The 151st British Open Championship kicks off Thursday as the world's best golfers take on the final major tournament of the year. The tournament, which will be held at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, will begin with Australia's Cameron Smith as the defending champion.

The Open Championship 2023 will be broadcast on Peacock ($5.99), USA Network, and NBC, with or without cable. But don't worry if you're on vacation during the broadcast, as you can watch the British Open live stream from anywhere with a VPN.

Smith is certainly in good form, having secured victory at LIV Golf London earlier this month, and McIlroy birdied the last two holes at the Renaissance Club last week to win the Scottish Open in the most dramatic fashion. McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, was runner-up at the U.S. Open in June, losing by one shot to American Wyndham Clark, but won the last British Open at Hoylake in 2014.

Other contenders for the Claret Jug include world number one Scotty Scheffler, who has been in mesmerizing form this season, and Spain's Jon Rahm, who has won four times in 2023, including a dominant showing at the Masters. Brooks Koepka showed that he is back to his best by winning the PGA Championship earlier this year. [But good or bad form means little when it comes to taking on gorse-covered links courses and dealing with strong coastal winds. It's a unique challenge among majors, and those who can hit stinger drives, low-poking iron shots, and accurate chip-and-runs will have a great chance to move up the leaderboard on day four. [There is no shortage of home-hopefuls like Tyrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, and Matt Fitzpatrick who will have the crowd cheering for them.

What is certain is that there will be plenty of drama. Click here for a complete guide to watching the Open Championship 2023.

If you're away from home and don't have access to your usual streaming service, you may be concerned about how to watch the Open Championship 2023 live stream. With a virtual private network (VPN), you can watch the live stream; VPNs make it seem like you are surfing the web from your hometown, so you access the same streaming services that you have already paid for you have already paid for.

Not sure which VPN is best for you? We tested many different services and our favorite is ExpressVPN. They offer great speed and excellent customer service. However, there are other VPN options out there.

In the US, golf fans can watch the Open Championship 2023 on USA Network, NBC, and Peacock.

For the first two days, Peacock is offering exclusive streaming coverage of the featured groups. The streaming service, which costs just $5.99 per month with ads or $11.99 without ads, includes a live stream of The Open Championship 2023 plus much more great content.

Both NBC and USA Network require a cable package, but if you cut the cable cord, you can watch the live stream on your cable TV alternative service. I recommend FuboTV because it gives you access to a whopping 156 channels.

As is the usual way for major golf tournaments, Sky Sports is the place to go to watch the British Open Championship 2023 live stream in the UK.

If you are not already a subscriber, you can sign up for a package that includes Sky Sports, Sky TV and Netflix for £46. Another option is to purchase a Now Sports Pass. This gives access to all 11 Sky Sports channels for a limited time, with prices starting at £11.98 for a day pass and £34.99 per month.

Even if you are abroad, you can access the Sky stream with the help of ExpressVPN.

If you are in Canada and would like to learn how to watch The Open Championship 2023, you can catch the golf action on TSN. Round 1 will air on TSN3 on May 18 at 7 a.m. ET.

If you want to watch the whole thing, a TSN Direct subscription might make sense: you can subscribe for $7.99 a day or $19.99 a month.

I don't know how to watch the Australian Open Championship 2023 in Australia. Australian golf fans can watch the event on the streaming service Kayo Sports. The broadcast will begin at 3:30 p.m. (AEDT) on July 20.

If you are traveling elsewhere, you can still access the streaming service with the help of ExpressVPN.

Tee times for the first day of the British Open Championship 2023 are as follows:

(All times are UK Standard Time, except 5 hours for PDT and 8 hours for PDT).