Senior Open over Old Course, St Andrews
for first time in 2018
FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
The
Old Course at St Andrews, a regular host to the world’s
oldest and most international Major Championship for more than 140
years, will achieve another historic milestone from July 26-29, 2018, by
hosting the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex for the first
time.
Today’s momentous announcement, which was made jointly by The
R&A and the European Tour at The Home of Golf, completes the full
set of Major Championships to be held over the Old Course.
The 144th Open in 2015 was the 29th occasion on which the
Championship has been played at St Andrews.
The Ricoh British Women’s
Open has been played there on two occasions and the Old Course will now
become the 13th venue to accommodate the Senior Open Championship, which
this year celebrates its 30th anniversary with a return to another
famous Scottish venue at Carnoustie.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, and European Tour
CEO, Keith Pelley, welcomed the decision to bring the Senior Open to an
iconic location with which many of the world’s greatest senior golfers
have a strong affinity.
The announcement also received unanimous support from several golfing
greats, including five-time Champion Golfer of the Year and three-time
Senior Open winner, Tom Watson, of the United States, who was a prime
instigator behind the event heading to St Andrews for the first time.
Although he never claimed the Claret Jug at The Home of Golf –
famously finishing tied second behind Seve Ballesteros alongside another
European legend in Bernhard Langer in 1984 – Watson spoke today of his
desire to compete one last time over the famous links.
The 66-year-old made what he believed would be his final flourish
on the Old Course during The Open last year, when he bade an emotional
farewell to the Championship, which defined him as a golfer, on the
Swilcan Bridge.
Watson is now set to return for one last hurrah, however, alongside
a number of champions who can boast victories at St Andrews, including
Sir Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and John Daly, who turns 50 this year
and is set to make his Senior debut at Carnoustie this July.
Watson has completed all four rounds in every one of the 14 Senior
Open Championships in which he has participated.
In those 56 rounds he
has recorded 20 scores in the sixties and twice carded rounds of 64 on
his way to victory in 2003 and 2005, earning just under €1 million in
prize money from that Championship alone.
He said: “I am thrilled at the news that the Senior Open
Championship Presented by Rolex will be staged over the Old Course for
the first time in 2018. Only last July, I played what I believed would
be my final competitive round of golf at The Open, and the reception I
received as darkness fell on that Friday evening will stay with me
always.
“However, The R&A, the European Tour and the St Andrews Links
Trust have shown the spirit of cooperation that exists in the game. By
agreeing to bring this wonderful Championship to the Home of Golf in
July 2018, they have allowed not just me, but many other great
champions, an opportunity to return to a venue that means so much to
everyone who plays the game.”
Sir Nick Faldo, who captured the second of his three Open victories
at St Andrews in 1990, also bade farewell to The Open on the same
Friday as Watson in 2015 but he is already thinking about dusting down
the clubs to compete in the Senior Open Presented by Rolex in 2 ½ years’
time.
The six-time Major Champion and Britain’s most successful golfer,
said: “It is absolutely fantastic to see the Senior Open Championship
going to St Andrews in 2018.
“It’s a great image, even now, to visualise so many legends of the
game gathering again in that famous setting. As a golfer, and a golf
fan, I will look forward to it enormously.”
Montgomerie was part of the three-man Scotland team who claimed the
Dunhill Cup in 1995.
Exactly a decade later the three-time Senior Major
Champion finished a credible runner-up behind Tiger Woods in The Open
over the Old Course, before going one better in that year’s Alfred
Dunhill Links Championship.
He commented: “This is great news and will surely deliver the best
field ever assembled for the Senior Open Championship. All credit to the
powers that be to get the Senior Open at St Andrews for the first time.
Even now, more than two years out, I am excited about the prospect.
It’s a real coup for The R&A, the European Senior Tour, St Andrews
Links Trust, Rolex and everyone associated with the event to get us
playing senior golf at St Andrews.
“It will be great to see Tom Watson back, at the age of 68, where
we thought he would play in a major for the last time in 2015. However,
there will be a lot of other players, like Fred Couples and Bernhard
Langer for instance, who will be excited by the prospect. It will be a
real celebration of over-50s golf.”
Martin Slumbers said: “There have been many great championships
held at St Andrews over the years and it is entirely fitting that the
Senior Open should be played at the Home of Golf in 2018. We know that
the galleries in St Andrews are passionate about golf and I’m sure they
will turn out in strong numbers to see so many renowned senior players
competing. It promises to be another wonderful event for golf fans in
Scotland.”
Keith Pelley said: “The Senior Open Championship presented by Rolex
is, without question, the premier tournament in the Senior game and it
is fitting, therefore, that it is to be played for the first time at
golf’s most iconic venue.
"Some of the most celebrated players in history
have laid claim to the title over the years and we are already looking
forward to seeing who will join them on the Roll of Honour. We thank our
partners at the R&A and Rolex for their support and I know all of
our Senior Tour Members are already looking forward to pitting their
wits against the Old Course in July 2018.”
