The 153rd Open Championship is underway at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland and Thursday’s first round has created a logjam atop the leaderboard. American Harris English and 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick are part of a five-way tie in first place after the opening 18 holes of golf’s final major in 2025.
World No. 1 and British Open favorite Scottie Scheffler, as well as crowd favorite Rory McIlroy, remain within striking distance as more than 30 golfers sit within three shots of the lead heading into Friday’s second round tee times. Irish golfer Shane Lowry is also among those in contention again with Royal Portrush playing host to the Open Championship for the the first time since his win in 2019.
Scheffler earned his first PGA Championship in May, five strokes ahead of fellow Americans Bryson DeChambeau, Harris English and Davis Riley. McIlroy, a Northern Irishman, is coming off a successful start to the year, winning the Masters, the Players Championship and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. A 16-year-old McIlroy shot a 61, setting a course record, at Royal Portrush in 2005 during the North of Ireland Championship. He also had his struggles at the venue, missing the cut in 2019 when the Open Championship was last held there.
Open Championship 2025 leaderboard
T1. Jacob Skov Olesen: -4 (F)
T1. Haotong Li: -4 (F)
T1. Matt Fitzpatrick: -4 (F)
T1. Christiaan Bezuidenhout: -4 (F)
T1. Harris English: -4 (F)
T6. Scottie Scheffler: -3 (F)
T6. Tyrrell Hatton: -3 (F)
T6. Matthew Jordan: -3 (F)
T6. Sadom Kaewkanjana: -3 (F)
T10. Nicolai Højgaard: -2 (F)
T10. Lee Westwood: -2 (F)
T10. Rickie Fowler: -2 (F)
T10. Rasmus Højgaard: -2 (F)
T10. Aaron Rai: -2 (F)
T10. Brian Harman: -2 (F)
T10. Maverick McNealy: -2 (F)
T10. Justin Rose: -2 (F)
T10. Lucas Glover: -2 (F)
T10. Tom Kim: -2 (F)
You can get the latest leaderboard updates and tee times here.
Where to watch The Open: TV Channel, streaming Thursday
Live coverage of this year’s Open Championship will be provided by NBC, USA Network, Golf Channel and Peacock. Live streaming is also available via Fubo, which is offering a free trial for new subscribers.
All times Eastern
Thursday, July 17 – Friday, July 18
Rounds 1 and 2
1:30-4 a.m.: Stream on Peacock
4 a.m-3:30 p.m.: Watch on USA Network, NBC Sports app, Peacock, Fubo
3:30-6 p.m.: Golf Channel live from The Open
Watch the 2025 Open Championship with Fubo
Harris English and new caddie in five-way tie atop leaderboard
Harris English sank a par putt on No. 18 to close out his 4-under 67 first round at the 2025 Open Championship, ensuring there will be a five-way tie atop the leaderboard heading into Friday’s second round at Royal Portrush. English briefly got to 5-under on the back nine before giving back a shot, but it was a strong showing for an American golfer going through some unexpected turmoil.
English’s normal caddie, Eric Larson, was denied a new Electronic Travel Authority visa for travel to the United Kingdom. It’s a regulation that only recently began to apply to Americans. Larson previously served 10 years in prison for dealing cocaine and was released in 2006. English’s putting coach Ramon Bescansa is serving as his caddie this week during the Open Championship, according to the NBC broadcast.
Bryson DeChambeau closes out poor first round
Bryson DeChambeau will have some work to do on Friday just to make the cut at the 2025 Open Championship after finishing +7 over the opening 18 holes at Royal Portrush. His first round included two double bogeys, consecutive bogeys on the final two holes, no birdies and a whiff from the long rough.
Rory McIlroy having trouble off the tee
Rory McIlroy is fading on the back nine while being followed around Royal Portrush by a huge gallery. He has bogeys on three of the past four holes to fall back to even par for the first round, and four shots off the co-leaders. The common theme behind McIlroy’s struggles were errant tee shots, including two into fairway bunkers.
