The Open golf 2016: Dates, tee times, prediction, TV schedule, odds and picks

Tom Dutton15 July 2016

The Open champion Zach Johnson will return to Scotland this week as he bids to overcome long odds and retain his crown.

The American clinched his second major after emerging triumphant from a three-man play-off against Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in 2015.

And having handed back the Claret Jug ahead of Thursday's opening round at Royal Troon, Johnson is preparing to return to a course he first experienced in 2004.

“I actually missed my first three cuts,” Johnson says, recalling his appearance at Troon 12 years ago. “But I still remember falling in love with links golf immediately, because I had never experienced it.

“I’m not one to sit here saying I can now win three or four. I feel like I know what it demands. I feel that given the right, fortunate side of the tee times, yeah I think I can put myself in contention there on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie, an honorary member of Royal Troon who knows the links course inside out, has been granted the honour of hitting the first shot at the 145th British Open there on Thursday.

But what more is there to know ahead of the British Open?

Date, time and venue

The Open will start on Thursday, July 14 and run until Sunday, July 17 with play commencing at 06.35am on the opening day.

The Championship will take place at Royal Troon Golf Club in Ayrshire, Scotland

(David Cannon/Getty Images)

TV schedule

The first tee shot of tournament will be shown live for the first time as Sky Sports takes over from the BBC after winning the live rights to end 60 years of the British Open on terrestrial TV.

Sky launched channel 'Sky Sports The Open' (Sky Sports 1HD) on Monday to mark the beginning of therir coverage, which will include 10 days of programming, live coverage of all four days' play and evening highlights.

Tee times (opening round)

0635 Marc Leishman (Aus), Colin Montgomerie, Luke Donald

0646 Steven Alker (Nzl), Marcus Fraser (Aus), Sang-hee Lee (Kor)

0657 Jeunghun Wang (Kor), Jon Rahm (Spa), Ryan Palmer (USA)

0708 Scott Gregory (a), Sandy Lyle, David Duval (USA)

0719 Richie Ramsay, Danny Lee (Nzl), Harris English (USA)

0730 Steven Bowditch (Aus), Alex Noren (Swe), Kevin Chappell (USA)

0741 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Darren Clarke, Jim Furyk (USA)

0752 Justin Thomas (USA), David Lingmerth (Swe), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)

0803 Patrick Reed (USA), Branden Grace (Rsa), Byeong-Hun An (Kor)

0814 Paul Lawrie, Brandt Snedeker (USA), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

0825 Padraig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Jamie Donaldson

0836 Scott Piercy (USA), Paul Dunne, Jamie Lovemark (USA)

0847 Victor Dubuisson (Fra), Jimmy Walker (USA), Scott Hend (Aus)

0903 Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth (USA), Shane Lowry

0914 Ross Fisher, Steve Stricker (USA), Vijay Singh (Fij)

0925 Danny Willett, Rickie Fowler (USA), Jason Day (Aus)

0936 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson (USA)

0947 Gary Woodland (USA), James Morrison, Soomin Lee (Kor)

0958 Chris Kirk (USA), Smylie Kaufman (USA), George Coetzee (Rsa)

1009 Matthew Fitzpatrick, Billy Horschel (USA), Hideto Tanihara (Jpn)

1020 Matteo Manassero (Ita), Shugo Imahira (Jpn), Russell Henley (USA)

1031 Robert Rock, Kodai Ichihara (Jpn), William McGirt (USA)

1042 Brendan Steele (USA), Richard Sterne (Rsa), Matt Jones (Aus)

1053 Patton Kizzire (USA), Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Rod Pampling (Aus)

1104 Dave Coupland, Nathan Holman (Aus), Phachara Khongwatmai (Tha)

1115 Rikard Karlberg (Swe), Scott Fernandez (Spa), Haydn Porteous (Rsa)

1136 Kristoffer Broberg (Swe), Greg Chalmers (Aus), Clement Sordet (Fra)

1147 David Howell, Seung-Yul Noh (Kor), Tony Finau (USA)

1158 Jordan Niebrugge (USA), Nick Cullen (Aus), Robert Streb (USA)

1209 Stefano Mazzoli (a) (Ita), Ben Curtis (USA), John Daly (USA)

1220 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Kevin Kisner (USA), K.T. Kim (Kor)

1231 Justin Leonard (USA), Todd Hamilton (USA), Mark Calcavecchia (USA)

1242 Lasse Jensen (Den), Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Bill Haas (USA)

1253 Paul Casey, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa), Kevin Na (USA)

1304 Joost Luiten (Ned), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Charley Hoffman (USA)

1315 Graeme McDowell, Matt Kuchar (USA), Andrew Johnson (USA)

1326 Phil Mickelson (USA), Lee Westwood, Ernie Els (Rsa)

1337 Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), James Hahn (USA), Andrew Sullivan

1348 Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Ryan Moore (USA), Tommy Fleetwood

1404 Martin Kaymer (Ger), Dustin Johnson (USA), Russell Knox

1415 Zach Johnson (USA), Adam Scott (Aus), Henrik Stenson (Swe)

1426 Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn), Chris Wood, Mark O'Meara (USA)

1437 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Jason Dufner (USA), Marc Warren

1448 Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Keegan Bradley (USA)

1459 Webb Simpson (USA), Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Thomas Pieters (Bel)

1510 Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), J.B. Holmes (USA), Brandon Stone (Rsa)

1521 Matthew Southgate, Marco Dawson (USA), Yosuke Tsukada (Jpn)

1532 Jack Senior, James Heath, Brian Gay (USA)

1543 Fabian Gomez (Arg), Jim Herman (USA), Anthony Wall

1554 Paul Howard (Gbr), Daniel Summerhays (USA), Colt Knost (USA)

1605 Oskar Arvidsson (Swe), Harold Varner III (USA), Tyrrell Hatton

1616 Ryan Evans, Callum Shinkwin, Zander Lombard (Rsa)

Prediction

Odds (VIA 888SPORT)

Dustin Johnson 12/1

Jason Day 14/1

Rory McIlroy 14/1

Jordan Spieth 16/1

Sergio Garcia 33/1

Adam Scott 33/1

Rickie Fowler 40/1

Branden Grace 40/1

Henrik Stenson 40/1

Justin Rose 45/1

Course guide

Postage Stamp

Infographic by online golf retailer www.golfbidder.co.uk
www.golfbidder.co.uk

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