The Open 2026 leaderboard, Thursday tee times, live updates from Royal Birkdale
The final men’s golf major of 2026 has arrived.
The Open Championship begins Thursday at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, where the winner will have his name etched on the prestigious Claret Jug as the Champion Golfer of the Year. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is back to defend his title against a field loaded with the biggest names in golf, including Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth, who won The Open last time Royal Birkdale hosted.
Follow along with Golfweek below for live leaderboard updates, highlights, breaking news and more from Thursday’s first round of the 2026 Open Championship.
The Open 2026 live leaderboard
Keep tabs on every score posted at Royal Birkdale with The Open Championship 2026 live leaderboard.
The Open 2026 tee times
Click here to see every tee time for the first round of the 2026 Open Championship. The first group is set to go off at 1:35 a.m. ET. Here’s a look at Thursday’s featured groups (all times ET):
- 4:58 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton
- 5:09 a.m. – Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood
- 9:53 a.m. – Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai
- 10:15 a.m. – Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick
The Open 2026 TV, streaming schedule
If you’re on the West Coast, stay up late to catch the start of the tournament. Elsewhere, set your alarm clock. Here’s a look at Thursday’s TV and streaming schedule for The Open:
- NBC Sports Network/Peacock, 1:30-4 a.m. ET
- USA Network, 4 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET
The Open 2026 odds
Here’s a look at the pre-tournament betting favorites for the Open Championship. See the full list of odds at BetMGM.
- Scottie Scheffler (+750)
- Rory McIlroy (+900)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+1600)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+1600)
- Jon Rahm (+2200)
- Viktor Hovland (+2500)
- Chris Gotterup (+2800)
- Xander Schauffele (+2800)
Odds accurate as of 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 15.
The Open 2026 expert picks
See who the Golfweek staff is picking to win the 2026 Open Championship and hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.
The Open 2026 prize money, purse
The winner of the 2026 Open Championship will receive $3.2 million, or 18 percent of the total purse, which is $17.75 million. It’s the largest prize fund in the history of The Open, but remains the smallest of the four men’s majors. See the full payout breakdown.
The Open weather forecast
Thursday’s forecast calls for clear skies with a high temperature in the low 80s and a northeast wind at 10-15 mph. It’s expected to be warm and sunny all week at Royal Birkdale, which is quite rare for an Open Championship.
The Open 2026 field
The full field list has 156 golfers, with three coming in from the final Open qualifying series event (the Genesis Scottish Open) and the very last one getting in after winning Monday’s Last-Chance Qualifier, the first-ever 12-for-1 knockout round of 18 holes. Of course, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, No. 2 Rory McIlroy and the rest of the game’s top players are set to tee it up this week. There will also be 11 LIV golfers at Royal Birkdale.
The Open future sites
Unlike the USGA and the PGA of America, who have championship sites planned out for a few decades, the R&A has announced only the next two after this year:
- 2027 – St. Andrews, Old Course (Scotland)
- 2028 – Royal Lytham & St. Annes (England)
The Open past winners
Here are the last 10 winners of The Open, including Jordan Spieth in 2017, which is the last time the event was held at Royal Birkdale.
- Scottie Scheffler (2025)
- Xander Schauffele (2024)
- Brian Harman (2023)
- Cameron Smith (2022)
- Collin Morikawa (2021)
- Shane Lowry (2019)
- Francesco Molinari (2018)
- Jordan Spieth (2017)
- Henrik Stenson (2016)
- Zach Johnson (2015)
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: The Open 2026 leaderboard, Thursday tee times, live updates from Royal Birkdale
