The professional golf circuit is headed to England for the 149th Open Championship. The British Open is back after a year pause. The tournament was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That leaves 2019 champion Shane Lowry as the defending champ.
The British Open is always notable for viewers because of the time difference. It is five hours later in the United Kingdom, so regardless of whether it’s in England, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, it is five hours later.
The first and second rounds of the tournament tee off at 6:35 a.m. local time, which is 1:35 a.m. eastern time. The last golfers will tee off those first two days at 4:16 local time, which is 11:16 a.m. eastern time. Golf Channel and Peacock will be offering early coverage, starting at 1:30 a.m. both days and running through the end of the rounds.
The British Open is in an interesting position because of how daylight works that far north of the equator. The summer brings longer days, and particularly so when you go that far north. Normally, the first two rounds of PGA Tour events have trios teeing off on alternate holes for each tee time. At 1 p.m., one trio will tee off at Hole No. 1 and one trio will tee off at Hole No. 10. For the British Open, it’s one hole for each tee time because it will be lighter significantly later in the day.
Third and fourth round tee times will not be known until the second round wraps. In the last British Open, Saturday’s tee times started at 9:35 a.m. local time, or 4:35 a.m. eastern time.