Woods and Nicklaus set for Sunday showdown

Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus will make up a must-see final pairing in the last round of The Open For The Ages, after both men ended Saturday tied at the top of the leaderboard.

Woods and Nicklaus each reached 12 under on day three, setting up a tantalising showdown between the two most prolific major-winners in men’s golf.

Comparisons have been drawn between the pair for years and they will now be shown going head to head for the first time in a celebratory edition of golf’s original major.

The Open For The Ages, in association with HSBC, has been created using real archive footage from past Championships at St Andrews dating back to 1970. The winner of this innovative event has been determined by a data model developed in partnership with NTT DATA, which utilises a fan vote, player career statistics and historical data from The Open to calculate the Champion.

Although Nicklaus’ tally of 18 majors beats Woods’ present haul by three, the two boast remarkably similar records in The Open and at St Andrews.

Both men have won three Opens in total and two at St Andrews, with Nicklaus triumphing over the Old Course in 1970 and 1978 before Woods followed suit in 2000 and 2005.

Sunday’s final-round broadcast will be available to view from 11am BST via TheOpen.com, The Open’s YouTube and Facebook channels, and a host of international broadcasters.

While much attention will focus on Sunday’s final pairing, a host of star names remain firmly in contention just behind Woods and Nicklaus.

The penultimate group will feature Seve Ballesteros and Sir Nick Faldo, the Champions at St Andrews in 1984 and 1990 respectively. Ballesteros and Faldo are only a shot off the pace after round three, along with five-time Champion Golfer Tom Watson, who is out in the third-last group with Louis Oosthuizen.

The Champion Golfer of the Year at the Old Course in 2010, Oosthuizen is two behind the leaders with 18 holes to play. John Daly and Jordan Spieth will also start the final round on 10 under and play together in another intriguing match-up.

Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els are the other feature pairing, although both sit nine shots adrift of Woods and Nicklaus.