Stars of AIG Women’s Open to play in Celebration of Champions

Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Hall will be featured in two marquee groups initially revealed for The R&A Celebration of Champions, which is taking place on Monday 11 July during The 150^th Open at St Andrews.  

Nordqvist, who won the AIG Women’s Open in fine style at Carnoustie last year, and who will be defending her title at Muirfield in August, will play alongside another defending Champion, Collin Morikawa (The Open), in the first group of the day. The pair will also play alongside Amateur Champion Jess Baker and the men's world number one amateur Keita Nakajima.

Meanwhile 2018 Champion Georgia Hall will play in a truly star-studded group with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Lee Trevino in the last group of the day. Between them, the four-ball have won nine Opens, including Hall’s memorable AIG Women's Open triumph at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Hall said, “It’s going to be 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.”

Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “This is going to be a very special exhibition of golf and I am sure fans 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.”

Fans attending The 150^th Open next Monday can look forward to watching the star-studded field compete over the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th holes of the famous Old Course.

The full draw will be announced on the morning on 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 and digitally via TheOpen.com and the Championship’s social media channels.