Tiger Woods is favored to win his first major tournament in four years when the 2012 British Open gets underway on Thursday. Golf fans in the United States will need to set their alarms as the action starts early in the morning from the U.K.

ESPN will begin coverage from Royal Lytham & St. Annes at 4:30 a.m. Eastern on Thursday morning. The action will also be available online via ESPN3. The network's online arm will have the action from holes 9-11 starting at 4:00 a.m. At 5:00 a.m., ESPN3 switches to coverage from hole No. 1 and No. 18. Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson and defending Open champ Darren Clarke all tee off at 4:00 a.m. Eastern.

Coverage of the tournament runs until 3 p.m. on ESPN, with mirror coverage on ESPN3 through the same time. Following that the sports network will have a recap and highlights.

For more on the 2012 British Open, please be sure to check out SB Nation's golf hub and SB Nation New York for all the latest news and updates.