British Open: How to watch, what's at stake, betting odds
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Golf's oldest championship returns to one of the newer links courses. New is relative in this case, because Royal Portrush was founded 137 years ago. But this is only its third time hosting the British Open, and the Northern Ireland links is certain to be high on the rotation.
The R&A is expecting 278,000 spectators for the week at the British Open, which would be the second-largest crowd in the 165-year history of the championship.
Irish eyes will be on Rory McIlroy, the Masters champion and latest to win the career Grand Slam. He is embracing the expectation, unlike in 2019 when McIlroy was so emotional at the reception that he hit his first shot out of bounds and shot 79.
This is the final major of the year, and the most unusual of the four majors because of links golf, where funny bounces and pot bunkers and fickle weather can determine the winner.
Here's what you need to know going into the British Open. When is the British Open?
The first round begins Thursday at about 6:30 a.m. and players in groups of three all start on the first hole. Daylight is not an issue at the British Open because it doesn't get dark until about 10:30 p.m. The last group won't even tee off until a little after 4 p.m. How can I watch the British Open?
There is wall-to-wall coverage, along with a five-hour time difference between Northern Ireland and the East Coast of the U.S. It will start at 1:30 a.m. EDT on the Peacock streaming service, and then USA Network picks up coverage from 4 a.m. until 3:30 p.m.
If you're living on the West Coast, the British Open will come on just before bedtime. For golf fans in Hawaii, it will start right after sunset on Waikiki.
The Open concludes at 3 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday, both on NBC. Who are the betting favorites?
Scottie Scheffler has been the favorite at every major this year, and the British Open is no exception. BetMGM Sportsbook lists Scheffler at +550, slightly ahead of home favorite Rory McIlroy at +700. They are Nos. 1 and 2 in the world.
Jon Rahm is next at +1100, followed by defending champion Xander Schauffele (+2000) and Tommy Fleetwood of England (+2200). Bryson DeChambeau is listed at +2500.
The British Open is the only major where Scheffler has not had a serious chance at winning on the back nine on Sunday. But he hasn't finished out of the top 10 since late March. What are the tee times?
Starting times aren't posted until Tuesday, and they are more important than at any other major because the British Open features 15 hours of golf in the opening rounds, and there's never any telling what the weather will do.
Players look at their starting times. And then they check the weather. There have been times when someone gets the worst of the weather on Thursday and Friday. Shane Lowry got the best of the weather when he won at Royal Portrush in 2019. What's the forecast?
Mixed. That's the term often used in these parts to indicate a little bit of everything, and sometimes that can be in one day.
Practice on Monday temporarily was suspended because of thunderstorms. Rain was in the forecast for parts of Tuesday and Wednesday, and there's a chance of showers pretty much every day the rest of the week. There will be sunshine. There will be wind. This is normal. What's at stake?
The winner gets a silver claret jug, the oldest trophy in golf. As part of a new tradition, Xander Schauffele had to return the jug to the R&A on Monday in a short ceremony. Then he has four days to win it back.
The winner also gets introduced as the 'champion golfer of the year,' another tradition. He also will get a five-year exemption to the other three majors, an exemption into the British Open until age 55 (past winners could play until 60) and a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Who are the players to watch?
Scottie Scheffler is No. 1 in the world and usually in contention no matter how he is playing. But this is the British Open, and this is Northern Ireland, so this week starts with Rory McIlroy. There is pressure to perform, but he also is relieved of the burden from having not won a major in 11 years. He took care of that by winning the Masters and bringing home that green jacket.
If Scheffler were to win, he would go to the U.S. Open next year for a chance at the Grand Slam.
Schauffele is trying to become the first repeat winner since Padraig Harrington in 2007 and 2008. But the Californian was slowed by a rib injury early in the year and still hasn't won yet.
British hopes lies with the likes of Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton, while Jon Rahm of Spain can also get within one leg of the Grand Slam with a British Open title. Why is it the British Open when it's being played on the island of Ireland?
Royal Portrush is in Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. The official title is The Open Championship or simply The Open. The Associated Press, along with several U.S. newspapers, have referred it to as the British Open for more than 100 years to distinguish it from other national opens like the U.S. Open and Australian Open.
