The third major of this year’s PGA Tour schedule begins Thursday and with it a chance for Dustin Johnson to solidify his position as the world’s top golfer. After a freak accident and disappointing play left him with just two underwhelming rounds at the Masters and U.S. Open, he’ll look for vindication — and a second major PGA Tour victory — at the 2017 British Open.

Johnson is a slight betting favorite to raise the Claret Jug, but he’ll have to fend off a loaded field to get there. Each member of the World Golf Rankings’ top 25 will be at the Royal Birkdale in England this week, taking on the challenge of one the golf world’s most notoriously difficult courses. The Birkdale is an essentially British loop, combining all the best qualities of a classic links course with the swooping valleys and hills of England’s coastline.

In its 128 years of existence, the club has hosted nine Opens, developing a reputation as an unforgiving beast in the process. Deep bunkers dot the fairways, punishing even the smallest mistakes off the tee. Back in 2008, the last time the event came to the course, Padraig Harrington ran away to a four-stroke victory despite posting a four-round +3 score. In all, only four golfers finished at +9 or lower.

Having a prior U.S. Open win on his resume may be bad news for Johnson. The past seven PGA Tour majors have been won by a golfer earning his first major win — the most recent coming from Brooks Koepka at the U.S. Open. You’d have to go back to the 2015 Open, won by Zach Johnson, to find the last victor with a major title on his record.

Zach Johnson will be in the fold Thursday, but he’ll be staring up at a field that includes Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and Sergio Garcia. If the recent trend of first-time winners holds true, they may all wind up chasing golfers like Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, and Hideki Matsuyama as they grind toward a validating breakthrough win in England.

For Americans, the event starts in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Mark O’Meara’s opening group tees off at 1:35 a.m. ET, when it will be covered live on the Golf Network and online through the network’s official stream. Here’s how you can follow along.

How to watch the opening round of the 2017 British Open

Thursday's first round coverage (all times Eastern)

Television:

1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. -- Golf Channel

Online streams:

1:30 a.m.-4 p.m. -- Golf Channel broadcast simulcast stream

1:30-11:30 a.m. -- "First Tee" stream

4 a.m.-3 p.m. -- Featured holes stream

Marquee group stream

Spotlight stream

Radio:

3 a.m.-1 p.m. -- Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio (Ch. 92/208)

Tee Times

Tee No. 1, Thursday (all times Eastern)

1:35 a.m. -- Mark O'Meara, Chris Wood, Ryan Moore

1:46 a.m. -- Maverick McNealy, Phachara Khongwatmai, Stuart Manley

1:57 a.m. -- Stewart Cink, Sandy Lyle, Jeunghun Wang

2:08 a.m. -- Paul Broadhurst, Thongchai Jaidee, Roberto Castro

2:19 a.m. -- Tom Lehman, Ben An, Darren Fichardt

2:30 a.m. -- Soren Kjeldsen, Billy Horschel, Danny Willett

2:41 a.m. -- Matthew Fitzpatrick, Steve Stricker, Emiliano Grillo

2:52 a.m. -- Jason Dufner, Branden Grace, Bryson DeChambeau

3:03 a.m. -- Alex Noren, Russell Knox, Ian Poulter

3:14 a.m. -- David Duval, Prayad Marksaeng, KT Kim

3:25 a.m. -- Younghan Song, David Horsey, Dylan Frittelli

3:36 a.m. -- Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Charles Howell III, Shiv Kapur

3:47 a.m. -- Russell Henley, Fabrizio Zanotti, Peter Uihlein

4:03 a.m. -- Alexander Levy, Brendan Steele, Webb Simpson

4:14 a.m. -- Wesley Bryan, Anirban Lahiri, Alfie Plant

4:25 a.m. -- Darren Clarke, Gary Woodland, Harry Ellis

4:36 a.m. -- Padraig Harrington, Pat Perez, Thomas Pieters

4:47 a.m. -- Henrik Stenson, Si Woo Kim, Jordan Spieth

4:58 a.m. -- Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas

5:09 a.m. -- Brooks Koepka, Hideki Matsuyama, Tommy Fleetwood

5:20 a.m. -- J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker, Shane Lowry

5:31 a.m. -- Richard Bland, Shaun Norris, Luca Cianchetti

5:42 a.m. -- Yi Keun Chang, Chan Kim, Mark Foster

5:53 a.m. -- Sung-Hoon Kang, Tony Finau, Matthieu Pavon

6:04 a.m. -- Alexander Bjork, Joe Dean, Robert Streb

6:15 a.m. -- Robert Dinwiddie, Julian Suri, Adam Hodkinson

6:36 a.m. -- Andrew Johnson, Adam Hadwin, Todd Hamilton

6:47 a.m. -- John Daly, Adam Bland, Connor Syme

6:58 a.m. -- William McGirt, Toby Tree, Jamie Lovemark

7:09 a.m. -- Matthew Griffin, Austin Connelly, Matthew Southgate

7:20 a.m. -- Cameron Smith, Bill Haas, Callum Shinkwin

7:31 a.m. -- Michael Hendry, Brian Harman, Martin Laird

7:42 a.m. -- Ernie Els, Ross Fisher, Bernd Wiesberger

7:53 a.m. -- Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Kaymer, Aaron Baddeley

8:04 a.m. -- Zach Johnson, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia

8:15 a.m. -- Andy Sullivan, Joost Luiten, David Lipsky

8:26 a.m. -- Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott, Paul Casey

8:37 a.m. -- Matt Kuchar, Richie Ramsay, Ryan Fox

8:48 a.m. -- Kevin Kisner, Charley Hoffman, David Drysdale

9:04 a.m. -- Jimmy Walker, Hideto Tanihara, Thorbjorn Olesen

9:15 a.m. -- Jhonattan Vegas, Brandon Stone, Sean O'Hair

9:26 a.m. -- Daniel Berger, Pablo Larrazabal, Yuta Ikeda

9:37 a.m. -- Paul Lawrie, Kevin Chappell, Yusaku Miyazato

9:48 a.m. -- Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel

9:59 a.m. -- Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Lee Westwood

10:10 a.m. -- Phil Mickelson, Francesco Molinari, Marc Leishman

10:21 a.m. -- Scott Hend, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Bubba Watson

10:32 a.m. -- Paul Waring, Kyle Stanley, Kevin Na

10:43 a.m. -- Giwhan Kim, Xander Schauffele, Andrew Dodt

10:54 a.m. -- Haotong Li, Kent Bulle, Haydn McCullen

11:05 a.m. -- Jbe Kruger, Nick McCarthy, Ashley Hall

11:16 a.m. -- Ryan McCarthy, Laurie Canter, Sebastian Munoz