The Open For The Ages
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 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 16-19 July 2020 |
| Location | St Andrews, Fife, Scotland |
| Course(s) | Old Course, St Andrews Links |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,305 yards (6,680 m) |
| Field | 21 players |
| Cut | none |
| Champion | |
 Jack Nicklaus | |
| 272 (−16) | |
The Open For The Ages is a special made-for-television fictional edition of The Open Championship tournament of golf. Utilizing data analysis, a fan vote and 50 years of Open archive footage, it features 21 famous golfers including previous Open champions from various eras at the peak of their careers competing on the Old Course at St Andrews for the Claret Jug and the title of Champion Golfer. The event aired from 16-19 July 2020 – the same dates that the 2020 Open Championship was supposed to be held at Royal St George's Golf Club before being canceled by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which further led the tournament organizers to create the event.[1]
Nick Dougherty, Ewen Murray and Iona Stephen provided commentary, with highlight videos being released for the first three rounds and the full final round being broadcast on Sunday, including on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and the Golf Channel on NBC in the United States.[2][3][4]
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burn | 376 | 4 | 10 | Bobby Jones | 386 | 4 | |
| 2 | Dyke | 453 | 4 | 11 | High (In) | 174 | 3 | |
| 3 | Cartgate (Out) | 397 | 4 | 12 | Heathery (In) | 348 | 4 | |
| 4 | Ginger Beer | 480 | 4 | 13 | Hole O'Cross (In) | 465 | 4 | |
| 5 | Hole O'Cross (Out) | 568 | 5 | 14 | Long | 618 | 5 | |
| 6 | Heathery (Out) | 412 | 4 | 15 | Cartgate (In) | 455 | 4 | |
| 7 | High (Out) | 371 | 4 | 16 | Corner of the Dyke | 423 | 4 | |
| 8 | Short | 175 | 3 | 17 | Road | 495 | 4 | |
| 9 | End | 352 | 4 | 18 | Tom Morris | 357 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,584 | 36 | In | 3,721 | 36 | |||
| Source:[5] | Total | 7,305 | 72 | |||||
Entrants
The 21 players chosen were all major champions, with all but two having been named Champion Golfer of the Year at least once. Between them, they had won 107 major championships including 43 Open Championships in seven different decades. They represented nine countries between them and included the major championship victory record holder in Jack Nicklaus (18) and the last man to hold all four major championships at once in Tiger Woods (2000 U.S. Open, 2000 Open Championship, 2000 PGA Championship and 2001 Masters), as well as three career Grand Slam winners in Gary Player, Nicklaus and Woods.
In chronological order of first achieving best Open Championship result
| Player | Country | Best Open Finish (Venues/Years) | Total Majors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Thomson |  Australia | 5 wins (Royal Birkdale 1954, St Andrews 1955, Royal Liverpool 1956, Royal Lytham & St Annes 1958, Royal Birkdale 1965) | 5 |
| Gary Player |  South Africa | 3 wins (Muirfield 1959, Carnoustie 1968, Royal Lytham & St Annes 1974) | 9 |
| Arnold Palmer |  United States | 2 wins (Royal Birkdale 1961, Royal Troon 1962) | 7 |
| Jack Nicklaus | United States | 3 wins (Muirfield 1966, St Andrews 1970, St Andrews 1978) | 18 |
| Lee Trevino | United States | 2 wins (Royal Birkdale 1971, Muirfield 1972) | 6 |
| Tom Watson | United States | 5 wins (Carnoustie 1975, Turnberry 1977, Muirfield 1980, Royal Troon 1982, Royal Birkdale 1983) | 8 |
| Seve Ballesteros |  Spain | 3 wins (Royal Lytham & St Annes 1979, St Andrews 1984, Royal Lytham & St Annes 1988) | 5 |
| Greg Norman | Australia | 2 wins (Turnberry 1986, Royal St George's 1993) | 2 |
| Nick Faldo |  England | 3 wins (Muirfield 1987, St Andrews 1990, Muirfield 1992) | 6 |
| Fred Couples | United States | 2 3rd places (Royal Birkdale 1991, St Andrews 2005) | 1 |
| José María Olazábal | Spain | 2 3rd places (Muirfield 1992, St Andrews 2005) | 2 |
| Nick Price |  Zimbabwe | 1 win (Turnberry 1994) | 3 |
| John Daly | United States | 1 win (St Andrews 1995) | 2 |
| Tiger Woods | United States | 3 wins (St Andrews 2000, St Andrews 2005, Royal Liverpool 2006) | 15 |
| Ernie Els | South Africa | 2 wins (Muirfield 2002, Royal Lytham & St Annes 2012) | 4 |
| Pádraig Harrington |  Ireland | 2 wins (Carnoustie 2007, Royal Birkdale 2008) | 3 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | South Africa | 1 win (St Andrews 2010) | 1 |
| Rory McIlroy |  Northern Ireland | 1 win (Royal Liverpool 2014) | 4 |
| Zach Johnson | United States | 1 win (St Andrews 2015) | 2 |
| Henrik Stenson |  Sweden | 1 win (Royal Troon 2016) | 1 |
| Jordan Spieth | United States | 1 win (Royal Birkdale 2017) | 3 |