The R&A once referred to it as the 'British Open' in official films in the 1950s.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Rahm 'confident' of ending Spain's British Open wait
Jon Rahm is hoping to win his first British Open title this week (Glyn KIRK) Jon Rahm said on Tuesday he is "feeling confident" ahead of his bid to end Spain's 37-year wait for a British Open title when the 153rd edition gets under way at Royal Portrush this week. The two-time major champion is hoping to become only the second Spaniard to lift the Claret Jug after three-time winner Seve Ballesteros. Advertisement Rahm has posted top-10 finishes at both the US Open and PGA Championship this year and arrives in Northern Ireland after coming second to Talor Gooch at the LIV Golf event in Valderrama. "I always feel close. I'm always confident that I'm there," he told reporters. "Last week, especially on Sunday, it was very nice. It was a very good round of golf... So feeling good, feeling confident. Hopefully I can give it a run again this week." Spain has not enjoyed a British Open triumph since Ballesteros' third win in 1988, but have come close several times since. Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal twice finished third, while Sergio Garcia was a runner-up in 2007 and 2014. Advertisement Rahm is currently the country's main hope of providing an Open success. He threatened a comeback victory in 2021 before finishing in a tie for third behind eventual champion Collin Morikawa, and was part of a distant four-way tie for second behind Brian Harman two years ago. "Obviously there's been a few (Spanish contenders). The main ones, Ollie and Sergio, have had their chances," the 30-year-old said. "It's never easy to win a major, and it's never easy to win an Open." Rahm is reliant on strong major performances to qualify automatically for Europe's Ryder Cup defence in New York in September, due to his status as a LIV Golf player. Advertisement He sits 20th on the points list and will likely need a wildcard from Luke Donald to make the team for the matches at Bethpage Black. "Yeah, it's been on my mind," Rahm said of the Ryder Cup, in which he has won 7.5 points from three appearances. "It's been on my mind a year ago, and it will continue on my mind as long as I play golf in my career. "So the Ryder Cup is always there. Obviously when I wake up in the morning here, I'm thinking about this (British Open), but the Ryder Cup will always be on my mind." jc/iwd
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Players Era Men's Championship schedule announced, which includes Notre Dame
The complete Players Era men's basketball championship schedule has been announced, bringing a little madness to November for Notre Dame fans. The opponents for the Fighting Irish, Kansas and Rutgers, were announced two weeks ago. Now we know the dates and times for the other matchups at MGM Grand Garden Arena and Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. The Irish will also play a third opponent to be determined during the showcase event taking place during Thanksgiving week. The event will feature 18 men's teams and four women's squads. TNT Sports' Networks and platforms will exclusively present the 31-game expanded tourney. Head coach Micah Shrewsberry's team will also take part in the ACC/SEC Challenge, as the Irish will host the Missouri Tigers. Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on X (Formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions. Follow Dave on X: Miller_Dave
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Welcome to Portrush and a distinctly Irish Open Championship
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Those slate gray skies, the ones tiptoing by in the west, sure seemed like they were going to skirt past. So as players left Royal Portrush after practice was suspended Monday, many of us remained on the course, confident in our decisions. Ten minutes later, what was blue above gave way to gray. Advertisement There would be no skirting past. No regrets, though. Because see, this is when these things happen. This is when, at least in this part of the world, conversation comes. This is when, especially in this part of the world, you learn just how small of a place it is, even as the entire golf ecosystem descends upon this tiny resort town along the Antrim coast. It was midday Monday when two of us found a sliver of shelter behind a scoreboard near Portrush's fourth hole. Soon, we were fast friends. No introductions. Just straight to it. Him? Oh, he lives in Belfast, but holds a membership at Portrush. He loves the course, loves the club, loves Irish golf. Is he a fan of Rory McIlroy? Are you kidding? He remembers Rory as a kid, back when he was growing up in Holywood, just outside Belfast, about an hour from here. He remembers when little Rory, at a local golf shop, was about £25 short when trying to buy a pair of FootJoys he really liked. The store owner gave 'em a wink and a deal — exactly £25 off. He remembers when, after Rory won the Doral Junior Under-10 World Championship in 1998, a representative from Acushnet visited town to put eyes on the prodigious lad. Seeing Rory swing, the rep deemed him too small to ever be a world-class pro, but furnished him with a new trio of Titleist wedges, anyway. Good laughs. But