With 36 holes in the books, the British Open is ready to head to the weekend and there will be a major change in protocol when it does. With extended hours of daylight, the field always starts its round on No. 1. Tee times go from the early morning to the mid afternoon, every group teeing off the first hole. That will change on Saturday when for the first time in the 143-year history of the Open, the championship will use split tees.
British Open 2014 pairings and tee times for Saturday’s round
The pairings will be shuffled for Saturday at the British Open and for the first time ever, the field will go off in split tees.
2 tee start tomorrow at 9am due to inclement weather forecast including thunder & lightning. Some sunshine promised too. #TheOpen
— The Open (@The_Open) July 18, 2014 The R&A made the decision to send players off No. 1 and No. 10 due to thunderstorms in the forecast. Weather is always a factor in the Open, but rain and wind are very different from thunder and lightning. Players simply can’t remain on the course during a thunderstorm. Using split tees and playing in groups of three, will help get the players on the course quicker and get through the round even with potential delays.
British Open
Although the split tees will be a change from Open Championship tradition, they won’t impact the leaders. The final groups will still begin their third round off No. 1. Rory McIlroy, who holds the 36-hole lead at 12-under, will play in the final group, joined by Dustin Johnson and Francesco Molinari. Johnson is 8-under and alone in second place while Molinari is among the group tied for third at 6-under. The schedule could change, depending on weather, but McIlroy and his playing partners are tentatively scheduled to tee off at 6:01 a.m. ET.
Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler are among the players tied for third place and they will play in the second-to-last group, joined by Ryan Moore. Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen and George Cotezee, all from South Africa, will form the third-to-last group.
Tiger Woods is also scheduled to tee off at 6:01 a.m., but he will tee off the 10th tee. Woods made the cut right on the line at 2-over and will play with Rhein Gibson and Jordan Spieth. Spieth and Woods were among the favorites coming in. They’ll need to go very low on Saturday if they are going to be in contention in the final round. Here is a complete look at the third round tee times. All times Eastern:
Hole No. | Tee Time | Players | ||
1 | 4:00 a.m. | Keegan Bradley | Jason Dufner | Phil Mickelson |
1 | 4:11 a.m. | Thongchai Jaidee | D.A. Points | Gary Woodland |
1 | 4:22 a.m. | Kristoffer Broberg | David Hearn | Graeme McDowell |
1 | 4:33 a.m. | Byeong-Hun An | Branden Grace | Hideki Matsuyama |
1 | 4:44 a.m. | Stephen Gallacher | Shane Lowry | Matteo Manassero |
1 | 4:55 a.m. | Bill Haas | David Howell | Justin Rose |
1 | 5:06 a.m. | Thomas Bjorn | Marc Leishman | Edoardo Molinari |
1 | 5:17 a.m. | Victor Dubuisson | Adam Scott | Jimmy Walker |
1 | 5:28 a.m. | Jim Furyk | Robert Karlsson | Marc Warren |
1 | 5:39 a.m. | George Coetzee | Louis Oosthuizen | Charl Schwartzel |
1 | 5:50 a.m. | Rickie Fowler | Sergio Garcia | Ryan Moore |
1 | 6:01 a.m. | Dustin Johnson | Rory McIlroy | Francesco Molinari |
10 | 4:00 a.m. | Gregory Bourdy | Chris Rodgers | Ben Martin |
10 | 4:11 a.m. | Darren Clarke | Matt Kuchar | Hunter Mahan |
10 | 4:22 a.m. | Kevin Stadler | Chris Kirk | Martin Kaymer |
10 | 4:33 a.m. | John Senden | Billy Hurley III | Chris Wood |
10 | 4:44 a.m. | Matt Jones | Brooks Koepka | Paul Casey |
10 | 4:55 a.m. | Angel Cabrera | Henrik Stenson | Ryan Palmer |
10 | 5:06 a.m. | Brian Harman | Jamie McLeary | Charley Hoffman |
10 | 5:17 a.m. | Kevin Streelman | Brendon Todd | Brandt Snedeker |
10 | 5:28 a.m. | Jason Day | Zach Johnson | Kevin Na |
10 | 5:39 a.m. | Koumei Oda | Thorbjorn Olesen | Stewart Cink |
10 | 5:50 a.m. | Tom Watson | Luke Donald | Matt Every |
10 | 6:01 a.m. | Tiger Woods | Jordan Spieth | Rhein Gibson |
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