British Open live golf scores, results, highlights from Thursday’s Open Championship Round 1

The 153rd Open Championship takes place from Thursday to Sunday this week at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

The famous links venue in County Antrim last hosted this event back in 2019, when Shane Lowry finished six strokes ahead of Tommy Fleetwood.

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Xander Schauffele triumphed at Royal Troon last year and is again among the favourites, along with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and home favourite Rory McIlroy, who ended his long wait for a fifth major at this year’s Masters.

McIlroy was second at last week’s Scottish Open and said it would be “just as emotional” to win here as it was when he completed the career grand slam at Augusta in April. He missed the cut when the British Open was last held at Portrush six years ago.

The Sporting News is tracking all the action from Round 1 of the 2025 British Open below.

BRITISH OPEN HQ: Live Open leaderboard | The Open TV coverage | Thursday tee times

British Open leaderboard 2025

Click here for the entire 2025 British Open leaderboard

JUMP TO HIGHLIGHTS: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4

British Open live updates, results, highlights from Thursday’s Round 1

All times ET.

Round 1

7:48 a.m — That’s a horrible bounce for Schauffele, who digs his approach out of the sodden rough only to see the ball cannon back off the lip of a rise near the ninth green. It does look like the rain is easing, if that’s any consolation.

7:40 a.m — Haotong Li is on for a 67 without a single dropped shot. A terrific day’s work from the Chinese. His previous best performance at the Open came back in 2017, when he finished third, six behind winner Jordan Spieth.

7:34 a.m — Oh no, Lee Westwood! A routine par putt at the 14th bobbles wide, and he falls to -3 for the day. After not dropping a shot in the whole round to that point, that’s a real kick in the teeth.

7:31 a.m — “No, no… NO!” exclaims Lowry as his tee shot at the eighth swerves just a little too much and lands on the edge of the rough. Could’ve been worse, Shane. Meanwhile, the big screens out on the course are warning of a potential risk of thunderstorms. We’ll keep an eye on that…

7:22 a.m — Colin Morikawa digs out a good approach from right in front of the spectators at the seventh. One thing is clear from the massed umbrellas behind him: the rain is hammering down right now. Those changeable conditions have settled into typically glorious UK coastal summer weather.

7:15 a.m — Disappointment for Olesen as he bogies the 18th, but that shouldn’t detract from an excellent first round here. Westwood could get the clubhouse lead if he continues his form, though. And don’t sleep on Lowry and Rahm — they’re two under, error-free and on the march.

Shane Lowry sinks his second birdie of the day on 6.

Watch his Featured Group on R&A TV: https://t.co/XcxUfDFrmg pic.twitter.com/2mhLYgl0un

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025

7:04 a.m — Lee Westwood is on the march. His blemish-free round continues with a birdie at the 12th. Olesen shanked his tee shot at the 18th but ended up with a decent lie. He should come through at -5 at least.

6:52 a.m — Chris Gotterup moves into a tie for fourth with a birdie at the 12th. Mickelson, rain coat discarded, is looking to get back below par before he finishes for the day. Sam Burns is at -1 after dropping a shot at the fifth. It’s been a good start for much of the American contingent.

6:28 a.m — Olesen now sits at -5 through 16 holes. Li and Westwood are two strokes back. Shane Lowry, champion here the last time the Open was held at Portrush six years ago, is level with Scheffler and Schauffele at one under through the first four.

Chipped in from 23 yards. Jacob Skov Olesen extends his lead with a birdie on 15. pic.twitter.com/KQW8YZe9Qe

— The Open (@TheOpen) July 17, 2025

6:00 a.m — Olesen still leads at the 13th. Scottie Scheffler makes the most of a brilliant tee shot at the third to join a large group tied for -1. The weather conditions might be changeable, but there are some good scores being built in this opening round.

5:46 a.m — Jacob Skov Olesen is the first man at -4 today after an eagle at the 12th. After a front nine of one under, this is quite some first round from the Dane.

5:35 a.m — “CAPTAIN AMERICA!” comes the cry from a spectator as Patrick Reed tees off. The ball ends up buried in the hardy grasses to the left of the fairway. Not much to marvel at.

5:30 a.m. — Defending champ Xander Schauffele overcooks his shot from the fairway on the second. Local broadcasters apologise for the language as he offers his, er, honest opinion on that shot. He might struggle to get up and down out of the rough to make par there.

5:24 a.m. — We’ll update the above leaderboard at the top of the hour, once we have a few more of the select groups out on the course. Lee Westwood has just missed an eagle putt by inches, but a (presumably!) easy birdie will take him to -3, which is a super start in these blustery conditions.

5:09 a.m. — The early leaderboard has Phil Mickelson in a tie for first at -2. Among that group is Matt Fitzpatrick, who picked up a double birdie on the par-five second.

At the other end, spare a thought for veteran K.J. Choi, who is at +9 through the first 12 holes.

5:00 a.m. — Good morning and welcome to Open weekend! Play started at Royal Portrush a few hours ago, but the main groups will be teeing off from around 10 a.m. local time. 

What channel is the British Open on today?

• TV channel: USA Network
• TV broadcast times: 4 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET
• Live streams: Peacock, Fubo

The British Open will air live on USA Network for the first two days of the tournament before shifting to NBC for Rounds 3-4. Televised coverage will begin at 4 a.m. ET on Thursday and Friday, with Mike Tirico, Dan Hicks, Terry Gannon, Steve Sands and Tom Abbott on play-by-play. NBC’s coverage for Saturday and Sunday begins at 7 a.m. ET.

Peacock will have live-streaming coverage throughout the tournament showcasing two morning groups and two afternoon groups each day. Peacock-exclusive programming also includes a Par-3 channel featuring the 6th and 16th holes.

You can also stream every round of the British Open live with Fubo, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.

Here is the full breakdown of the British Open TV schedule (all times Eastern):

British Open tee times Thursday

Here are the complete British Open tee times for play on Thursday and Friday.

Round 1: Thursday, July 17

Round 2: Friday, July 18