Big names gather in Ilkley for Ian Woosnam Senior Golf Classic

Woosnam, the 1991 Masters champion, lends his name to an event that also sees Mark James and former women’s Open champion Catriona Matthew in action in today’s 18-hole competition. Day one, yesterday, in glorious autumnal sunshine saw a pro-am take place in which invited guests included Wales manager Ryan Giggs and former Liverpool and Leeds striker Robbie Fowler.

“The seniors have had nothing to play for since February,” explained Woosnam of the reason he got involved. “I was more than happy to lend my name to it.

“And two months later we’ve got a great field, great amateurs. It’s a fantastic two days.”

Welcome to Yorkshire are co-organisers of the event. James Mason, the tourism board’s chief executive, said: “We’ve got to demonstrate that we can put professional style events on.

“We had looked at a junior event or a professional ladies tournament but as Covid took a stranglehold we decided to take a step back and once sport came back we decided this was the ideal event. We’re putting on a Covid-safe occasion, it’s just a crying shame there’s no spectators.”