British Open 2019: Thursday Tee Times, TV Schedule and Live Stream

The 2019 Open Championship kicked off early Thursday morning at the Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. Francesco Molinari will try to defend his title against an impressive field that features past winners Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.

Other notable participants include 2019 Masters winner Tiger Woods, 2019 U.S. Open winner Gary Woodland and 2019 PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka.

This really could be anybody's tournament, though. Royal Portrush, which hasn't hosted the British Open since 1951, rewards touch and accuracy more than power. That will make for an intriguing challenge and an exciting weekend of golf.

Here, you'll find a list of notable tee times and all the information you need to pick up Thursday's action.

Date: Thursday, July 18

Time: 6:30 a.m. BST, 1:30 a.m. ET

TV: Sky Sports (UK), NBC Sports (U.S.), Golf Channel (U.S.)

Live Stream:  Sky Go (UK), NBC (U.S.), Golf Channel App (U.S.).

Live Daily Coverage: TheOpen.com

Notable Tee Times

6:35 a.m. BST, 1:35 a.m. ET: Darren Clarke, James Sugrue, Charley Hoffman

7:52 a.m. BST, 2:52 a.m. ET: Phil Mickelson, Shane Lowry, Branden Grace

9:58 a.m. BST, 4:58 a.m. ET: Francesco Molinari, Bryson DeChambeau, Adam Scott

10:09 a.m. BST, 5:09 a.m. ET: Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland, Paul Casey

1:04 p.m. BST, 8:04 a.m. ET: Brooks Koepka, Louis Oosthuizen, Shubhankar Sharma 

1:26 p.m. BST, 8:26 a.m. ET: Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett, Marc Leishman

2:48 p.m. BST, 9:48 a.m. ET: Justin Rose, Tony Finau, Lucas Bjerregaard

2:59 p.m. BST, 9:59 a.m. ET: Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Keegan Bradley

3:10 p.m. BST, 10:10 a.m. ET: Tiger Woods, Matt Wallace, Patrick Reed

3:21 p.m. ET, 10:21 a.m. ET: Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Kuchar

Round 2: Friday, July 19

Start Time: 6:35a.m. BST, 1:35 a.m. ET

Round 3: Saturday, Jul 20

Start Time: TBA

Round 4: Sunday, July 21

Start Time: TBA

McIlroy's Familiarity with Royal Portrush

Plenty of folks view McIlroy as having an edge at this year's Open Championship. A Northern Ireland native, he exploded on to the competitive golf scene at Royal Portrush by setting a new course record of 61 at the age of 16.

"It was unbelievable and surreal how someone managed to shoot such a low score—he was only 16," Gary McNeil, the Royal Portrush club pro at the time said, per John Clarke of the New York Times. "It was a special day and a signal that the kid was something special."

McIlroy has indeed gone on to be a special golfer, with 16 PGA wins to his credit and four major championships on his resume. However, it's that course familiarity that could give McIlroy an edge over the weekend.

"I've played well here before," he said in an interview, via Golf Channel. "I know what I'm doing around here."

Unfortunately for the local product, things got off to a rocky start early Thursday morning:

Koepka's Secret Weapon

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

You may have heard that Woods tried to get in a little practice time with Koepka before the British Open but to no avail.

"I said, 'Hey, dude, do you mind if I tag along and play a practice round?'" Woods said, per Dylan Dethier of Golf.com. "I've heard nothing."

While some may view Koepka's non-response as a bit of a snub, the reigning PGA Championship-winner had a good reason not to take the course with the competition.

Koepka's caddie, Ricky Elliott, grew up in Portrush, and he likely knows the course as well as anyone else in attendance this weekend.

Elliott, of course, has downplayed this knowledge.

"I don't even think [Koepka] knows I'm from Portrush," he said, per Rex Hoggard of Golf Channel. "I've played there a lot growing up but Brooks hits the ball a lot different than the lines I hit it on. I'll have to work with the yardage book a little bit."

The reality, though, is that Elliott's intimate knowledge of Royal Portrush gives Koepka an advantage—and no one can really blame Koepka for not wanting a player like Woods to pick his caddie's brain before the tournament.

We'll find out in the coming days if this advantage is enough to net Koepka his second major of 2019.