Lawrie to fire first shot at British Open

Paul Lawrie after winning the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie.

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ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – The honor of opening the 2010 British Open has fallen to 1999 winner Paul Lawrie. He will fire the first tee shot Thursday morning, although you’ll have to be up bright and early to see it – 6:30 a.m. in fact (1:30 a.m. EST).

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British Open (Monday practice round)

Sights from the Monday practice round in advance of the British Open at St. Andrews.

Thomas Levet and Steve Marino will join Lawrie in the first group.

Tiger Woods, trying to win a Claret Jug for the third time at St. Andrews, will be in the 15th game, alongside Justin Rose and Camilo Villegas at 9:09 a.m. (4:09 a.m. EST). Directly behind them will be the trio of Padraig Harrington, Tom Watson and Ryo Ishikawa. Just last month, Watson played in the same pairing as Ishikawa and Rory McIlroy at the U.S. Open.

Phil Mickelson drew Game 41, which goes off at 2:20 p.m. (9:20 a.m. EST), and also features Colin Montgomerie and Retief Goosen.

Nearly 10 hours after Lawrie hits the opening tee shot, Simon Edwards of Wales will officially close down the first tee. He draws a spot in the final pairing alongside Jae-Bum Park and George McNeill, their tee time being 4:21 p.m (11:21 a.m. EST).