The European Seniors Tour and The R&A have announced MasterCard Worldwide as the new Presenting Sponsor of The Senior Open Championship, commencing with the 2008 Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club, Scotland.
One of the great links courses in Great Britain, the Old Course at Royal Troon will host The 2008 Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard from July 24-27 next year, when the cream of international Senior golfing talent will contest the replica Claret Jug for the 22nd time.
Tom Watson, a MasterCard Worldwide Ambassador, will defend the title at Troon after the American captured his third Senior Open title at Muirfield on Sunday, defeating compatriot Mark O’Meara and Stewart Ginn by a stroke.
MasterCard Worldwide, a global payment solutions leader, was previously the Presenting Sponsor of the Championship from 2000-2004.
Since 2004, MasterCard Worldwide has been associated with the event as a Championship Patron and is now graduating back to the level of Presenting Sponsor at a time when some of the biggest stars of European golf are about to reach their 50th birthdays.
Among the new names that will be eligible to play in the Championship at Troon are three Major-winning Ryder Cup Captains in Bernhard Langer of Germany, Hal Sutton of the United States and Ian Woosnam of Wales, in addition to 1985 Open and 1988 Masters Champion Sandy Lyle of Scotland.
Alan Heuer, Chief Operating Officer of MasterCard Worldwide, said: “We are delighted to be Presenting Sponsor of The Senior Open Championship. This event provides the perfect platform upon which to promote MasterCard’s products and payment brands such as Pay Pass, Maestro, MasterCard debit and credit cards.”
It will be the fourth consecutive year the Championship has been staged in Scotland and the first at Royal Troon. The Scottish sequence began at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club in 2005, followed by The Westin Turnberry Resort in 2006 and last week’s venue at Muirfield.
The visit to Troon will also represent the seventh time that the Championship has taken place on Ayrshire’s spectacular golfing coastline.
Arthur Havers was the first man to lift the Claret Jug at Royal Troon in 1923 and was followed by Bobby Locke (1950), Arnold Palmer (1962), Tom Weiskopf (1973), Tom Watson (1982), Mark Calcavecchia (1989), Justin Leonard (1997) and Todd Hamilton (2004).
Watson secured the fourth of his five Open titles over the Old Course in 1982 when he beat Peter Oosterhuis and Nick Price by a shot.
For further information, please contact:
European Tour Communications Division
Tel: +44 (0) 1344 840400
Fax: +44 (0) 1344 840444
Email: media@europeantour.com
David Hill
Director of Championships
The R&A
Tel: +44 (0) 1334 460000
The Senior Open Championship
The Senior British Open Championship was first played in 1987, when Neil Coles captured the title at The Westin Turnberry Resort, and was accorded Senior Major Championship status in 2003. The Championship is sanctioned by The R&A, the European Seniors Tour and the US Champions Tour.
Royal Troon Golf Club is set to become the fifth Open venue to be used for the Championship after Royal Portrush, Royal Lytham & St Annes, The Westin Turnberry Resort and Muirfield. The Championship has also been played at Royal Aberdeen Golf Club and Royal County Down Golf Club.
MasterCard and Golf
MasterCard is heavily involved in supporting golf and some of their other golf properties include the MasterCard Masters on The European Tour, which in November 2006 was won by Justin Rose at Huntingdale Golf Club, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the US PGA Tour and the MasterCard Championship on the US Champions Tour.
