[WATCHLIVE]GOLF]* The Open Championship 2024 Live Free on TV Channel 18 July 2024

How to watch The Open Championship 2024: live stream golf online and for free. The Open Championship at Royal Troon is the final Major of the golfing season. Bryson DeChambeau is aiming to become the first man since Tiger Woods in 2000 to win the U.S. Open and The Open in the same season

Click here to Watch The Open Championship 2024 Golf Live Online

The Open is the oldest of the four men’s Majors, dating from 1860, and the winner is crowned Champion Golfer Of The Year.

Rory McIlroy could, and should, have won that US Open, but missed two putts of under 3ft coming down the stretch. It is now ten years since Rory McIlroy won the last of his four Major titles – can he end this run at Troon?

Other British interest comes from Robert McIntyre who, fresh from his win last week at the Scottish Open, is aiming to become the firsts Scot this century to win The Open. The last six Majors have thrown up six different winners, all of them American.

World Number One Scottie Scheffler has been in imperious form this season, with eight tournament victories already, including the season’s first Major, The Masters. The winner of the season’s second Major, Xander Schauffele, has been in the top 10 of all three Majors this season, something only DeChambeau has also achieved.

2024 The Open Championship live stream

Dates: July 18–21, 2024

Time: 6:30 a.m. BST / 1:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 p.m. (Wed) PT / 4:30 p.m. AEDT

WATCH FREE — R&A TV (featured groups)

U.S. — NBC / Peacock / USA (Sling)

U.K. — Sky Sports

Watch anywhere

Golf's final major of the championship year tees off Thursday with action across the pond at the 2024 British Open. The 152nd Open Championship will take place at the Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, for the first time since 2016.

Last year's winner was American Brian Harman, who will attempt to become the first player to go back-to-back at the Open Championship since Padraig Harrington did so in 2007-08.

Joining in Harman in one last pursuit of a major this year is Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka, Ludvig Åberg and Jon Rahm, among others.

The final major of what has already been a thrilling 2024 golf season has arrived with The Open Championship entering its 152nd playing this week at Royal Troon. The oldest golf tournament in the world returns to Troon for the first time in eight years with the Claret Jug set to be awarded on site Sunday for the 10th time.

Brian Harman enters as the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year, but he's far down the oddsboard. Instead, all eyes will be on Rory McIlroy for the third straight year. The Northern Irishman is playing some of the best golf of his career lately, and while he did not win the Scottish Open last week as he did a year ago entering The Open, he is coming off a heart-wrenching defeat at the U.S. Open that may give him the motivation he needs to break a decade-long major drought.

The competition will be stiff for McIlroy, though. Scottie Scheffler seeks to put a capper on another extraordinary season; the Masters champion enters as the favorite having already won six times (and $28 million) on the PGA Tour this season. PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele and U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau are right near the top as well with DeChambeau boasting the best aggregate score to par at major championships this season.

All times Eastern

2024 Open Championship TV schedule

Round 1 -- Thursday, July 18

Round 1 start time: 1:30 a.m. [Tee times]

Open live stream: 1:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. on Peacock

Early coverage -- 1:30-4 a.m.

Featured Groups -- 1:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Featured Holes -- 1:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Late coverage -- 3-4:15 p.m.

TV coverage: 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. on USA Network, fubo (Try for free)

Round 2 -- Friday, July 19

Round 2 start time: 1:30 a.m.

Open live stream: 1:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Peacock

Early coverage -- 1:30-4 a.m.

Featured Groups -- 1:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Featured Holes -- 1:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Late coverage -- 3-4:15 p.m.

TV coverage: 4 a.m. to 3 p.m. on USA Network, fubo (Try for free)

Round 3 -- Saturday, July 20

Round 3 start time: TBA

Open live stream: 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Peacock

Featured Groups -- 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Featured Holes -- 5 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Early TV coverage: 5-7 a.m. on USA Network, fubo (Try for free)

TV coverage: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on NBC, fubo (Try for free)

Round 4 -- Sunday, July 21

Round 4 start time: TBA

Open live stream: 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Peacock

Featured Groups -- 4 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Featured Holes -- 4 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Early TV coverage: 4-7 a.m. on USA Network, fubo (Try for free)

TV coverage: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on NBC, fubo (Try for free)

American golfer Brian Harman who won the 2023 British Open, though he is not necessarily among the headliners for this year’s tournament. Those individuals would include world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who has already won one major – the Masters – earlier this year.

There’s also Rory McIlroy, who’s been playing pretty good golf in recent weeks, as well as the man who doesn’t need much of an introduction in Tiger Woods. Woods has won this event three times prior, most recently in 2006.

Other popular picks to win include U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau; Collin Morikawa and Ludvig Aberg.

 Justin Thomas made his British Open debut at Royal Troon eight years ago, and it taught him everything he needs to know about what can make this major so maddening.

