The 2026 British Open kicks off Thursday morning at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. The final major championship of the year should be a fun one, especially with the steamy weather conditions that should have the course playing hard and fast. There are no shortage of storylines, too. From Bryson DeChambeau looking to make his first cut at a major this year, to Scottie Scheffler looking to defend his title, this one has the makings of being a special British Open. Let’s break down the eight juciest pairings for the first two rounds.Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton: 4:58 a.m. ET/10:04 a.m. ETThis pairing is going to make you want to get up very early in the morning on Thursday. Scheffler is coming off his first missed cut in 78 events and is looking to win his first major of the year. DeChambeau hasn’t made the cut yet at a major this year and it would be wild if he missed another one. Tyrrell Hatton is always must-see TV with all of his instant reactions to his shots, plus he could be a contender this week. Fire up the coffee and plop down on the couch for this one. 2026 British Open Betting Preview: Picks, Predictions, Odds for Royal BirkdaleJordan Spieth, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood: 5:09 a.m. ET/10:15 a.m. ETThis pairing, which comes right after the Scheffler-DeChambeau group, has three fun storylines to follow. Jordan Spieth won the British Open the last time it was played at Royal Birkdale in 2017 but hasn’t won a major since then. Tommy Fleetwood is playing in his hometown and will have everyone cheering for him as he makes his way around the legendary course. Jon Rahm needs a good showing after missing the cut at the Masters and the U.S. Open. Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele: 10:15 a.m. ET/5:09 a.m. ETThis star-studded pairing will pick up the action later in the morning on Thursday before serving as your wake-up call early on Friday. McIlroy hasn’t won a British Open since 2014 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club and would love nothing more than to win his second major of the year. Matt Fitzpatrick, who has been playing great golf this year with three wins on the PGA Tour, is looking to win his first British Open. Xander Schauffele won the 2024 British Open at Royal Troon Golf Club and is looking to win his third major. Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg, Cameron Young: 10:04 a.m. ET/4:58 a.m. ETWyndham Clark is looking to win his second straight major after taking home the U.S. Open last month. Can he go wire-to-wire like he did at Shinnecock? Ludvig Aberg is looking for his first major win and has the game to get it done. Cameron Young won the Players Championship in March but has yet to win a major. Justin Rose, Russell Henley, Viktor Hovland: 4:36 a.m. ET/9:42 a.m. ETJustin Rose will be another fan-favorite this week as the Englishman will be looking to win his first British Open. The 45-year-old has two second-place finishes (2018, 2024) and has been playing some very solid golf this year. Russell Henley is the No. 5-ranked player in the world and is looking for his first major win. Viktor Hovland missed the cut at the U.S. Open last month but then found something on the range at Shinnecock and beat Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers Championship. Which Hovland will show up at Royal Birkdale? We’re going to have to get up early Thursday to find out. Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka: 9:53 a.m. ET/4:47 a.m. ETAll three players in this group have won a major, with Aaron Rai being the most recent at the PGA Championship in May. Shane Lowry won the 2019 British Open at Royal Portrush. Brooks Koepka, who missed the cut last week at the Scottish Open, has won five majors but is still looking for his first British Open victory.Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott: 9:31 a.m. ET/4:25 a.m. ETGotterup is arguably the hottest golfer in the world right now, having won four times in last year, including a few weeks ago at the John Deere Classic. He’s now the No. 6-ranked player in the world and a win this week would turn him into a star. Sam Burns came an inch away from forcing a playoff at the U.S. Open last month and is ready to go just days after his wife gave birth to their second child. Adam Scott won the 2012 British Open and his playing in his 101st straight major, which is incredible.Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell: 8:31 a.m. ET/3:25 a.m. ETTom Kim is officially back after winning the Scottish Open last week. He finished third at the U.S. Open last month and seems ready to be a contender again. Mason Howell is an amateur who has had one heck of a year, having played in the Masters and the U.S. Open. 2026 British Open tee times—first and second rounds(a) = amateur | all times ET1:35 a.m. / 6:41 a.m.: Matthew Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas1:46 a.m. / 6:52 a.m.: Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan1:57 a.m. / 7:03 a.m.: Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan2:08 a.m. / 7:14 a.m.: Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean2:19 a.m. / 7:25 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick2:30 a.m. / 7:36 a.m.: David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate2:41 a.m. / 7:47 a.m.: Sungjae Im, Dan Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)2:52 a.m. / 7:58 a.m.: Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith3:03 a.m. / 8:09 a.m.: Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)3:14 a.m. / 8:20 a.m.: Hennie du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Dan Bradbury3:25 a.m. / 8:31 a.m.: Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)3:36 a.m. / 8:42 a.m.: Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren3:47 a.m. / 8:53 a.m.: Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth4:03 a.m. / 9:09 a.m.: Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune4:14 a.m. / 9:20 a.m.: Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Højgaard4:25 a.m. / 9:31 a.m.: Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee4:36 a.m. / 9:42 a.m.: Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland4:47 a.m. / 9:53 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day4:58 a.m. / 10:04 a.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau5:09 a.m. / 10:15 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm5:20 a.m. / 10:26 a.m.: Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor5:31 a.m. / 10:37 a.m.: Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig5:42 a.m. / 10:48 a.m.: Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)5:53 a.m. / 10:59 a.m.: Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonezawa, Caleb Surratt6:04 a.m. / 11:10 a.m.: MJ Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald6:15 a.m. / 11:21 a.m.: Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro de Castro Piera (a)6:41 a.m. / 1:35 a.m.: John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen6:52 a.m. / 1:46 a.m.: Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman7:03 a.m. / 1:57 a.m.: Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter7:14 a.m. / 2:08 a.m.: Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)7:25 a.m. / 2:19 a.m.: Sepp Straka, Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama7:36 a.m. / 2:30 a.m.: Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber7:47 a.m. / 2:41 a.m.: Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger7:58 a.m. / 2:52 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis8:09 a.m. / 3:03 a.m.: Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li8:20 a.m. / 3:14 a.m.: Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick8:31 a.m. / 3:25 a.m.: Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)8:42 a.m. / 3:36 a.m.: Johnny Keefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima8:53 a.m. / 3:47 a.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Jesper Svensson, Jack Buchanan (a)9:09 a.m. / 4:03 a.m.: Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert9:20 a.m. / 4:14 a.m.: Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, JT Poston9:31 a.m. / 4:25 a.m.: Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott9:42 a.m. / 4:36 a.m.: Collin Morikawa, J.J. Spaun, Nicolai Højgaard9:53 a.m. / 4:47 a.m.: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka10:04 a.m. / 4:58 a.m.: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg10:15 a.m. / 5:09 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick10:26 a.m. / 5:20 a.m.: Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)10:37 a.m. / 5:31 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nicolas Echavarria10:48 a.m. / 5:42 a.m.: Peter Uihlein, Alistair Docherty, Francesco Laporta10:59 a.m. / 5:53 a.m.: Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Samuel Bairstow11:10 a.m. / 6:04 a.m.: Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard BjoernMore Golf from Sports IllustratedAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow