Open Champions' Challenge over four holes of

Old Course on Wednesday, July 14

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A
On Wednesday, July 14, the eve of the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews, The Open’s past Champions will play four holes of the Old Course – the first, second, 17th and 18th – in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of golf’s oldest Major.
An invitation to compete has been extended to all 32 living Open Champions.
The first group will tee-off around 4pm and the event will conclude by 6pm. The winners of the Challenge, which will be screened live by the BBC, will receive prize money to donate to a charity of their choice.
This is the second time that The Open Champions' Challenge has been staged. In 2000, 22 former Open Champions celebrated the Millennium Open in the same format. On that occasion large galleries, who were entertained by a tap-dance on the Swilken Bridge by an 88-year-old Sam Snead, watched Team One of Tom Weiskopf, Tom Lehman and Paul Lawrie claim victory with a score of two under par. The event raised over £40,000 for charity.
“The Open Champions' Challenge in 2000 was a great success and we expect it to be so again a decade on in 2010,” said David Hill, The R&A’s Director of Championships. “We hope that the majority of our former Champions will accept the invitation and join us in St Andrews to help commemorate this very special occasion.”
Ticket enquiries should be directed through Opengolf.com or +44 (0) 1334 460010.
The invited Champions and the years of their victories are as follows:
Peter Thomson 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965
Gary Player 1959, 1968, 1974
Kel Nagle 1960
Arnold Palmer 1961, 1962
Sir Bob Charles 1963
Jack Nicklaus 1966, 1970, 1978
Roberto de Vicenzo 1967
Tony Jacklin 1969
Lee Trevino 1971, 1972
Tom Weiskopf 1973
Tom Watson 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983
Johnny Miller 1976
Severiano Ballesteros 1979, 1984, 1988
Bill Rogers 1981
Sandy Lyle 1985
Greg Norman 1986, 1993
Sir Nick Faldo 1987, 1990, 1992
Mark Calcavecchia 1989
Ian Baker-Finch 1991
Nick Price 1994
John Daly 1995
Tom Lehman 1996
Justin Leonard 1997
Mark O’Meara 1998
Paul Lawrie 1999
Tiger Woods 2000, 2005, 2006
David Duval 2001
Ernie Els 2002
Ben Curtis 2003
Todd Hamilton 2004
Padraig Harrington 2007, 2008
Stewart Cink 2009