Liverpool owner Hicks splashes out £30,000 on Hoylake print

Aug 16 2007 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

LIVERPOOL FC owner Tom Hicks has paid out £30,000 on a print signed by all the players – including the winner, Tiger Woods – at the 2006 Open Championship.

The Royal Liverpool Golf Club purchased the original of the 2006 official painting to commemorate the return of The Open after 39 years.

The painting – which depicts the green and bunker of Hoylake’s famous Alps hole set against a panoramic view of Hilbre Island, the estuary of the River Dee and some of the unique buildings which bound the course – now hangs prominently in the clubhouse.

Graeme Baxter, the artist officially appointed by the R&A for the 2006 Open Championship, is regarded as one of the world’s most highly acclaimed artists of golfing landscapes.

Each of the 156 players competing in the 2006 Open signed the mount of an artist’s proof of the painting as they registered.

At a private reception immediately after The Open, Tiger Woods signed the print again – as the champion.