Harris English just had his own bogey at No. 14 to drop back to 4-under and create another five-way tie atop the leaderboard
Harris English grabs solo lead
Consecutive birdies by Harris English have moved him alone atop the 2025 Open Championship leaderboard at 5-under through 12 holes of his first round. English just rolled in short birdie putts on No. 11 and No. 12 after finishing with five birdies on the front nine on Thursday. The American finished tied for second at the PGA Championship earlier this year for his best career performance at a major.
McIlroy, McNealy bogeys keep leaderboard tight
Nobody on the course at Royal Portrush can seem to get back to 5-under, a score current co-leader Jacob Skov Olesen reached before a bogey at No. 18. Rory McIlroy got to within one shot of the lead only to bogey his next hole. Maverick McNealy, who had also risen into the top 10 at 3-under, just bogeyed No. 13 as well. There are currently 18 golfers within two shots of the first-round leaders in the clubhouse.
McIlroy birdies 10, one shot off lead
After an abysmal showing at Royal Portrush in 2019, McIlroy has put on a solid showing in Round 1 this time around, shooting 3-under through the first ten holes. While it will be difficult to get ahead of the five-way tie for first, he’s on pace to finish the round at 6-under, which would put him in the lead.
No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shoots solid 68, trails by 1
Scottie Scheffler birdied two of the last three holes to move within one shot of the clubhouse lead.
Scheffler hit only three fairways all day, but finished with five birdies and two bogeys on his card for a 3-under 68 and a tie for fourth at the time with England’s Matthew Jordan.
Scheffler, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, has already won three tournaments this season, including the PGA Championship. He’s finished in the top 10 in all three 2025 majors.
Rory McIlroy opens with bogey, but regains footing
Northern Ireland native and crowd favorite Rory McIlroy has begun his quest for a second major in 2025. McIlroy had one of the later tee times for Thursday’s opening round at Royal Portrush.
He disappointingly hit his tee shot on the opening par 4 into the left rough and ended up making bogey. However, he bounced back with three birdies on his next six holes.
McIlroy completed the career Grand Slam earlier this year by winning the Masters at Augusta National.
Matt Fitzpatrick joins clubhouse leaders
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick joined the party with a 4-under-par 67 to move into a three-way tie for the clubhouse lead midway through the opening round.
Fitzpatrick got off to a strong start with an eagle 3 on the par-5 second hole, and he added a pair of birdies over the final seven holes to pull even with Jacob Skov Olesen of Denmark and Haotong Li of China for the clubhouse lead.
Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open winner, finished tied for fourth last week at the Genesis Scottish Open. His best major finish this year is a tie for eighth at the PGA.
Also of note, 2013 British Open champion Phil Mickelson, 55, shot a 1-under 70 that included a hole-out birdie from the bunker on the par-5 seventh hole.
Rain intensifies in the afternoon at Royal Portrush
The weather – as it usually does – is playing a role in the scoring at the British Open during Thursday’s opening round.
Golfers with early tee times had the benefit of lighter rain showers as the umbrellas began to pop up more frequently as the day progressed. Denmark’s Jacob Skov Olesen was in the fourth group off the tee and he made his way around Royal Portrush in 4-under 67 to grab the clubhouse lead. He was later matched by China’s Haotong Li.
Meanwhile Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, playing in the first group of the day, shot a 2-under 69 to finish his opening round two strokes back.
The Open tee times today: British Open pairings
For a full list of tee times, you can find Thursday’s starts here.
