British Open Live Streaming 2013: Full Viewing Info for Muirfield

Striking the perfect balance between tradition and the modern amenities we've come to take for granted in this culture is always difficult for the organizers of golf's four major tournaments. 

Your average, everyday PGA tournament has enough sponsors to run a NASCAR team. The association's playoff system is named after a delivery company. There is no shame in the sponsorship game, nor should there be. Sponsors allow for players and fans to have the best experience possible, leading to better course conditions, player purses and little amenities for fans.

Even your middling tour pro doesn't have to work at Jiffy Lube during the week to pay his bills, and that's to the betterment of all involved.

The backlash only comes when these newfangled revenue devices and technologies become part of golf's most hallowed events. Much like the Rose Bowl in college football and other similarly hallowed events, the "where does it stop" questions almost always come with an attempt to modernize the four major tournaments.

Each event still carries its original name, but there have been some "...presented by" annotations added to the end that have allowed everyone to find a happy medium. 

Not the Open Championship.

Golf's oldest and arguably most prestigious event comes in with the same name that brought it. There is no permanent tag line at the end. It's a decision that's both meant to honor the event's history and acknowledge that it's on such a higher plane from the other tournaments that those funding tricks aren't totally necessary—even when they are.

Essentially, it's all a plausible sense of deniability.

While that all seems somewhat curmudgeonly, golf's majors have acknowledged technologies and innovations most important to golf fans. Particularly, the advent of live streaming events has allowed fans who might otherwise miss large chunks of rounds—I like to call them working folk—will get an opportunity to sneak away when they can.

What's bad for work productivity is great for the PGA. Or something.

But with most of the opening two rounds at Muirfield Golf Links being played in the wee hours of the night, it will be critical to know how and when to watch as the tour's top names take to the tee box.

With that in mind, here is a complete live stream viewing guide for the 2013 British Open.

Live Stream Information

*All events are on WatchESPN

Thursday

Start Time	Event
2:30 a.m. ET, 7:30 a.m. BST	@TheOpen LIVE
4 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. BST	Live first round (international view)
4 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. BST	Live coverage of Holes 1, 7, 8, 9 and 18
7 a.m. ET, 12 p.m. BST	Open Championship Round 1 coverage
3 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. BST	First round encore presentation
7 p.m. ET, 12 a.m. BST	Best of The Open Championship encore presentation

Friday

Start Time	Event
2:30 a.m. ET, 7:30 a.m. BST	@TheOpen LIVE
4 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. BST	Live first round (international view)
4 a.m. ET, 9 a.m. BST	Live coverage of Holes 1, 7, 8, 9 and 18
7 a.m. ET, 12 p.m. BST	Open Championship Round 2 coverage
3 p.m. ET, 8 p.m. BST	Second round encore presentation
7 p.m. ET, 12 a.m. BST	Best of The Open Championship encore presentation

 

Saturday

Start Time	Event
4 a.m. ET, 9:30 a.m. BST	@TheOpen LIVE
7 a.m. ET, 12 p.m. BST	Live first round (international view)
7 a.m. ET, 12 p.m. BST	Live coverage of Holes 1, 7, 8, 9 and 18
7 a.m. ET, 12 p.m. BST	Open Championship Round 3 coverage
7 p.m. ET, 12 a.m. BST	Best of The Open Championship encore presentation

 

Sunday

Start Time	Event
5 a.m. ET, 10:30 a.m. BST	@TheOpen LIVE
6 a.m. ET, 11 a.m. BST	Live first round (international view)
6 a.m. ET, 11 a.m. BST	Live coverage of Holes 1, 7, 8, 9 and 18
8 a.m. ET, 1 p.m. BST	Open Championship Round 3 coverage
9 p.m. ET, 2 a.m. BST	Best of The Open Championship encore presentation

Real-Time Leaderboard Updates: The Open 

Event Preview

The 2013 Open Championship will be played at Scotland's hallowed Muirfield Golf Links. The par-71 course was designed by the legendary Old Tom Morris, one of the biggest pioneers to golf in history, and opened in its current form in 1891.

The course plays 7,192 yards for this year's Open Championship, making it a relatively long and treacherous design. To compare, Merion Golf Club's East Course, the host of the U.S. Open, came in just under the 7,000-yard mark—a rarity in today's golf world, where players boom their shots with increasing ease.

