The final men’s golf major of the year is here as the first round of the 2023 British Open gets underway at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.
There will be 156 golfers teeing off Thursday, including all three major winners this year: Jon Rahm (Masters), Brooks Koepka (PGA Championship) and Wyndham Clark (U.S. Open). Reigning champion Cameron Smith will also be back to defend his title.
Most of the golf world will also be watching Rory McIlroy, who won the British Open in 2014, the last time the tournament was played at Royal Liverpool. That tournament also marks the last time McIlroy won a major championship.
Follow along with USA TODAY Sports for first round Open Championship action from Royal Liverpool:
Grouped alongside 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, amateur Christo Lamprecht was not afraid to admit he gained a ton of knowledge from his fellow South Africa native, as he is tied for the top spot on the leaderboard after one round at Royal Liverpool.
“I think that helped a lot with my score today,” Lamprecht said of Oosthuizen. “I think having someone that I know very well and is a ginormous mentor for me that I’ve played previously with kind of helped me feel a little bit more at home and at ease.”
The Georgia Tech golfer said Oosthuizen was his favorite golfer growing up, and even though Oosthuizen finished the first round 3-over-par, Lamprecht said “he was cheering me on and that means a lot.”
HOYLAKE, England — Englishman Tommy Fleetwood figures he’s imagined winning the British Open in his native land a million times.
“Winning a major is a dream, or winning the Open is a huge, huge dream,” he said. “For sure I’ve pictured it a lot and visualized it a lot; just haven’t done it yet in person, so that’s hopefully the next thing.”
Fleetwood is off to a stellar start at the 151st British Open as he tries to make his dream come true. On Thursday, the 32-year-old Fleetwood fired a 5-under 66 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club to share the opening-round lead with South African amateur Christo Lamprecht.
Asked if this was one of his most enjoyable starts at a major, Fleetwood didn’t hesitate to nod in the affirmative.
“One of, for sure,” he said. “Just a combination of everything really. One of the things that we’ve said this week is what an amazing time it is for us to be out on the golf course with that support, playing in an Open. It’s very, very special.”
− Adam Schupak, Golfweek
It had been a mercurial round for Phil Mickelson, so this end is not surprising. He posted a respectable four birdies on the day, but also dropped far too many strokes, none more pivotal than on the final two holes of his first round.
Mickelson double-bogeyed No. 17 and then followed that with a triple-bogey on 18 to drop from 1-over par to 6-over. That leaves him a massive amount of ground to make up to make the cut, as players at 1-over are currently tied for 47th, while instead he finds himself in a tie for 130th.
It took nearly a half hour for the pairing of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose to complete their final hole of the day. The long par-5 No. 18 at Royal Liverpool has tightened up as the evening has unfolded and, in particular, the pot bunkers that flank the green are the main culprits.
Both Rahm and McIlroy found the sand on their approach shots, with their lies wedged close to the steep walls of the bunker. Both players had to attempt shots away from the pin just to get in position to save par. Rahm’s putt nearly went in, though he was reading a late break right that never came.
McIlroy had to get creative with his footwork in the bunker, and had a masterful chip out of it that allowed him a makable par save, which he converted and celebrated with a fist pump.
Rose found the rough on his approach and also saved par, but the hole certainly made each of them work.
Playing with confidence throughout his first round at Royal Liverpool, Max Homa has been efficient and is setting himself up for a potential run late in the weekend.
Homa has bogeyed only one hole, back on No. 9, but has been steady otherwise. Currently at 3-under par, Homa’s tee shot on the par-3 No. 17 presented a chance for him to close the gap with the leaders (amateur Christo Lamprecht, Tommy Fleetwood and Emiliano Grillo at 5-under), but his birdie putt up the hill of the green was left short. Still, Homa is tied for seventh and is playing clean and balanced.
Viktor Hovland was set to strike his second shot on the long par-5 No. 14. He set his feet. He began his backswing. And then he stopped and looked at his right arm.
A seagull that had been flying overhead and (which was also later captured on broadcast cameras swooping by) chose Hovland as the target for its … digestive expulsion.
“What was that?” Hovland said as he walked away and looked at his arm. “I just got (expletive) on.”
