Tournament: The 153rd Open Championship, aka the British Open, July 17-20, 2025
Course: Royal Portrush, Dunluce Links course, par 71, 7,381 yards. Located on the northern shores of the Emerald Isle. Just take Bushmills Road east from Crocknamack Road, after trundling north on Ballywillan. If you see Londonderry Derry, you’ve made a wrong turn and will end up in Letterkenny.
Purse: In a surprise move, the total purse of $17 million remains the same as last year as does the winner’s share of $3.1 million.
Defending Champ: Xander Schauffele. The SDSU Aztec Warrior followed up his PGA Championship with his 2nd major of the year and his career. He shot an almost flawless 65 on the final day, overtaking Justin Rose and Billy Horschel. Russell Henley finished 5th.
Fun Fact: 37 of the 156 players in the field are playing in their first Open Championship, and several in their first major tournament. There are 31 nationalities represented, including the first ever Estonian to play one of the four majors.
TV Times: Note that these are Eastern Time Zone, but local would be GMT since it is across the pond. Tee times start at 6:45 am local, and the last is 4:16 pm local, since they have daylight well past 10:00 pm.
Thursday-Friday: 1:30-4 a.m. (Peacock), 4 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (USA, NBC Sports App)
Saturday: 5-7 a.m. (USA, NBC Sports App), 7 a.m.-3 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports App)
Sunday: 4-7 a.m. (USA, NBC Sports App), 7 a.m.-2 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBC Sports App)
The Open also has an app that I believe will also carry lots of the broadcast, featured groups, and other live golf in addition to exclusive content and information. I honestly don’t remember how well the app performed in years past, but I think almost all sporting events, especially golf, take their cue from the Masters app and have really made their apps very robust.
‘Dawgs in the Field: 6. Harris English, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Sepp Straka, Davis Thompson,
If you don’t like the weather, just wait a minute. The forecast is very unsettled, but it is expected to have temperatures in the 60’s (Fahrenheit, mind you). During the practice days, there has been some mild squalls off the North Atlantic, and even a delay Monday due to lightning. I think we can look for gusty conditions mild temps, and occasional rain.
I enjoy and even relish the best players in the world facing the elements on the edge of the North Atlantic. The only thing I don’t want is if the weather moves in or out midday – that sometimes allows either the morning or afternoon wave of players to have a huge advantage over the other. As long as everyone deals with it, bring it on.
The course is almost 140 years old, and was part of the Open rota through the 1950s but only recently brought back (2019). It is long compared to some of the other courses, having been through some recent redesigns to challenge today’s players and equipment. The one notable thing is the track has only 62 bunkers. This is around half of other Open links venues. And most of these are of the pot bunker variety – small, not often visible from the tee, and often requiring a wedge to extricate yourself.
Of the 6 former Bulldogs in the field, it’s anyone’s guess who will play best. All 6 of them have had a high finish this summer. Henley has probably been playing the best of late but Straka isn’t far behind. Thompson has been in contention on a Sunday the last couple of weeks, and Harman has backdoored some top 10s.
Sepp Straka Round 1 tee time is 9:46 am local, with Akshay Bhatia and Ben Griffin (two products of the Triangle in NC).
Davis Thompson 12:42 pm local, with Dean Burmester and Rikuya Hoshino.
Chris Kirk 2:15 pm local, with JT Poston and Carlos Ortiz.
Brian Harman 2:26 pm local with Maverick McNealy and Joaquin Niemann.
Russell Henley in the 3rd straight tee time with Bulldogs at 2:37 pm local, along with Tyrell Hatton and Min Woo Lee.
Harris English 3:21 pm local, with Nick Taylor and Tony Finau.
It may depend on your tee time and what weather you get, or just as much the tee times and weather for the betting favorites like Scheffler, McIlroy, DeChambeau, Rahm, Aberg, and Fleetwood. But it’s still major golf, on a proper links course, with uncertain weather, and former Bulldogs, all morning long. Enjoy, and as always…
GO ‘DAWGS!!!