The Open Championship gets underway this week, with many notable Irish players set to tee it up at Royal Birkdale as they bid to lift the coveted Claret Jug.
There will be seven Irish players in action at the Open Championship this week, two of whom are amateurs. Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Tom McKibbin are the professionals, with amateurs David Howard and Stuart Grehan also taking part.
The seven Irish players in the field give the island a strong chance of winning yet another Claret Jug, the most recent of which was Shane Lowry’s win in 2019. However, after a tough season, Lowry will need to draw on his experience to put himself in the mix at Royal Birkdale. He tees off at 2:53 pm on Thursday and 9:47 am on Friday.
Rory McIlroy has been playing the course over the last few weeks to prepare and comes into the final major of the year in good form, having secured a top-10 finish at last week’s Genesis Scottish Open.
The Northern Irishman also tied for fourth the last time the Open was hosted at Royal Birkdale in 2017. He gets his bid for a second Open Champions win underway at 3:15 pm on Thursday, followed by a 10:09 am tee time on Friday.
Padraig Harrington is a former winner at the course, winning back-to-back Open Championships with his victory in 2008. After winning the US Senior Open earlier this month, the Dubliner will be confident of making a charge this week, even at 54 years old. His week gets underway at 1:20 pm on Thursday, followed by a morning tee time of 8:14 am on Friday.
Tom McKibbin’s form has been steady, and making the cut is a strong possibility, but working his way into contention would probably be a surprise. He leads out the Irish cohort at 8:03 am on Thursday. His second round gets underway at 1:09 pm on Friday.
Former winner Darren Clarke returns to the Open Championship, and would more than likely be happy to make the cut, but getting himself into contention seems like a difficult task. Clarke tees off at 12:47 pm on Thursday and 7:41 am on Friday.
As for the amateurs, Stuart Grehan secured his spot by winning the Amateur Championship and is in excellent form, but competing against top professionals is a giant step up from amateur golf. He tees off at 12:14 pm on Thursday, with his second round at 7:08 am on Friday.
Amateur David Howard’s story to qualify for the Open is nothing short of spectacular, and he will be hoping for a fairytale week at Royal Birkdale. He starts on Thursday at 10:42 am, with his second round starting at 3:48 pm on Friday.
Coverage of the 154th Open Championship will be shown on Sky Sports from 6:30 am to 9:30 pm on Thursday and Friday. The coverage starts at 8:00 am on Saturday and Sunday.
However, should England beat Argentina to make the World Cup final, the R&A have said they could move Sunday’s tee times to earlier in the day to avoid a ‘mass exodus’ of fans making an early departure from the course on Sunday.
Tee times (Friday tee times in brackets, Irish players in bold)
8:03 am (1:09 pm): Francesco Molinari, Tom McKibbin, Lev Grinberg.
10:42 am (3:48 pm): Kazuma Kobori, Tom Sloman, David Howard.
12:14 pm (7:08 am): Cameron Smith, Keith Mitchell, Stuart Grehan.
12:47 pm (7:41 am): Darren Clarke, Adrien Saddier, Bernd Wiesberger.
1:20 pm (8:14 am): Pádraig Harrington, Marco Penge, Michael Hollick.
2:53 pm (9:47 am): Shane Lowry, Aaron Rai, Brooks Koepka.
3:15 pm (10:09 am): Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Matt Fitzpatrick.
Rory McIlroy on winning The Open again 🏆 pic.twitter.com/liRJ79BHW3
— Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 14, 2026
