GOLF: Terrestrial television viewers won't be excluded from watching next week's American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet. Unlike the following week's Ryder Cup from The Belfry, which will be exclusive to Sky Sports with a nightly highlights package on BBC, the AmEx - the biggest tournament to be held in Ireland, with $5 million in prizemoney - will also receive extensive live coverage on RTÉ television.
RTÉ 1 will broadcast over 15 hours of live coverage over the four days of the championship, which features world number one Tiger Woods, winner of the US Masters and US Open titles this year, as well as the season's two other major winners, British Open champion Ernie Els and US PGA champion Rich Beem.
Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke are the only two Irish players currently qualified to play.
Although the championship - which will be broadcast by ABC television in the United States and by European Tour Productions - will also be shown live on Sky Sports, there was no attempt to give the cold shoulder to RTÉ.
"In my experience, that's not the way golf has gone in his country," said Niall Cogley, the head of television sport in RTÉ.
The coverage of the final round of the American Express will clash directly with the All-Ireland football final - which will be shown on Network 2 - and Cogley admitted they "don't like putting sport on two channels, unless it is compelling . . . and this is as top as it gets in this country."
Ticket sales for the World Championship at Mount Juliet have been "record breaking", according to the PGA European Tour's Peter Adams.
Indeed, it is expected the ceiling of 25,000 spectators a day which had been set could well be exceeded on a number of days as the tournament organisers will continue to make tickets available on the day.
"With the exception of the Ryder Cup, which is an exceptional tournament, and the (British) Open championship, which is not run by the European Tour, the interest in this championship is far and away the most I have ever experienced on the European Tour," said Adams.
Ticket sales have surged over the past couple of weeks as various top players were confirmed, and an indication of the corporate hospitality interest in the championship is that this sector is likely to be a sell-out.
"We're in a situation where there are only a couple of hospitality tables left for sale on the Sunday, and there is only one individual corporate suite available," said Adams.
Although individual tickets for the championship remain on sale, a decision has also been taken to allow golf fans to purchase tickets at point of entry because, according to Adams, Mount Juliet is "a big estate with plenty of room", and well capable of allowing the daily attendance to exceed 25,000.
RTÉ viewing schedule
Thursday (September 19th)
RTÉ 1 - 12.00-12.55; 13.25-17.00.
Friday (September 20th)
RTÉ 1 - 12.00-12.55;l 13.25-17.05
Saturday (September 21st)
RTÉ 1 - 2.30-5.30
Sunday (September 22nd)
RTÉ 1 - 2.30-5.30.
