British Open Tee Times 2015: Pairings and Predictions for Friday Schedule

One round is in the books at St. Andrews in the 2015 British Open, and PGA Tour fans couldn't have asked for a better start to the tournament, with nearly 20 golfers within three strokes of Dustin Johnson, who sits alone in the lead.     

Here's a look at the leaderboard after 18 holes:

Following Round 1, a nice mix of established stars and lesser-known journeymen comprises the top portion of the leaderboard. As much as the marquee names are necessary to drive the sport, it's always fun to see if some unknown underdog can etch his name into golf history.

Let's look ahead to the second round, which will likely help sort out the pretenders from those who will launch serious challenges for the title.

Tee Times

Time (BST)	Time (ET)	Golfers
6:32 a.m.	1:32 a.m.	Mark Calcavecchia	Marcel Siem	Jaco Van Zyl
6:43 a.m.	1:43 a.m.	Thomas Aiken	Jonas Blixt	David Lipsky
6:54 a.m.	1:54 a.m.	Morgan Hoffmann	Soren Kjeldsen	Danny Lee
7:05 a.m.	2:05 a.m.	Pablo Larrazabal	Richie Ramsay	Cameron Tringale
7:16 a.m.	2:16 a.m.	Steven Bowditch	Hiroshi Iwata	Ben Martin
7:27 a.m.	2:27 a.m.	Rafael Cabrera-Bello	George Coetzee	Anirban Lahiri
7:38 a.m.	2:38 a.m.	Padraig Harrington	Wen-Chong Liang	Marc Warren
7:49 a.m.	2:49 a.m.	John Daly	Jason Dufner	Miguel Angel Jimenez
8 a.m.	3 a.m.	Tommy Fleetwood	Zach Johnson	Bernd Wiesberger
8:11 a.m.	3:11 a.m.	Thongchai Jaidee	Danny Willett	Gary Woodland
8:22 a.m.	3:22 a.m.	Bill Haas	Francesco Molinari	Geoff Ogilvy
8:33 a.m.	3:33 a.m.	Russell Henley	Mark O'Meara	Gunn Yang
8:44 a.m.	3:44 a.m.	Bernhard Langer	Tom Lehman	Justin Leonard
9:00 a.m.	4 a.m.	Hiroyuki Fujita	Stephen Gallacher	Ryan Moore
9:11 a.m.	4:11 a.m.	Martin Kaymer	Adam Scott	Jimmy Walker
9:22 a.m.	4:22 a.m.	Keegan Bradley	Jamie Donaldson	Yuta Ikeda
9:33 a.m.	4:33 a.m.	Matt Kuchar	Phil Mickelson	Henrik Stenson
9:44 a.m.	4:44 a.m.	Nick Faldo	Rickie Fowler	Justin Rose
9:55 a.m.	4:55 a.m.	Paul Casey	Jim Furyk	Branden Grace
10:06 a.m.	5:06 a.m.	Ashley Chesters	Harris English	Andy Sullivan
10:17 a.m.	5:17 a.m.	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	Marc Leishman	Koumei Oda
10:28 a.m.	5:28 a.m.	Edoardo Molinari	James Morrison	Romain Wattel
10:39 a.m.	5:39 a.m.	Daniel Berger	Pelle Edberg	Mark Young
10:50 a.m.	5:50 a.m.	Tom Gillis	Brett Rumford	Ben Taylor
11:01 a.m.	6:01 a.m.	Alister Balcombe	Marcus Fraser	Scott Strange
11:12 a.m.	6:12 a.m.	Robert Dinwiddie	Rikard Karlberg	Taichi Teshima
11:33 a.m.	6:33 a.m.	Thomas Bjorn	Greg Owen	Rod Pampling
11:44 a.m.	6:44 a.m.	Paul Dunne	James Hahn	Todd Hamilton
11:55 a.m.	6:55 a.m.	Graham DeLaet	Brian Harman	Russell Knox
12:06 p.m.	7:06 a.m.	Matt Every	Alexander Levy	David Lingmerth
12:17 p.m.	7:17 a.m.	Matt Jones	Joost Luiten	Robert Streb
12:28 p.m.	7:28 a.m.	Byeong-Hun An	Jordan Niebrugge	Anthony Wall
12:39 p.m.	7:39 a.m.	Charley Hoffman	Sandy Lyle	Kevin Na
12:50 p.m.	7:50 a.m.	Retief Goosen	Shane Lowry	Kevin Streelman
1:01 p.m.	8:01 a.m.	Luke Donald	Hunter Mahan	Carl Pettersson
1:12 p.m.	8:12 a.m.	Victor Dubuisson	Ross Fisher	Billy Horschel
1:23 p.m.	8:23 a.m.	Graeme McDowell	Ollie Schniederjans	Webb Simpson
1:34 p.m.	8:34 a.m.	Ernie Els	Brandt Snedeker	Tom Watson
1:45 p.m.	8:45 a.m.	J.B. Holmes	Brendon Todd	Shinji Tomimura
2:01 p.m.	9:01 a.m.	Ian Poulter	Charl Schwartzel	Bubba Watson
2:12 p.m.	9:12 a.m.	Sergio Garcia	Patrick Reed	Lee Westwood
2:23 p.m.	9:23 a.m.	Darren Clarke	Romain Langasque	Matteo Manassero
2:34 p.m.	9:34 a.m.	Dustin Johnson	Hideki Matsuyama	Jordan Spieth
2:45 p.m.	9:45 a.m.	Kevin Kisner	Paul Lawrie	Ryan Palmer
2:56 p.m.	9:56 a.m.	Jason Day	Louis Oosthuizen	Tiger Woods
3:07 p.m.	10:07 a.m.	Brooks Koepka	John Senden	Tadahiro Takayama
3:18 p.m.	10:18 a.m.	Stewart Cink	Ben Curtis	David Duval
3:29 p.m.	10:29 a.m.	Greg Chalmers	David Howell	Mikko Ilonen
3:40 p.m.	10:40 a.m.	David Hearn	Raphael Jacquelin	Eddie Pepperell
3:51 p.m.	10:51 a.m.	Scott Arnold	Tyrrell Hatton	Paul Kinnear
4:02 p.m.	11:02 a.m.	Adam Bland	Gary Boyd	Daniel Brooks
4:13 p.m.	11:13 a.m.	Ryan Fox	Scott Hend	Jonathan Moore

