The groupings at The Open Championship are one-of-a-kind. Every player goes off the first tee from 6:25 a.m. to 4:06 p.m local time. The roughly ten hour time difference creates what Matt Kuchar calls “luck of the draw here or unluck of the draw.” Weather is a huge factor in links golf, and the players who adapt to the changing conditions will be on top of the leader board on Sunday.
All eyes will be on Tiger Woods as the golfing world waits for another epic comeback. He has fallen to 7th in the World Golf Rankings because of his back injury, but the 14-time major champ will rise to no.1 sooner or later.
Woods is paired with Henrik Stenson and Angel Cabrera at 9:04 a.m. local time, which is 4:04 a.m. ET. Stenson and Woods are two of the favorites this week, and Cabrera has seen his odds rise with a win at The Greenbrier a couple weeks ago. This grouping should be a an exciting show for the people of Hoylake.
Experience is always big in the majors, and The Open emphasizes experience the most. Tom Watson, Jim Furyk, and Darren Clarke tee off at 3:26 a.m. ET. It would be a miracle if Watson found the magic in his second to last Open, but he still hits the ball exceptionally well. Clarke won The Open in 2011, so he knows how to get it done. Furyk is one of my favorite picks for every major until he wins a second one. No one picks apart a course like Furyk, and he is on the verge of a Hall of Fame career.
Right behind the experience group is a whole lot of firepower in Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, and Luke Donald. It’s time for a first-time major winner this year, and chances are the first-timer will come from this group.
The young guys group is Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Hideki Matsuyama at 4:26 a.m. ET. The early risers will be treated to one heck of a start to The Open Championship. Each one of these players can set the pace tomorrow.
Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell, and Louis Oosthuizen tee off at 4:48 a.m. ET. Kuchar is poised for a major breakthrough.
Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, and Bubba Watson are headlining the afternoon wave at 2:05 p.m. local (9:05 a.m. ET). Phil and Ernie are proven Open Championship winners, and Watson is having an incredible year with wins at The Masters and the Northern Trust Open. If the weather is better in the afternoon, then watch out for this group.
My favorite to win is World no. 1 Adam Scott who goes off at 9:27 a.m. ET with Justin Rose and Jason Dufner.
My sleeper group is Kevin Streelman, Brendon Todd, and Brendon De Jonge at 7:32 a.m. ET. They aren’t underdogs, Todd won the Byron Nelson and Streelman won the Travelers, but they aren’t garnering media attention either.
–Bernie D’Amato
Tee times are courtesy of TheOpen.com (local times):
1) 06:25
HOWELL, David