The course layout itself is your traditional British Open links, set on a beach with massive sand divots and other random hazards adorning the fairways. Roughs are deep and treacherous, enough to make the world's best golfers cower with just one or two errant tee shots.

The difference at Muirfield—weather permitting, of course—is that it's possible to play through your round without hitting too many of them. Luck always plays a large part in links courses and it will this week, but there aren't the innumerable amount of quirks there are, say, at St. Andrews.

For guys who historically struggle in links events—Phil Mickelson being chief among them—Muirfield could provide a reprieve.

Lefty walks into this week's event on perhaps the biggest high of his European life. The 43-year-old American finally broke his curse on links courses, winning last week's Scottish Open in a playoff. Playing a mostly collected style of golf, Mickelson went through his entire second round without a bogey and finished 17 under despite some Leftyish mistakes down the stretch on Sunday.

If there ever was a time or a course for Mickelson to win his first Open Championship, this would be it.

History points to Lefty being just old enough of a dog to not have any new tricks in the bag. He's finished in the top 10 just twice during his Open Championship career, which is a fourth of the amount of times he's done so in other major events.

It will be interesting to see whether history or recent performances is a better indicator of how Mickelson will perform this week.

Lefty will be paired with Rory McIlroy and Hideki Matsuyama, the former of whom will obviously get the most attention.

McIlroy, who looked to be on top of the world nine months ago after winning the PGA Championship and two FedEx Cup tournaments, has struggled mightily ever since. He's yet to win a tournament this year and has only one top-five finish. In that time, McIlroy has dropped behind Tiger Woods in the world golf rankings, faced criticism about his lack of focus and been a complete non-factor in majors. 

While McIlroy had success at St. Andrews in 2010, that performance also showed the pitfalls of his inconsistencies. After starting out with a nine-under score of 63, McIlroy turned himself around with an 80 in the next round and could never recover.

He's since struggled in each of the past two years at Open Championships, and his recent play does nothing to bring forth any faith. 

Of course, the intrigue surrounding McIlroy and Mickelson pales in comparison to that of Tiger Woods. The world's top-ranked golfer brings with him a gaggle in the gallery in every tournament he enters, and that will especially be the case considering we've passed the five-year barrier since Tiger won a major championship.

At age 37, he's firmly in the post-prime phase of his career, and it's fair to wonder if not when the next triumph will come. Tiger's affinity for links course play makes him a contender, but he'll have to get off to a good start. One of the biggest misconceptions about Woods' game is that he's someone who roars from behind to win major championships.

Tiger is the ultimate front-runner playing in the biggest front-running tournament. Players have to start well here to have a chance, so Woods' performance on Thursday could tell the story of this entire event. 

Outside of the world's three most famous players, this field boasts plenty of other notable names. 

Nick Faldo, Tom Watson and Fred Couples will play in a threesome, with each seemingly on the precipice of their last Open Championship every time they tee off. Even if none of the three has the slightest chance at winning at Muirfield, seeing them together in the same group on Thursday and Friday will be special. 

