All you need to know about The Open 2025
The 153rd Open Championship takes place from 17-20 July at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.
American Xander Schauffele is the defending champion as 156 players compete to win the Claret Jug and be crowned 'Champion Golfer of the Year'. Ireland's Shane Lowry won the title the last time Portrush hosted the championship in 2019.
Advertisement
BBC Sport will have live radio commentary on 5 Live across all four days, with daily TV highlights on BBC Two.
There will also be live text commentary, in-play clips, video highlights, reaction and analysis on the BBC Sport website and mobile app.
When is The Open 2024?
Round one - Thursday, 17 July
Round two - Friday, 18 July
Round three - Saturday, 19 July
Round four - Sunday, 20 July
Play will get under way in round one around 06:30 BST (tee-times will be confirmed on Tuesday, 15 July)
Where is The Open taking place?
Royal Portrush on the north coast of Northern Ireland is hosting its third Open Championship.
Advertisement
The golf club was formed in 1888 with the Antrim club's Dunluce Links later undergoing a redesign by legendary architect Harry Colt. It is regarded as his finest course and was opened for play in 1933.
It hosted its first Open in 1951, with England's Max Faulkner winning his solitary major. It was the first time golf's oldest major had been held outside the island of Great Britain.
The course, which is considered one of the best in the world, underwent further tweaks before the Championship returned in 2019, with the addition of new seventh and eighth holes.
What are the signature holes?
The fifth green sits atop a 50-foot cliff down to the beach [Getty Images]
The 372-yard par-four fifth may not be the toughest, but it is one of the most breath-taking holes at Royal Portrush. Known as White Rocks, it plays from an elevated tee and the green is reachable for the biggest hitters.
Advertisement
But there is danger if you go a yard too long with the cliff down to the beach out of bounds. The green is one of the most undulating on the course.
Curran Point, the par-five seventh, is one of the two new holes introduced for the 2019 Championship but you wouldn't know it to look at it.
With towering dunes to the right, and a sinewy fairway that snakes 590 yards up to the green, the hole fits right in with its surroundings.
The final stretch kicks off with the long par-three 16th. Called Calamity Corner it plays 236 yards off the tips and features a deep drop away to the right.
South African Bobby Locke famously made par in each round of the 1951 Open by hitting his ball into a dip short of the green and getting up and down from there. It was named Locke's Hollow in his honour.
The 16th hole - Calamity Corner - is regarded as one of the finest par-three holes in golf [Getty Images]
What is the prize money at The Open?
The prize fund will be announced during Open week.
Advertisement
American Xander Schauffele received a record $3.1m (£2.3m) from a total prize fund of $17m (£12.6m) for winning at Royal Troon in 2024.
Brian Harman collected $3m (£2.2m) from a $16.5m (£12.25m) pot for his triumph at Royal Liverpool in 2023.
That was an 18% increase on the fund for the 150th Open at St Andrews in 2022.
JJ Spaun picked up $4.3m (£3.2m) after winning last month's US Open - the same amount as Bryson DeChambeau won in 2024.
Rory McIlroy collected $4.2m (£3.1m) for winning the Masters in April - up 15% from the $3.6m (£2.7m) Scottie Scheffler won the year before.
Scheffler's US PGA Championship victory in May earned him $3.4m (£2.5m), fractionally up on Schauffele's $3.3m (£2.45m).
Advertisement
Are Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods playing The Open?
World number two Rory McIlroy is set to play in his 16th Open Championship.
The 2014 champion arrives in his home country for the final major of 2025 on the back of completing the career Grand Slam of winning all four majors.
His play-off victory over Justin Rose at the Masters in April saw him end an 11-year drought in the sport's biggest tournaments as he collected a fifth major title.
Expectation was high when McIlroy appeared in the 2019 Open but he started with a ruinous quadruple-bogey eight after hitting his opening tee shot out of bounds. He would go on to miss the halfway cut.
Advertisement
The vast majority of the expected 280,000 fans attending this week's championship will be hoping there is no repeat and the 36-year-old adds to his solitary Open title from 2014.
Three-times winner Tiger Woods will not be playing as he continues to recover from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
It means the 15-time major champion will have missed all four of the annual majors.
The 49-year-old American last competed in a PGA Tour event 12 months ago, at the Royal Troon Open where he missed the cut.
Who are the favourites to win The Open?
