The Open, record since Tiger Woods' victory

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A record request and presence. The 150th edition of The Open (the oldest major in golf with the first edition dated 1860), scheduled from 14 to 17 July in Scotland, is already a record before even starting. The numbers are clear. Here there are.

The Open, numbers

290,000 spectators will flock to the historic Old Course in St. Andrews, a figure that surpasses the previous record of 239,000 spectators reached in 2000 when Tiger Woods first lifted the Claret Jug to the sky. But as revealed by R&A, applications to secure a ticket to the coveted tournament exceeded 1.3 million. The show is expected to generate around £ 200 million - according to a forecast by Sheffield Hallam University's Sport Industry Research Center (Sirc) - in economic benefits to Scotland.

Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of his generation, has returned to play in an official tournament, and not just any one: at the Masters in Augusta, in the United States, one of the most prestigious and demanding courses in professional golf, one of the four so-called major of the season.

Woods returned just over a year after the serious car accident that kept him in a hospital bed for over three months, during which he risked having his right leg amputated. The news is that he managed to finish the tournament by playing all 72 holes in the four rounds, which is far from obvious for someone in his physical condition, already tested by a long series of debilitating injuries.

Woods started the tournament incredibly well, amid public enthusiasm for some of his old-fashioned shots. He then concluded with an understandable drop in form and a forty-seventh place finish. "There is no way to describe what happened: to get here and be able to play in all four rounds considering where I was just over a year ago and what my prospects were at that time," he said at the end of the tournament.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/aeQtZli

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