With Thursday’s opening-round jitters — and any concerns of lingering jet lag — in the rear view, the field at the 2017 British Open is beginning to jell.
British Open TV schedule 2017: Coverage of Round 2 at Royal Birkdale
With the cut looming, several stars need to make a move in England.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
On Friday, the stage will be set for the championship rounds.
The second round of the Open will be the last for approximately half the field, and we’ve seen big names fail to advance to the weekend in 2017’s other majors. The cut at the Masters claimed names like Danny Willett, Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson, and Alex Noren. Favorites like Stenson, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, and Jon Rahm all failed to last four rounds at this year’s U.S. Open.
More big names are slated to fall Friday on one of the PGA Tour’s most unforgiving courses. The Royal Birkdale is hosting its 10th British Open, and its links are a perfect encapsulation of the sport’s history on the isle. The course takes advantage of the rolling valleys of England’s west coast, dropping wide greens into a pastoral backdrop.
At 7,200 yards, the course isn’t especially long, and a lack of trees and water hazards gives the impression that golfers can take big drives off the tee with little risk. However, a minefield of deep bunkers nestled throughout Birkdale’s fairways are designed to steal shots and stop progress. Once these pros get to the green, a long, undulating path stands between them and the hole.
The challenge there is real. Padraig Harrington won the Open at the Royal Birkdale with a +3 final score. He finished four strokes ahead of the next closest competitor. Only four golfers could claim a score of +9 or lower that weekend. In 1998, the only thing that got champion Mark O’Meara under par for the event was a four-hole playoff with Brian Watts.
That increased difficulty will soften the curve by which the cut is set, but expect to see some big names leaving Southport early on Friday evening. This year’s Open is host to a stacked field that includes all the the world’s top 25 golfers along with veteran stars like Harrington, Ernie Els, Ian Poulter, and the always-entertaining John Daly.
Here’s how you can catch all of Friday’s action live, whether it’s on television, on the radio, or streaming over the internet.
Friday’s second round coverage (all times ET)
Television:
1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. -- Golf Channel
Online streams:
1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. -- Golf Channel broadcast simulcast stream
1:30-11:30 a.m. -- “First Tee” stream
4 a.m.-3 p.m. -- Featured holes stream
Radio:
3 a.m.-1 p.m. -- Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio (Ch. 92/208)
Friday’s tee times and groupings (all times Eastern)
- 1:35 a.m.: Andrew Johnston, Adam Hadwin, Todd Hamilton
- 1:46 a.m.: John Daly, Adam Bland, a-Connor Syme
- 1:57 a.m.: William McGirt, Toby Tree, Jamie Lovemark
- 2:08 a.m.: Matthew Griffin, Austin Connelly, Matthew Southgate
- 2:19 a.m.: Cameron Smith, Bill Haas, Callum Shinkwin
- 2:30 a.m.: Michael Hendry, Brian Harman, Martin Laird
- 2:41 a.m.: Ernie Els, Ross Fisher, Bernd Wiesberger
- 2:52 a.m.: Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Kaymer, Aaron Baddeley
- 3:03 a.m.: Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia
- 3:14 a.m.: Andy Sullivan, Joost Luiten, David Lipsky
- 3:25 a.m.: Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Paul Casey
- 3:36 a.m.: Matt Kuchar, Richie Ramsay, Ryan Fox
- 3:47 a.m.: Kevin Kisner, Charley Hoffman, David Drysdale
- 4:03 a.m.: Jimmy Walker, Hideto Tanihara, Thorbjorn Olesen
- 4:14 a.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Brandon Stone, Sean O’Hair
- 4:25 a.m.: Daniel Berger, Pablo Larrazabal, Yuta Ikeda
- 4:36 a.m.: Paul Lawrie, Kevin Chappell, Yusaku Miyazato
- 4:47 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel
- 4:58 a.m.: Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood
- 5:09 a.m.: Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Marc Leishman
- 5:20 a.m.: Scott Hend, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Bubba Watson
- 5:31 a.m.: Paul Waring, Kyle Stanley, Kevin Na
- 5:42 a.m.: Giwhan Kim, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Dodt
- 5:53 a.m.: Haotong Li, Kent Bulle, Haydn McCullen
- 6:04 a.m.: Jbe Kruger, Nick McCarthy, Ashley Hall
- 6:15 a.m.: Ryan McCarthy, Laurie Canter, Sebastian Munoz
- 6:36 a.m.: Mark O’Meara, Chris Wood, Ryan Moore
- 6:47 a.m.: Phachara Khongwatmai, a-Maverick McNealy, Stuart Manley
- 6:58 a.m.: Stewart Cink, Sandy Lyle, Jeunghun Wang
- 7:09 a.m.: Paul Broadhurst, Thongchai Jaidee, Roberto Castro
- 7:20 a.m.: Tom Lehman, Ben An, Darren Fichardt
- 7:31 a.m.: Soren Kjeldsen, Billy Horschel, Danny Willett
- 7:42 a.m.: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Steve Stricker, Emiliano Grillo
- 7:53 a.m.: Jason Dufner, Branden Grace, Bryson DeChambeau
- 8:04 a.m.: Alex Noren, Russell Knox, Ian Poulter
- 8:15 a.m.: David Duval, Prayad Marksaeng, K.T. Kim
- 8:26 a.m.: Younghan Song, David Horsey, Dylan Frittelli
- 8:37 a.m.: Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Charles Howell III, Shiv Kapur
- 8:48 a.m.: Russell Henley, Fabrizio Zanotti, Peter Uihlein
- 9:04 a.m.: Alexander Levy, Brendan Steele, Webb Simpson
- 9:15 a.m.: Wesley Bryan, Anirban Lahiri, a-Alfie Plant
- 9:26 a.m.: Darren Clarke, Gary Woodland, a-Harry Ellis
- 9:37 a.m.: Padraig Harrington, Pat Perez, Thomas Pieters
- 9:48 a.m.: Henrik Stenson, Si Woo Kim, Jordan Spieth
- 9:59 a.m.: Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas
- 10:10 a.m.: Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood
- 10:21 a.m.: J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker, Shane Lowry
- 10:32 a.m.: Richard Bland, Shaun Norris, a-Luca Cianchetti
- 10:43 a.m.: Yikeun Chang, Chan Kim, Mark Foster
- 10:54 a.m.: Sung-Hoon Kang, Tony Finau, Matthieu Pavon
- 11:05 a.m.: Alexander Bjork, Joe Dean, Robert Streb
- 11:16 a.m.: Robert Dinwiddie, Julian Suri, Adam Hodkinson
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