World number one Scottie Scheffler arrives in Northern Ireland in a rich vein of form, having won three of his past nine tournaments - including his third major at May's US PGA Championship - and finished in the top 10 in the other six.
Advertisement
The start to his season was disrupted by a cut hand that required an operation. The accident occurred on Christmas Day when the upturned wine glass he was using to cut pasta shapes broke and the stem punctured his hand.
He had his best Open finish last year at Royal Troon, ending joint seventh.
Xander Schauffele comes in as the defending champion but accepts his form has been poor after he suffered a rib injury at the start of the season - although he finished alongside Scheffler on nine-under par at last week's Scottish Open.
On seeing the location of a photo of himself in the media tent at the Renaissance Club, the American world number three joked: "It was nice to see my photo out by the toilet. That was heart-warming. It summed up how I feel about what's going on right now."
Advertisement
His fellow American Justin Thomas has climbed from 22nd at the start of the year to world number four on the back of a victory at the RBC Heritage in April and three runners-up finishes this year. He is yet to shine at an Open, although his best finish of joint 11th came at Portrush in 2019.
Unheralded American Chris Gotterup sealed one of the three final places on offer by winning the Scottish Open but British fans should be buoyed.
England's Marco Penge, who had already qualified, finished alongside McIlroy at the Renaissance Club, two shots back.
Rose, who was runner-up at Royal Troon last year and at this year's Masters, hit a seven-under 63 to leap up the leaderboard and end one shot behind Matt Fitzpatrick, who had four rounds in the 60s as he tied for fourth on 12 under.
Advertisement
In 2019, Tommy Fleetwood showed he had the game to tackle Portrush but finished a distant second to Shane Lowry.
He warmed up with four solid rounds at the Scottish Open in East Lothian and while he missed the cut at last year's Open, he has had three top-10s in the previous four.
Scotland's Robert MacIntyre is aiming to become the first Scot to win the title since Paul Lawrie in 1999. He finished joint sixth on his Open debut at Portrush in 2019.
Rising European Ludvig Aberg is emerging as an all-or-nothing player in the majors. In seven previous starts he has four missed cuts but in two Masters appearances he has finished second and seventh. This is only his second Open and he missed the cut last year.
Advertisement
Ryder Cup player Sepp Straka, who was seventh at the Scottish Open, has a best of joint second at Hoylake in 2023 but has missed the cut in all three previous majors in 2025.
World number one Scottie Scheffler has two top-10 finishes from his four appearances at The Open, making the cut on each occasion [Getty Images]
Which LIV players are at The Open?
England's Lee Westwood will be playing in his 92nd major after coming through qualifying to book his 28th start in golf's oldest major - and first since 2022.
The 52-year-old former world number one is yet to win one of golf's biggest tournaments but has had five top-five finishes at The Open, the most recent of which was at Portrush in 2019.
He is one of 18 LIV players in Northern Ireland this week.
Advertisement
His compatriot Tyrrell Hatton is also searching for a first major title. He had his second best Open finish in 2019, finishing joint sixth.
Bryson DeChambeau continues to excel in the majors with five top-six finishes in his past seven majors, including last year's US Open victory. However, his Open record is a little patchy with just one top-10 and he missed the cut in 2019.
Spaniard Jon Rahm comes into the event on the back of a second at last week's LIV event in his homeland and has three top-seven finishes in his past four Opens.
Former champions Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen and Henrik Stenson are also in the field.
Advertisement
What is the weather forecast at Royal Portrush?
The BBC forecast for Royal Portrush suggests a largely dry and sunny week with the odd chance of showers and temperatures up to 20C.
What is cut rule and play-off format at The Open?
The Champion Golfer of the Year is decided over four rounds with, weather permitting, one round of 18 holes played each day.
After two rounds, there is a halfway cut and the top 70 players and ties will play in rounds three and four.
Should there be a tie at the top of the leaderboard after all 72 holes have been played, there will be a three-hole play-off on holes one, 13 and 18 with the aggregate score determining the winner.
Advertisement
If the lead is still tied, the winner will be decided via a sudden death play-off.