With the assistance of his caddy, who wiped the sleeve of his bright green quarter zip, Hovland returned to his ball and then smacked an iron toward the green. As it is considered in many cultures when such things happen, Hovland may have indeed been the fortunate recipient of good luck, as the ball stayed up on a ridge on the fringe, rather than sinking down into deep rough.
After bogeying two of his first three holes of the day, Argentinian pro Emiliano Grillo was the best player the rest of the way. And now he’s in a tie for the lead at the British Open.
Grillo sank a 55-foot putt on No. 18 to record his seventh birdie of the day — including five on the back-9 — and close out his round at 5-under par and in a tie atop the leaderboard.
Grillo joins amateur Christo Lamprecht and Tommy Fleetwood, both of whom finished their rounds earlier Thursday.
Viktor Hovland, who has been in contention late in several of the last major championships, needed to make up ground after he bogeyed two of his previous holes before he got to No. 11.
His birdie attempt from about 20 feet carried plenty of pace and was just on line, and when it got to the pin, the ball rolled around the lip in a full 360-degree spin before it fell in for his first birdie of the day. That moved him to 1-over par
Playing partners Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm each got safely on the green in three shots at the par-4 No. 10, albeit in very different ways.
Rahm stroked a 3-wood off the tee down the middle of the fairway, though the follow-through on his approach shot with a 7-iron broke down as he let go of the club late in his swing. It didn’t matter; Rahm’s ball landed within 30 feet. McIlroy blasted a driver off the tee and found the rough in front of a small hill, though the ball kicked back to give him a more favorable lie. He also landed on the green with a comparable putt.
Rahm sank his to move to even-par, while McIlroy again was inaccurate, now reaching a string of three straight holes where his putter has let him down. He remained at 1-over.
Rory McIlroy, who is nearing the turn at Royal Liverpool, just dropped what cannot be viewed as anything but an unnecessary stroke. But it’s also a reminder that even the best golfers in the world aren’t immune to the frustrations of the sport. On the green at No. 8, looking to convert a two-foot par putt, McIlroy − the No. 2 ranked men’s player in the World Golf Rankings − mishit it and saw the ball lip around the cup to force a bogey tap-in. That moved him to 1-over par and a tie for 50th.
The good news? His tee shot on the par-3 No. 9 landed softly on the green, though McIlroy again wasn’t able to capitalize and let his birdie try sail a touch long.
Tommy Fleetwood birdied three of his final holes to finish his first round strong at 5-under. He had a chance for the outright lead, but missed a putt on 18 and settled for par on 17 as well.
Rory McIlroy had a rough start, hitting the bunker on his tee shot on No. 4 and making bogey.
Christo Lamprecht is the co-leader with Fleetwood, while Americans Stewart Cink and Wyndham Clark, who had four birdies over the last nine holes, are at 3-under. Antoine Rozner and Matthew Jordan are also two shots off the lead.
Jordan Spieth, who is looking for his first major title since the 2017 Open, looked strong down the backstretch, with birdies on 15 and 16. Stewart Cink (3-under), U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (2-under) and Patrick Reed (1-under) remain in striking distance of leader Christo Lamprecht, an amateur who blitzed his way on to a 5-under-par 66.
Other notables who are having a tough time include Bryson DeChambeau, who had two bogeys and a double bogey during his first 10 holes of play.
Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgaard are the first set of twins to ever compete at a British Open. The twins from Denmark, who are two minutes apart, turned professional in 2019 and both also competed at this year’s PGA Championship, where Rasmus missed the cut and Nicolai tied for 50th. So far in the first round at the British, Rasmus is near the bottom of the leaderboard at 6-over and Nicolai is at 1-under.
They join another set of brothers Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick who are competing for the Claret Jug, making the first time two sets of brothers are in the field since 1985.
Check out this incredible bunker shot from Cam Smith in slow-mo.
Amateur champion Christo Lamprecht is off to an amazing start and heads to the clubhouse with The Open lead. The South African closed out the 18th hole with a birdie to finish 5-under for a 66 − the 2nd-lowest opening round by an amateur in the history of The Open Championship. Only Tom Lewis in 2011 (65) was better. Lamprecht is also the first amateur to shoot a round in the 60s in an Open at Royal Liverpool.
