The Open tee times put Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy in loaded Royal Birkdale groups

The Open Championship released its first- and second-round tee times Monday, and the R&A made sure the two biggest stars in golf are featured in two marquee groupings.

Defending Champion Golfer of the Year Scottie Scheffler will play alongside two-time U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton during the opening two rounds at Royal Birkdale.

Six-time major champion and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy was paired with a couple of former major winners: Xander Schauffele, who won the 2024 PGA Championship and Open Championship, and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, winner of the 2022 U.S. Open.

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Talk about loading up two groups with huge names. The R&A also decided to split the groups between the morning and afternoon waves, ensuring that Scheffler and McIlroy would be on the course at different times.

Scheffler, the world No. 1, enters the week looking to defend the Claret Jug after his dominant victory at Royal Portrush last year. He’ll be joined by DeChambeau, one of the game’s biggest draws. The interesting subplot here is current form for both players. Scheffler missed the cut at the Scottish Open last week, breaking a streak of 78 consecutive made cuts.

DeChambeau has struggled in the 2026 majors, missing the cut at the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open. He had never missed the cut in three straight majors prior to this year. Questions are starting to mount about whether he’s still in the conversation as one of the best golfers on the planet, and his performance at Royal Birkdale will be under a microscope. Add in the pressure of playing with Scheffler, and there’s a recipe for one of the most intriguing major pairings of the entire year.

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The trio of Scheffler, DeChambeau and Hatton will tee off at 9:58 a.m. local time (4:58 a.m. ET) on Thursday before switching to an afternoon start Friday.

Don’t sleep on the afternoon wave on Thursday, though.

McIlroy, who completed the career Grand Slam at the 2025 Masters, will begin his quest for a second Open Championship alongside major champions Schauffele and Fitzpatrick.

McIlroy finished tied for 7th at the Scottish Open and carries strong form into the week. He’s made the cut in all 10 events he’s played this season, including a win at the Masters and four top-10 finishes.

While McIlroy has won the Masters in back-to-back years, he hasn’t won any of the other three majors since 2014 when he won both the Open and PGA Championship. As a Northern Ireland native, McIlroy surely wants to add at least one more Claret Jug to his trophy case.

Playing alongside Fitzpatrick, who is tied for the PGA Tour lead with three wins in 2026, adds pressure on McIlroy. While the crowd figures to root for McIlroy, Fitzpatrick gives the group a home-nation angle as an Englishman.

That threesome is scheduled to tee off at 3:15 p.m. local time (10:15 a.m. ET) on Thursday.

Those aren’t the only notable pairings at Royal Birkdale, either.

Chris Gotterup, who is tied with Fitzpatrick for the PGA Tour lead with three wins in 2026, will tee off with Sam Burns and Adam Scott in one of the more intriguing afternoon groups. Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka also gets a major-heavy draw alongside former Open Champion Shane Lowry and Aaron Rai, the reigning PGA Championship winner.

Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood and Jordan Spieth are together in another loaded trio, while Justin Thomas, Alex Noren and Jason Day bring plenty of experience in the group immediately before Scheffler’s tee time. Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark and Ludvig Aberg give the late wave another strong group, with Clark fresh off his second U.S. Open title.

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Royal Birkdale is hosting The Open for the first time since Jordan Spieth’s dramatic victory in 2017, and with favorable weather expected for the opening rounds, fans should get an immediate look at many of the tournament favorites.

Some of the marquee first-round tee times include:

Morning wave:

• 9:47 a.m. local (4:47 a.m. ET): Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day
• 9:58 a.m. local (4:58 a.m. ET): Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau
• 10:09 a.m. local (5:09 a.m. ET): Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm

Afternoon wave:

• 2:31 p.m. local (9:31 a.m. ET): Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott
• 2:53 p.m. local (9:53 a.m. ET): Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka
• 3:04 p.m. local (10:04 a.m. ET): Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg
• 3:15 p.m. local (10:15 a.m. ET): Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick

Complete list of first- and second-round tee times (Thursday/Friday, all times ET):

1:35 a.m. / 6:41 a.m.: Matthew Baldwin, Thomas Detry, James Nicholas

1:46 a.m. / 6:52 a.m.: Michael Kim, Daniel Hillier, Andy Sullivan

1:57 a.m. / 7:03 a.m.: Ryan Fox, Andrew Novak, Matthew Jordan

2:08 a.m. / 7:14 a.m.: Henrik Stenson, Max Homa, Joe Dean

2:19 a.m. / 7:25 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick

2:30 a.m. / 7:36 a.m.: David Duval, Martin Couvra, Matthew Southgate

2:41 a.m. / 7:47 a.m.: Sungjae Im, Dan Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)