Round 2 Predictions

Dustin Johnson Will Retain At Least a Share of the Lead after 36 Holes

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Aside from 2009 and 2013, Johnson has historically played well in the British Open. He had back-to-back top-10 finishes in 2011 and 2012 and wound up tied for 12th last year. When you throw in his strong 2015 season to date, it's no surprise Johnson posted the best score in the first round.

Some likely wondered how he would rebound after he choked away a chance to win the U.S. Open—or at least push the tournament to a playoff—on the final hole. Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman noted Johnson's short memory can come in handy when it comes to overcoming previous disappointments:

"

I once asked Dustin Johnson why he is so resilient. He told me he doesn't think much about anything after it happens. He's co-leading Open.

— Kelly Tilghman (@KellyTilghmanGC) July 16, 2015"

You couldn't have envisioned Johnson getting a much better start to his 2015 British Open. He didn't record a single bogey, hit 89 percent of his greens in regulation and averaged roughly 1.56 putts per hole, per TheOpen.com.

Putting together another round like Thursday's will be difficult for Johnson, but something approaching that level should be enough for him to remain atop the leaderboard at the end of Friday.

Scoring Will Level Off in Second Round

Jon Super/Associated Press

Part of why Johnson should be OK with a slightly higher score in Round 2 is that scoring in general will likely increase Friday as weather becomes more of a factor. You're not going to see a bunch of scores in the mid-60s again.

Mother Nature cooperated for the most part in Round 1, but golfers may not have that same luxury in Round 2. This is from PGATour.com's weather forecast for Friday:

"

Some heavy rain is likely during the early hours and it may linger into the start of play. It should become brighter in the morning, but with showers possible throughout the day. The wind could blow as hard as 20 mph in the morning, but it may ease in late morning. The wind should strengthen in the afternoon, gusting as high as 40 mph. There is a low risk of gusts exceeding 40 mph, particularly in the late afternoon and evening. The high temperature is expected to be 63 degrees.

"

"It looks like (Thursday) morning will be pretty nice conditions to get this tournament started," said Jordan Spieth in that forecast. "So there's a little bit of pressure to get off to a good start given the way that Friday and Saturday look, no doubt about that."

ESPN Stats & Info backed up Spieth's assertion that a strong start can mean everything at the British Open:

Of course, it's too early to say the British Open outcome is essentially decided already, but don't be surprised if many of the names hanging around the top 10 after 18 holes are the same golfers hanging around the top 10 after 36 holes.

Marc Warren Will Make Big Move up Leaderboard

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Luck of the draw might be a big factor regarding which golfers a few strokes back of Johnson can turn their fortunes around and make a viable run at the lead. The earlier you can hit the course, the better your chances of having a lower round.

According to PGATour.com, the wind speed will pick up every hour until about 2 p.m. BST, at which point it will hover between 20 and 21 miles per hour. Those golfers teeing off in the afternoon will likely be at a major disadvantage.

Marc Warren could benefit in a big way from his early tee time. Not only will he start at 7:38 a.m. BST, but his four-under 68 in the first round also puts him in the group of golfers within striking distance of Johnson.

Warren's tournament results have been inconsistent this year, while he has three European Tour titles to his name over his career. Neither of those facts inspires a ton of confidence, but the 34-year-old won't need to be absolutely perfect Friday in order to close the gap on Johnson.

If he hits hits 75 percent of his fairways and 78 percent of his greens in regulation again, then he'll be in business. Putting together a round somewhere in the range of 70 to 68 could have him flirting with the 36-hole lead.

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