2013 British Open: Tee times and pairings for Thursday’s round

The 2013 British Open tees off at Muirfield on Thursday well before 7 a.m. local time in Scotland, and well before many of the bars in the eastern United States are closed. The first group off No. 1 at Muirfield will go at 1:32 a.m. ET, the start of 10 hours of tees times at the historic Scottish links layout’s opening hole.

The Open Championship is a refreshing change from the other three majors, with golf on a historic links setup, sometimes in miserable conditions, and middle-of-the-night tee times to break up the deadest month on the US sports calendar. The annual July stop hits during a time of the year in Scotland where golf can be played for almost 17 hours. On Thursday, the sun will rise before 5 a.m. in Gullane and there will be light and potential playing conditions well past 10 p.m. It’s a nice advantage the Royal & Ancient and the Open Championship have over the USGA and U.S. Open, which hustles to get 156 players through 18 holes during the first two days. With that amount of daylight, and a relatively clear forecast this week, there will be no split tees at Muirfield as all players will go off No.1 in threesomes. It adds to the unique march of The Open, with 10 hours of tee times zigging inward and outward providing hilarity and entertainment on the Scottish coast.

ESPN will have the TV coverage all four days, starting at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday. They will be on the air for 11 hours, covering the entire rounds of the marquee groups, starting with the old-timers group right at 4 a.m. -- Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, and Fred Couples. Justin Rose and Ernie Els will go off 11 minutes later in the next group, while the Phil Mickelson-Rory McIlroy power pairing head out at 4:44 a.m.

That’s the first wave cluster of marquee times on Thursday, but the biggest name in the sport, Tiger Woods, will be out in the afternoon for his first round. Woods is paired with Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds and they’re scheduled for 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday. The general preference among the players, including Woods, is to get out early in the morning wave and avoid any potential weather changes that notoriously kick up at the British. It was here where Woods got the short end of the draw, getting caught out in the brutal Saturday conditions in 2002 where most of the afternoon wave struggled to break 80 after the morning groups snuck through in relatively benign conditions. But every player has to play on one side of the draw at least one day, and Woods will be out late on Thursday. Fortunately for the American audience, his entire round will be televised and at a reasonable hour for most of the country.

Here’s the full tee sheet for Thursday’s first round:

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• Rhys, Garrick, and the 10 best names at the British Open

• Rory opposes male-only Muirfield policy, Tiger avoids comment

• Phil preps ridiculous backwards lob wedge shot at Muirfield (video)