McIlroy, Rahm And Rose Among Open Championship Featured Groups

The R&A have announced the day one featured groups for the 151st Open at Royal Liverpool - and there is an obvious omission. 

Whether by coincidence or design, no LIV Golf players will be part of the featured group coverage from Hoylake on Thursday, which means even defending champion Cameron Smith has been overlooked.

Depending where you live, this might matter little. If you're based in the UK and subscribe to Sky Sports, for example, you'll have wall-to-wall coverage across all four days at your fingertips. 

If that isn't the case, however, then you might feel aggrieved depending on which way you are inclined. Given the strength in depth of the men's game, no matter which way the R&A sliced it, there were always going to be big names that were left out of the featured groups.

It's also highly possible that Smith and perhaps one or two of his colleagues on the breakaway circuit will get the nod for Friday.

As for the four marquee three-balls chosen for the the first round, it's hard to argue with the quality on offer. In the morning wave, Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick and Jason Day kick things off at 9.03am local time, followed by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott roughly 40 minutes later.

Next up at 2.48pm local time are Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau and Justin Thomas, with Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose making up the fourth and final featured group at 2.59pm.

The Open featured groups - Day one

Local Time & Eastern Time (ET):

• 9.03am (4.03am): Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Day
• 9.47am (4.47am): Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Scott
• 2.48pm (9.48am): Viktor Hovland, Tony Finau, Justin Thomas
• 2.59pm (9.59am): Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose