2023 Open Championship preview: Full schedule and how to watch British golf major action live

The fourth and final men's golf major of 2023 is the 151st edition of the Open Championship, also known as the British Open, which gets underway on Thursday (20 July).

For the 13th time, the tournament is being held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake with Australia's Cameron Smith defending the title he won at St Andrews 12 months ago.

Rory McIlroy lifted the famous old Claret Jug for the only time in his career the last time Hoylake, as it is more commonly known, staged the Open in 2014.

The man from Northern Ireland, whose last major win came at the 2014 U.S. PGA Championship, will be desperate to return to winning ways having lost out to Wyndham Clark by one stroke at last month's 2023 U.S. Open.

And the 31-year-old warmed up in perfect fashion, birdying the last two holes to win the Scottish Open by one stroke from Robert MacIntyre on Sunday (16 July).

As with all traditional links courses, Hoylake plays far tougher in the wind and a favourable tee-time can prove decisive. It boasts no fewer than 81 bunkers and rewards strategic play as much as long hitting off the tee.

Tiger Woods - again missing through injury - famously won the 2006 Open on bone-dry fairways without using his driver until the final round, while McIlroy's big-hitting paid dividends nine years ago in slower conditions.

For this year, there is a brand new short par-3 17th hole, which could add drama to the tournament climax.

Who is playing at the 2023 British Open?

Open champions aged 60 and under will play in this year's Open Championship as well as Open champions from 2012 onwards.

The top 10 (and ties) from last year's Open also return with the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking on 28 May 2023 making the line-up.

The first 30 in last year's DP World Tour Race to Dubai rankings also earned exemptions for Hoylake as well as the winners of the other three majors - the Masters, U.S. Open, and PGA Championship - from the last six years including this one.

There are a number of qualifying events from professional tours worldwide, and the Open lived up to its name with any amateur or professional golfer with a scratch handicap or better able to enter Regional Qualifying at 15 courses across Britain and Northern Ireland on 26 June.

Close to 2,000 players took part with 117 making Final Qualifying and joining top amateurs and professionals who had not yet booked their spot at Hoylake.

Burnham & Berrow, Dundonald Links, Royal Cinque Ports, and West Lancashire were the four courses hosting Final Qualifying with major winners Sergio Garcia and Graeme McDowell failing to make the top five at the latter and missing out.

A total of 156 players, the usual number for the Open, will tee it up on Thursday with a minimum of seven amateurs in the field.

Due to sunlight prevailing until late in Britain at this time of the year, all players at the Open start at the 1st hole unlike the U.S. Open which has split tee starts at the 1st and the 10th.

Both men's Olympic champion golfers are in the field with Tokyo 2020 winner Xander Schauffele still seeking a first major triumph, while Rio 2016 gold medallist Justin Rose is aiming to become the first English winner on English soil since Tony Jacklin at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1969.

2023 Open Championship - Schedule

• Thursday 20 July: First round starts at 7am (British Summer Time/BST) with groups of three starting their rounds at the 1st hole (no split tees).
• Friday 21 July: Second round starts at 7am followed by the cut after 36 holes. The best 70 players and ties continue to play at the weekend.
• Saturday 22 July: Third round starts at 9am BST.
• Sunday 23 July: Fourth round, followed by trophy presentation. In the event of a tie for first place, there will be a four-hole aggregate score play-off followed by sudden death extra holes if required.

2023 Open Championship - Players to watch

Cameron Smith (Australia)

The reigning Open champion remains in the top 10 of the world rankings despite playing in just four recognised events this season.

In two of those, the U.S. PGA and the U.S. Open, he has posted top-10 finishes without driving the ball particularly well. And only last week he clinched his first win of the year at LIV London.

Smith shot a final-round 64 at St Andrews to win his first major title 12 months ago, and the Queenslander - who switched to the LIV Golf tour days after that triumph - putts well enough to be a factor in any tournament.

Driving may not be as great an asset at Hoylake as previous majors, and Smith has a real chance of becoming the first man to retain the Open since Padraig Harrington in 2008.

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)

McIlroy is very much knocking on the door as he bids to end his nine-year major drought.

A close third 12 months ago at St Andrews, and an even closer second in last month's U.S. Open, the Ulsterman could not be in better form ahead of Hoylake.

The 34-year-old has had six consecutive top-10 finishes culminating in his second win of the season at the Scottish Open.

He returns to the scene of his only Open triumph, and is strongly fancied to lift the famous Claret Jug for a second time.

Scottie Scheffler (USA)

The world number one continues to show remarkable consistency and is a contender wherever he plays.

In 16 tournaments this year, the 27-year-old is yet to finish outside the top 12 and boasts eight top-10 finishes in his last 10 majors.

His last two majors saw him share second in the PGA Championship and take third place in the U.S. Open.

British links courses hold few fears for Scheffler who finished tied for eighth at Royal St Georges in 2021 and 21st at St Andrews last year.

Having clinched his first major title at last year's Masters, Scheffler will hope to add to that tally and showed he is in good shape by tying for third in the Scottish Open.

Jon Rahm (Spain)

After missing the cut at the Travelers Championship, Jon Rahm opted to take a week off ahead of the Open.

Before that, the big-hitting Basque was tied for 10th at the U.S. Open having won his first Masters title back in April.

Rahm has just one top-10 finish to his name in six previous Open appearances, tying for third at Royal St Georges behind Collin Morikawa.

To get some links practice in, Rahm took a trip to Ballybunion Golf Club in County Kerry, Ireland.

And while Hoylake may not necessarily play to his strengths, the Spaniard's short game has improved enough in recent years to give him a better than outside chance of challenging.

Brooks Koepka (USA)

Now a five-time major winner, Brooks Koepka's best Open Championship was in 2019 when he finished tied for fourth behind Shane Lowry.

Koepka was never in contention at the U.S. Open where he finished in a share of 17th, claiming the Los Angeles Country Course was not enough of a challenge, but that was perhaps inevitable after he tied for second at the Masters and won his third U.S. PGA Championship.

The 33-year-old American is a man for the big occasion and there are none bigger than the Open in which he has four top-10 finishes in eight attempts.

Robert MacIntyre (Scotland)

It's been a case of close but no cigar for the Scottish left-hander in recent weeks.

MacIntyre led in the final round of Made in Denmark last weekend but a triple-bogey at the 13th cost him his chance of victory.

He then shot a superb final-round 64 at his home event, the Scottish Open, but Rory McIlroy denied him the biggest win of his career with birdies on the last two holes.

Still, it represents a welcome return to form for the 26-year-old who has two top-10 finishes in three previous Open appearances including a share of sixth at Royal Portrush in 2019.

Other men to watch include 2019 champion Shane Lowry, Norway's Viktor Hovland, world number four Patrick Cantlay, and the talented but volatie Tyrrell Hatton, who is perhaps England's best hope along with 2022 U.S. Open hero Matt Fitzpatrick.

2023 Open Championship - Tee times

The full schedule of groups and their starting tee times will be confirmed by organisers on the eve of the first round.

Further information of the pairings can be found on the official Open Championship website.

2023 Open Championship - How to watch British Open action live

Event coverage is available worldwide, with digital livestreams and TV broadcasts in most regions and "more than 12 hours of daily live coverage in some territories".

In the United States, NBC's streaming service Peacock and the USA Network will show the first round with the latter also broadcasting the early action at the weekend.

NBC and Peacock will broadcast all the key action from rounds three and four.

In the UK, Sky Sports has exclusive live coverage with the BBC showing nightly highlights. For broadcast details elsewhere, check the Open's full list of rights-holding partners and local listings.