All you need to know about The Open 2025

14th Jul 2025 | Source: BBC

Ireland's Shane Lowry won the Claret Jug when The Open was last played at Royal Portrush in 2019

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.

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.

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

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.

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

What is the prize money at The Open?

The prize fund will be announced during Open week.

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).

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.

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.

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."

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

If the lead is still tied, the winner will be decided via a sudden death play-off.