Open Championship 2026 LIVE: Tee times confirmed, field, course, leaderboard and how to follow major action

The 2026 Open Championship is back at the iconic Royal Birkdale this week as Scottie Scheffler defends the Claret Jug.

Scheffler completed the third leg of his Career Grand Slam attempt with glory at Royal Portrush last summer.

Getty

He’ll hand the famous jug back to The R&A on Monday morning before heading out to try and reclaim it against a field that will include rival and 2014 champion Rory McIlroy.

Birkdale has undergone a major revamp since it last hosted The Open and it should provide the perfect stage for the fourth and final major of the summer.

The tee times and grouping for the greatest and most historic tournament in golf have been confirmed and Thursday’s opening tee shots are just around the corner.

Open Championship 2026: Date and how to follow

The 154th edition of The Open is running from Thursday, July 16 to Sunday, July 19.

It is taking place at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport near Liverpool.

Play will get going at 6:35am over the opening two days and at 9am over the weekend.

Birkdale member Matt Baldwin will have the honour of hitting the opening drive after progressing through Final Qualifying.

The weather is set to hot and dry for the most past but rain is expected for Friday’s second round.

There was a threat of thunderstorms but that appears unlikely now and Sunday’s finale will be 22C with no rain.

Getty

talkSPORT 2 will have full live commentary from Merseyside throughout the week.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

Listen via the talkSPORT app here, or on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

The action will also be shown live on Sky Sports Golf from 6:30am each day.

Open Championship 2026: Field and tee times

Being the final major of the year, The Open will have an all-star field headlined by McIlroy and Scheffler.

Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Matt Fitzpatrick are among the superstars who will be in action.

The full field, tee times and groupings for the first two rounds have been confirmed.

McIlroy will be joined by Schauffele and Fitzpatrick and has been handed a late start on Thursday, teeing off at 3:15pm.

Scheffler is among the morning wave at 9:58am and has been grouped with DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton.

The Open does not implement two-tee starts meaning the timings run throughout the entire day from 6:35am to 4:21pm.

Meanwhile, Joaquin Niemann is in the field thanks to his top five position in the LIV Golf standings while Ryan Fox and Billy Horschel are in having won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in recent years.

Past Open Champions aged 60 or under are exempt meaning the likes of Stewart Cink, Henrik Stenson, David Duval and Darren Clark will be teeing it up.

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are both former winners but will not play at Birkdale.

Final qualifying concluded in late-June with Matthew Jordan, Peter Uihlein, Caleb Surratt and Antoine Rozner among the 20 players to make it through.

There were three spots available at last week’s Scottish Open with Johnny Keefer, Victor Perez and Michael Thorbjornsen claiming those.

And England’s Joe Dean won the new Last-Chance Qualifier on Monday morning to be the last man in.

The latest leaderboard from Birkdale will follow soon.

The prize money for this year’s event has not been officially announced yet but was set at $17million last summer with $3.1m going to the champion.

Open Championship 2026: Course details

Royal Birkdale is hosting the Open for its 11th time with Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Padraig Harrington among the former winners at the famous course.

Jordan Spieth won when the major was last held in Southport, beating Matt Kuchar by three shots after one of the most dramatic final rounds in recent memory.

Famous for its iconic white Art Deco clubhouse, the club have made some big changes for the 2026 tournament.

The bunkering on the entire course has been redone with several new teeing positions and tighter landing zones.

The dogleg par-4 5th has been revamped to include more treacherous bunkers and make the water hazard in play for those who try to drive the green.

The 7th hole, with its renowned donut-shaped bunker, has a new elevated green with steeper run-offs and deeper traps.

The old par 3 14th has been removed and the par 5 15th will now play as that hole.

A brand new short hole has been built from scratch to play as the 15th.

And the legendary 18th hole has been re-routed with more bunkers and a narrower fairway.

As with the previous four Opens at Birkdale, the course will play to a par 70 but has been extended to 7,223 yards.

Getty

Open Championship 2026: What has been said?

Scheffler dominated at Portrush last year, firing a 64 on Friday before easing to a four-shot win over the weekend.

He said: “It’s a very special feeling. It takes a lot of work to get to this point in my career. 

“This was a tough week – it was challenging. The course was playing really tough. I had to focus very hard over the course of the weekend.

“This one was different from the PGA (in May) because I had a decent lead to start the day. At the PGA, I felt like I struggled on the front nine and then was able to push forward and win it on the back nine.

“This one, I felt like I built up a lead. It got a little close there after the double bogey on eight but as I bounced back at nine I was able to keep a pretty sizeable lead for most of the day.

“To be able to win The Open at Portrush is a feeling that’s hard to describe.

“I grew up a kid in Texas that wanted to play professional golf. I don’t know why I’m so lucky that I get to live out those dreams. It’s something I’m very grateful for.

“It’s amazing to win The Open but having success in life, whether it’s work or golf, is not what fulfils the deepest desires of your heart. This is a cool feeling and I can’t wait to get home and celebrate with the people that have helped me along the way. It’s just tough to describe when you haven’t lived it.

“Just because you win a golf tournament doesn’t make you happy – there’s more to life than playing golf. But I’m pretty excited to celebrate this one.”