A sense of excitement and anticipation has taken over the golfing world as the coveted British Open nears its opening date. The British Open, often regarded as the greatest golf tournament, features the prestigious sport's finest talents competing for victory on the biggest stage.
Undoubtedly, The Open is the oldest continuing championship in golf. Even after a hundred and fifty years of its survival, the excitement, anticipation, and attraction for the tournament keeps on growing among golf fans.
We have thoroughly studied each aspect of the British Open and have written down everything you need to know about this prestigious championship.
Unlike its name, the British Open has a lot to offer and like Billy Fury’s song, it is truly a golfer’s “Halfway to Paradise.”
Without further ado, imagine yourself in the stands watching your favourite golfing heroes swinging the ball right and left as we take you through the details of the upcoming British Open.
British Open 2023: Tournament schedule & location
The British Open is one of the four major men’s golf tournaments, with the other three being the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and the Masters Tournament.
Established in 1860, this year will mark the 151st playing of golf’s oldest championship. The tournament will commence on 16th July, Sunday, and will last for a week till 23rd July.
The Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake will host The British Open for the 13th time this year. The club got the honour of hosting the prestigious tournament for the first time back in 1897, and since then it has only fallen short of St Andrews in hosting the maximum number of The British Open.
Former world number one player in the Official World Golf Ranking list, Rory McIlroy held the Claret Jug the last time The British Open was played at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club back in 2014.
Following the century-old tradition, this year’s British Open will also begin with four days of practice rounds. The 156 players participating in the championship will get a chance to observe and practice on the course before the main event.
The practice rounds also aid in identifying and rectifying any issues a player might be facing with their game. According to The British Open’s official schedule, from 16th-19th July, the gates will open at 9:00 am and the play is expected to continue throughout the day.
If you are a golf enthusiast and are looking for a chance to see your golfing idols up close, we recommend you purchase a ticket for the practice rounds and witness your heroes in all their glory.
As for the main event, it will tee off early in the morning on the 20th of July. On the first two days, the gates will open at 6 am and the play is expected to begin at 6:35 am. Keeping in mind The Open’s history, we expect that the play will last till 8:30 pm.
Prepare yourself to witness a tense ambiance as the players’ nerves will be at an all-time high. As the experts say, you can’t win The Open on the first day, but you can for sure lose it.
With the game taking up a bit of a shape by the end of the first day, the nerves and stakes will be higher than ever on day 2. With a dreaded cut hovering over the heads of the players, the second day will definitely be fretful.
In comparison to the first two days, the game will begin at a slightly later time of 8 am on 22nd July. The gates will open for the audience at 7 am and the play is expected to last till 7 pm.
On this day, some hearts will be shattered while others will get a step closer to their lifelong dream of lifting the Claret Jug. Round 3 will see the top contenders and the chasing group get separated from each other like a fly in milk.
The mighty British Open will come to its end on 23rd July. The finalists out of the 156 players will step onto the course in hopes of getting their names inked in history. The game will commence at 8 am and is expected to last till 7 pm.
It’s a warm Sunday, you are at the very place where history is being made, sipping on a cup of coffee in the wee hours of the morning, and praying for your favourite to win the mighty British Open, could your day get any better than this?
British Open UK & US TV schedule
Not all of us are as lucky as the residents of Hoylake who have a real chance of attending the British Open in person. Some of us will have to make do with television. For people residing in other parts of the UK, Sky Sports will air the championship minute by minute. Others who do not have access to a television can watch the championship online via the Sky Go application. From the first till the last day of the championship, BBC Two will air the highlights of each day’s play.
The championship’s name might suggest that it is an event only for the British, but we do not want our readers from the United States to feel left out. If you can’t attend the event in person does not mean that you can’t watch it through any other medium.
The official broadcasting partner in the United States is NBC’s streaming service Peacock and the Golf Channel. The practice and the initial two rounds of the main event will be covered by the above-mentioned channels.
On Thursday and Friday, the streaming will begin at 1 am and continue till 4 pm according to US time. On day 3, the broadcast will commence at 7 am and last till 3 pm. Last but not least, the final round will be aired from 6 am to 2 pm.
NBC Sports will take over the coverage responsibility for the final two rounds of the mighty event.
British Open 2023: Prize & Benefits
Apart from the Claret Jug and other benefits, the champion of The British Open will receive a purse worth £14,000,000. This amount is equivalent to 18,194,456 US dollars.
Although the prize money for this year’s British Open is lesser in comparison to LIV Golf and other tournaments, every golf player dreams of becoming the champion of The Open. It’s the tournament that gave golf the recognition it deserves and all other tournaments no matter how popular they are right now, are little hatchlings of this golf giant.
It goes without saying that the winner of the championship receives The Golf Champion Trophy which is known as the Claret Jug in the golfing world. You may not know this but the winner gets to keep the original trophy for one year i.e. till the next Open, at the time of which they return the original trophy and get a replica as a replacement.
Moreover, the winner gets a gold medal which is what all the winners would get before the invention of the Claret Jug. Winning The Open truly opens up the doors to all future major golf tournaments.
The winner gets a guaranteed entry to all future Open Championships until the age of sixty. For those over 60, a guaranteed entry to the next ten Open Championships is given.
Apart from this, the champion gets entry to the upcoming five seasons of the Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, and U.S. Open.
The winner also gets a five-year membership to the PGA Tour and the European Tour, but that’s not all!
The Champion of The Open receives Official World Golf Ranking points and if the winner is a professional golfer, then they also receive 18% of the purse.
Now that we have discussed everything about the British Open, let’s take a look at the players who have the highest chance of winning this year’s contest.
British Open 2023 Contenders
A total of 156 players will take part in the upcoming tournament. These players have gained entry based on various exemption criteria and as a result of winning other qualifying tournaments.
Winners of the previous Open Championships and other major tournaments gained direct entry to this year’s British Open. Apart from these, players that have top rankings in the Official World Golf Rankings list and those who succeeded in The Open Qualifying series were also given an entry to the British Open 2023.
Winners of The Amateur Championship and the U.S. Amateur were also eligible for competing in The Open, provided they maintain their amateur status.
We don’t want to bore you by naming all 156 players so we will just mention the names of the players who will most likely win the British Open 2023.
The player that stands at the top of the golf betting favourites list is Rory Mcllroy. According to experts, Rory has the highest chance of winning this year’s Open. What increases Rory’s odds is the fact that he was the one who lifted the Claret Jug the last time the Royal Liverpool Golf Club hosted the mighty British Open.
Scottie Scheffler stands at number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking but is second to Rory Mcllroy in the list of golf betting favourites.
The defending champion, Cameron Smith is another top contender for winning the British Open 2023.
With the 2023 PGA Championship under his belt, Brooks Koepka is another fan favourite for winning The Open.
Aside from these big names, Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Speith, and Viktor Hovland have also earned a spot in the 2023 British Open golf betting favourites list.
To conclude, predicting the winner of the British Open 2023 is impossible. With the help of our vast knowledge and passion for golf, we have come up with the names of players who have the highest chance of winning the greatest golf tournament, but even then, we can’t pick and choose a single name.
Final Words
Undoubtedly, the British Open is the most awaited major golf tournament of this year. Millions of people have their hearts, hopes, money, and prayers attached to this golfing giant.
To witness the finest golfers compete with each other on what is unquestionably the biggest golfing stage is a sight for sore eyes. It makes you cherish the charm of this prestigious sport and motivates you to book a tee time with your own friends.
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