British Open Tee Times 2015: Pairings and Predictions for Thursday Schedule
Getting off to a hot start at St Andrews' Old Course is a big key to success in The Open Championship. In 2000, eventual champion Tiger Woods opened with a 67. Woods won again in 2005 after a first-round 66. In 2010, Louis Oosthuizen torched the field after starting with a blazing 65.
Who will put up the low number on Thursday in the 2015 edition of the tournament?
There are several players who are poised for immediate success at St Andrews because of current hot streaks or a successful history on the course; however, one player who won't be putting on a show in Round 1 is Rory McIlroy. The defending champion and world No. 1 will skip the year's third major because of an ankle injury suffered in a soccer match with friends. That certainly opens the door for others this year.
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The early tee times have been released, so we can begin to speculate how some of the world's top players will fare during the opening round. That said, let's take a look at Thursday's essential viewing information, some notable tee times and predict which players are likely to jump out to a hot start.
Thursday's Open Championship Schedule
Date: Thursday, July 16
Time: 4 a.m. - 3 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Notable Thursday Tee Times
| Victor Dubuisson | 3:11 a.m. |
| Webb Simpson | 3:22 a.m. |
| Tom Watson | 3:33 a.m. |
| Bubba Watson | 4 a.m. |
| Sergio Garcia | 4:11 a.m. |
| Lee Westwood | 4:11 a.m. |
| Patrick Reed | 4:11 a.m. |
| Dustin Johnson | 4:33 a.m. |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 4:33 a.m. |
| Jordan Spieth | 4:33 a.m. |
| Tiger Woods | 4:55 a.m. |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 4:55 a.m. |
| Jason Day | 4:55 a.m. |
| Adam Scott | 9:12 a.m. |
| Martin Kaymer | 9:12 a.m. |
| Jimmy Walker | 9:12 a.m. |
| Matt Kuchar | 9:34 a.m. |
| Phil Mickelson | 9:34 a.m. |
| Henrik Stenson | 9:34 a.m. |
| Justin Rose | 9:45 a.m. |
| Rickie Fowler | 9:45 a.m. |
| Jim Furyk | 9:56 a.m. |
| Paul Casey | 9:56 a.m. |
All tournament tee times can be viewed at PGATour.com.
Thursday Predictions
Jordan Spieth
How do you prepare for an Open Championship at St Andrews? By hitting balls off the wall on the 17th hole. All right, that may not be a typical preparation procedure for most golfers, but it is if you're Jordan Spieth. After finding out that the wall lining the Road Hole is in play during his practice round, he began testing the possibility of hitting his ball back in play with a ricochet off the stone surface.
Here's a look at the 21-year-old playing those shots off the wall, per Jason Sobel of ESPN.com:
Getting off to a hot start isn't anything new to Spieth, as he emerged victorious in this year's Masters Tournament after an opening round of 64 and went on to win the U.S. Open after a Thursday 68 at Chambers Bay. Spieth has a knack for strong starts out of the gate in majors, and considering he's coming into The Open Championship riding the momentum of two consecutive wins, expect him to start fast yet again.
Thursday Prediction: Spieth shoots 67.
Dustin Johnson
The Open Championship will mark Dustin Johnson's first start since his devastating finish in the U.S. Open. In case a refresher is needed, he approached the 72nd green with a shot at holing a 20-foot putt for the win. Instead, he missed twice, three-putting for a second-place finish.
Still, regardless of Johnson's collapses late in major tournaments, he's always been one to start fast. That was the case at Chambers Bay when his opening-round 65 put him in command early. In Johnson's lone win this year in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, he also began with a flourish, shooting a 68.
The last time Johnson played at St Andrews (2010), he opened with a solid 69 and went on to finish tied for 14th. This year, he's playing the best golf of his career, and we should expect him to at the very least duplicate what he was able to do in the opening round five years ago.
Thursday Prediction: Johnson shoots 69.
Bubba Watson is playing some very good golf right now, and the lefty could find himself out in front early in The Open Championship. After missing the cut in the U.S. Open, Watson went on to win the Travelers Championship and followed it up with a tie for 12th in the Greenbrier Classic.
The southpaw's victory in the Travelers was mostly due to his brilliant first-round 62. That low number to open the tournament was nothing new for Watson, as he's currently ranked first on the PGA Tour in first-round scoring average with a median score of 68.80.
Watson's last trip to St Andrews didn't end well, as the lefty shot 74, 73 to barely miss the cut. He's struggled in the tournament throughout his career, finishing no better than a tie for 23rd in 2012, as his style of play isn't suited to links courses. Despite his great early scoring average this season, don't expect Watson to light it up on Thursday.
Thursday Prediction: Watson shoots 71.
Rickie Fowler
Rickie Fowler is getting hot at the right time. He's an incredibly streaky player who is incredibly successful when in form, but his game can also get rather ugly at times. That's been the case this season, as Fowler played some lackluster golf early but recently turned it on, winning both The Players Championship and last week's Scottish Open.
Fowler's work in the Scottish Open was brilliant. He opened with a 66 and continued to play sub-70 golf en route to his second win of the season. That performance gives him plenty of momentum entering The Open Championship—a tournament in which he notched a runner-up finish last year.
The American has shown a knack to play well on links courses, and he's confident in his game heading to St Andrews, per Steve DiMeglio of USA Today:
"It was nice to kind of quickly put (the U.S. Open) behind me. I really felt like at Chambers that I could play that golf course well and just kind of got it going the wrong way.
But like I said, glad to have the game back where I want it.
"
Last year, Fowler began with a 69 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, putting him three strokes off McIlroy's pace. That seems to be par for the course—no pun intended—for the 26-year-old, so expect him to get into a similar position this time around.
Thursday Prediction: Fowler shoots 69.
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