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The Open For The Ages
What if the greatest Champions in golf could compete at St Andrews once again?
From Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 July, this concept was brought to life through The Open For The Ages – an innovative project culminating in a three-hour broadcast production that showed many of the best players of the last 50 years battling it out for the Claret Jug at the home of golf.
Real footage from past Championships at the Old Course was expertly edited and woven together with modern graphics and new commentary to produce a compelling narrative, designed to recreate the drama of an Open final round. What is more, this unique event gave fans the opportunity to experience the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Nick Faldo, Tom Watson, Rory McIlroy and more all contending together at St Andrews for the first time.
The final-round broadcast – supported by HSBC and NTT DATA, both Official Patrons of The Open - was made available via TV, digital and social media channels on Sunday 19 July, the day The 149th Open was originally scheduled to conclude at Royal St George’s.
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Why was The Open For The Ages created?
After The 149th Open was pushed back to next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The R&A was eager to offer fans the opportunity to engage with a special celebration of The Open during the week the Championship was scheduled to take place in 2020.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “We are all keenly feeling the absence of The Open from the global sporting calendar this year and so we hope that this broadcast will generate real interest and enjoyment for the millions of golf and sports fans who closely follow the Championship every year.”
How was the winner decided?
The winner of The Open For The Ages was determined by a fan vote, which registered more than 10,000 responses, and a data model developed in partnership with NTT DATA that utilised this fan vote along with player career statistics and historical data from The Open to calculate the Champion.
For further details on how the winner was determined, click here.
