British Open legends back for Champions Challenge at St Andrews

London: Five-time winners of the British Open -- Tom Watson and Peter Thomson -- will join other former champions in a special challenge match the day before this year`s tournament starts at St Andrews on Thursday July 16.

The Champion Golfers Challenge will consist of a four-hole team-based shootout on the fabled Old Course.

Australian Thomson will mark the 60th anniversary of his win in The Open at St Andrews in 1955 while Watson will be playing on the 40th anniversary of his debut in The Open in 1975 when he won the first of his five Claret Jugs at nearby Carnoustie.

Joining them will be current world number one Rory McIlroy, who will be defending the title he won last year at Royal Liverpool

Golf fans will also be delighted to see three-time Champions Gary Player, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods playing in the event alongside the 1963 and 1969 Champions, Bob Charles and Tony Jacklin, and more recent winners such as Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington.

Among the other champions confirmed so far are Louis Oosthuizen, who won The Open in 2010, the last time it was played in St Andrews, Stewart Cink, David Duval, Paul Lawrie, Mark O`Meara, Justin Leonard, John Daly and Sandy Lyle.

The occasion will also be used to pay tribute to Australia`s Kel Nagle, who won the Centenary Open in 1960 at St Andrews and who passed away in January at the age of 94.

The four-hole challenge will see groups of three or four play the 1st, 2nd, 17th and 18th holes of the Old Course, competing for a prize of £50,000 which will go to a charity of the winning team`s choice. The best individual score per team on each hole will count as the team score.