Golf
Padraig Harrington to hit the opening tee shot at 6.35am on Thursday; Rory McIlroy has late-early draw as he chases major victory in Northern Ireland; watch The Open live on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf
Tuesday 15 July 2025 14:53, UK
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Rory McIlroy has been grouped with Ryder Cup team-mate Tommy Fleetwood and former world No 1 Justin Thomas for the first two rounds of The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush.
McIlroy became just the sixth player in history to complete the career Grand Slam with his dramatic victory at The Masters in April, ending an 11-year wait for a fifth major title, with the Northern Irishman now looking to claim his first win on home soil as a professional.
The world No 2 missed the cut when the tournament was last held at this venue in 2019 but has been given the opposite draw to what he had six years ago, with McIlroy in the late-early wave as he chases a second major win of the season.
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McIlroy – the 2014 Open champion – will tee off at 3.10pm on Thursday alongside Thomas and Fleetwood, who finished runner-up to Shane Lowry in the last Open at Royal Portrush.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler is on the opposite side of the draw, with the American out at 10.09am alongside Lowry and former winner Collin Morikawa, while defending champion Xander Schauffele is out in the previous group with Jon Rahm and US Open champion JJ Spaun.
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Two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau is a late starter with Bob MacIntyre and England’s Justin Rose, who finished joint-second last year, while Ryder Cup players Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland are out in the next group alongside 2017 winner Jordan Spieth.
Three-time major champion Padraig Harrington will hit the opening tee shot of this year’s tournament at 6.35am on Thursday, with the Irishman partnered by Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard and Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin.
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Other notable tee times include Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland in a threeball with 2017 champion Jordan Spieth, with American Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley partnering Sungjae Im and Daniel Berger.
USA unless stated; (x) denotes amateurs
Starting from Hole One
0635 Padraig Harrington (Irl), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den), Tom McKibbin (NIrl)
0958 Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Jon Rahm (Esp)
1009 Shane Lowry (Irl), Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
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1448 Bob MacIntyre (Sco), Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose (Eng)
1459 Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg (Swe), Viktor Hovland (Nor)
1510 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
Sky Sports’ Paul McGinley on Rory McIlroy’s draw:
“There’s two ways of looking at it. One, is that you watch the early morning play, get some ideas of the pin positions, how the course is playing – you develop your strategy around that.
“The other body of thought would be that you want to get out there early and get into the tournament straight away.
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“Rory is well versed, well experienced at this stage. It’s not a biggie one way or the other. The thing you always look for at these links golf courses is that the weather is so changeable, and you can get the wrong side of the draw.
“Nobody know yet what’s right and what’s wrong, or if there’s going to be any change in terms of good side or bad side.
“At the moment, the weather looks steady. It’s a pretty brisk 15mph wind, no more than that, with the odd shower coming in over the four days, but pretty mild. So, we’ve got a pretty stable forecast, certainly as Northern Irish weather goes.”
Who will win The Open? Watch the final men’s major of the year throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening round begins on Thursday from 6.30am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream The Open and more top sport with no contract.
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