British Open Tee Times 2016: Pairings and Predictions for Thursday Schedule

The 2016 Open Championship will kick off Thursday with first-round action from Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland, and the field features an excellent mix of established superstars and potential first-time winners.

Big names such as Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy enter the tournament with the weight of heavy expectations, and on the heels of two players having already won their first career major championships this year, that trio's major title drought could continue.

Ahead of the 145th edition of the oldest major in golf, here is a full rundown of Thursday's groups and tee times, along with predictions for how the top of the leaderboard will play out.

Thursday Tee Times

Time (ET)	Golfer 1	Golfer 2	Golfer 3
1:35 a.m.	Colin Montgomerie	Marc Leishman	Luke Donald
1:46 a.m.	Steven Alker	Marcus Fraser	Sanghee Lee
1:57 a.m.	Jeunghun Wang	Jon Rahm	Ryan Palmer
2:08 a.m.	Sandy Lyle	Scott Gregory	David Duval
2:19 a.m.	Richie Ramsay	Danny Lee	Harris English
2:30 a.m.	Alex Noren	Steven Bowditch	Kevin Chappell
2:41 a.m.	Darren Clarke	Thorbjorn Olesen	Jim Furyk
2:52 a.m.	Justin Thomas	David Lingmerth	Kiradech Aphibarnrat
3:03 a.m.	Branden Grace	Patrick Reed	Byeong Hun An
3:14 a.m.	Paul Lawrie	Brandt Snedeker	Thognchai Jaidee
3:25 a.m.	Padraig Harrington	Louis Oosthuizen	Jamie Donaldson
3:36 a.m.	Scott Piercy	Paul Dunne	Jamie Lovemark
3:47 a.m.	Victor Dubuisson	Jimmy Walker	Scott Hend
4:03 a.m.	Jordan Spieth	Justin Rose	Shane Lowry
4:14 a.m.	Ross Fisher	Steve Stricker	Vijay Singh
4:25 a.m.	Danny Willett	Rickie Fowler	Jason Day
4:36 a.m.	Rory McIlroy	Hideki Matsuyama	Bubba Watson
4:47 a.m.	Gary Woodland	James Morrison	Soomin Lee
4:58 a.m.	Smylie Kaufman	Chris Kirk	George Coetzee
5:09 a.m.	Billy Horschel	Matthew Fitzpatrick	Hideto Tanihara
5:20 a.m.	Matteo Manassero	Shugo Imahira	Russell Henley
5:31 a.m.	Kodai Ichihara	Robert Rock	William McGirt
5:42 a.m.	Brendan Steele	Richard Sterne	Matt Jones
5:53 a.m.	Patton Kizzire	Nicolas Colsaerts	Rod Pampling
6:04 a.m.	Dave Coupland	Nathan Holman	Phachara Khongwatmai
6:15 a.m.	Scott Fernandez	Rikard Karlberg	Haydn Porteous
6:36 a.m.	Greg Chalmers	Kristoffer Broberg	Clement Sordet
6:47 a.m.	David Howell	Seugn Yul Noh	Tony Finau
6:58 a.m.	Jordan Niebrugge	Nick Cullen	Robert Streb
7:09 a.m.	Ben Curtis	Stefano Mazzoli	John Daly
7:20 a.m.	Francesco Molinari	Kevin Kisner	K.T. Kim
7:31 a.m.	Todd Hamilton	Justin Leonard	Mark Calcavecchia
7:42 a.m.	Soren Kjeldsen	Lasse Jensen	Bill Haas
7:53 a.m.	Paul Casey	Charl Schwartzel	Kevin Na
8:04 a.m.	Emiliano Grillo	Juist Looten	Charley Hoffman
8:15 a.m.	Graeme McDowell	Matt Kuchar	Andrew Johnston
8:26 a.m.	Phil Mickelson	Lee Westwood	Ernie Els
8:37 a.m.	Satoshi Kodaira	James Hahn	Andy Sullivan
8:48 a.m.	Ryan Moore	Bernd Wiesberger	Tommy Fleetwood
9:04 a.m.	Dustin Johnson	Martin Kaymer	Russell Knox
9:15 a.m.	Zach Johnson	Adam Scott	Henrik Stenson
9:26 a.m.	Chris Wood	Yusaku Miyazato	Mark O'Meara
9:37 a.m.	Miguel Angel Jimenez	Jason Duffner	Marc Warren
9:48 a.m.	Anirban Lahiri	Sergio Garcia	Keegan Bradley
9:59 a.m.	Webb Simpson	Yuta Ikeda	Thomas Pieters
10:10 a.m.	Rafael Cabrera-Bello	J.B. Holmes	Brandon Stone
10:21 a.m.	Marco Dawson	Matthew Southgate	Yosuke Tsukada
10:32 a.m.	Jack Senior	James Heath	Brian Gay
10:43 a.m.	Jim Herman	Fabian Gomez	Anthony Wall
10:54 a.m.	Paul Howard	Daniel Summerhays	Colt Knost
11:05 a.m.	Oskar Arvidsson	Harold Varner III	Tyrrell Hatton
11:16 a.m.	Ryan Evans	Callum Shinkwin	Zander Lombard

