British Open: Follow Rory McIlroy, John Ram, Brooks Koepka and more on Thursday at Royal Liverpool

It’s finally time for the last major championship of the year.

The British Open kicks off Thursday morning at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. The field last hosted the British Open in 2014, which coincidentally was Rory McIlroy’s last major championship win.

McIlroy, who won last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, will play John Ram and Justin Rose shortly before 10 am ET Thursday. McIlroy once again chose not to speak to reporters this week, which he did before finishing second at the US Open in Los Angeles last month.

Jordan Spite and Matthew Fitzpatrick will play Jason Day at the start of the wave and will start the game about half an hour earlier than Patrick Cantley, Brooks Kepka, Scotty Sheffler and others. Kepka, who has five major championship wins to his credit, won the PGA Championship earlier this season and finished second at the Masters. Collin Morikawa, Max Homa and Phil Mickelson will follow McIlroy’s group in the last wave on Thursday.

The British Open is offering a record $16.5 million prize pool this week, with $3 million going to the winner on Sunday afternoon. This prize pool is actually the smallest among the major championships. R&A is gearing up for demonstrations that will start on the track this week as well, although there is no direct word that anything is planned.

Can Cam Smith successfully defend his title and keep the burgundy pitcher? Is it finally time for McIlroy to get a fifth major? Stay up to date with all of Thursday’s events with Yahoo Sports:

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