NBC Sports Group has secured rights to one of golf’s marquee events, the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon in Scotland, set for July 14-17, 2016. The accord expands NBC Sports' partnership with the R&A, golf’s British-based governing body, and includes coverage of the Senior Open Championship and Ricoh Women's British Open. In 2016, the British Open will kick off a 12-week stretch of premiere golf events for NBC Sports Group, including the Olympic Games.
“First and foremost, we want to congratulate ESPN for their company’s successful stewardship of The Open for the last several decades, and we thank them for allowing us to start our partnership with The R&A one year early,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBC Sports Group. “2016 promises to be exciting for all of golf.”
Golf returns to the Olympics in Rio next year, going down Aug. 11-14.
The Open is golf’s oldest championship.
(Photo via Matt Trostle's Flickr. Image taken on Oct. 12, 2015 and used per Creative Commons 2.0 license. The photo was cropped to fit 3x4 aspect ratio.)
