Richard Heathcote/R&A
Rory McIlroy walks out to play his opening tee shot on the first tee during the first round of the 2019 Open Championship.

By Ryan Herrington
Like just about everything else with the Open Championship, there is something singularly distinct regarding tee times at golf’s oldest major. It’s not so much who the R&A pairs with whom that holds people’s curiosities, as is the case with the cheeky-themed threesomes the USGA often puts together at the U.S. Open. Rather, it’s the anticipation of when your name appears on the starter’s sheet and whether that means you’re on the “good” or “bad” side of the draw.

Indeed, unlike any other men’s major, where you’re placed in the order of things at the British Open—and how that fits into mother nature’s divine plans—plays an overly large role in a player’s chances of having a successful week, or seeing himself packing his backs a few days early.

Case in point: 2010 at St. Andrews. The golfers who teed off in the morning during Friday’s second round at the Old Course played in calm conditions, eventual winner Louis Oosthuizen shooting a 67. Those who teed off in the afternoon, however, played in blustery winds and rain squalls. Rory McIlroy, after an opening-round 63, shot a second-round 80 to all but end his hopes of victory just 36 holes into the championship.

“When you feel like you’re playing well and you get the wrong side of the draw and you feel like the best you can finish is 10th, it’s a bitter pill to swallow,” McIlroy said in 2017. “But you have to realize in a 25- or 30-year career, you’re going to get some years that you’re on the good side of the draw.”

Indeed, the reason this is so central to how things play out at the Open is because of the mechanics of tee times themselves in the major. With sunrise at around 4:55 a.m. and sunset not until just after 9 p.m., the lengthy daylight allows all groups to tee off on the first hole, with tee times spread from as early as 6:35 a.m. to as late as 4:16 p.m. local time. It’s a wider separation than anything on the PGA Tour (which employs split tees at almost all its events) or any other of the men’s majors.

Players will be competing in threesomes on Thursday and Friday at Royal St. George’s. Here are the tee times for the first and second rounds.

Ed’s Note: The United Arab Emirates is 3 hours ahead of England, UK

THURSDAY/First round (local time/ET)

6:35 am/1:35 am — Richard BLAND, Andy SULLIVAN, Marcus ARMITAGE

6:46 am/1:46 am — Chan KIM, Justin HARDING, Haotong LI

6:57 am/1:57 am — Mike LORENZO-VERA, Gonzalo FERNANDEZ-CASTANO, Abel GALLEGOS (a)

7:08 am/2:08 am — Alex NOREN, JC RITCHIE, Richard MANSELL

7:19 am/2:19 am — Dean BURMESTER, Danny WILLETT, Laird SHEPHERD (a)

7:30 am/2:30 am — Christiaan BEZUIDENHOUT, Sam HORSFIELD, Min Woo LEE

7:41 am/2:41 am — Viktor HOVLAND, Ryan PALMER, Thomas DETRY

7:52 am/2:52 am — Paul CASEY, Abraham ANCER, Ian POULTER

8:03 am/3:03 am — Brooks KOEPKA, Jason KOKRAK, Garrick HIGGO

8:14 am/3:14 am — Daniel BERGER, Joaquin NIEMANN, Joel DAHMEN

8:25 am/3:25 am — Darren CLARKE, Bernd WIESBERGER, Joe LONG (a)

8:36 am/3:36 am — Chris KIRK, Marcus KINHULT, Jack SENIOR

8:47 am/3:47 am — Talor GOOCH, CT PAN, Jonathan THOMSON

9:03 am/4:03 am — Ernie ELS, Gary WOODLAND, Cole HAMMER (a)

9:14 am/4:14 am — Sam BURNS, Lucas HERBERT, Jorge CAMPILLO

9:25 am/4:25 am — Jordan SPIETH, Bryson DECHAMBEAU, Branden GRACE

9:36 am/4:36 am — Brian HARMAN, Mackenzie HUGHES, Dylan FRITTELLI

9:47 am/4:47 am — Victor PEREZ, Kevin STREELMAN, Guido MIGLIOZZI

9:58 am/4:58 am — Shane LOWRY, Jon RAHM, Louis OOSTHUIZEN

10:09 am/5:09 am — Stewart CINK, Lee WESTWOOD, Martin KAYMER

10:20 am/5:20 am — Dustin JOHNSON, Will ZALATORIS, Justin ROSE

10:31 am/5:31 am — Scottie SCHEFFLER, Sergio GARCIA, Yuxin LIN (a)