All times Eastern; (a) amateur
1:35 a.m. — Padraig Harrington, Nicolai Hojgaard, Tom McKibbin
1:46 a.m. — Louis Oosthuizen, Guido Migliozzi, K.J. Choi
1:57 a.m. — Cameron Smith, Marco Penge, Justin Hastings (a)
2:08 a.m. — Jason Day, Taylor Pendrith, Jacob Skov Olesen
2:19 a.m. — Phil Mickelson, Daniel van Tonder, Ryan Peake
2:30 a.m. — Max Greyserman, Byeong Hun An, Niklas Norgaard
2:41 a.m. — Jordan Smith, Haotong Li, Dustin Johnson
2:52 a.m. — Darren Clarke, Davis Riley, Lucas Herbert
3:03 a.m. — Kevin Yu, Julien Guerrier, Mikiya Akutsu
3:14 a.m. — Thomas Detry, Chris Gotterup, Lee Westwood
3:25 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Young, Mackenzie Hughes
3:36 a.m. — Thorbjorn Olesen, Matthew Jordan, Filip Jakubcik (a)
3:47 a.m. — Henrik Stenson, Stephan Jaeger, Sebastian Soderberg
4:03 a.m. — Kristoffer Reitan, Martin Couvra, Adrien Saddier
4:14 a.m. — Takumi Kanaya, Justin Walters, Bryan Newman (a)
4:25 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick
4:36 a.m. — Sepp Straka, Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia
4:47 a.m. — Sam Burns, Aldrich Potgieter, Brooks Koepka
4:58 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Jon Rahm
5:09 a.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa
5:20 a.m. — Corey Conners, Wyndham Clark, Tom Hoge
5:31 a.m. — Denny McCarthy, Nico Echavarria, Patrick Reed
5:42 a.m. — Matt Schmid, Ryggs Johnston, Richard Teder (a)
5:53 a.m. — Dylan Naidoo, Darren Fichardt, John Axelsen
6:04 a.m. — Justin Suh, Oliver Lindell, Jesper Sandborg
6:15 a.m. — Sadom Kaewkanjana, Riki Kawamoto, Sampson Zheng
6:26 a.m. — Stewart Cink, Matteo Manassero, Marc Leishman
6:47 a.m. — Francesco Molinari, Jesper Svensson, Connor Graham (a)
6:58 a.m. — Zach Johnson, Daniel Hillier, Daniel Brown
7:09 a.m. — Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a)
7:20 a.m. — Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia
7:31 a.m. — Andrew Novak, Matthieu Pavin, Matt Wallace
7:42 a.m. — Davis Thompson, Dean Burmester, Rikuya Hoshino
7:53 a.m. — Si Woo Kim, Shugo Imahira, Sebastian Cave (a)
8:04 a.m. — Michael Kim, Bud Cauley, John Parry
8:15 a.m. — Matt McCarty, Shaun Norris, Angel Hidalgo
8:26 a.m. — Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Daniel Berger
8:37 a.m. — Rasmus Hojgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Romain Langasque
8:48 a.m. — Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall
9:04 a.m. — Justin Leonard, Thriston Lawrence, Antoine Rozner
9:15 a.m. — J.T. Poston, Chris Kirk, Carlos Ortiz
9:26 a.m. — Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann
9:37 a.m. — Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee
9:48 a.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose
9:59 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland
10:10 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
10:21 a.m. — Harris English, Nick Taylor, Tony Finau
10:32 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Jhonattan Vegas, Tom Kim
10:43 a.m. — Brian Campbell, John Catlin, Frazer Jones (a)
10:54 a.m. — Nathan Kimsey, Jason Kokrak, Cameron Adam (a)
11:04 a.m. — Daniel Young, Curtis Luck, Curtis Knipes
11:16 a.m. — Younghan Song, George Bloor, OJ Farrell
2025 Open Championship odds
British Open odds according to BetMGM, as of afternoon of Wednesday, July 16:
Scottie Scheffler: +550
Rory McIlroy: +750
Jon Rahm: +1200
Bryson DeChambeau: +2200
Xander Schauffele: +2200
Ludvig Aberg: +2500
Tommy Fleetwood: +2500
Tyrrell Hatton: +2500
Shane Lowry: +2800
The British Open purse, payout
The Open Championship prize purse for 2025 will be the same as the 2024’s, a total of $17 million. The winner will claim a significant portion of the total, $3.1 million, while the runner-up will claim $ 1.7 million and the third place finisher will take home $1.1 million. — Elizabeth Flores
Open Championship weather forecast: Latest updates for Thursday
The first day of the 2025 Open Championship is expected to be cloudy with periods of heavy rain that could accumulate up to a quarter of an inch. The high temperature is expected to be around 68 degrees, with a low of 58 degrees, and winds will range from 10 to 20 mph, according to The Weather Channel.