Round 1 Tee Times

Players	Tee Time (ET)	Tee Time (BST)
Peter Senior, Lloyd Saltman, Oliver Fisher	1:32 a.m.	6:32 a.m.
Robert Karlsson, Todd Hamilton, Ben Stow	1:43 a.m.	6:43 a.m.
Thomas Aiken, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bud Cauley	1:54 a.m.	6:54 a.m.
Mikko Ilonen, Brooks Koepka, Ashun Wu	2:05 a.m.	7:05 a.m.
David Duval, Bernd Wiesberger, Chris Wood	2:16 a.m.	7:16 a.m.
Scott Stallings, Stewart Cink, Richard McEvoy	2:27 a.m.	7:27 a.m.
K.J. Choi, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jimmy Walker	2:38 a.m.	7:38 a.m.
Ben Curtis, Shane Lowry, Rafael Cabrera-Bello	2:49 a.m.	7:49 a.m.
Jonas Blixt, Brian Davis, Graham Delaet	3 a.m.	8 a.m.
Robert Garrigus, John Senden, Marc Warren	3:11 a.m.	8:11 a.m.
Martin Kaymer, Garrick Porteous, Jason Day	3:22 a.m.	8:22 a.m.
Carl Pettersson, Jason Dufner, David Lynn	3:33 a.m.	8:33 a.m.
Bubba Watson, Nicolas Colsaerts, Dustin Johnson	3:44 a.m.	8:44 a.m.
Nick Faldo, Tom Watson, Fred Couples	4 a.m.	9 a.m.
Justin Rose, Ernie Els, Brandt Snedeker	4:11 a.m.	9:11 a.m.
Ian Poulter, Keegan Bradley, Billy Horschel	4:22 a.m.	9:22 a.m.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Richard Sterne, Nick Watney	4:33 a.m.	9:33 a.m.
Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson	4:44 a.m.	9:44 a.m.
Scott Piercy, Tim Clark, Kevin Streelman	4:55 a.m.	9:55 a.m.
Zach Johnson, Shingo Katayama, Thomas Bjorn	5:06 a.m.	10:06 a.m.
Angel Cabrera, Camilo Villegas, Tano Goya	5:17 a.m.	10:17 a.m.
George Coetzee, Ken Duke, Mark Calcavecchia	5:28 a.m.	10:28 a.m.
John Huh, Brendan Jones, Hyung-Sung Kim	5:39 a.m.	10:39 a.m.
Josh Teater, Steven Tiley, Jimmy Mullen	5:50 a.m.	10:50 a.m.
K.T. Kim, Steven Jeffress, Luke Guthrie	6:01 a.m.	11:01 a.m.
John Wade, Gareth Wright, Makoto Inoue	6:12 a.m.	11:12 a.m.
Danny Willett, Y.E. Yang, Johnson Wagner	6:33 a.m.	11:33 a.m.
Thaworn Wiratchant, Lucas Glover, Oscar Floren	6:44 a.m.	11:44 a.m.
Boo Weekley, Sandy Lyle, Niclas Fasth	6:55 a.m.	11:55 a.m.
Marcus Fraser, Grant Forrest, Mark O'Meara	7:06 a.m.	12:06 p.m.
Tom Lehman, Thongchai Jaidee, Fredrik Jacobson	7:17 a.m.	12:17 p.m.
Justin Leonard, Rhys Pugh, Marc Leishman	7:28 a.m.	12:28 p.m.
Alvaro Quiros, Kyle Stanley, Alexander Noren	7:39 a.m.	12:39 p.m.
Russell Henley, Jordan Spieth, Matthew Fitzpatrick	7:50 a.m.	12:50 p.m.
Padraig Harrington, Michael Thompson, Richie Ramsay	8:01 a.m.	1:01 p.m.
Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke, Martin Laird	8:12 a.m.	1:12 p.m.
Ryan Moore, Henrik Stenson, Steven Fox	8:23 a.m.	1:23 p.m.
Thorbjorn Olesen, Jim Furyk, Paul Lawrie	8:34 a.m.	1:34 p.m.
Geoff Ogilvy, Harris English, Stephen Gallacher	8:45 a.m.	1:45 p.m.
Lee Westwood, Charl Schwartzel, Sergio Garcia	9:01 a.m.	2:01 p.m.
Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar, Luke Donald	9:12 a.m.	2:12 p.m.
Rickie Fowler, Matteo Manassero, Hunter Mahan	9:23 a.m.	2:23 p.m.
Peter Hanson, Hiroyuki Fujita, Bill Haas	9:34 a.m.	2:34 p.m.
Tiger Woods, Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen	9:45 a.m.	2:45 p.m.
Webb Simpson, Branden Grace, Jamie Donaldson	9:56 a.m.	2:56 p.m.
Francesco Molinari, Toru Taniguchi, Bo Van Pelt	10:07 a.m.	3:07 p.m.
D.A. Points, Brett Rumford, Marcel Siem	10:18 a.m.	3:18 p.m.
George Murray, Mark Brown, Justin Harding	10:29 a.m.	3:29 p.m.
Gregory Bourdy, Scott Jamieson, Shiv Kapur	10:40 a.m.	3:40 p.m.
Scott Brown, Satoshi Kodaira, Gareth Maybin	10:51 a.m.	3:51 p.m.
Tyrrell Hatton, Eduardo de la Riva, Kenichi Kuboya	11:02 a.m.	4:02 p.m.
Stephen Dartnall, Darryn Lloyd, Daisuke Maruyama	11:13 a.m.	4:13 p.m.

 

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