Amateur champion Christo Lamprecht was having quite an opening round. He was in the lead at 4-under after making birdie on the par-4 14th hole:
How to watch 2023 Open Championship
Coverage will start Thursday at 1:30 a.m. ET on the Peacock streaming service. USA Network will have live TV coverage at 4 a.m. ET until 3 p.m., with Peacock resuming coverage until 4 p.m.
Individual golfers can be followed on the live stream on Peacock from 1:30 a.m. until 4 a.m. and from 3 p.m. until 4 p.m.
The R&A announced the prize money payouts for the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, July 19-23, where the 2023 Champion Golfer of the Year will receive the highest earnings in championship history.
The man who hoists the Claret Jug at the end of the week will walk away with $3 million, while second ($1,708,000) and third ($1,095,000) will each clear seven figures, as well. The total purse will be $16.5 million, an 18% increase from 2022. – Adam Woodard, Golfweek
There will be 16 members of LIV Golf in the field this week when the Open begins Thursday, which will tie for the second-most LIV players in one of the four major championships this year. The PGA Championship had 17 LIV players.
Of the LIV Golf members in the field, four are past champions: Phil Mickelson, Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson and defending champion Cameron Smith, who got a nice reception on the first tee.
Here are the LIV Golfers at the 2023 Open Championship:
- Abraham Ancer
- Richard Bland
- Laurie Canter
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Talor Gooch
- Branden Grace
- Dustin Johnson
- Brooks Koepka
- Phil Mickelson
- Joaquin Niemann
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Thomas Pieters
- Patrick Reed
- Charl Schwartzel
- Cameron Smith
- Henrik Stenson
– Garry Smits, Florida Times-Union
No. Woods had to withdraw from the Masters due to an ankle injury which later required surgery, likely ending his 2023 season. He officially withdrew from the British Open in June.
What is the weather forecast for Thursday?
The wind off the Irish sea can rage in either the morning or the afternoon, or it can be relatively calm. That’s why the weather is expected to play its usual starring role in the British Open. However, the forecast is for a dry start to Open week on Thursday with mostly moderate winds and a slight chance of some isolated showers later in the day. – Steve Gardner
Hole by hole distances and par
Here is the course layout for Royal Liverpool:
- No. 1: Par 4, 459 yards
- No. 2: Par 4, 453 yards
- No. 3: Par 4, 426 yards
- No. 4: Par 4, 367 yards
- No. 5: Par 5, 520 yards
- No. 6: Par 3, 201 yards
- No. 7: Par 4, 481 yards
- No. 8: Par 4, 436 yards
- No. 9: Par 3, 218 yards
- No. 10: Par 4, 507 yards
- No. 11: Par 4, 392 yards
- No. 12: Par 4, 449 yards
- No. 13: Par 3, 194 yards
- No. 14: Par 4, 454 yards
- No. 15: Par 5, 620 yards
- No. 16: Par 4, 461 yards
- No. 17: Par 3, 136 yards
- No. 18: Par 5, 609 yards
PGA Championship tee times, groupings for Thursday
The action will begin early in the U.S., with the first round teeing off at 1:30 a.m. ET. Tee times will roll through 11:16 a.m., with 11-minute intervals between groups.
