R&A to broadcast virtual Open featuring best golfers of modern era

The Open for the Ages is an incredible virtual Open Championship that will see the best golfers of the past 50 years face off against each other at The Home of Golf.

In light of the cancellation of the 2020 Open Championship due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the R&A will broadcast (July 16 – 19) an extraordinary virtual golf tournament featuring the best golfers of the last 50 years.

In short, a bunch of clever people have cut and spliced previous Open footage from St Andrews to create a virtual golf tournament that will see Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Greg Norman, Nick Faldo and Rory McIlroy among others face off against each other over four rounds of “golf”.

The Open for the Ages is a remarkably innovative way of filling The Open void in 2020 that will be broadcast via a bunch of different media including at TheOpen.com.

The trailer looks extraordinary.

More details from the official media release:

This exclusive edition of The Open features 50 years of archive footage expertly edited and woven together with modern graphics and new commentary to imagine a Championship contested by the legends of the sport including Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Sir Nick Faldo and Rory McIlroy.

‘The Open for The Ages’ will culminate in a final round programme that will air on Sunday 19 July when it will be broadcast globally to fans around the world on TV, TheOpen.com and The Open’s social media channels. The broadcast is being supported by HSBC and NTT DATA, both Patrons of The Open.

Anticipation and excitement for the final round programme will build up from Thursday 16 to Saturday 18 July when coverage of the first three rounds of ‘The Open for The Ages’ will be provided by in-play clips, live leaderboards and end of play highlights across The Open’s social media channels.

The winner of ‘The Open for The Ages’ will be determined by a fan vote, which has registered more than 10,000 responses, and a data model developed in partnership with NTT DATA that utilises player career statistics alongside the input by fans to calculate the Champion.

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