British Open 2021: Start Time, Live Stream, TV Schedule, Odds and Predictions

The British Open is the most difficult of the four men's major golf championships to predict. 

Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, Stewart Cink, Darren Clarke and Shane Lowry are among the unexpected winners of the tournament in the last two decades. 

Lowry, who is the reigning champion, won The Open after missing the cut at the previous four iterations of the competition. 

Francesco Molinari missed the cut the year before his 2018 triumph, and Jordan Spieth placed in a tie for 30th 12 months prior to his 2017 win. 

However, the trend of underperforming prior to the 2021 Open could be thrown out the window since the tournament was not held in 2020.

Course history could be difficult to use as a predictor as well since the last Open at Royal St. George's took place in 2011. Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler and Dustin Johnson finished in the top 10 behind Clarke. 

The lesser-known names in the field could turn The Open into an exciting affair with an unlikely winner, which would be a fantastic finish to the major season. 

The Open kicks off at 1:30 a.m. ET on Thursday on Peacock. TV coverage starts on Thursday at 4 a.m. ET on Golf Channel. The full TV and streaming schedule can be found here. 

Jon Rahm (+800; bet $100 to win $800)

Xander Schauffele (+1800)

Brooks Koepka (+1800)

Rory McIlroy (+1900)

Jordan Spieth (+1900)

Justin Thomas (+2050)

Dustin Johnson (+2250)

Viktor Hovland (+2500)

Louis Oosthuizen (+2800)

Patrick Cantlay (+3000)

Paul Casey (+3000)

Matthew Fitzpatrick (+3000)

Tyrrell Hatton (+3000)

Patrick Reed (+3000)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

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No matter how unpredictable a major tournament gets, you can almost always rely on Louis Oosthuizen to be in contention.

The 2010 Open champion has four top-two finishes at majors in the last three years. He tied for second at the PGA Championship and took second by himself at the U.S. Open. 

The 38-year-old has a knack for the big moments and knows what it takes to navigate any of the treacherous conditions he will face in England over four days. 

Oosthuizen earned one of his six second-place major finishes at The Open in 2017, and he has two other top-20 finishes at the tournament in his career. 

The South African's consistency could make him an intriguing outright betting option at +2800. If anything, he is worth a flier at +225 to finish inside the top 10 and +110 to land in the top 20. 

With several unknown factors around how players will react to The Open after a two-year break, a consistent and experienced player such as Oosthuizen could turn in some of the best rounds of the competition. 

Matthew Fitzpatrick is one of three Englishmen who will come into Royal St. George's with a strong chance of winning, alongside Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton. 

Fitzpatrick comes into the event in Sandwich, England off a third-place finish at the Scottish Open in which he lost in a tiebreaker to Min Woo Lee. 

The 26-year-old shot either a 66 or 67 in his four Scottish Open rounds. That should allow him to play with some confidence this week. 

Fitzpatrick has been mentioned as a potential major winner in the buildup to a few tournaments, but he has not yet cashed in on his potential. He has only a single top-10 major placing from The Masters in 2016, but he does own four top-25 major finishes in the last three years, and he missed two of nine cuts in that span. 

He could have the edge over Casey and Hatton because of their overall form at The Open: Casey has not finished inside the top 10 at the tournament since 2010 and Hatton has more missed cuts than top 10s. 

Fitzpatrick is listed at +500 to be the top-placing Englishman, and he carries some decent outright odds at +3000. 

If he keeps up his strong form at Royal St. George's, he might be able to achieve more than just being the top player from his nation.