters, and find out.