TV coverage and how to follow on the BBC (all times BST)
Monday, 14 July
20:30-21:00 - BBC Radio 5 Live golf
Tuesday, 15 July
19:00-20:00- The Open preview show part one on BBC Radio 5 Live
Wednesday, 16 July
19:00-20:00 - The Open preview show part two on BBC Radio 5 Live
Thursday, 17 July
06:30-22:00 - Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app from first tee-shot to final putt of round one
10:00-20:00 - BBC Radio 5 Live commentary
21:00-22:30 - Round one highlights on BBC Two and iPlayer
Friday, 18 July
06:30-22:00 - Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app from first tee-shot to final putt of round two
Advertisement
10:00-20:00 - BBC Radio 5 Live commentary
21:00-22:30 - Round two highlights on BBC Two and iPlayer
Saturday, 19 July
11:00 - 20:00 - BBC Radio 5 Live from Royal Portrush,
14:00-20:00 Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app from when leaders tee-off to final putt
20:00-22:00 - Round three highlights on BBC Two and iPlayer
Sunday, 20 July
12:00 - 5 Live Sport from Royal Troon, with full commentary from 14:00
13:00-19:00 - Live text commentary on BBC Sport website and app from when leaders tee-off to final putt
20:00-22:00 - Round four highlights on BBC Two and iPlayer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
22 minutes ago
- New York Times
Leeds reach agreement in principle to sign Newcastle's Sean Longstaff
Leeds United have reached an agreement in principle to sign Sean Longstaff from Newcastle United. The Athletic reported on June 7 that the newly-promoted side submitted an offer to their Premier League counterparts worth £10million plus £2m in add-ons, which was a third proposal for the 27-year-old. That valuation was close to the limit Leeds were willing to play for Longstaff, with other candidates on their radar for a transfer if a move for the Newcastle midfielder could not be completed. Personal terms were already in place for the midfielder, who is into the final 12 months of his contract at Newcastle. Talks over a new deal last took place in winter 2024, but he has barely played for the St James' Park club since that point. As an academy graduate, Longstaff wanted his boyhood team to be compensated rather than face losing him as a free agent next summer. Advertisement Newcastle had triggered a one-year extension option in Longstaff's deal last season to extend his contract through to June 2026. Having racked up 171 Premier League appearances over the past seven years, Longstaff's top-flight experience appealed to newly-promoted Leeds. He has predominantly been used as a central midfielder by Newcastle, with some variation between defensive and attacking duties. ()
Motor Trend
44 minutes ago
- Motor Trend
Future and Past Collide—Confusingly, Excitingly—at the World's Best Car Meet
Uncertainty is everywhere in the automotive industry. On-again off-again tariffs, flat sales, the looming threat of Chinese automakers, and yes, electrification all present hurdles. Uncertainty on the latter—frequently conflated with automotive technological progress by enthusiasts—was top of mind for me at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed. A ride-along over the weekend with Travis Pastrana in a 2025 Subaru WRX ARA24 and with Max McCrae in his uncle Colin's 1990 Subaru Legacy RS at the festival's Forest Rally Stage and watching the Festival's signature timed shootout has me thinking a bit differently about the march of progress. The 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed showcased automotive progress with Chinese EVs, rallying with Travis Pastrana in a Subaru WRX, and debates on electrification's impact. The event also highlighted new car debuts and significant Chinese automaker presence, reflecting industry shifts. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article Read Next Pastrana, to most Americans, needs little introduction. Some know him for his Hall of Fame motocross career, a fearless freestyle motocross X Games champ, stuntman from Nitro Circus, or as a NASCAR racer. But rallying and rallycross, now that he's retired from competitive motocross due to a frightfully long list of injuries (including, as he was quick to point out, a broken urethra), has long seemed to be his second love. Pastrana recently rejoined Subaru Motorsports USA where he's competing in the American Rally Association. At Goodwood, he took me for a ride in Subaru's Open 4WD WRX ARA24 car. These cars are heavily modified from stock WRXs, featuring restricted 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-4s good for 320 hp and 380 lb-ft of torque, running through a six-speed sequential transmission and mechanical differential to all four wheels. At each corner the stock suspension is swapped for new springs and dampers with a foot of travel and 15-inch wheels on gravel rally tires. Short of the hybridized million-dollar tube frame rally cars now running in the World Rally Championship, the open class WRX ARA car is about as bleeding edge as you can get in the rally world. The WRX ARA's runs—and those of the Toyota and Hyundai WRC teams— wouldn't be officially counted on the Forest