Tomorrow begins the oldest major championship in golf, The Open Championship at the fabled Royal St. George’s Golf Club in England and the first outside Scotland to ever host the tournament. This is the 14th time St. George’s will be holding The Open and of course, ESPN is the rightsholder to the event providing four round coverage beginning Thursday morning at 3 Eastern time. But that doesn’t mean other outlets will be standing in the United States watching. Golf Channel will have extensive coverage of the Quest for the Claret Jug with all types of programming.
Here’s the press release from Golf Channel.
Golf Channel Has The Open Championship Covered
More than 25 Hours of Live News Coverage From Orlando and Royal St. George’s
Morning Drive Expands Coverage Thursday-Friday
David Feherty Returns as Contributing Analyst
Wall-to-Wall Coverage on GolfChannel.comORLANDO, Fla. (July 12, 2011) – Golf Channel will deliver more than 25 hours of comprehensive news coverage of this week’s Open Championship from Royal St. George’s, featuring live news reports, inside analysis, player interviews, special guest appearances and compelling features of the men’s third major championship of 2011.
More than 25 Hours of News Coverage: Golf Channel’s news coverage of the Open Championship will be headlined by Live From Royal St. George’s, the network’s signature news program from golf’s major championships. Wednesday, Live From Royal St. George’s will air a two-hour pre-tournament news conference show at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a two-hour prime-time show at 6 p.m. ET. Thursday-Sunday, Live From will provide two-hour shows in prime time after tournament play. Morning Drive, the network’s live, weekday morning show, will expand to four hours Thursday-Friday (7-11 a.m. ET), featuring pre-event news conferences, phone interviews and leader board updates from Royal St. George’s. The Grey Goose 19th Hole also will air at a special time on Wednesday (8:30-9:30 p.m. ET) featuring Golf Channel analyst David Feherty and LPGA Tour Professional Christina Kim as guest panelists.
Live From Royal St. George’s: Live From Royal St. George’s will originate both on-site from Sandwich, England, and from the network’s Orlando Studios, featuring player interviews and analysis, leader board updates and daily features from Golf Channel’s team of anchors, reporters and contributors. (Complete airtimes appear at the end of the release)
Live From Royal St. George’s Broadcast Team: David Feherty will return as a contributing analyst for Golf Channel’s Live From coverage throughout the week from the network’s Orlando studios. Joining Feherty on the broadcast team from Orlando will include Kelly Tilghman, Rich Lerner, Kraig Kann, Todd Lewis, Brandel Chamblee, Charlie Rymer and John Hawkins.
Reporting from Royal St. George’s will include Steve Sands, Frank Nobilo, Tom Abbott, Tim Rosaforte, Alex Miceli, Rex Hoggard, Jay Coffin, Jason Sobel, Randall Mell and Ken Schofield.
Live From Royal St. George’s Scheduled Features:
- Don Cheadle Voices Open Championship Moments – Academy-award nominee Don Cheadle will voice a number of “Open Championship Moments” that will air throughout the week.
- Mark Roe 2003 Open Championship Heartbreak – Tom Abbott visits with former European Tour Professional Mark Roe to reflect on his 2003 Open Championship disqualification at Royal St. George’s.
- Charl Schwartzel Feature – Tim Rosaforte will sit down with 2011 Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel in a personality profile feature.
- Peter Alliss, Reflects on the Open Championship – Abbott will visit with longtime BBC golf commentator Peter Alliss.
- Rory McIlroy – Kelly Tilghman takes a closer look at the sudden rise of Rory McIlroy.
Morning Drive Expands Coverage Thurs-Fri: Thursday-Friday, Morning Drive will expand to four hours (7-11 a.m. ET) featuring leader board updates and phone interviews from on-site at Royal St. George’s. Steve Sands, Tim Rosaforte, Rex Hoggard, Jason Sobel and Ken Schofield will contribute from Royal St. George’s throughout the week for Morning Drive. (Complete airtimes appear at the end of the release)
Wall-to-Wall Coverage on GolfChannel.com: GolfChannel.com will feature expanded editorial content and interactive capabilities with fans timed to the Open Championship, including:
Blogs & Live Chats
- Jason Sobel will blog each day of the competition to keep fans up to date as the action unfolds.
- John Hawkins will chat with fans live following the conclusion of play each afternoon.
Editorial Coverage
- Jason Sobel, Rex Hoggard, Randall Mell, Jay Coffin and Ryan Ballengee will contribute to the newly formed GolfTalkCentral blog, along with daily columns, news articles, features and breaking news on GolfChannel.com.
- Hoggard and Coffin traveled to Northern Ireland in advance of the Open Championship, where they filed a runninig blog for three days on their travels, including preview stories from their time at Holywood Golf Club, where Rory McIlroy grew up and learned the game.
Exclusive Online Video Content
- Updates from Golf Channel’s Live From team will be available each day at GolfChannel.com.
Open Championship Week Programming (all times ET)
Wednesday, July 13
Live From Royal St. George’s 2-4 p.m. (news conferences)
Live From Royal St. George’s 6-8 p.m.Thursday-Friday, July 14-15
Morning Drive 7-11 a.m.
Live From Royal St. George’s 7-9 p.m.Saturday, July 16
Live From the Royal St. George’s 7-9 p.m.Sunday, July 17
Live From Royal St. George’s 1:30-2 p.m.
Live From Royal St. George’s 7-9 p.m.
That will do it.
