Royal Birkdale member Matt Baldwin will hit the opening tee shot of the 2026 Open at 6:35am on the morning of Thursday, July 6, after progressing through Final Qualifying.
And Joe Dean’s reward for winning the Last-Chance Qualifier is a three-ball with Henrik Stenson, who won The Open in 2016, and American star Max Homa.
Scottie Scheffler is the bookmakers’ favourite to win the tournament and is rated at 7/1, with 2026 Masters champion Rory McIlroy hot on his heels at 8/1.
McIlroy is out at 3:15pm on Thursday and has been grouped alongside Xander Schauffele and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick for the first two rounds of The 154th Open.
Fitzpatrick in fine form
Former US Open champion Fitzpatrick is a 14/1 shot for glory with most bookies – and he already has three victories on the PGA Tour this season, so is in good form.
He will be hoping to become the first English winner of The Open since Sir Nick Faldo – as will Tommy Fleetwood, who is widely available at 12/1.
Scheffler will play alongside Europe’s Ryder Cup star Tyrrell Hatton and big-hitting two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.
Southport-born Fleetwood will tee up alongside Spain star Jon Rahm and 2017 Open champion Jordan Spieth.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre is a 30/1 shot to win The Open in the outright market – and is grouped with American Rickie Fowler and Alex Fitzpatrick.
Another European Ryder Cup hero in Justin Rose will play alongside Viktor Hovland and Russell Henley, with Rose also available at 30/1.
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Thursday’s round one tee times (selected) for The 2026 Open (BST)
0635 Matt Baldwin (Eng), Thomas Detry (Bel), James Nicholas
0708 Henrik Stenson (Swe), Max Homa, Joe Dean (Eng)
0719 Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng)
0936 Russell Henley, Justin Rose (Eng), Viktor Hovland (Nor)
0958 Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Bryson DeChambeau
1009 Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Jon Rahm (Esp)
1442 Collin Morikawa, JJ Spaun, Nicolai Hojgaard
1453 Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
1504 Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Åberg
1515 Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
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