Everything you need to know for the Open Championship 2025
It last hosted the major in 2019 in what was a historic moment in Irish sport. It was the first time since 1951 that the major was hosted on the island, and it was marked by a win from Shane Lowry, who set a course record on his way to winning his maiden Major.
Xander Schauffele comes into this year's tournament as the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year after his triumph in Royal Troon last year. There's been a lot of anticipation heading into this week as it's the final major of the year and the final one before the Ryder Cup in September. 12 September 2023; An aerial view of the green on the 375 yard par 4 5th hole. Pic:Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
The 153rd Open Championship takes place from 6:30am on Thursday 17 July and runs until Sunday 20 July. Shane Lowry of Ireland during a media conference. Pic:Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
You can watch all four rounds of the tournament live on Sky Sports each day. There's an early start to coverage on both Thursday and Friday as they start at 6:30am meanwhile on Saturday coverage begins at 8am and 9am on Sunday.
The honours of the opening tee shot of the tournament goes to Irishman and former two-time Open Champion Padraig Harrington. Harrington gets the festivities under way at 6:35am on Thursday.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele gets underway just before 10am with Spain's Jon Rahm and 2025 US Open Champion JJ Spaun. Meanwhile the next group sees Shane Lowry tee off alongside pre-tournament bookies' favourite Scottie Scheffler and 2021 Open winner Collin Morikawa.
Bryon DeChambeau is up in the afternoon with British hopefuls Robert MacIntyre and Justin Rose before Rory McIlroy gets his tournament underway after 3pm alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas.
06:35 Padraig Harrington (Ire), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den), Tom McKibbin (NI)
07:52 Darren Clarke (NI), Lucas Herbert (Aus), Davis Riley (USA)
09:58 Jon Rahm (Spa), Xander Schauffele (USA), JJ Spaun (USA)
10:09 Shane Lowry (Ire), Collin Morikawa (USA), Scottie Scheffler (USA)
14:48 Bryson DeChambeau (USA), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Justin Rose (Eng)
14:59 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Jordan Spieth (USA)
15:10 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Rory McIlroy (NI), Justin Thomas (USA)
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Irish Times
39 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Open Championship: Wayward McIlroy stays in the game as he grinds it out on gruelling day
The examination, as ever, was a tough one. Nothing came easy for those who set out in their quest to lift the Claret Jug at this 153rd Open on the Dunluce links and the questions that were asked, with wind ever-present and rain that came and went and came again in further complicating the task posed, left many perplexed and frustrated. This was a day to survive, which is what Rory McIlroy managed to do without anything approach his A-game: he ranked 154th of 156 players in driving accuracy, finding two of 14 fairways, which indicated the waywardness off the tee that caused most difficulty for the Masters champion who, somehow, found a way to sign for a 70, one under par. Only two players managed to navigate a route from one to 18 without incurring a bogey. One of them was Haotong Li, the other Justin Rose. Li, though, was the one who managed to share the lead as the Chinese player's four-under-par 67 enabled him to join Jacob Skov Olesen, Matt Fitzpatrick, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Harris English in a five-way tie of the first-round lead. READ MORE Scottie Scheffler , the world number one, was almost as poor as McIlroy off the tee – finding just three fairways – but ominously shot a 68 to leave those ahead looking over their shoulders. 'Wind is something that obviously makes links golf challenging, but the rain adds a whole new element to it, especially when you're hitting the tee balls. You get a little moisture between the club face and the ball, especially with the longer clubs and the woods, and it can be pretty challenging,' said Scheffler of the main challenge that faced players on a day where rounds took six hours to complete. The pace of play was painfully slow, with long waits on tee boxes – especially the par 5s – while forecaddies were kept busy in searching for and finding balls in the rough. Bryson DeChambeau, who didn't manage a birdie in his round, was among those who paid a heavy price. His power game was insufficient to overcome the links, and he cut a sorry figure in trooping off the 18th green to sign for a 78. Jon Rahm of Spain lines up a putt on the fifth green during his first round. Photograph:As Tyrrell Hatton observed of one of the consequences of the pace, 'it was very slow, and it kind of felt like you couldn't eat enough, to be honest.' Marc Leishman remarked that it felt he'd been out on the course for 12 hours. And frustration was to be found everywhere. McIlroy's puffing of cheeks after another drive that went left on 17. Scheffler's club drop on the tee on 14. Jon Rahm's anger when distracted by someone whistling as he played his tee shot on 11. 'If I were to paint a picture, you have the hardest tee shot on the course, raining, into the wind off the left, it's enough. I know they're not doing it on purpose. It just seemed like somebody trying to get a hold of someone for whatever it is. It was bad timing. I think I just used the moment to let out any tension I had in me,' said Rahm, who opened with a 70. Back in 2019, McIlroy's fate was effectively sealed in opening with a 79 when he missed the halfway cut and this homecoming brought huge galleries and, with it, expectations, not least his own. 