The 153rd Open Championship returns to Royal Portrush Golf Club this week, where Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele are among the betting favorites at what promises to be Northern Ireland’s biggest-ever sporting event, with approximately 278,000 fans expected to attend the golf season’s final major tournament.

This marks the third time Royal Portrush has hosted The Open, following Max Faulkner’s victory in 1951 and Irishman Shane Lowry’s emotional triumph in 2019.

The tournament, scheduled for July 17-20 at the iconic Dunluce links on the Antrim Coast, is set to have the largest fan turnout for an Open Championship held outside of St Andrews.

While Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Xander Schauffele are among the top picks to extend the run of success by Americans in the men’s majors – wins at nine of the past 10 titles – Irishman Rory McIlroy will surely be the fan favorite at Royal Portrush. McIlroy, who missed the cut on home soil in 2019, is the only non-American to claim victory over the past 10 men’s majors, as his win at The Masters Tournament in April made him just the sixth person to claim the career Grand Slam.

“When I was looking at the calendar for 2025, this was the tournament that was probably circled even more so than the Masters for different reasons,” said McIlroy, who tied for second at last week’s Scottish Open. “It’s lovely to be coming in here already with a major and everything else that’s happened this year.”

The tournament is available to watch via a mix of free television and paid streaming services, with NBC Sports providing nearly 50 hours of live coverage in total. It’s important to note there’s a five-hour time difference between Northern Ireland and New York (ET), so coverage of the first two rounds will start in the early morning hours on the East Coast.

How To Watch The Open Championship

TV: NBC, USA Network

Streaming: Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App

Broadcasting Schedule (All Times ET)

Coverage begins shortly before the first scheduled tee time at 1:30 a.m. ET

NBC Sports will complement its comprehensive Open Championship coverage with live featured groups Thursday to Sunday streaming on Peacock, showcasing two morning groups and two afternoon groups each day. Peacock will also feature a Par-3 channel highlighting the 6th and 16th holes.

Open Championship Favorites

The field of 156 players is the most diverse in Open Championship history, featuring professionals and amateurs from around the globe.

Among the standout storylines is McIlroy’s return to Royal Portrush, where with heavy expectations in 2019 he hit his opening tee shot out of bounds, made a quadruple-bogey 8, and carded a first-round 79 en route to missing the cut.

“You get to an Open, it’s a major championship, everything that comes along with it, and I just think that that feeling, the walk to the first tee and then that ovation, I was still a little surprised and a little taken aback,” said McIlroy. “Like ‘Geez, these people really want me to win.’

“I think that brought its own sort of pressure, and more internally, not really wanting to let people down. I guess it’s something I didn’t mentally prepare for that day or that week. But I learned pretty quickly that one of my challenges, especially in a week like this, is controlling myself and controlling that battle.”

So, which McIlroy will show up this week?

McIlroy wasn’t seriously in contention at the PGA Championship or U.S. Open but is coming off the runner-up finish in Scotland. And although he missed the cut at The Open Championship last year, he finished third and tied for sixth in the two years prior to that.

Other Key Players to Watch:

• Scottie Scheffler – The world No. 1 remains the betting favorite despite still searching for his first victory on a true links golf course
• Xander Schauffele – The defending champion looking to become the first repeat winner at the Open Championship since Padraig Harrington (2007-2008)
• Jon Rahm – The Spanish star is the only non-American besides McIlroy to win a major title over the past three years
• Shane Lowry – The 2019 champion at Portrush, returning as a sentimental favorite

Open Championship Betting Odds

Based on the latest odds from the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook:

• Scottie Scheffler 11/2
• Rory McIlroy 13/2
• Jon Rahm 12/1
• Bryson DeChambeau 20/1
• Xander Schauffele 25/1
• Ludvig Aberg 25/1
• Tommy Fleetwood 25/1
• Collin Morikawa 30/1
• Viktor Hovland 30/1
• Tyrrell Hatton 30/1
• Shane Lowry 30/1
• Robert MacIntyre 35/1
• Matt Fitzpatrick 35/1
• Justin Thomas 50/1
• Joaquin Niemann 50/1
• Sepp Straka 50/1
• Russell Henley 55/1
• Brooks Koepka 60/1
• Justin Rose 60/1
• Cameron Young 65/1
• Hideki Matsuyama 70/1
• Patrick Cantlay 70/1
• Sam Burns 70/1
• Jordan Spieth 80/1
• Adam Scott 80/1
• Jason Day 80/1
• Ryan Fox 80/1
• Patrick Reed 80/1
• Ben Griffin 80/1
• Cameron Smith 100/1

What To Expect From The Weather At Royal Portrush

All things considered, the weather forecast appears relatively benign, although there is some rain in the forecast and, like almost all Opens at seaside venues, winds coming off the North Atlantic.

Temperatures are expected to hover around 68-70°F during tournament days, with light to moderate winds expected throughout the week. Of course, being on the water means the weather (and winds) can always be fickle, and who doesn’t expect that at an Open Championship.

Daily Weather Breakdown:

• Thursday, July 17: Cloudy with some rain in the afternoon (High: 70°F, Rain: 75%, Wind: 9 mph)
• Friday, July 18: Continued chance of showers (High: 70°F)
• Saturday, July 19: Improving conditions with partly cloudy skies and chance of light rain
• Sunday, July 20: Generally fair conditions expected for the final round

“A nice stiff breeze and a little bit of rain is not the end of the world,” said Lowry, who had to contend with strong rain and winds at times six years ago at Royal Portrush. “If you go back to 2019 here, we got blessed with the weather in the afternoon the Saturday, and I shot 63 and it helped me win the tournament. You kind of have to take the rough with the smooth.

“The one thing you have to do when you get to an Open is take what you get, take it on the chin and just be the best you can. That’s all you can do.”

The Royal Portrush Challenge

Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Links presents a spectacular and challenging test, with holes that wind through some of the choppiest dunes among courses in the Open Championship rota. The course underwent significant changes prior to the 2019 Open, with two new holes (No. 7 and No. 8) created by architects Martin Ebert of Mackenzie & Ebert.

Signature Holes:

• 5th – “White Rocks” (382 yards, Par 4): A dogleg right with spectacular chalk cliff views
• 7th – “Curran Point” (592 yards, Par 5): One of the new holes, playing from an elevated tee along the coastline
• 8th – “Dunluce” (434 yards, Par 4): a demanding tee shot over a chasm and looks out towards the distant ruins of the historic Dunluce Castle above the North Coast shoreline.
• 14th – “Calamity” (473 yards, Par 4): The course’s most famous hole, requiring a tee shot over a huge ravine
• 16th – “Calamity Corner” (236 yards, Par 3): A treacherous par-3 with deep trouble along the right side

The course’s unique character lies in its green complexes and surrounding areas, with a number of putting surfaces nestled into dunes or elevated above fairways.

Lowry’s 63 in the third round of 2019 stands as the current official course record at Royal Portrush, though locals remember McIlroy’s round of 61 as a 15-year-old amateur in 2005, prior to the course renovations.

Prize Money

The 2025 Open Championship has a prize fund of $17 million, with the winner earning $3.1 million, the same amount as Schauffele received in 2024. It’s the first time since 2012 the R&A hasn’t increased the purse.

As the final major of 2025, The Open at Royal Portrush promises to deliver compelling storylines — from McIlroy’s quest for home glory, to Scheffler’s pursuit of a links major and Schauffele’s bid for back-to-back titles — at a beloved venue in front of the largest crowds outside of St Andrews.