NBC Sports comprehensive coverage of the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews across NBC, USA Network and Peacock delivered the second most-watched Open Championship in nearly a decade, averaging a Total Audience Delivery of 2.516 million viewers to make it the second most-watched Open Championship since 2013.
Overall viewership for the 150th Open Championship was up 16% vs. 2021 (2.174 million TAD) and up 27% vs. 2019 (1.983 million TAD).
Prior to the 4th of July holiday, Chris Gotterup hadn't been home in nearly three months. In a diabolical, roller-coaster stretch of golf from May through July Chris played in the NCAA National Championships, RBC Canadian Open, U.S. Open, Travelers Championship, John Deere Classic, and Barbasol Championship without any break at all.
I talked with Chris recently from his home in New Jersey and straight up asked him how he's even still standing. His reply? "Yeah it's been crazy honestly but I love it all. And at the end of the day golf is golf, you just gotta go play well no matter where it is." Wait, what? Golf is golf? These words on paper may sound cliché, but for Gotterup this is profoundly revealing of who he is and the depths of his personality both on and off the course.
Three days of joyful, inspired play in the Inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst Resort’s Course No. 6 ended in a dramatic triumph befitting a USGA national championship. Simon Lee, 25, of the Republic of Korea, shot a final-round 71, then went birdie-par in a two-hole playoff on Wednesday to win the men’s overall title over Felix Norrman, while Kim Moore, 41, of Portage, Mich., went wire-to-wire to earn the title of women’s overall champion.
“It's pretty cool to be part of a little bit of history in golf,” said Moore, the women’s golf coach at Western Michigan University. “I’m thankful for my friends and family and their support and all the people back home that are wishing me good luck and have been watching. It's just been very humbling and exciting for me this whole week, and it's just been nothing but amazing.”
If the intensity and pressure of trying to advance out of the Round of 64 on Wednesday at the 73rd U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship wasn’t enough for the competitors, the stifling temperatures that reached the low 90s only added to the anxiety.
Never has the term “sweating out a match” been more appropriate than at The Club at Olde Stone on a steamy mid-July day in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
A new Vokey Wedge Fitting App for indoor wedge fitting – developed by Titleist and Vokey engineers in collaboration with Titleist club fitting experts - is the first of its kind.
Specifically designed to enhance the wedge fitting experience for all golfers, The Vokey Wedge Fitting App golfers enhanced access to quality, precise wedge recommendations to improve their wedge play.
Beckett Simonon, a trailblazer in the premium leather goods category, known for bringing bespoke fashion and comfort together - has unveiled the most essential kicks for golfing - Beckett Simonon’s Golf Sneakers, a collection of re-imaginated water-repellent full-grain Italian leather shoes made to reign supreme above the rest.
Featuring avant-garde technology to power up the natural motions of your body while enhancing comfort, these ultra-modern and fashion-forward shoes were designed to morph together eco-futurism and the new wave of luxury fashion.
Golfers looking to pin-point where gains can be made in their putting performance and practice methods will benefit from another groundbreaking software feature being launched today by Arccos – the pioneer of big data and Artificial Intelligence for golf.
Available in both individual round summaries and overall player insights within the award-winning Arccos Caddie app, Enhanced Putting Stats has been designed to automatically track the Strokes Gained value for each putt at given lengths. Putting data is also broken down into Make percent and 3 Putt percent at each of the following distances: 0-2 feet, 3-5 ft, 6-9 ft, 10-14 ft, 15-24 ft, 25-39 ft and over 40 ft.
The R&A continued its efforts to play a lead role in tackling single-use plastic bottles at The 150th Open played at St Andrews, Scotland. Bluewater hydration stations dispensed a massive 76,869 litres of water during the event, equivalent to 153,738 500ml-sized plastic bottles.
“We want to thank The R&A, the organisers of The Open, for taking the lead in providing hydration solutions that end the need for an event to sell plastic bottles of water, and the fans who made the choice to support the planet by purchasing a sustainable Bluewater bottle to replace throwaway plastic bottles,” said Bluewater founder and CEO Bengt Rittri. (photo below) Mr. Rittri noted the 150th anniversary edition of The Open had attracted around 290,000 fans whose hydration requirements were met despite warmer than average weather conditions.
Building on their longstanding partnership and shared passion to elevate the stories of golf’s legends, the USGA and the World Golf Hall of Fame will create a new visitor experience at the USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst campus, opening in 2024. In doing so, the Hall of Fame will relocate its physical presence from St. Augustine to North Carolina.
Additionally, World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremonies will be held in Pinehurst in 2024 and 2029, to coincide with the 124th U.S. Open on Pinehurst No. 2 (2024), and the return of back-to-back U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica and U.S. Open Championships, also on Course No. 2 (2029). The first-ever back-to-back U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Open were contested in 2014.
In Round 2 of the Inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open on Tuesday at Pinehurst Resort’s Course No. 6, more inspiring stories emerged of players overcoming challenges to compete at a national championship level.
