2014 British Open tee times: Pairings for Thursday’s first round

While the tee time draw at most events isn’t a major factor except for how it relates to television coverage, that isn’t the case at the Open Championship. The elements play a much bigger role in the British Open with constant and sudden weather changes impacting the scoreboard. A player can get the luck of the draw and be on the course during the prime weather, or get hammered by conditions instead.

We won’t know who will get the breaks this year, but will find out shortly with the first round set to tee off. Tiger Woods will be in the morning wave as he makes his return to major championship play. Woods missed the Masters and U.S. Open following back surgery. He has played just once since returning and his form will be one of the major story lines early on Thursday. He will play in an interesting pairing during the first two days, teeing off with Henrik Stenson and Angel Cabrera. Stenson is one of the favorites heading into the event while Cabrera always seems to play his best in the majors. The three are scheduled to tee off at 4:04 a.m. ET.

With a star-studded major championship field, there are notable players in nearly every grouping. Rory McIlroy will pair with Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama in a very strong 4:26 a.m. pairing while Matt Kuchar, Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen will tee off at 4:48 a.m. The afternoon wave won’t be short on big names either. Jason Day, Zach Johnson and Martin Kaymer will tee off at 8:38 a.m. Jason Dufner, Justin Rose and Adam Scott will go off a few groups later at 9:27 a.m. Dufner, Scott and Rose make for a group of three of the four 2013 major winners.

Defending British Open champion Phil Mickelson will begin his title defense in the afternoon. He will tee off with 2012 Open Championship winner Ernie Els and reigning Masters champion Bubba Watson. Watson and his two Masters championships is actually the least-accomplished of the three. Els has won four majors, including two British Opens, while Mickelson has five major championships on his resume. The three are set for a 9:05 a.m. tee time.

Most PGA Tour events utilize the front and back nine during the early rounds, but the Open Championship -- with the help of extended daylight hours in the United Kingdom in July -- doesn’t have to. Instead, every player in the field will begin his round off No. 1 with tee times beginning at 1:25 a.m. and continuing until 11:06 a.m. While the players will begin hitting the course very early for viewers in the United States, the schedule will make for a very long day and allow fans to enjoy the action well into the afternoon. With such a span between the first group and the final group, weather could make for a very different experience depending on tee times. The weather in a British Open is known to change hole-by-hole, much less during a 10-hour span.

Here is a complete look at the full tee sheet for the first round. All times Eastern: