The Open
The Open at St Andrews gets under way this Thursday Getty

The 144<sup>th edition of the Open Championship begins this week at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland.

Where to watch

The third major of the year gets underway on Thursday 16 July with live coverage available on BBC Two from 09:00 (BST). BBC Radio 5 Live will also provide coverage from 10:00 (BST).

Preview

This was supposed to be a straight showdown between the two best golfers in the world. But Rory McIlroy's hopes of defending his 2014 Open Championship were ended after a causal kickabout with his friends resulted in a fairly major ankle injury. His absence only strengthens Jordan Spieth's quest to dominate golf in 2015. The 21-year-old American became just the fifth man to win the first two majors in a calendar year after claiming the Masters and US Open titles, and should he come out on top at St Andrews this week he will become the first man since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win the first three.

His quest for a Grand Slam will be the subplot to this week's competition but McIlroy's absence doesn't mean a Spieth victory is a formality. After his win at the Scottish Open on Sunday, Rickie Fowler will be hopeful of improving on his four top-five finishes in majors in 2014 and finally win one outright. The 26 year old thrives on the links and after finishing tied for second last year, he will be looking to go one better.

Meanwhile Dustin Johnson is hoping to banish memories of Chambers Bay last month. Despite playing an exquisite round of golf on the final day, he three-putted from 12 yards on the 18th, an error that effectively handed Spieth the US Open. Plagued by a reputation as a serial choker, the American certainly has something to prove.

And is there anything left in Tiger Woods' tank? Having slipped down to a dismal ranking of 241st in the world, the 14-time major winner has fielded more questions regarding retirement than his chances of lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday. But on the same course where he won this competition in 2000 and 2005, now would be as good a time as ever to stage an unlikely comeback.

Pairings and tee times

Players represent GB or Ireland unless indicated.

First round – Thursday 16 July

06:32 Thomas Bjorn (Den), Greg Owen, Rod Pampling (Aus)

06:43 Todd Hamilton (US), Paul Dunne, James Hahn (US)

06:54 Graham Delaet (Can), Brian Harman (US), Russell Knox

07:05 Alexander Levy (Fra), Matt Every (US), David Lingmerth (Swe)

07:16 Robert Streb (US), Joost Luiten (Ned), Matt Jones (Aus)

07:27 Jordan Niebrugge (US), Anthony Wall, Byeong-Hun An (Kor)

07:38 Sandy Lyle, Charley Hoffman (US), Kevin Na (US)

07:49 Shane Lowry, Retief Goosen (SA), Kevin Streelman (US)

08:00 Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan (US), Carl Pettersson (Swe)

08:11 Billy Horschel (US), Victor Dubuisson (Fra), Ross Fisher

08:22 Oliver Schniederjans (US), Webb Simpson (US), Graeme McDowell

08:33 Ernie Els (SA), Brandt Snedeker (US), Tom Watson (US)

08:44 J.B. Holmes (US), Brendon Todd (US), Shinji Tomimura (Jpn)

09:00 Bubba Watson (US), Ian Poulter, Charl Schwartzel (SA)

09:11 Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Patrick Reed (US)

09:22 Matteo Manassero (Ita), Romain Langasque (Fra), Darren Clarke

09:33 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Dustin Johnson (US), Jordan Spieth (US)

09:44 Kevin Kisner (US), Paul Lawrie, Ryan Palmer (US)

09:55 Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Jason Day (Aus), Tiger Woods (US)

10:06 Brooks Koepka (US), John Senden (Aus), Tadahiro Takayama (Jpn)

10:17 Stewart Cink (US), Ben Curtis (US), David Duval (US)

10:28 Greg Chalmers (Aus), Mikko Ilonen (Fin), David Howell

10:39 David Hearn (Can), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra), Eddie Pepperell

10:50 Tyrrell Hatton, Scott Arnold (Aus), Paul Kinnear

11:01 Daniel Brooks, Adam Bland (Aus), Gary Boyd

11:12 Jonathan Moore (US), Scott Hend (Aus), Ryan Fox (NZ)

11:33 Marcel Siem (Ger), Jaco Van Zyl (SA), Mark Calcavecchia (US)

11:44 Thomas Aiken (SA), Jonas Blixt (Swe), David Lipsky (US)

11:55 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Morgan Hoffmann (US), Danny Lee (NZ)

12:06 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa), Cameron Tringale (US), Richie Ramsay

12:17 Ben Martin (US), Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn), Steven Bowditch (Aus)

12:28 George Coetzee (SA), Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa)

12:39 Wen-Chong Liang (Chn), Padraig Harrington, Marc Warren

12:50 John Daly (US), Jason Dufner (US), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)

13:01 Zach Johnson (US), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Tommy Fleetwood

13:12 Gary Woodland (US), Danny Willett, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

13:23 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Bill Haas (US)

13:34 Mark O'Meara (US), Russell Henley (US), (a) Gunn Yang (Kor)

13:45 Bernhard Langer (Ger), Tom Lehman (USA), Justin Leonard (USA)

14:01 Ryan Moore (USA), Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Stephen Gallacher

14:12 Martin Kaymer (Ger), Jimmy Walker (US), Adam Scott (Aus)

14:23 Jamie Donaldson, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Keegan Bradley (US)

14:34 Matt Kuchar (US), Phil Mickelson (US), Henrik Stenson (Swe)

14:45 Rickie Fowler (US), Justin Rose, Nick Faldo

14:56 Branden Grace (SA), Jim Furyk (US), Paul Casey

15:07 Ashley Chesters, Harris English (US), Andy Sullivan

15:18 Koumei Oda (Jpn), Marc Leishman (Aus), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)

15:29 Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Romain Wattel (Fra), James Morrison

15:40 Mark Young, Daniel Berger (US), Pelle Edberg (Swe)

15:51 Ben Taylor, Brett Rumford (Aus), Tom Gillis (US)

16:02 Alister Balcombe, Scott Strange (Aus), Marcus Fraser (Aus)

16:13 Taichi Teshima (Jpn), Robert Dinwiddie, Rikard Karlberg (Swe)

Second round – Friday 17 July

06:32 Jaco Van Zyl (SA), Mark Calcavecchia (US), Marcel Siem (Ger)

06:43 Jonas Blixt (Swe), Thomas Aiken (SA), David Lipsky (US)

06:54 Danny Lee (NZ), Morgan Hoffmann (US), Soren Kjeldsen (Den)

07:05 Richie Ramsay, Cameron Tringale (US), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)

07:16 Steven Bowditch (Aus), Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn), Ben Martin (US)

07:27 Anirban Lahiri (Ind), George Coetzee (SA), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa)

07:38 Marc Warren, Liang Wen-Chong (Chn), Padraig Harrington

07:49 John Daly (US), Jason Dufner (US), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa)

08:00 Zach Johnson (US), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Tommy Fleetwood

08:11 Danny Willett, Gary Woodland (US), Thongchai Jaidee (Tha)

08:22 Bill Haas (US), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Francesco Molinari (Ita)

08:33 Gunn Yang (Kor), Mark O'Meara (US), Russell Henley (US)

08:44 Tom Lehman (US), Bernhard Langer (Ger), Justin Leonard (US)

09:00 Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn), Stephen Gallacher, Ryan Moore (US)

09:11 Martin Kaymer (Ger), Jimmy Walker (US), Adam Scott (Aus)

09:22 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Jamie Donaldson, Keegan Bradley (US)

09:33 Matt Kuchar (US), Phil Mickelson (US), Henrik Stenson (Swe)

09:44 Justin Rose, Sir Nick Faldo, Rickie Fowler (US)

09:55 Jim Furyk (US), Branden Grace (SA), Paul Casey

10:06 Andy Sullivan, Ashley Chesters, Harris English (US)

10:17 Marc Leishman (Aus), Koumei Oda (Jpn), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)

10:28 James Morrison, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Romain Wattel (Fra)

10:39 Pelle Edberg (Swe), Daniel Berger (US), Mark Young

10:50 Tom Gillis (US), Brett Rumford (Aus), Ben Taylor

11:01 Scott Strange (Aus), Alister Balcombe, Marcus Fraser (Aus)

11:12 Robert Dinwiddie, Rikard Karlberg (Swe), Taichi Teshima (Jpn)

11:33 Thomas Bjorn (Den), Rod Pampling (Aus), Greg Owen

11:44 Paul Dunne, Todd Hamilton (US), James Hahn (US)

11:55 Brian Harman (US), Graham Delaet (Can), Russell Knox

12:06 Matt Every (US), Alexander Levy (Fra), David Lingmerth (Swe)

12:17 Joost Luiten (Ned), Matt Jones (Aus), Robert Streb (US)

12:28 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Anthony Wall, Jordan Niebrugge (US)

12:39 Sandy Lyle, Charley Hoffman (US), Kevin Na (US)

12:50 Kevin Streelman (US), Retief Goosen (SA), Shane Lowry

13:01 Luke Donald, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Hunter Mahan (US)

13:12 Victor Dubuisson (Fra), Ross Fisher, Billy Horschel (US)

13:23 Oliver Schniederjans (US), Graeme McDowell, Webb Simpson (US)

13:34 Ernie Els (SA), Tom Watson (US), Brandt Snedeker (US)

13:45 Brendon Todd (US), J.B. Holmes (US), Shinji Tomimura (Jpn)

14:01 Charl Schwartzel (SA), Ian Poulter, Bubba Watson (US)

14:12 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Patrick Reed (US), Lee Westwood

14:23 Darren Clarke, Matteo Manassero (Ita), Romain Langasque (Fra)

14:34 Dustin Johnson (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Jordan Spieth (US)

14:45 Paul Lawrie, Ryan Palmer (US), Kevin Kisner (US)

14:56 Tiger Woods (US), Jason Day (Aus), Louis Oosthuizen (SA)

15:07 John Senden (Aus), Tadahiro Takayama (Jpn), Brooks Koepka (US)

15:18 David Duval (US), Stewart Cink (US), Ben Curtis (US)

15:29 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), David Howell, Greg Chalmers (Aus)

15:40 Eddie Pepperell, David Hearn (Can), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)

15:51 Tyrrell Hatton, Scott Arnold (Aus), Paul Kinnear

16:02 Adam Bland (Aus), Gary Boyd, Daniel Brooks

16:13 Scott Hend (Aus), Jonathan Moore (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)

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