The first groups of golfers have been revealed for The R&A Celebration of Champions, which is taking place on Monday, 11 July during The 150th Open at St Andrews.
The 2021 Champion Golfer Collin Morikawa will have the honour of hitting the first tee shot at 3.05pm and the American will play alongside reigning AIG Women’s Open champion Anna Nordqvist, Jess Baker, who won the Women’s Amateur Championship at Hunstanton last month, and Asia-Pacific Amateur champion and 2021 Mark McCormack Medal winner Keita Nakajima.
Also confirmed are three-time Open champion Tiger Woods and 2014 Champion Golfer Rory McIlroy, who will play alongside 2018 AIG Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall and Lee Trevino, two-time winner of The Open in 1971 and 1972. The foursome will go out as the last group teeing off at 5.05pm BST.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “We have planned a very special celebration of golf for fans to attend and I’m sure they will be excited at the prospect of watching the greatest names in golf, as well as the future stars of the sport, come together to play over the Old Course at St Andrews.
“We are deliberately inviting a field that represents the past, present and future of this game we all love and reflects our purpose to ensure that golf is seen as welcoming, accessible and can be played by anyone who wants to. It will be a lot of fun and we look forward to revealing the full draw on Monday before enjoying a fitting celebration of this great Championship at the home of golf.”
Tiger Woods said: “This is going to be a special week of golf, and having many of the sport’s great champions and future stars play in this event is a great way to mark this historic Championship. St Andrews has such a unique atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans again and on a course that holds fantastic memories for me.”
Georgia Hall added: “It is an absolute thrill to play alongside Tiger, Rory and Lee. I think it’s fantastic that The R&A has invited champions from all levels of the sport and I’m sure that Jess and Keita will be massively excited by the prospect of teeing it up with Collin and Anna at St Andrews.”
Fans attending The 150th Open next Monday can look forward to watching a star-studded field of Champion Golfers, women’s Major Champions, male and female amateur champions, and golfers with disability champions compete over the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th holes of the famous Old Course in celebration of the historic playing of golf’s original Championship.
The full draw will be announced on the morning of Monday 11 July and, starting from 3pm, golfers will play in teams of four with the best two scores out of four counting on each hole. The team with the lowest total over the four holes will be declared the winners.
The R&A Celebration of Champions will be broadcast live from St Andrews to millions of fans around the world on TV. It will also be available to view digitally on TheOpen.com and The Open’s YouTube channel, while fans can also follow the action via The Open Radio, The Open App and The Open’s various social channels.
A number of special guests, including names from the world of sport and entertainment, have also been invited by The R&A to attend the celebrations taking place throughout the week at the home of golf.