FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 31st, 2018

NBC SPORTS TO AIR 28 LIVE HOURS OF THE RICOH WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN FROM ROYAL LYTHAM & ST ANNES; MOST LIVE HOURS FOR LPGA TOUR EVENT IN 2018

Each of Top-50 in World Convene for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio

 

PGA TOUR in Nevada for Barracuda Championship

 

PGA TOUR Champions in Minnesota for 3M Championship; Nicklaus,

Player, Lopez & Sorenstam Headline “Greats of Golf Challenge” Saturday

                            

Singh, Els Lead Field at European Tour’s Fiji International

 

ORLANDO, Fla. (July 31, 2018) – NBC Sports Group will dedicate nearly 30 live hours to the Ricoh Women’s British Open, being staged Thursday-Sunday at Royal Lytham & St Annes in England. The top-50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will convene in Ohio this week for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club’s South Course. The PGA TOUR is in Reno, Nev., for the Barracuda Championship, where Chris Stroud defends. The PGA TOUR Champions are in Minnesota for the 3M Championship, and on Saturday the “Greats of Golf Challenge” will feature World Golf Hall of Fame members including Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam. On the European Tour, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh headline the field at the Fiji International.

 

R&A

Ricoh Women’s British Open

Dates: August 2-5

Venue: Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, England

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         6 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live)

Friday             6 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live)

Saturday          7-11 a.m. (Live)

Sunday            7-11:30 a.m. (Live)

 

Tournament Airtimes on NBC (Eastern):

Saturday          11 a.m.-2 p.m. (Live)

Sunday            11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. (Live)

 

Broadcast Notes:

28 live hours of coverage: Thursday-Sunday, Golf Channel and NBC will combine to air seven continuous hours of live tournament coverage each day, equaling 2017 as the most in tournament history and the most number of live hours for an LPGA event during the 2018 season.

Kim defends: I.K. Kim finished two strokes ahead of Jodi Ewart Shadoff to earn her seventh LPGA Tour win and first major championship victory.

Headlining the field: Ariya Jutanugarn, Inbee Park, S.H. Park, So Yeon Ryu, Shanshan Feng, I.K. Kim, Minjee Lee, Jessica Korda, Cristie Kerr, Brooke Henderson and Michelle Wie.

 

Golf Channel/NBC Sports Broadcast Team:

Host: Mike Ritz

Play by Play: Rich Lerner

Analyst: Judy Rankin

Tower: Tom Abbott

On Course: Karen Stupples / Jerry Foltz

Interviews: Cara Banks

 

PGA TOUR

 

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational

Dates: August 2-5

Venue: Firestone Country Club (South Course), Akron, Ohio

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         1:30-6:30 p.m. (Live) / 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m. (Replay)

Friday             1:30-6:30 p.m. (Live) / 11:30 p.m-2:30 a.m. (Replay)

Saturday          Noon-1:45 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (Replay)

Sunday            Noon-1:45 p.m. (Live) / 10 p.m.-2 a.m. (Replay)

 

Golf Central Pre and Post Round Coverage on Golf Channel (Eastern)

Thursday         1-1:30 p.m. / 9-9:30 p.m.

Friday             1-1:30 p.m. / 11-11:30 p.m.

Saturday         11 a.m.-Noon / 1:45-2 p.m. / 9-10 p.m.

Sunday           11:30 a.m.-Noon / 1:45-2 p.m. / 9-10 p.m.

 

Broadcast Notes:

Player news conference airing on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET: Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11 a.m. ET, Golf Channel will showcase a player news conference special from Firestone Country Club. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, along with Tiger Woods are scheduled to be included within the news conference special where they’ll field questions from on-site media.

Elite field: The field of 73 players includes each of the top-50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, along with 26 of the 32 winners to-date on the 2017-18 PGA TOUR schedule.

Matsuyama defends: Hideki Matsuyama finished five shots ahead of Zach Johnson to earn his fifth PGA TOUR victory.

Headlining the field: Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Francesco Molinari, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day and Tiger Woods.

 

Golf Channel Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Terry Gannon

Analyst: Nick Faldo

Tower: Curt Byrum / Matt Gogel

On-Course: Phil Blackmar

Interviews: Lisa Cornwell

 

PGA TOUR

 

Barracuda Championship

Dates: August 2-5

Venue: Montreux Golf & Country Club, Reno, Nev.

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Thursday         6:30-9 p.m. (Live) / 4-6 a.m. (Friday replay)

Friday             6:30-9 p.m. (Live) / 4-6 a.m. (Saturday replay)

Saturday          6-9 p.m. (Live) / 4-6 a.m. (Sunday replay)

Sunday            6-9 p.m. (Live) / 4-6 a.m. (Monday replay)

 

Broadcast Notes:

Stroud defends: Chris Stroud defeated Greg Owen and Richy Werenski with a birdie on the second playoff hole to claim his first career PGA TOUR win.

Headlining the field: Bill Haas, Norman Xiong, Doug Ghim, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, Nick Hardy, Chris Stroud, Graeme McDowell, Dylan Meyer and Trey Mullinax.

 

Tournament Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Steve Sands

Analyst: Justin Leonard

Tower: Trevor Immelman

On-Course: Jim “Bones” Mackay / Craig Perks

 

PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS

 

3M Championship

Dates: August 3-5

Venue: TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minn.

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern):

Friday             9-11 p.m. (Tape delay) / 5-7 p.m. (Streaming on Golf Channel Digital)

Saturday          4-6 p.m. (Live)

Sunday            4-6 p.m. (Live)

 

Broadcast Notes:

“Greats of Golf Challenge” on Saturday: The annual “Greats of Golf Challenge” once again will be staged at the 3M Championship on Saturday, with Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Nancy Lopez, Annika Sorenstam, Pat Bradley, Ben Crenshaw, Hale Irwin and Tom Weiskopf taking part in the competition.

Goydos defends: Paul Goydos birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Gene Sauers and earn his fifth PGA TOUR Champions win.

Headlining the field: Kirk Triplett, Tom Lehman, Jay Haas, Kenny Perry, Tom Kite, John Daly, Paul Goydos and Mike Small.

 

Tournament Broadcast Team:

Play by Play: Bob Papa

Analyst: Lanny Wadkins

Tower: John Mahaffey

On-Course: Billy Ray Brown / John Cook

 

EUROPEAN TOUR

 

Fiji International

Dates: August 2-5

Venue: Natadola Bay Golf Course, Natadola Beach, Fiji

 

Tournament Airtimes on Golf Channel (Eastern)

Wednesday     8 p.m.-1 a.m. (Live)

Friday             2-4 a.m. (Tape delay) / 8 p.m.-1 a.m. (Streaming Thursday, Golf Channel Digital)

Saturday          2-4 p.m. (Tape delay) / 7 p.m.-Midnight (Streaming Friday, Golf Channel Digital)

Sunday            2-4 p.m. (Tape Delay) / 7 p.m.-Midnight (Streaming Saturday, Golf Channel Digital)

 

Broadcast Notes

Norris defends: Jason Norris finished four strokes ahead of the field to claim his first European Tour win.

Headlining the field: Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Gavin Green, Marcus Fraser, Scott Hend, Jason Norris, Andrew Dodt, Daniel Fox, Shiv Kapur and Wu Ashun.

 

-NBC Sports Group-