10:42 am/5:42 am — Harris ENGLISH, Erik VAN ROOYEN, Chez REAVIE

10:53 am/5:53 am — Lucas GLOVER, Byeong Hun AN, Brandt SNEDEKER

11:04 am/6:04 am — Cameron TRINGALE, Takumi KANAYA, Marcel SCHNEIDER

11:15 am/6:15 am — Lanto GRIFFIN, Rikuya HOSHINO, Connor WORSDALL

11:36 am/6:36 am — Aaron RAI, Paul WARING, Daniel CROFT

11:47 am/6:47 am — Daniel VAN TONDER,Jazz JANEWATTANANOND, Christoffer BRING (a)

11:58 am/6:58 am — Harold VARNER III, Brendan STEELE, Matthias SCHMID (a)

12:09 pm/7:09 am — Troy MERRITT, Adam LONG, Jaco AHLERS

12:20 pm/7:20 am — Jason DAY, Joost LUITEN, Johannes VEERMAN

12:31 pm/7:31 am — John CATLIN, Romain LANGASQUE, Aaron PIKE,

12:42 pm/7:42 am — Padraig HARRINGTON, Brad KENNEDY, Sam FORGAN

12:53 pm/7:53 am — Tony FINAU, Billy HORSCHEL, Adam HADWIN

1:04 pm/8:04 am — Patrick CANTLAY, Matthew FITZPATRICK, Ryan FOX

1:15 pm/8:15 am — Francesco MOLINARI, Marc LEISHMAN, Matt WALLACE

1:26 pm/8:26 am — Collin MORIKAWA, Corey CONNERS, Sebastian MUNOZ

1:37 pm/8:37 am — Jason SCRIVENER, Keith MITCHELL, Sam BAIRSTOW (a)

1:48 pm/8:48 am — Charley HOFFMAN, Emiliano GRILLO, Benjamin HEBERT

2:04 pm/9:04 am — Keegan BRADLEY, Richard T LEE, Rafa CABRERA BELLO

2:15 pm/9:15 am — Carlos ORTIZ, Brendon TODD, Matthias SCHWAB

2:26 pm/9:26 am — Webb SIMPSON, Russell HENLEY, Shaun NORRIS

2:37 pm/9:37 am — Matt JONES, Daniel HILLIER, Marcel SIEM

2:48 pm/9:48 am — Phil MICKELSON, Tyrrell HATTON, Kevin KISNER

2:59 pm/9:59 am — Xander SCHAUFFELE, Robert MACINTYRE, Rickie FOWLER

3:10 pm/10:10 am — Justin THOMAS, Tommy FLEETWOOD, Adam SCOTT

3:21 pm/10:21 am — Rory MCILROY, Patrick REED, Cameron SMITH

3:32 pm/10:32 am — Henrik STENSON, Max HOMA, Matt KUCHAR

3:43 pm/10:43 am — Antoine ROZNER, Ryosuke KINOSHITA, Ben HUTCHINSON

3:54 pm/10:54 am — Kurt KITAYAMA, Deyen LAWSON, Poom SAKSANSIN

4:05 pm/11:05 am — Yuki INAMORI, Jimmy WALKER, Ricardo CELIA

4:16 pm/11:16 am — Rikard KARLBERG, Ryutaro NAGANO, Nicholas POPPLETON

FRIDAY/Second round (local time/ET)

6:35 am/1:35 am — Aaron RAI, Paul WARING, Daniel CROFT

6:46 am/1:46 am — Daniel VAN TONDER, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND, Christoffer BRING (a)

6:57 am/1:57 am — Harold VARNER III, Brendan STEELE, Matthias SCHMID (a)

7:08 am/2:08 am — Troy MERRITT, Adam LONG, Jaco AHLERS

7:19 am/2:19 am — Jason DAY, Joost LUITEN, Johannes VEERMAN

7:30 am/2:30 am — John CATLIN, Romain LANGASQUE, Aaron PIKE,

7:41 am/2:41 am — Padraig HARRINGTON, Brad KENNEDY, Sam FORGAN

7:52 am/2:52 am — Tony FINAU, Billy HORSCHEL, Adam HADWIN

8:03 am/3:03 am — Patrick CANTLAY, Matthew FITZPATRICK, Ryan FOX

8:14 am/3:14 am — Francesco MOLINARI, Marc LEISHMAN, Matt WALLACE

8:25 am/3:25 am — Collin MORIKAWA, Corey CONNERS, Sebastian MUNOZ

8:36 am/3:36 am — Jason SCRIVENER, Keith MITCHELL, Sam BAIRSTOW (a)

