The e-Open

• A live exhibition match between two stars from the world of professional golf set to be played on Wednesday 12 August at 9pm BST

• The match play event will be played virtually on Royal St George’s back nine holes and streamed via The Open’s YouTube Channel

• An iconic voice in sport, Andrew Cotter, will help bring the match to life as he joins as official commentator

Mastercard Ambassadors Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell will swap their clubs for their keyboards as they face off in an all-star live exhibition match on Wednesday 12 August at 9pm BST, as part of The e-Open presented by Mastercard.

The showcase encounter between the two major champions will be played virtually over the back nine holes of Royal St George’s and made available to fans around the world using an innovative livestream broadcast on The Open’s Official YouTube channel.

BBC Sport commentator Andrew Cotter will describe the action over the famous Kent links as Rose and McDowell tackle one of the most iconic closing stretches in the Championship.

As presenting partner of The e-Open, and Official Patron of The Open, Mastercard is helping to make sure the very first e-Open will be one fans will not forget with exclusive experiences and content only available to cardholders on Priceless.com.

Justin Rose, who would have been making his 15th appearance at The Open this summer, spoke about the prospect of taking on Royal St George’s virtually, saying, “It is of course disappointing not to be playing Royal St George’s in person this summer, but I am really looking forward to taking on this challenging links during The e-Open Exhibition Match.

“The e-Open is a fantastic initiative introduced by The R&A in partnership with Mastercard and I hope many fans around the world enjoy experiencing the unrelenting test of links golf from the comfort of their own homes.”

As the tournament reaches over 95,000 entries in the first three weeks of the qualifying stage, the exhibition match will only add to the excitement and drama of the inaugural e-Open.

Graeme McDowell expressed his excitement about taking on his fellow Mastercard Ambassador in this unique links clash, saying, “The e-Open is a fantastic idea for golf fans around the world at a time when gaming is so popular and there has been no Open in 2020. Playing against Justin in The e-Open Exhibition Match is going to be great fun, it’s very realistic, and I hope that contestants get as much fun out of playing a virtual Royal St George's as I do from playing in The Open itself.”

To ensure you don’t miss out on any of the live action, subscribe to The Open’s Official YouTube channel, and turn on notifications.

Qualifying stages for The e-Open are still open! If you think you have what it takes, and want to follow in footsteps of golfing legends, you can begin your e-Open challenge today. To enter qualifying, click here, take on the links and compete to clinch the very first e-Open title.