DUVAL, David
KARLSSON, Robert
2) 06:36
VAN DER WALT, Dawie
TRINGALE, Cameron
KOBAYASHI, Masanori
3) 06:47
WOOD, Chris
JONES, Matt
WIESBERGER, Bernd
4) 06:58
COMPTON, Erik
KIM, Hyung-Sung
LEISHMAN, Marc
5) 07:09
ODA, Koumei
MARTIN, Ben
LAHIRI, Anirban
6) 07:20
APHIBARNRAT, Kiradech
KOEPKA, Brooks
MOLINARI, Edoardo
7) 07:31
GRACE, Branden
JACOBSON, Freddie
CHESTERS, Ashley (A)
8) 07:42
LEONARD, Justin
CURTIS, Ben
LAWRIE, Paul
9) 07:53
MOLINARI, Francesco
MOORE, Ryan
DEN OLESEN, Thorbjorn
10) 08:04
MANASSERO, Matteo
NEIL, Bradley (A)
ILONEN, Mikko
11) 08:15
BJORN, Thomas
REED, Patrick
CINK, Stewart
12) 08:26
WATSON, Tom
FURYK, Jim
CLARKE, Darren
13) 08:37
DONALD, Luke
FOWLER, Rickie
GARCIA, Sergio
14) 08:53
ENGLISH, Harris
CASEY, Paul
EVERY, Matt
15) 09:04
WOODS, Tiger
CABRERA, Angel
STENSON, Henrik
16) 09:15
SCHWARTZEL, Charl
HARRINGTON, Padraig
CHOI, KJ
17) 09:26
MCILROY, Rory
MATSUYAMA, Hideki
SPIETH, Jordan
18) 09:37
POULTER, Ian
JOHNSON, Dustin
WALKER, Jimmy
19) 09:48
MCDOWELL, Graeme
KUCHAR, Matt
OOSTHUIZEN, Louis
20) 09:59
GALLACHER, Stephen
MAHAN, Hunter
DUBUISSON, Victor
21) 10:10
FALDO, Sir Nick
HAMILTON, Todd
HEARN, David
22) 10:21
PALMER, Ryan
RUMFORD, Brett
KONDO, Tomohiro
23) 10:32
SINGLETON, John
UIHLEIN, Peter
WARREN, Marc
24) 10:43
MCKECHNIE, Paul
BROBERG, Kristoffer
PAGUNSAN, Juvic
25) 10:54
GIBSON, Rhein
HARMAN, Brian
KIM, Hyung-Tae
26) 11:05
HANSON, Chris
FLOREN, Oscar
TSUKADA, Yoshinobu
27)11:26
MCLEARY, Jamie
SOUTHGATE, Matthew
IWATA, Hiroshi
28) 11:37
CASTRO, Roberto
RIU, Victor
HATTON, Tyrrell
29) 11:48
JANG, Dong-Kyu
WATNEY, Nick
STEFANI, Shawn
30) 11:59
POINTS, D A
YANG, YE
STEELE, Brendan
31) 12:10
STALLINGS, Scott
LARRAZABAL, Pablo
MACPHERSON, Bryden
32) 12:21
COETZEE, George
HOFFMAN, Charley
HOEY, Michael
33) 12:32
STREELMAN, Kevin
DE JONGE, Brendon
TODD, Brendon
34) 12:43
WOODLAND, Gary
LYLE, Sandy
STADLER, Kevin
35) 12:54
SNEDEKER, Brandt
DELAET, Graham
PAN, Cheng-tsung (A)
36) 13:05
WEEKLEY, Boo
WILLETT, Danny
WU, Ashun
37) 13:16
HOLMES, JB
BLIXT, Jonas
KIRK, Chris
38) 13:27
JIMENEZ, Miguel Angel
HAAS, Bill
JAIDEE, Thongchai
39) 13:38
KAYMER, Martin
DAY, Jason
JOHNSON, Zach
40) 13:54
SIMPSON, Webb
DONALDSON, Jamie
MIYAZATO, Yusaku
41) 14:05
MICKELSON, Phil
ELS, Ernie
WATSON, Bubba
42) 14:16
FERNANDEZ-CASTANO, Gonzalo
HENLEY, Russell
HORSCHEL, Billy
43) 14:27
SCOTT, Adam
ROSE, Justin
DUFNER, Jason
44) 14:38
ISHIKAWA, Ryo
WESTWOOD, Lee
BRADLEY, Keegan
45) 14:49
NA, Kevin
LUITEN, Joost
SENDEN, John
46) 15:00
DALY, John
FLEETWOOD, Tommy
FISHER, Ross
47) 15:11
WIEBE, Mark
CABRERA-BELLO, Rafael
DUNNE, Paul (A)
48) 15:22
FISHER, Oliver
HADLEY, Chesson
LOWRY, Shane
49) 15:33
MCNEILL, George
STERNE, Richard
STROUD, Chris
50) 15:44
BOURDY, Gregory
JEONG, Jin
BALDWIN, Matthew
51) 15:55
WALTERS, Justin
ENOCH, Rhys
HURLEY III, Billy
52) 16:06
RODGERS, Chris
JAMIESON, Scott
AN, Byeong-Hun
