British Open 2016 live stream: How to watch Thursday’s round online

The 145th version of The Open begins on Thursday at Royal Troon in Scotland, with a 156-man field gunning for the Claret Jug on what’s likely to be a hard golf course. It is The Open’s ninth trip to Troon in history and the first since 2004, when American Todd Hamilton won in a four-hole playoff against Ernie Els.

There will be history made this year as well thanks to the Golf Channel. For the first time ever, viewers will be able to watch a major championship from the very first shot. The Golf Channel is broadcasting a major for the first time and going all out with extended coverage. Golf Channel’s coverage will begin at 1:30 a.m. ET, right when the first shot is hit. That’s nearly three hours before ESPN traditionally began its first-round broadcast. Golf Channel’s coverage will also be available via a live simulcast stream. Viewers will not only get to see the first groups off the first tee, they’ll get to see every group off the first tee thanks to a dedicated first tee stream. That stream, plus the traditional featured holes and featured groups streams and the extended broadcast, make for unprecedented levels of coverage.

When The Open came to Troon in 2004, it played to an average of 73.21 strokes, against a par-72 card. The R&A now pegs this as a par-71 course, but it’s not likely to be a lot easier even with the lower par figure. The course is 15 yards longer now than it was in 2004, and its layout changes have been generally minor – some green sizes changed, some tee boxes moved to new angles and other smallish adjustments. The course has also been made firmer and quicker since 2012, when rain softened it and made it play easier during the Amateur Championship. The pros won’t have that luxury this time around.

The world’s best players are pretty much all in this field, with a rehabilitating Tiger Woods the most public omission from the event. Dustin Johnson and Jason Day are the co-favorites, and with good reason. Johnson won his first major at Oakmont in June’s U.S. Open, then followed it with another win at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. Day struggled early at Oakmont, but he rallied late to finish tied for eighth there before a tie for third in the WGC Bridgestone. Johnson and Day are Nos. 1 and 2 in the FedEx Cup standings right now, and they’re playing like it.

Beyond them, a lot of the usual suspects could make a run. Defending Open champion Zach Johnson also finished with consecutive top-10s at Oakmont and the Bridgestone. Jordan Spieth will be hungry to redeem himself after losing out to Johnson last year. Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott and the like are all capable of making a run, or there could be a dark horse. (It’s not like there haven’t been plenty of surprise Open winners before.)

Here’s a full streaming schedule for Thursday’s opening round. All times included here are Eastern:

1:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. -- Golf Channel

Marquee group stream

4:03 a.m. -- Jordan Spieth / Justin Rose / Shane Lowry

9:15 a.m. -- Zach Johnson / Adam Scott / Henrik Stenson

3 a.m. - 1 p.m. -- Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio (Ch. 92/208)