'I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down. So, there's that little bit of added pressure. I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago,' said McIlroy. And, to his credit, he grinded. He stuck to the task, even with a disobedient driver, and this time avoided disaster to remain within touching distance. McIlroy's round started with a three-putt bogey on the first but he managed to reach three under with birdies on the second, fifth and seventh to turn in 34, and he made another birdie on the 10th. Then, as the rain returned and combined with the wind to make for challenging conditions, the Northern Irishman suffered back-to-back bogeys on the 11th (which ranked as the most difficult hole) and 12th, and another on the 14th. An important par save came on the 15th, though. He didn't see a fairway, finding the rough off the tee again and semi-rough with his approach, but then chipping to 12 feet and sinking the putt: 'It was a big putt, especially having bogeyed three of the last four at that point. That was important. It was a huge putt to keep whatever momentum I had.' McIlroy returned to under-par on the 17th, where that drive left into heavy rough was followed by a superb approach from 148 yards – his strength an asset – that used the contours off the green for the ball to roll on to 12 feet. McIlroy rolled in the putt, his feat of escapology rewarded. 'It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So, to shoot under par was a good effort,' said McIlroy.
Irish Examiner
44 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Some discomfort but no squirming this time as McIlroy survives first day at Portrush
Paul McGinley is voicing a diddly-eye ad for Irish tourism this week. Padraig Harrington, a man who seems to know his ice cream, has been bragging that the 99s at this 'Irish' Open are better than anywhere else on the Championship rota. There's times when all this stuff, all this back-patting, can feel a bit corny. A bit much. Then you stand beside the first tee at Royal Portrush's Dunluce links just after three o'clock on Thursday and you're blown away by the scene stretching out before you. Ireland really does do golf well. On both sides of the ropes. To see that sea of people, four and five deep, all the way down the 420-yard hole known as 'Hughie's' was to imagine what the Circus Maximus must have looked like when Rome was at its peak and charioteers were risking lives and limbs. Rory McIlroy wasn't in any physical danger when he stood over his first shot at the 153rd Open, but this didn't lack any for drama given the torture that unfolded here in 2019 when he hooked his first ball left and out of bounds and signed for a quadruple bogey. Do we have to bother adding that he went and missed the cut? His entire first round six years ago was an exercise in squirming discomfort: for him and for the rest of us. There was discomfort this time but no squirming. Armed with that breakthrough Masters title and career Grand Slam since April, McIlroy rode this one out. Though his drive found rough down the left, it stayed in bounds. And if a missed tiddler that landed him with an opening bogey wasn't great then it was no disaster. The worst of it was over. He could look the rest of the course in the eye again, on equal terms. 'Absolutely incredible,' he said. 'Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in. But at the same time, you don't want to let them down. So there's that little bit of added pressure. 'I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago,' he added with a knowing laugh. 'I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament. 'I was sort of surprised: there's a few guys at four-under, but I'm surprised four-under is leading. I thought someone might have gone out there and shot six or seven today. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I'm really happy with where I am.' By the 10th he had found four birdies, avoided any more bogeys and sat just one shot off the lead on three-under. Much more like it from the man who was still very much a boy when he took just 61 strokes to set a course record here back in 2006. It wasn't nearly as smooth as that sounds. His driving was all over the place and, while his chipping and putting was standing up to the test, an aversion to fairways that left him ranked third-last in the field off the tee was always likely to demand payment. He had to dig deep into his pocket eventually. Three bogeys in four holes, from 11 to 14, dragged him back to level par, and into doubt. He needed a huge putt from 12 feet on 15 and an up-and-down on Calamity's par-three 16th to avoid slipping in to over-par status as the day pushed into a 15th hour of play. That save on the 15th felt pivotal at the time. Like one of those sliding door moments that are highlighted and discussed with great solemnity on those retrospective interviews and documentaries when people turn a corner and sink to their knees on a Sunday. 'Yeah, it was important. It was a big putt, especially having bogeyed three of the last four at that point. That was important. It was a huge putt to keep whatever momentum I had. Then after that, playing those last three holes at one-under was great.' It was a brilliant approach from deep rough at the 17th that set up the 12-footer for birdie, and he flirted with another on the 18th hole to leave him with a one-under par 70 despite all that trouble off the tee. It could have been better, it could have been worse. Never a dull moment with McIlroy. 'I had it going [at] three-under through 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well, played the last four at one-under, and it was nice to shoot under par. 'I felt like once we turned for home, played 10 and turned back [away from the clubhouse] and played 11, the wind picked up a little bit and it just became that little bit more difficult. 'Yeah, it was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under-par was a good effort.' Not too shabby at all, given all that and the ghosts of 2019.