— Elizabeth Flores
2025 Open Championship predictions
Golf.com: Rahm to have a top-7 finish
Brady Kannon writes: ‘Rahm played tremendous golf from tee-to-green at Oakmont — one of the very best in the entire field — but his putting was awful. He finally found a hot putter on the final day, shot a 67 and finished seventh. Not only am I looking for the top players and good current form, but I also want golfers who are well-versed in links-style golf. Rahm fits the bill as he has finished top-7 at the Open Championship in three of the past four years and has won the Irish Open three times.’
Golf Digest: Rory McIlroy
Alex Myers writes: ‘If you had said before the season that McIlroy would be coming back to his home country with three wins and a major under his belt in 2025, you’d have made him a clear favorite.’
BetMGM: Sepp Straka
Nick Hennion writes: ‘For Straka, his distance won’t be punished at the Open like it would at the Masters and PGA. That should allow his two best attributes – iron play and putting – to shine. Amongst all PGA Tour players this season, Straka ranks second in SG: APP, first in greens in regulation percentage and 16th in SG: Putting. Based on those factors, the price alone is worth it for Straka to claim his first major title.’
British Open predictions: Sleeper picks at Royal Portrush
Picks made ahead of The Open’s first round:
2025 British Open sleeper picks
Rickie Fowler (+12500)
Ryan Fox (+8000)
Playing on a course he’s somewhat familiar with, Fox has all the momentum going into this tournament, having already posted two wins on the year and having not finished outside the top-30 at any tournament since May. He might not have performed exceptionally well at his other major tournament appearances in 2025 − tied for 19th at U.S. Open; tied for 28th-place at PGA Championship. That said, he hasn’t missed the cut in 18 straight majors.
Thriston Lawrence (+15000)
After a fourth-place finish at the British Open a year ago, a 12th-place finish at the U.S. Open a month ago, and a top-10 finish at the Rocket Classic just two weeks later, Lawrence is playing his best golf of the year. Yes, he missed the cut at his most recent tournament, but his upside is fantastic for someone at +15000 odds.
The Open Championship location
The 153rd edition of the Open Championship is scheduled to take place from Thursday, July 17, to Sunday, July 20, at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. — Elizabeth Flores
Open Championship AI predictions
It might be easy to make the emotional pick at the 153rd Open Championship this week at Royal Portrush. Rory McIlroy is back home in Northern Ireland playing at a venue in which he set the course record as a 16-year-old. Winning the final major of the 2025 golf season, after completing the career Grand Slam at The Masters in the year’s first major, would be storybook stuff.
But nobody should ever mistake artificial intelligence for being sappy. USA TODAY Sports canvassed five major AI programs seeking their predictions for the 2025 Open Championship winner and top sleeper picks. The majority went with the pre-tournament favorite, Scottie Scheffler, who is seeking his first Claret Jug.
USA TODAY Sports’ Mark Giannotto delivers AI picks and predictions ahead of The Open Championship.
Open Championship winners by year: List of champions
Here are the most recent winners at the British Open. Read here for a complete list of winners.
2024: Xander Schauffele
2023: Brian Harman
2022: Cameron Smith
2021: Collin Morikawa
2019: Shane Lowry
2018: Francesco Molinari
2017: Jordan Spieth
2016: Henrik Stenson
2015: Zach Johnson
2014: Rory McIlroy
2013: Phil Mickelson
2012: Ernie Els
2011: Darren Clarke
2010: Louis Oosthuizen
2009: Stewart Cink
2008: Padraig Harrington
2007: Padraig Harrington
2006: Tiger Woods
2005: Tiger Woods
2004: Todd Hamilton
2003: Ben Ourtis
2002: Ernie Els
2001: David Duval
2000: Tiger Woods