It had nothing to do with gorse bushes or pot bunkers. It was about weather and tee times.

I was in the bad one, Thomas said.

By that he meant the bad side of the draw, and it’s part of the charm — or curse — of the Open.

It was fairly benign in the opening round at Royal Troon in 2016, all the way through Friday morning until 30 mph wind and a driving rain made players in the afternoon feel they were on a different course than those who played early.

So severe was the change in weather that the leading 14 players going into the weekend, including Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, came from one side of the draw.

I’ve never in my life grinded so hard to finish 50th, Thomas said. I shot 77 and made the cut by one. The worst part was Saturday and Sunday. The morning was the worst and you couldn’t gain any ground.

Summer daylight hours in the U.K. enable players to start off one tee for the entire day. Justin Leonard will hit the opening tee shot on Thursday at 6:30 a.m. (0530 GMT). Sam Horsfield is the last to play. He will tee off about 4:30 p.m.

That allows the weather to play a massive role. That happens elsewhere, but it is more pronounced in links golf. Sometimes the worst of it is in the morning, as in 2008 when Rich Beem and Sandy Lyle walked off Royal Birkdale after nine and 10 holes, respectively.

The forecast for the start of the 152nd Open is for off-and-on rain during the day with gusts in the 20 mph range early in the afternoon — about the time Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are finishing their rounds — and then easing late. And then more gusts Friday afternoon.

It’s worth noting the forecast seems to change by the day. No one will really know until they’re in the clear, or feeling like they are being blown into the Irish sea.

In recent times, Louis Oosthuizen caught the good side of the draw in St. Andrews. It was relatively calm all of Thursday — McIlroy opened with a 63 in 2010 — and then the wind became so fierce in the afternoon that McIlroy shot 80.

Oosthuizen finished his 65-67 start right before the wind came through. His name stayed atop the leaderboard for 11 hours that day and he led by five when it was over and wound up winning by seven shots. Good golf and a good draw go a long way.

It’s part and parcel of the Open. There’s always good draws and bad draws, Tommy Fleetwood said. Generally if you get unlucky and there is a good side and a bad side, that’s wiping out half the field already. The good news is if you’re on the good side. That’s half of them gone and you only have to beat half the field.

But that’s always been part of the Open and that’s the beauty of it, he said. You have to be ready for whatever the conditions bring, along with the golf course. It’s very important to embrace what can happen.

Another memorable example was Saturday at Muirfield in 2002. Tiger Woods had won the Masters and U.S. Open that year, raising possibilities of a calendar Grand Slam. He was two off the lead going into the third round when a storm off the Firth of Forth brought rain and 40 mph gusts. Woods shot 81 — nine others were in the 80s — and there went the Grand Slam.

Even getting the bad end of the draw is not the end of the Open. Padraig Harrington should serve as inspiration to everyone for what he did in 2008 at Royal Birkdale. He was caught in the raging wind Thursday morning and scrapped his way to a 74. Harrington went on to win by four shots for his second straight Open title.

But it can be maddening. Gary Woodland recalls one Open when he was staying with Dustin Johnson. They compared notes at the end of the round.

I was early, he was late, Woodland said. I’m hitting 3-iron into holes where he was hitting sand wedge. You just hope you’re on the right side. Otherwise, you try to make the most of it. Half the field is getting (dumped) on. I grew up in the wind. I like the tough conditions. But you’d like to be on the good side.

Conditions can be even more exaggerated at Royal Troon by its out-and-back nature. The forecast for one of the practice rounds this week was an example of the worst that can happen, with wind in the players’ faces going out, and then it shifted, so they had to play the back nine into the wind, too.

The last time the Open was at Royal Troon, it had the second-worse draw bias — one side far better than the other — in Open history. It was so bad that Friday afternoon that the cut line dropped three shots in a span of 45 minutes.

One year ago there was a surprise winner of the 151st Open Championship when American Brian Harman stormed to victory at Royal Liverpool. Since then, three more majors have been played and there has been an American winner on each occasion. Scottie Scheffler dominated The Masters, Xander Schauffele triumphed at the PGA Championship and Bryson DeChambeau was victorious at the US Open.

All four will hope to be in the running at Royal Troon but links golf can be hugely unpredictable, especially when even a perfect shot can get a bad kick and end up in thick rough or a deep bunker. Therefore it is those who can control their emotions and conjure inventive shots that stand the best chance of winning in Scotland.

Rory McIlroy certainly has the game to excel but must still be reeling after his heartbreaking failure in the US Open at Pinehurst, while Scotland’s own Robert MacIntyre grew up playing on links courses and is in fantastic form following his recent win at the Scottish Open.

Other potential contenders include rising star Ludvig Aberg, two-time major winner Collin Morikawa, 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark and Tommy Fleetwood who sits at a combined 32-under across his last five appearances at The Open Championship.