Irish Examiner
44 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Home favourite Rory McIlroy falls short in bid for first-round Open lead
Rory McIlroy looked like delivering the show the thousands who had flocked to Royal Portrush to cheer their returning hero expected, only for his bid for the first-round Open lead to collapse in the space of four holes on the back nine. The Northern Irishman from an hour down the road in Holywood rarely comes to these parts due to commitments on the PGA Tour and on his last competitive visit in 2019 went home early after missing the cut. But, after teeing off at 3.10pm with a four-under-par target in his sights, he recovered from a bogey at the first – a three-shot improvement on six years ago when he went out of bounds – to have a crowd 10 deep in places buzzing in anticipation. Rory McIlroy was cheered on by the fans at Royal Portrush (Peter Byrne/PA). The 61 he shot as a 16-year-old on this course was never on the cards, but three under through 10, having hit just two fairways, raised the prospect of a memorable first day. But over the course of the next four holes that waywardness off the tee took its toll with three bogeys, including one at the course's easiest hole, the par-five 11th, and only a 12-foot par save at the 15th prevented further damage. There was a much-needed birdie from similar distance at the penultimate hole, having again gone left off the tee, and even though his 44-footer for a 69 grazed the cup at the 18th, the fans went home happy, with their man just three off the pace. That was set by McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Matt Fitzpatrick, whose 67 was the lowest opening round of his major career, world number 354 Jacob Skov Olesen, China's Li Haotong, South African Chris Bezuidenhout and American Harris English. 'I had it going three under through 10 and let a few slip around the middle of the round. I steadied the ship well and played the last four in one under and it was just nice to finish under par,' McIlroy said. 'It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers.' Fitzpatrick, a former US Open champion, continued his upward trend following top-10 finishes in his last two events after an otherwise disappointing season, despite a joint-eighth place at May's US PGA. The Sheffield golfer got off to a flying start with a 22-foot eagle putt at the second hole, but the highlight was a slam-dunk chip for birdie from the steep bank on the treacherous Calamity Corner par-three 16th. 'I felt like The Players was the lowest I've felt in my career,' Fitzpatrick, bidding to become the first English winner of The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992, said of missing the cut at Sawgrass in March. 'Statistically it could be the worst run that I've played as well. I just didn't feel good or know where it was going. 'Today I just felt like I did drove it well, approach play was good and chipped and putted well. It was just an all-around good day.' Olesen, a Danish left-hander who won the Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin in Ireland last summer, only turned professional in November after earning his DP World Tour card. That meant the 26-year-old had to sacrifice his amateur exemptions for this year's Masters and US Open, so this was only his second appearance at one of golf's premier events after his debut at Troon 12 months ago. But he had no regrets about his decision, having come through qualifying a fortnight ago. Matt Fitzpatrick was in a five-way share of the lead (Mike Egerton/PA). 'I think it would have been a different decision if I was 19 at the time, but getting out on tour has always been a dream of mine,' he said. 'I had already made the decision before even going to second stage of Q-school that, if I got through, it would be a no-brainer to turn pro.' World number one Scottie Scheffler missed a birdie putt at the last which would have given him a share of the lead, but his 68 was the lowest score by a player who hit three or fewer fairways in The Open for last 25 years. 'When it's raining sideways it's actually, believe it or not, not that easy to get the ball in the fairway. Thank you guys all for pointing that out,' said the reigning US PGA champion. Asked whether there was a shot he was really pleased with, he replied: 'No.' English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Jordan, one of only two players in the field with top-10 Open finishes in the previous two years, were also three under, with 52-year-old compatriot Lee Westwood marking his 30th anniversary at the tournament with a two-under 69.
