Record Open crowd watching resurgent Tiger Woods at Carnoustie generated £120m benefit to Scotland

A total of 172,000 fans – swelled by the resurgence of 14-times major winner Tiger Woods – attended the event and delivered an economic impact of £69m

The Open at Carnoustie boosted the Scottish economy by £120m (PA)

Record crowds for this summer’s Open at Carnoustie helped generate a £120m benefit to Scotland, according to an independent study.

A total of 172,000 fans – swelled by the resurgence of 14-times major winner Tiger Woods – attended the event and delivered an economic impact of £69m, according to the study by Sheffield Hallam University’s Sport Industry Research Centre.

Scotland also benefited from £51m in destination marketing activity thanks to the Open being broadcast on television to more than 600 million households in 193 countries worldwide.

The study, commissioned by golf’s governing body The R&A, VisitScotland and Angus Council, also concluded the Angus area alone received a £21m of new money from staging the event with almost half of the spectators (49.8%) travelling from outside Scotland.

“The Open has a proven track record of generating substantial economic benefit for the host country in which it is staged thanks to the tens of thousands of spectators who attend each year,” said R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers.

“The return of the Open to Carnoustie has been a great success. We enjoyed a memorable week in which we welcomed a record number of fans to one of golf’s great championship venues to witness Francesco Molinari create history by becoming the first Italian to lift the iconic Claret Jug.”