now the rain was really coming. Off he went on a dash to the car park. This is Portrush, where, even on a week that's so big, everything can feel very small. Personal, even. The course last hosted the Open Championship in 2019, a rousing week that began with a storyline polished smooth — the tournament's return to the course for the first time in 68 years, a period that, not coincidentally, spanned generations of political unrest and the sectarian violence that came amid 'The Troubles.' So much surrounding that Open came pulled through that inescapable lens. In its focus were two countries — Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland — and the difficult divides that can come with being Irish. Advertisement This version? Call it a testament to time passing. Not much need for all that pretense. This is about the Open, a championship in its 153rd year. And it's about Portrush, a seasonal town of 6,000 or so, one with a Ferris wheel and a long swath of beach, and dogs off leashes, and a gem of a links course that's carved its place in the Open rota. And it's about Irish golf. You could see it Monday afternoon on Causeway Street, not far from the course entrance. One by one, fans stopped in front of a mural of Shane Lowry holding the Claret Jug — a celebration of his 2019 win at Portrush. They smiled, snapped their pictures and selfies, and bounced along. Six years ago, it was an inescapable part of the storyline — a man from Clara, County Offaly, coming to Northern Ireland to win the Open, setting off a celebration that was both jubilant and complicated. But now there's this — a mural, one that, one might notice, happens to sit across the street from St. Patrick's, a small Catholic church with only 19 pews. 'A place that I know and love,' Lowry said Monday of Portrush. Lowry's trip here six years ago came deep in McIlroy's shadow. That was, until he made it to the weekend with a pair of 67s and a tie of the lead. Then came the round of a lifetime — an 8-under 63 that he can still hardly explain — and clear path to victory. He arrived at the 18th hole that Sunday with a six-shot lead and paraded down the fairway in some kind of dreamscape. Lowry expects the course to play a bit tougher this week than it did in 2019. He was reminded in Monday's practice round how well bunkered the course is. He was also reminded what it means for the Open to be here. 'Look, it is a big event for all us Irish people here this week. It's huge,' Lowry said. 'If you give yourself a chance, you never know what could happen if you do something very special.' Advertisement Which brings us back to McIlroy. It's hard to have a conversation in Portrush without the name coming up. The same thing every time. Can you imagine? If McIlroy's cathartic win at Augusta National in April was a moment of self-actualization for a generational player, a win this week would be something else entirely. A moment of emotional release for a person and a place that would be without description. McIlroy first played Portrush at 10 years old, when he begged his parents to take him and finally scored the trip as a birthday present. Six years later, he returned to shoot a course-record 61 in his European Tour debut at the Dunlop Masters. Portrush's place in McIlroy's origin story turned his 2019 Open appearance into a foregone conclusion — a homecoming victory for the ages. Then 30 years old and five years removed from his previous major victory, McIlroy approached that year's Open with a sense of avoidance, as if not wanting to let it be as big as it was being made to be. A difficult bargain. 'I probably tried to isolate,' McIlroy acknowledged Monday. The result: 79 impossibly poor shots in one of the most jarring, infamous first-round implosions in recent golf history and a missed cut. Maybe it's age, or the relief of that Masters victory, but things will be different this time. Seemingly, everyone at Portrush claims some kind of piece of McIlroy. The adults all have their stories of where they were when he did this or he won that. The kids, the ones using umbrellas to take practice swings and leaning over rope lines with flags to sign, are all here for him. There's no need to avoid what's all very obvious. The plan for 2025? 'I think it's better for everyone if I embrace it,' McIlroy said. That will come later. Monday, McIlroy arrived first thing in the morning to put in work. Despite a late Sunday in the final group at the Scottish Open (where he finished two shots behind winner Chris Gotterup), McIlroy was one of the first players to arrive at Portrush for his Monday practice. On four hours of sleep, he was through the front nine before fans began spreading across the course and finished 18 in time for lunch. Advertisement As the week goes, the attention will build. McIlroy knows it. Memories of '19 aren't too far off. He remembers the worst kind of internal pressure — 'Not wanting to let people down' — and how he collapsed underneath it. He remembers arriving at the first tee and being hit with an ovation that stole all the oxygen. He remembers 'being a little taken aback, like, geez, these people really want me to win.' This week won't sound any different. But it'll be different. (Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; photo of Rory McIlroy: Ramsey Cardy / Getty Images)