Rally Stage, but the fact that the festival was posting times was enough to bring out the full competitor in Pastrana and the rest of the Subaru team as they sought to post the fastest time in one of their laps. Slower and wider than the Rally1 WRC cars (not to mention cheaper, too), the WRX ARA24 would have its work cut out for it. Our run was, in a word, quick. I have no idea of the time of our particular run, but Pastrana and the team would go on to post the second-quickest time on the course of the weekend at 2.33.2, just a couple seconds behind a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 (which the Subaru team was quick to point out cut the Gymkhana barrel out of its unofficial run). The car felt phenomenally fun from the passenger seat, seemingly reacting instantaneously to Pastrana's steering, braking, and throttle inputs, while the rally suspension soaked up the ruts, berms, and jumps on the course as softly as a dune runner might. Watching an elite athlete such as Pastrana work up close was equally fascinating, as he wielded the WRX like Shohei Ohtani does a baseball bat, or Connor McDavid does a hockey stick—using their tools' strengths to improve their individual performances and knowing when they might need to make up for any weaknesses in their equipment. While not yet quite as accomplished as his father Alister, grandfather Jimmy, or uncle Colin, Max McCrae has already set out to make a name of his own in the WRC's Group Rally2, where he runs a Citroen C3 Rally2. He was at Goodwood, however, helping honor the legacy of his uncle. That's where the Legacy RS comes in. In many ways both Colin McCrae's and Subaru's rally journeys began with this car, which was piloted to a second place finish in the 1992 Rally Sweden by Colin. Subaru would soon replace the Legacy with the Impreza, marking a direct lineage to Pastrana's WRX. On paper, it should prove a match for the modern ARA car. Simpler, and lighter than its modern descendant, it's powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged flat-4 with 290 hp and 289 lb-ft of torque. But some of its other mechanicals are simpler, both in terms of how they operate and how they're manufactured. The Legacy lacks a modern anti-lag system and puts its power down through a five-speed dogbox manual transmission. Its all-wheel drive system also features permanently locked differentials that make low speed maneuvering difficult, and a hydraulic handbrake without the responsiveness of a modern unit. Despite the, uh, legacy of this particular Legacy, McCrae didn't take it easy on the car during our ride along with him. To be honest, I didn't get the sense that he could if he wanted to maximize its performance because nothing seemed to happen instantly or easily in the Legacy RS. On straights McCrae needed to manage the body's balance as the car skipped down the stage, gearshifts in a shift pattern the motorsports world has long moved past, and brakes without the feel or stopping power of their modern counterparts. In corners, McCrae had to balance the hydraulic hand brake, diffs, and also keep the engine in the sweet spot of its powerband where he could minimize lag. McCrae had to work twice as hard to get every last bit of performance out of that Legacy, which leaves less room for the driver to actually focus on driving and maximizing their own performance. Progress rears its head again during the Festival of Speed's headlining timed shoot out on Sunday afternoon, where competitors vie to post the quickest time up the 1.16-mile, nine-turn hillclimb. Last year the Subaru Project Midnight WRX, a highly modified WRX ARA rally car, built, like the rally car by Subaru Motorsports USA technical partner Vermont Sports Cars, with 670 hp designed to dominate on this single event and driven by Scott Speed came in second to a quad-motor electric Ford Supervan. This year, the team, facing a 2,000-plus horsepower quad-motor Ford F-150 Lightning Supertruck, expected the same results despite some changes based on Speed's feedback from last year. As Vermont Sports Cars technical director Yannis Loison told us, 'With [an] internal combustion engine only we'll never reach what [Ford has] with the EV. If we really want to compete against them, to try to beat them, we need a combo with [an] internal combustion engine and something electric.' Unfortunately for the Subaru Motorsports USA team, Loison proved prophetic. Despite improving by 1.04 seconds to 45.03 versus last year, the Ford truck still beat the souped-up Subaru, finishing in 43.22 seconds. And that's through no fault of Speed. Like Pastrana earlier in the WRX ARA car, in-car footage of Speed showed him methodically wringing every last ounce of performance out of Project Midnight, shaving grass on corners where he could, and narrowly skirting the unforgiving walls near the top of the climb on the unforgiving course. But the Supertruck, driven by Romain Dumas, made up for any disadvantage it might have in its weight with power, simply eliminating any straight in a blink while still somehow managing to carry high speeds through corners. In a lot of ways what the