8:47 am/3:47 am — Charley HOFFMAN, Emiliano GRILLO, Benjamin HEBERT

9:03 am/4:03 am — Keegan BRADLEY, Richard T LEE, Rafa CABRERA BELLO

9:14 am/4:14 am — Carlos ORTIZ, Brendon TODD, Matthias SCHWAB

9:25 am/4:25 am — Webb SIMPSON, Russell HENLEY, Shaun NORRIS

9:36 am/4:36 am — Matt JONES, Daniel HILLIER, Marcel SIEM

9:47 am/4:47 am — Phil MICKELSON, Tyrrell HATTON, Kevin KISNER

9:58 am/4:58 am — Xander SCHAUFFELE, Robert MACINTYRE, Rickie FOWLER

10:09 am/5:09 am — Justin THOMAS, Tommy FLEETWOOD, Adam SCOTT

10:20 am/5:20 am — Rory MCILROY, Patrick REED, Cameron SMITH

10:31 am/5:31 am — Henrik STENSON, Max HOMA, Matt KUCHAR

10:42 am/5:42 am — Antoine ROZNER, Ryosuke KINOSHITA, Ben HUTCHINSON

10:53 am/5:53 am — Kurt KITAYAMA, Deyen LAWSON, Poom SAKSANSIN

11:04 am/6:04 am — Yuki INAMORI, Jimmy WALKER, Ricardo CELIA

11:15 am/6:15 am — Rikard KARLBERG, Ryutaro NAGANO, Nicholas POPPLETON

11:36 am/6:36 am — Richard BLAND, Andy SULLIVAN, Marcus ARMITAGE

11:47 am/6:47 am — Chan KIM, Justin HARDING, Haotong LI

11:58 am/6:58 am — Mike LORENZO-VERA, Gonzalo FERNANDEZ-CASTANO, Abel GALLEGOS (a)

12:09 pm/7:09 am — Alex NOREN, JC RITCHIE, Richard MANSELL

12:20 pm/7:20 am — Dean BURMESTER, Danny WILLETT, Laird SHEPHERD (a)

12:31 pm/7:31 am — Christiaan BEZUIDENHOUT, Sam HORSFIELD, Min Woo LEE

12:42 pm/7:42 am — Viktor HOVLAND, Ryan PALMER, Thomas DETRY

12:53 pm/7:53 am — Paul CASEY, Abraham ANCER, Ian POULTER

1:04 pm/8:04 am — Brooks KOEPKA, Jason KOKRAK, Garrick HIGGO

1:15 pm/8:15 am — Daniel BERGER, Joaquin NIEMANN, Joel DAHMEN

1:26 pm/8:26 am — Darren CLARKE, Bernd WIESBERGER, Joe LONG (a)

1:37 pm/8:37 am — Chris KIRK, Marcus KINHULT, Jack SENIOR

1:48 pm/8:48 am — Talor GOOCH, CT PAN, Jonathan THOMSON

2:04 pm/9:04 am — Ernie ELS, Gary WOODLAND, Cole HAMMER (a)

2:15 pm/9:15 am — Sam BURNS, Lucas HERBERT, Jorge CAMPILLO

2:26 pm/9:26 am — Jordan SPIETH, Bryson DECHAMBEAU, Branden GRACE

2:37 pm/9:37 am — Brian HARMAN, Mackenzie HUGHES, Dylan FRITTELLI

2:48 pm/9:48 am — Victor PEREZ, Kevin STREELMAN, Guido MIGLIOZZI

2:59 pm/9:59 am — Shane LOWRY, Jon RAHM, Louis OOSTHUIZEN

3:10 pm/10:10 am — Stewart CINK, Lee WESTWOOD, Martin KAYMER

3:21 pm/10:21 am — Dustin JOHNSON, Will ZALATORIS, Justin ROSE

3:32 pm/10:32 am — Scottie SCHEFFLER, Sergio GARCIA, Yuxin LIN (a)

3:43 pm/10:43 am — Harris ENGLISH, Erik VAN ROOYEN, Chez REAVIE

3:54 pm/10:54 am — Lucas GLOVER, Byeong Hun AN, Brandt SNEDEKER

4:05 pm/11:05 am — Cameron TRINGALE, Takumi KANAYA, Marcel SCHNEIDER

4:16 pm/11:16 am — Lanto GRIFFIN, Rikuya HOSHINO, Connor WORSDALL