British Open 2016 Predictions

First Place: Jason Day

One year after his best career British Open finish with a tie for fourth place, Day is in prime position to take the Claret Jug for the first time and win his second career major championship in the process.

The world's No. 1 player has enjoyed a dominant season with three wins and eight top-10 finishes, but he is still looking to add to the major haul he started in 2015 by winning the PGA Championship.

Day was within striking distance of taking the Open Championship last year, and that has added to his desire to win what is arguably golf's most prestigious major, according to Golf Channel:

The 28-year-old Australian proved last year that he knows how to come through in the clutch on the big stage, but he is still trying to improve in that regard.

Per Sky Sports, Day is hoping to take a page out of Tiger Woods' book in reference to perhaps the most dominant run in the history of golf:

"

You can't win them all, and that's just the way of life. Like I've always said, we got spoiled with Tiger Woods, how he dominated and did so well. ... That's what I'm shooting for, to be able to finish off like he did back in the day. Will I ever get to a point like that? Maybe not. But that's what I'm shooting for right now.

"

Day seems to be in the right state of mind ahead of the Open Championship, and that could go a long way toward helping him add to his growing legacy.

He already has two top-10 finishes in majors to his credit this year, and the fact that he is almost always in the mix during big tournaments should give him an opportunity to reign supreme at Royal Troon.

Second Place: Jordan Spieth

Spieth has gone four consecutive majors without a victory since winning the Masters and U.S. Open last year, but signs are pointing toward the 22-year-old Texan being a top contender for his first Claret Jug this week.

He finished in a tie for fourth at last year's British Open, and while his experience on links courses is somewhat limited due to the fact that his career is just getting started, he believes his game is a perfect fit for that style of golf, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News:

"

I think my game in general over the course of the next, hopefully, 20 to 30 years out here will show that this style of golf plays to my strengths. Does that mean this week it may? I don't know. But I love this style of golf. I feel comfortable playing this style of golf, and I think that this tournament is one that we certainly put emphasis on.

"

Executing the little things often leads to the greatest success in links golf, and one can argue that nobody does that better than Spieth.

That is especially true on and around the greens, as evidenced by these stats courtesy of the PGA Tour:

Spieth's putting is a cut above the rest, and that should ensure he is in the mix at the very least, much like he has been in five of the past six majors he has competed in.

One thing that Spieth has struggled with since his U.S. Open win last year, though, is holding the lead and closing things out in major championships.

That was especially true earlier this year at the Masters, and while Spieth figures to perform well once again, his recent late-tournament issues will prevent him from overtaking Day.

Third Place: Sergio Garcia

Widely regarded as the best player to never win a major, Sergio Garcia is in fine form, and Royal Troon may represent his best chance yet to end his career-long drought.

The 36-year-old Spaniard is coming off a fifth-place finish at the U.S. Open, and he previously won the AT&T Byron Nelson. As a result, he has momentum ahead of a tournament that he has enjoyed plenty of success in over the years despite never winning it.

According to Golf Channel, Garcia has regularly been within striking distance in the Open Championship over the past 15 years:

Per Justin Ray of GolfChannel.com, he has been especially strong since 2010:

While Garcia has a long history of falling just short in the big tournaments, his track record at the British Open suggests he will at least have a chance to hoist the Claret Jug.

With top golfers such as Day, Spieth and McIlroy having already proved capable of winning the world's top tournaments, Garcia is at somewhat of a disadvantage ahead of the Open Championship despite his solid play on links courses.

While there is every reason to believe that Garcia will be in the hunt, based on his history of near misses, he'll come up empty in his latest attempt to win a major.

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