Nick Faldo, John Daly, Louis Oosthuizen and Zach Johnson teamed as much as shoot six below par within the light-hearted, four-hole occasion over the primary, second, seventeenth and 18th holes on the Previous Course.
That gave the illustrious quartet – winners at St Andrews in 1990, 1995, 2010 and 2015 respectively – a three-shot win over the groups captained by Laura Davies and Tiger Woods.
4 former winners of the Open at St Andrews unsurprisingly got here out on high within the Celebration of Champions forward of this week’s one hundred and fiftieth Open.
Woods was partnered by Rory McIlroy, Georgia Corridor and Lee Trevino, with McIlroy driving the 18th inexperienced after hitting his tee shot on the seventeenth into the backyard of the Previous Course Resort.
The 15-time main winner pulled out of the US PGA Championship in Might following a 3rd spherical of 79 and skipped the US Open as a way to give himself the perfect probability of taking part in at St Andrews, scene of his Open victories in 2000 and 2005.
Requested how he was feeling, the 46-year-old – who suffered extreme leg accidents in a automotive accident in February final yr – mentioned: “I’m feeling good.
“Recreation day is Thursday so I simply should tempo myself till then and get after it and hopefully we will put ourselves in rivalry on the again 9 come Sunday.”
McIlroy admitted he discovered being a part of the occasion “just a little bit emotional”.
“In the event you advised a 10-year-old Rory I might be doing this I wouldn’t have believed you, ” the four-time main winner added.
“To get my identify on the Claret Jug, to be as shut as I’m to my hero rising up (Woods) and to be doing this, the Champions Dinner tomorrow within the R&A clubhouse… it’s kind of pinch your self moments.
“It’s actually, actually cool and I’m so privileged and humbled to be a part of all of it.”
McIlroy received the Open in 2014 however was unable to defend his title at St Andrews in 2015 on account of an ankle damage suffered whereas taking part in soccer.
“I used to be a foolish boy however I’ve not accomplished something to jeopardise taking part in on this championship. I’m wanting ahead to teeing off on Thursday,” he mentioned.
One former champion lacking from the occasion was two-time winner Greg Norman, the R&A deciding to not invite the Australian on account of his position as CEO of LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed breakaway circuit which has induced a deepening rift within the males’s skilled sport.
“The one hundred and fiftieth Open is an especially necessary milestone for golf and we need to be certain that the main focus stays on celebrating the Championship and its heritage,” the R&A mentioned in a press release on Saturday.