driving loving public and motorsports is going through in trying to figure out how much—if at all—to embrace electrification mimics what other sports have gone through as technology progressed. Professional baseball, when faced with introducing home run–friendly aluminum or composite bats, opted to preserve the tradition of wood bats instead. That makes it much more difficult for pros to hit home runs, and as an indirect result the league has tweaked the game's rules to improve offense. Professional hockey, meanwhile, allowed the introduction of aluminum and eventually composite sticks in the '90s. The long term result is a game that's faster, and more offensive, thanks to players who've since learned how to maximize the whippier, more responsive sticks and improve their own games. I'm not advocating one way or the other, but at some point we're going to have to decide collectively as driving enthusiasts whether we want to embrace the excitement and promise of new technologies or preserve the past in stasis. Other items from the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed The auto show is alive and well: Big international auto shows have been shrinking in significance for about a decade now, with COVID nearly decimating them entirely. The Goodwood Festival of Speed perhaps shows a way forwards for the future. The infield of the festival featured stands from the likes of BMW, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lotus, MG, Renault, and more, where folks could hop in and out of cars back-to-back. In between, they could enjoy hillclimb runs, festival food and drinks, live music, shopping, and kid play areas. Some automakers even took the opportunity to debut new cars, such as the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 6 N and Ioniq 6 N Performance, Honda Super EV concept (a little Kei-sized city EV), and the Porsche Cayenne Electric, and run them up the hill for the public. Where else can you see a new car debut and hit the road in the same day? Goodwood, that's where. Hot commodities: When it comes to the infield auto show–like section of Goodwood, we think the three individually most popular vehicles were the Ioniq 6 N, the Renault 5 E-Tech, and the Renault's sporty cousin, the Alpine A290. Hyundai's large display featured both new Ioniq 6 N iterations front-and-center and there was never a time we walked by where they weren't surrounded by throngs of people. Even the tech talk Hyundai did on the cars seemed well-attended. The Renault and Alpine, meanwhile, are stylish Volkswagen Golf–sized EVs that look stellar in person. Well-proportioned outside, inside they featured high quality body-colored textile seats and accent stitching, and even an optional baguette holder on the Renault version. The Renault 5 E-Tech has 40 and 52 kWh battery packs and up to 150 hp from a single front-mounted motor with up to 249 miles of range on the generous WTLP cycle. The sportier Alpine A290 keeps that 52 kWh pack and ups power to 217 hp in its hottest configuration, dropping to 236 miles. The Renault starts at around $30,000, while the Alpine nearer $46,000, though both notably include British VAT. Foreign journalists we've spoken to adore driving both cars. The Chinese are coming, the Chinese are coming! With the United Kingdom officially out of the European Union, its own automotive industry in distress, and the Chinese looking for more markets for their EVs, BYD, Chery, Geely, SAIC, Xiaomi, and Xpeng had a sizeable footprint at Goodwood. SAIC, which owns MG, has had a growing presence on UK roads for years and its booth, headlined by a bumblebee-yellow Cyberster, was packed all weekend. Ditto Lotus' (owned by Geely), with the Electre and Emiya, swamped. Even brands without a British legacy had the public's attention. Xiaomi and XPeng ran cars up the hill (MG did, too). BYD's Denza luxury brand's booth had a DJ and electric violinist playing all weekend and featured a steady line of folks who wanted to sit inside the luxury D9 van. Chery also had a clever way to get folks into their cars. It provided a fleet of Jaecoo and Omoda SUVs—both from two new export-only brands—to shuttle folks to and from parking lots and around the sprawling grounds. We asked one driver, an older gentleman driving an Omoda 5 compact PHEV SUV, about his perception of Chinese EVs. He responded, 'That's the question, isn't it? My friends and I have been talking a lot about that, and we've come to the conclusion that they're perfectly alright.' According to the BBC, one in 10 new cars sold in the UK thus far this year are Chinese. MG and Polestar represent the bulk of those sales.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Lottie Woad joining pro ranks in women's golf after nearly winning Evian
LONDON — Top-ranked amateur Lottie Woad announced Tuesday she will turn professional, two days after nearly winning a major title. The 21-year-old Englishwoman followed her victory by six shots at the Women's Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour on July 6 by finishing in third place — just one stroke off the pace — at the Evian Championship on Sunday.
