FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

NBC SPORTS GROUP GEARING UP FOR BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS AT THE HOME OF GOLF WITH THE ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT SCOTTISH OPEN & 144TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, JULY 9-19

Golf Channel, Golf Channel on NBC to Air More Than 25 Hours of Live Coverage of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open July 9-12

Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews Contributing to More Than 30 Hours of News and Analysis Surrounding the 144th Open Championship July 13-19

Live Coverage of the World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony to Air within Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews on Monday, July 13, 1 P.M. ET

Golf Central Live From St. Andrews Features Include: Tom Watson’s Farewell; the Familiarity of St. Andrews’ Old Course; Recalling Nick Faldo’s 1990 Open Championship Victory; the Rise of Jordan Spieth as a Major Champion

Golf Channel Digital to Provide Daily Reports, Features, and Video from

On-Air Personalities and Golf Channel Writers On-Site at St. Andrews

ORLANDO, Fla. (July 7, 2015) NBC Sports Group is gearing up its production plans to showcase two of the game’s most storied events from the home of golf with the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and the 144th Open Championship. Golf Channel will feature live coverage of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open on Thursday and Friday, July 9-10 as well as early-round coverage on Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12 leading into the conclusion of third and final round play on NBC.

The following week, Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews will originate from the Old Course at St. Andrews to offer comprehensive news and analysis contributing to the network’s more than 30 total hours of news programming surrounding Open Championship week.

 

Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open

Golf Channel and NBC will air more than 25 combined hours of live coverage of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open from Gullane Golf Club, Thursday-Sunday, July 9-12. The elite field will include 15 of the top-50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including Rickie Fowler, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose and Jimmy Walker as they make they make their final preparations for the Open Championship the following week. Rich Lerner will handle play-by-play duties and will be joined in the 18th tower by Brandel Chamblee (lead analyst). Curt Byrum and Tom Abbott will serve as hole announcers in outer tower positions and Jay Townsend will walk inside the ropes as an on-course reporter.

 

Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open Tournament Airtimes (all times ET):

Thursday, July 9          5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live)      Golf Channel

Friday, July 10            5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Live)      Golf Channel

Saturday, July 11        9:30 a.m.-Noon (Live)            Golf Channel

Noon-2:30 p.m. (Live)            NBC

Sunday, July 12          9:30 a.m.-Noon (Live)            Golf Channel

Noon-2:30 p.m. (Live)            NBC

 

Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews

Golf Channel’s Open Championship week programming will be led by Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews, which will air on-site from the Old Course, as well as from Studio A at Golf Channel’s World Headquarters in Orlando, Fla. Anchoring the network’s coverage from St. Andrews will be Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, Frank Nobilo, Tim Rosaforte, Todd Lewis and Ken Schofield.

World Golf Hall of Fame 2015 Induction Ceremony – Monday, July 13 at 1 p.m. ET

Open Championship week on Golf Channel will kick off with the live 90-minute telecast of the World Golf Hall of Fame 2015 Induction Ceremony on Monday, July 13, which will air within Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews beginning at 1 p.m. ET from the University of St. Andrews, just blocks from the Old Course. The ceremony – which will be televised live to an international audience for the first time – features a class of four inductees including: Laura Davies, four-time major champion and winner of more than 70 career worldwide victories; two-time major champions David Graham and Mark O’Meara; and the late A.W. Tillinghast, prolific golf architect, who designed more than 100 courses in the United States over the course of his career. Di Dougherty will emcee the ceremony.

This is the first time that the induction ceremony will be held outside of the United States, and will mark the first class to be elected by the 16-member Hall of Fame Selection Commission (co-chaired by World Golf Hall-of-Famers Nancy Lopez, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam) using the required 75% voting threshold approval. The expanded biennial schedule will have the ceremony returning to the World Golf Hall of Fame Museum in St. Augustine, Fla., in 2017 during THE PLAYERS Championship, and in 2019 will be staged in Pebble Beach, Calif., during U.S. Open week.

 

Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews Scheduled Features (previews available upon request):

  • Watson’s Farewell – 40 years after winning his first of five Open Championship titles, Tom Watson will compete in this year’s event for the final time. Rich Lerner takes a retrospect look back on Watson’s knack for winning on golf’s most storied links courses, which ultimately account for more than half of his career major championship victories.
  • The Familiarity of the Old Course – The game’s biggest stars recall their first impressions of the Old Course at St. Andrews, and share why their  fondness for golf’s oldest venue continues to grow each time they return.
  • Faldo’s Victory in the 1990 Open Championship – Six-time major winner Nick Faldo recounts his 1990 Open Championship title on the 25-year anniversary of the memorable showdown with Greg Norman on the Old Course.
  • Spieth’s Ascension to Major Champion – Having carried the spotlight with him long before he sparked the rhetoric of a potential 2015 Grand Slam, the maturation of Jordan Spieth is examined from junior golf prodigy to two-time major champion.

Digital Coverage

Golf Channel Digital will provide extensive coverage from its team of staffers on-site at St. Andrews: Rex Hoggard, Ryan Lavner, Jay Coffin, Joe Posnanski and Bailey Mosier. Content will include daily news reports, feature stories and exclusive video, as well as “Open Tracker”, a daily live blog keeping readers up-to-date on all the developing storylines. Online video will include highlights and analysis from Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews, recaps and reports.

Golf’s Greatest Rounds – 1995 Open Championship

Golf Channel’s next installment of its Golf’s Greatest Rounds series centers around John Daly’s second major championship title in the 1995 Open Championship at St. Andrews’ Old Course, premiering at 9 p.m. ET tonight. Daly was matched in a four-hole aggregate playoff against Costantino Rocca (who birdied the 72nd hole to tie Daly at 6-under par). Daly took a two-shot lead to the famous Road Hole (No. 17) where Rocca needed three shots to get out of the bunker, making triple bogey and ultimately handing Daly the title.

The Golf Fix

Hosted by 2012 PGA Professional teacher of the Year Michael Breed, The Golf Fix will air on Monday, July 13 at 6 p.m. ET and preview the Open Championship at St. Andrews. The episode will provide a blueprint for how to pull off some of the most revered shots in St. Andrews history, and discuss what it will take for Jordan Spieth to keep his 2015 Grand Slam hopes intact.

Open Championship International Programming

Golf Channel will produce live international Open Championship news programming from its Orlando World Headquarters in both Japanese and Mandarin. The shows will feature live reports and custom content from St. Andrews throughout the week. These productions will complement the international distribution of Golf Central’s Live From St. Andrews, which is distributed to markets within Golf Channel’s worldwide footprint in more than 80 countries, 200 million households and 11 languages.

 

Open Championship Week Programming Air Times (all times ET):

Monday, July 13

Morning Drive                        7-9 a.m.

Live From St. Andrews          Noon-3 p.m.

The Golf Fix                           6-7 p.m.

Live From St. Andrews          7-8 p.m.

Tuesday, July 14

Morning Drive                        6-8 a.m.

Live From St. Andrews          8 a.m.-1 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

Wednesday, July 15

Morning Drive                        6-8 a.m.

Live From St. Andrews          8 a.m.-1 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

Thursday, July 16

Live From St. Andrews          7-9 p.m.

Friday, July 17

Live From St. Andrews          7-9 p.m.

Saturday, July 18

Live From St. Andrews          7-9 p.m.

Sunday, July 19

Live From St. Andrews          1:30-2 p.m.

7-9 p.m.

-NBC Sports Group-