No one has done it better so far than Simon Lee, who shot a second consecutive 1-under-par 71 to surge to a two-stroke lead over Felix Norrman of Sweden in the men’s division, while first-round women’s leader Kim Moore of Portage, Mich., struggled a bit but still holds a four-stroke edge heading into Wednesday’s final round.
The ANNIKA Foundation – the charitable organization founded by defending U.S. Senior Women’s Open Champion Annika Sorenstam – will host its next “Share My Passion” golf clinic at NCR Country Club on Tuesday, August 23.
The ANNIKA Foundation, in partnership with Toro and Mastercard, invites girls between the ages of six and 14 who reside in Greater Dayton and the Miami Valley area to write an open letter or send in a video to Annika telling her why they love golf and why other girls should learn to play. The creators of the 30 most-compelling submissions will be invited to attend the clinic during the week of the U.S. Senior Women’s Open.
Revo, the global leader in high-quality performance sunglasses, announced today the launch two new limited-edition sunglasses designed in collaboration with Hall-of-Fame golfer, Annika Sorenstam. Featuring custom styles and unsurpassed functionality, the Revo frames are designed to have golfers looking good – both on the course and off.
The Revo x Annika collection features two styles of unisex sunglasses for golfers. One style focuses on lifestyle, made for everyday wear, while the other style is a sports frame made with the links in mind. Each style comes in a choice of three colors and each features Revo’s glare-reducing, NASA-based Light Management System to protect wearers from harmful bandwidths of sunlight.
Fujikura, the leader in performance golf shafts, was honored to be the number one driver shaft at the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews last week. 32.1% of the field in Scotland trusted Fujikura in their driver and 24% of all driver shafts were VENTUS.
After a sensational back-nine, equaling the lowest ever scoring in major championship history, the eventual Claret Jug winner lifted the trophy using the VENTUS TR. The new world number two used the VENTUS TR Blue 6X in his driver and the VENTUS TR Blue 8X in his 3-wood on his way to his first ever major victory.
True Spec Golf, the global leader in custom club fitting and club building, has announced its newest facility, True Spec Chicago West. The new facility will have its grand opening on August 2 and will join the Highland Park site as the second location in the city.
This is the latest opening in a growing number of partnerships that brings True Spec’s bespoke fittings and best-in-class customer service to prominent venues around the country.
Bandon Dunes Golf Resort will host the 74th U.S. Junior Amateur next week with a starting field of 264 players.
Bandon Dunes course will be set up at 7,143 yards and will play to a par of 36-36–72. Bandon Dunes Golf Resort’s Bandon Trails course, which will serve as the stroke-play co-host course for the two days of stroke play, will be set up at 6,763 yards and play to a par of 36-35–71.
Once the flag was raised, the band had played and the celebration at Monday’s opening ceremony had concluded, it was time for the field of 96 competitors in this Inaugural U.S. Adaptive Open to get to the business at hand: competing for the right to call themselves a USGA champion.
No one did that better on Course No. 6 at Pinehurst Resort than Chad Pfeifer, of Caldwell, Idaho, and Kim Moore, of Portage, Mich., who lead the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively, of this newest USGA championship.
On an ideal day for scoring, Lauren Zaretsky, 18, of Canada, posted a 5-under-par 68 on Monday for a one-stroke lead after the first round of stroke play in the 73rd U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship being contested at The Club at Olde Stone.
Yana Wilson, 15, of Henderson, Nev., a two-time Drive, Chip & Putt age-group champion who reached the quarterfinals last year, Hsin Tai Lin, 16, of Chinese Taipei, Justice Bosio, 18, of Australia and Farah O’Keefe, 17, of Austin, Texas, were in the group at 4-under 69 on the 6,484-yard, par-73 Arthur Hills design that opened in 2006.
How can you not be romantic about The Open Championship? The champions and personalities who've won the Claret Jug. The history behind The Open as the oldest golf tournament in the world. And this year, the Old Course at St. Andrews, the Home of Golf.
This week just feels different, even the players admit there's something more about the 150th edition of this championship. Tiger said this week "it feels like the biggest Open Championship we've ever had." Rory called St. Andrews "the spiritual home of golf." And just like last year, I've got the exact same yardage and green books players will be using this week on the Old Course to share with all of you.
Three of golf’s great champions have accepted invitations to become Honorary Members of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
With 20 major championship victories between them, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, and Paul Lawrie have enjoyed highly successful careers, been hugely influential in supporting and inspiring future generations of golfers, and served as outstanding global ambassadors for the sport.
Tour Edge has announced the launch of their new Exotics Wingman 700 Series Putters featuring three new modern mini-mallet designs and six total hosel options.
The brand-new shapes offer cascading MOI (Moment of Inertia) properties matching the size of the Wingman putter head, providing maximum stability and optimal roll for every player type.
