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Bob HarigESPN Senior Writer
SANDWICH, England — Shane Lowry has had to wait two years for the honor, but he will finally begin defense of his Open title on Thursday at 4:58 a.m. ET (9:58 a.m. local time) during the first round at Royal St. George’s.
The Irishman who won at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland two years ago is grouped with U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen for the first two rounds.
The 2020 Open was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Other prominent tee times include:
Brooks Koepka, Jason Kokrak and Garrick Higgo at 3:30 a.m. ET; Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Branden Grace at 4:25 a.m. ET; No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson, Will Zalatoris and Justin Rose at 5:20 a.m. ET.
PGA champion Phil Mickelson tees off at 9:48 a.m. ET (2:48 p.m. local time) along with Tyrrell Hatton and Kevin Kisner; Xander Schauffele, Robert MacIntyre and Rickie Fowler are at 9:59 a.m. ET; Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott are at 10:10 a.m. ET; Rory McIlroy, Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith tee off at 10:21 a.m. ET.
The Open does not employ a two-tee start. All players will tee off at the 445-yard, par-4 first with the first tee time at 1:35 a.m. ET (6:35 a.m. local time) and the last at 11:16 a.m. ET (4:16 p.m. local time).