​The Open 2026 is off to rousing start at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England.Thursday’s action was all over the place. There’s a surprise leader playing just his sixth round of links golf ever. The defending champ start hot but cooled off after six holes. And Rory McIlroy had six (6!) bogeys.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSunday’s winner will once again be declared the Champion Golfer of the Year as he hoists the Claret Jug but we have a long way to go to get to Sunday.Follow along with Golfweek below for live leaderboard updates, highlights, breaking news and more from Friday’s second round of the 2026 Open Championship.Keep tabs on every score posted at Royal Birkdale with The Open Championship 2026 live leaderboard. Here’s what it looked like to start Friday’s second round.Pos.NameScoreHole1Jackson Suber-5FT2Sungjae Im-4FT2Daniel Brown-4FT4Thomas Detry-3FT4Robert MacIntyre-3FT4Francesco Molinari-3FT4Alex Smalley-3FT4Bryson DeChambeau-3FT4Ryan Gerard-3FT4MJ Daffue-3FT4Pierceson Coody-3FT4Cameron Young-3FYou can also follow along with datagolf.com’s projected cut line throughout the day Friday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementClick here to see every tee time for the second ound of the 2026 Open Championship. Some of the notable groups, particularly based on how the first round concluded, include:2:30 a.m. ET — Sami Valimaki, Shaun Norris, Jackson Suber7:25 a.m. ET — Robert MacIntyre, Rickie Fowler, Alex Fitzpatrick7:47 a.m. ET — Sungjae Im, Dan Brown, Fifa Laopakdee (a)10:04 a.m. ET — Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Bryson DeChambeauIf you’re on the West Coast, stay up late to catch the start of the tournament. Elsewhere, set your alarm clock. Here’s a look at Friday’s TV and streaming schedule for The Open:NBC Sports Network/Peacock, 1:30-4 a.m. ETUSA Network/Peacock, 4 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. ETWatch The Open on PeacockWatch USA Network on FuboSee who the Golfweek staff picked ahead of the tournament to win the 2026 Open Championship and hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe winner of the 2026 Open Championship will receive $3.2 million, or 18 percent of the total purse, which is $17.75 million. It’s the largest prize fund in the history of The Open, but remains the smallest of the four men’s majors. See the full payout breakdown.Friday’s forecast calls for clear skies with a high temperature of 76 with partly sunny skies and warm temperatures and wind gusts of up to 22 mph . It’s expected to be warm and sunny all week at Royal Birkdale, which is quite rare for an Open.Unlike the USGA and the PGA of America, who have championship sites planned out for a few decades, the R&A has announced only the next two after this year:AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement2027 – St. Andrews, Old Course (Scotland)2028 – Royal Lytham & St. Annes (England)Here are the last 10 winners of The Open, including Jordan Spieth in 2017, which is the last time the event was held at Royal Birkdale.Scottie S