2:52 a.m. / 7:58 a.m.: Gary Woodland, Jake Knapp, Jordan Smith

3:03 a.m. / 8:09 a.m.: Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg (a)

3:14 a.m. / 8:20 a.m.: Hennie du Plessis, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Dan Bradbury

3:25 a.m. / 8:31 a.m.: Angel Ayora, Victor Perez, Mateo Pulcini (a)

3:36 a.m. / 8:42 a.m.: Stewart Cink, Scott Vincent, Joakim Lagergren

3:47 a.m. / 8:53 a.m.: Michael Thorbjornsen, Kota Kaneko, Travis Smyth

4:03 a.m. / 9:09 a.m.: Alex Smalley, Sam Stevens, Ryo Hisatsune

4:14 a.m. / 9:20 a.m.: Akshay Bhatia, Harris English, Rasmus Højgaard

4:25 a.m. / 9:31 a.m.: Ben Griffin, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee

4:36 a.m. / 9:42 a.m.: Russell Henley, Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland

4:47 a.m. / 9:53 a.m.: Justin Thomas, Alex Noren, Jason Day

4:58 a.m. / 10:04 a.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeau

5:09 a.m. / 10:15 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm

5:20 a.m. / 10:26 a.m.: Brian Harman, Si Woo Kim, Nick Taylor

5:31 a.m. / 10:37 a.m.: Ryan Gerard, Maverick McNealy, David Puig

5:42 a.m. / 10:48 a.m.: Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard (a)

5:53 a.m. / 10:59 a.m.: Antoine Rozner, Ren Yonezawa, Caleb Surratt

6:04 a.m. / 11:10 a.m.: MJ Daffue, Frederic Lacroix, Jack McDonald

6:15 a.m. / 11:21 a.m.: Jeongwoo Ham, Ryutaro Nagano, Alejandro de Castro Piera (a)

6:41 a.m. / 1:35 a.m.: John Parry, Eric Cole, Tiger Christensen

6:52 a.m. / 1:46 a.m.: Eugenio Chacarra, Matt Wallace, Max Greyserman

7:03 a.m. / 1:57 a.m.: Michael Brennan, Sahith Theegala, Laurie Canter

7:14 a.m. / 2:08 a.m.: Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan (a)

7:25 a.m. / 2:19 a.m.: Sepp Straka, Joaquin Niemann, Kurt Kitayama

7:36 a.m. / 2:30 a.m.: Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber

7:47 a.m. / 2:41 a.m.: Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger

7:58 a.m. / 2:52 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Casey Jarvis

8:09 a.m. / 3:03 a.m.: Matt McCarty, Harry Hall, Haotong Li

8:20 a.m. / 3:14 a.m.: Padraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick

8:31 a.m. / 3:25 a.m.: Tom Kim, Billy Horschel, Mason Howell (a)

8:42 a.m. / 3:36 a.m.: Johnny Keefer, Pierceson Coody, Keita Nakajima

8:53 a.m. / 3:47 a.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Jesper Svensson, Jack Buchanan (a)

9:09 a.m. / 4:03 a.m.: Bud Cauley, Jayden Schaper, Lucas Herbert

9:20 a.m. / 4:14 a.m.: Kristoffer Reitan, Patrick Reed, JT Poston

9:31 a.m. / 4:25 a.m.: Chris Gotterup, Sam Burns, Adam Scott

9:42 a.m. / 4:36 a.m.: Collin Morikawa, J.J. Spaun, Nicolai Højgaard

9:53 a.m. / 4:47 a.m.: Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka

10:04 a.m. / 4:58 a.m.: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Ludvig Aberg

10:15 a.m. / 5:09 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick

10:26 a.m. / 5:20 a.m.: Jacob Bridgeman, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Tim Wiedemeyer (a)

10:37 a.m. / 5:31 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Nicolas Echavarria

10:48 a.m. / 5:42 a.m.: Peter Uihlein, Alistair Docherty, Francesco Laporta

10:59 a.m. / 5:53 a.m.: Cameron John, Austen Truslow, Samuel Bairstow

11:10 a.m. / 6:04 a.m.: Naoyuki Kataoka, Marcus Plunkett, Baard Bjoernevik Skogen

11:21 a.m. / 6:15 a.m.: Kazuki Higa, Jiho Yang, Nevill Ruiter (a)