The Open For The Ages to recreate drama at St. Andrews
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What if the greatest champions in golf could compete at St. Andrews once again?
This week, this concept will be brought to life through The Open For The Ages – an innovative project culminating in a three-hour broadcast production that will show many of the best players of the last 50 years battling it out for the Claret Jug at the home of golf.
Real footage from past Championships at the Old Course has been expertly edited and woven together with modern graphics and new commentary to produce a compelling narrative, designed to recreate the drama of an Open final round. What is more, this unique event will give fans the opportunity to experience the likes of Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Tom Watson, Rory McIlroy and more all contending together at St. Andrews for the first time.
The broadcast will be made available via TV, digital and social media channels from 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. ET on the Golf Channel this Sunday, the day The 149th Open was originally scheduled to conclude at Royal St George’s.
HOW TO WATCH: The final-round broadcast will be available from 6 a.m. ET on Sunday via TheOpen.com and The Open’s YouTube and Facebook channels. It will also be shared by the R&A’s international broadcast partners, including the Golf Channel in the United States, Sky Sports in the UK, and TV Asahi in Japan.
Highlights of the first three rounds will also be available on TheOpen.com and The Open’s YouTube and Facebook channels from Thursday through Saturday.
WHY WAS IT CREATED? After The 149th Open was pushed back to next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The R&A was eager to offer fans the opportunity to engage with a special celebration of The Open during the week the Championship was scheduled to take place in 2020.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “We are all keenly feeling the absence of The Open from the global sporting calendar this year and so we hope that this broadcast will generate real interest and enjoyment for the millions of golf and sports fans who closely follow the Championship every year.”
HOW WILL THE WINNER BE DECIDED? The winner of The Open For The Ages will be determined by a data model developed by NTT DATA, which combines the votes of over 10,000 fans with player career statistics to calculate the victorious golfer.