- 1:35 a.m.: Matthew Jordan, Richie Ramsay, Branden Grace
- 1:46 a.m.: Russell Henley, Jazz Janewattananond, Graeme Robertson
- 1:57 a.m.: Ryan Fox, Lucas Herbert, Byeong Hun An
- 2:08 a.m.: Rikuya Hoshino, Charl Schwartzel, Alex Maguire (a)
- 2:19 a.m.: Adrian Meronk, Pablo Larrazabal, Hiroshi Iwata
- 2:30 a.m.: Patrick Reed, Connor Syme, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio (a)
- 2:41 a.m.: Darren Clarke, Victor Perez, Thomas Pieters
- 2:52 a.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Joost Luiten, Christo Lamprecht (a)
- 3:03 a.m.: Stewart Cink, JT Poston, Trey Mullinax
- 3:14 a.m.: Henrik Stenson, Harris English, Andrew Putnam
- 3:25 a.m.: Scott Stallings, Jordan Smith, Thorbjorn Olesen
- 3:36 a.m.: Ernie Els, Kurt Kitayama, Takumi Kanaya
- 3:47 a.m.: Sam Burns, Sepp Straka, Chris Kirk
- 4:03 a.m.: Jordan Spieth Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Day
- 4:14 a.m.: Padraig Harrington, Seamus Power, Talor Gooch
- 4:25 a.m.: KH Lee, Davis Riley, Taiga Semikawa
- 4:36 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama
- 4:47 a.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott
- 4:58 a.m.: Cameron Smith, Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark
- 5:09 a.m.: Shane Lowry, Rickie Fowler, Robert MacIntyre
- 5:20 a.m.: Cameron Young, Si Woo Kim, Bryson DeChambeau
- 5:31 a.m.: Nicolai Højgaard, Bio Kim, Kazuki Yasumori
- 5:42 a.m.: Dan Bradbury, Oliver Farr, Haydn Barron
- 5:53 a.m.: Marcel Siem, Martin Rohwer, Tiger Christensen (a)
- 6:04 a.m.: Lee Hodges, Antoine Rozner, Richard Bland
- 6:15 a.m.: Yannik Paul, Sami Välimäki, Laurie Canter
- 6:36 a.m.: Rasmus Højgaard, Matthew Southgate, Alex Fitzpatrick
- 6:47 a.m.: Daniel Hillier, Kyung Nam Kang, Kensei Hirata
- 6:58 a.m.: Callum Shinkwin, Kazuki Higa, Michael Kim
- 7:09 a.m.: Zack Fischer, Taichi Kho, Kyle Barker
- 7:20 a.m.: Brendon Todd, Romain Langasque, Travis Smyth
- 7:31 a.m.: Gary Woodland, Adrian Otaegui, Alexander Bjork
- 7:42 a.m.: Min Woo Lee, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Harrison Crowe (a)
- 7:53 a.m.: Corey Conners, Billy Horschel, Alex Noren
- 8:04 a.m.: Tom Kim, Tom Hoge, Abraham Ancer
- 8:15 a.m.: Zach Johnson, Matt Wallace, David Micheluzzi
- 8:26 a.m.: Sahith Theegala, Emiliano Grillo, Dustin Johnson
- 8:37 a.m.: Francesco Molinari, Denny McCarthy, Mateo Fernandez De Oliveira (a)
- 8:48 a.m.: Brian Harman, Thriston Lawrence, Thomas Detry
- 9:04 a.m.: John Daly, Taylor Moore, Danny Willett
- 9:15 a.m.: David Lingmerth, Ben Griffin, Ockie Strydom
- 9:26 a.m.: Adri Arnaus, Ewen Ferguson, Keita Nakajima
- 9:37 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Joaquin Niemann
- 9:48 a.m.: Viktor Hovland,Tony Finau, Justin Thomas
- 9:59 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose
- 10:10 a.m.: Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Tyrrell Hatton
- 10:21 a.m.: Phil Mickelson, Nick Taylor, Adam Schenk
- 10:32 a.m.: Nacho Elvira, Marc Warren, Alejandro Cañizares
- 10:43 a.m.: Guido Migliozzi, Oliver Wilson, Connor McKinney
- 10:54 a.m.: Kalle Samooja, Shubhankar Sharma, Gunner Wiebe
- 11:05 a.m.: Jorge Campillo, Brandon Robinson Thompson, Michael Stewart
- 11:16 a.m.: Hurly Long, Seungsu Han, Marco Penge
2023 Open Championship odds
- Scottie Scheffler (+700)
- Rory McIlroy (+700)
- Jon Rahm (+1300)
- Cam Smith (+1800)
- Brooks Koepka (+1800)
- Xander Schauffele (+2200)
- Viktor Hovland (+2200)
- Patrick Cantlay (+2200)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+2500)
- Rickie Fowler (+2500)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+2800)
- Jordan Spieth (+3000)
- Dustin Johnson (+3000)
- Shane Lowry (+3500)
- Collin Morikawa (+3500)
- Justin Rose (+5000)
- Tony Finau (+5500)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+5500)
- Max Homa (+6000)
- Corey Conners (+6000)
– Riley Hamel, Golfweek
