All Four Rounds of Senior Open Championship to Air on ESPN Platforms

July 15, 2011

All Four Rounds of Senior Open Championship to Air on ESPN Platforms

With a prestigious major tournament title at stake, the world’s best senior golfers will compete in The Senior Open Championship July 21-24 at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey, England. Two hours of live coverage of each of the four rounds of the tournament will air on the ESPN family of networks and on other multimedia platforms.

ESPN2 and ESPN3.com will air tournament action on Thursday and Friday, July 21-22, from noon until 2 p.m. ET. ESPN3.com also will have bonus coverage both days from 7-9 a.m.

Television coverage shifts to ESPN for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday, July 23-24, also from noon until 2 p.m. ESPN3.com will have an extra hour of coverage both days from 11 a.m. until noon, along with the TV coverage simulcast, and live mobile video simulcasts will be available on ESPN Mobile TV.

One of the major storylines of the event is the return of three members of the victorious American Ryder Cup team of 1981 to the same venue where they helped win the prestigious event. Three-time Senior Open Championship winner Tom Watson will be joined by former Ryder Cup teammates Tom Kite and Jerry Pate. One of their top competitors will be defending Senior Open Championship winner Bernhard Langer, who lost to Watson in a foursome match in the 1981 Ryder Cup. Also competing will be European star Sandy Lyle, who lost to Kite in a 1981 Ryder Cup singles match at Walton Heath.

Other Americans expected to compete include two-time Senior Open Championship winner Loren Roberts, former Open Champions Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Lehman and Mark O’Meara and 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin.   

Terry Gannon will anchor ESPN’s coverage of the Senior Open Championship, joined by two-time U.S. Open champions Curtis Strange (hole announcer) and Andy North (on-course reporter). BBC golf commentator and former European pro golfer Ken Brown also will contribute to ESPN’s telecasts along with reporter Bill Kratzert.

All Senior Open Championship programming on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com will also be available on computers, smartphones and tablets through ESPNnetworks.com and the free WatchESPN app, which are accessible to fans who receive their video service from an affiliated provider. And ESPN Mobile TV will have live mobile video simulcasts of ESPN’s third and fourth-round telecasts.

Click HERE to visit ESPNMediaZone’s golf media kit for announcer bios, photos, programming schedules and more.

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Media Contact: Andy Hall, 386-492-2246 or andy.hall@espn.com