The R&A has confirmed that the final round of The Open at Royal Birkdale will proceed as scheduled after England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina eliminated the possibility of a scheduling clash. England lost 2-1 on Wednesday night, with Argentina scoring twice in the final five minutes to turn the game around following Anthony Gordon's opener.
Had England reached the World Cup final, the R&A was considering moving Sunday's tee times forward by an hour to avoid a clash with the football match, which was set for an 8pm kick-off in New Jersey. However, with England now playing France in the third-place play-off on Saturday night, the golf tournament's final day will start at its usual times.
Final Round Timing Confirmed
The leading group at The Open typically tees off at around 2:30pm, providing a comfortable window for fans to watch the World Cup final later. R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said on Wednesday: "I'm an England football fan, so it would be a great problem to have. But I guess also, because I'm an England football fan, we should also wait to see how the semi-final goes before we get too far ahead."
Darbon added: "Of course in the background, we've been doing a lot of thinking about this. Our final putt is currently scheduled for around 6:40pm on Sunday. We think that, even if we go to a three-hole play-off, we've got time to complete the championship. So at this stage, no plans to alter anything, but we'll maintain that under review and finalise our position after the semi-final."
Spectator Code of Conduct Warning
Darbon also issued a warning to spectators at Royal Birkdale, stating that anyone misbehaving under The Open's new code of conduct will be identified and ejected. The initiative, named 'The Open Commitment', is built on five principles: Respect the Players, Respect the Links, Respect Each Other, Be Aware, and Enjoy Responsibly.
"Those people are briefed on keeping an eye on this behaviour in line with our code of conduct, so we're very confident in our ability to identify any folks that step over the line," Darbon said. "We feel that it's within our gift, if someone does step over the line, to ask them to leave the venue. That's the mechanism that we'll use rather than fining a spectator."
