Tiger Woods has confirmed he’s coming, and the stands to accommodate what the R&A hope will be a record crowd are going up for the 150th Open at St Andrews.
The three-time Open champion returned to competitive golf the Masters at Augusta last week, just 14 months on from his near fatal car crash.
He battled through four rounds and committed to being at the Old Course in July, the scene of two of his three Claret Jug wins.
“I won’t be playing a full schedule ever again, it’ll be just the big events,” he said. “But I am looking forward to St Andrews. That is something that is near and dear to my heart.
“I’ve won two Opens there, it’s the Home of Golf, it’s my favourite golf course in the world. I will be there for that one.”
10,000-seater amphitheatre
The building of the massive infrastructure required to accommodate spectators has begun at the Old Course. A crowd of approaching 240,000 is expected during championship week from July 10-17.
For the first time at an Open at St Andrews, all tickets have been sold in advance through a ballot. The R&A had received 168,000 applications for 1.1 million tickets shortly before the ballot closed in October last year.
The club is yet to release full details of seats and stands but it should be along the same lines as 2015. Then, a new amphitheatre of stands was built around the 1st and 18th fairways and the 17th green of the Old Course of just short of 10,000 seats.
The majority of those seats are in stands on the north side of the first fairway and the large stand overlooking the 17th green.
The double-decker temporary stand accommodating 2000 reserved seat ticket holders which debuted in 2015 will again be built. It’s constructed using a metal arch over the top of the Links Golf Shop behind the 18th green.
In all 21,000 stand seats were provided across the Old Course in 2015. It’s likely that number will be at least the same this year. The Old Course is one of the most difficult viewing venues for the championship, and usually has more seats provided.
Record crowd from 2000 may be under threat
The all-time record crowd for an Open Championship was 239,000 in 2000 – one of Tiger Woods’ two wins there. Although the ticket ballot has now closed, they may still be available on the Open’s Official Ticket Resale Platform.
Fans registered with theopen.com can access tickets at face value returned from those successful in the ballot but who but can no longer attend.
An R&A spokesman said that anticipation was building as preparations were now underway at the Old Course.
“The build for The 150th Open at St Andrews is now underway,” he said. “Members of the public will have seen spectator grandstands start to appear in recent days,” he said.
“We are working closely with our contractors to gradually install the infrastructure required to stage the Championship. The venue is beginning to take shape for hosting this historic occasion at the home of golf in July.”
R&A drop no-readmissions policy for fans at the 150th Open at St Andrews next year