Open times won't change if England reach World Cup final

Organisers of this week's Open currently have no plans to alter Sunday’s schedule should England reach the World Cup final.

R&A chiefs are planning for a 6.40pm finish at Royal Birkdale – should there be no need for a play-off – and believe that would allow sufficient time before the 8pm kick-off.

However, they say they will make a final decision once the outcome of England’s semi-final against Argentina is known.

R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said: "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.

"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."

Around 300,000 spectators are anticipated at the Merseyside links throughout the week, which includes four practice days as well as the championship, which starts on Thursday.

Incidents at last autumn’s Ryder Cup and June’s US Open have highlighted concerns over spectator behaviour in golf, prompting the R&A to introduce a new code of conduct.

Darbon said the organisation is generally "very proud of the way our spectators behave" at the Open but trouble-makers would be ejected.

He said: "We feel it’s within our gift, if someone does step over the line, to ask them to leave the venue."

Players are also being made aware of the standards of behaviour expected of them.

Darbon said: "We believe that we have a responsibility to play a leadership role, to ensure that fans watching see appropriate behaviour from the world’s best players as they participate in our championship."

Birkdale has undergone significant course changes, arranged in collaboration with the R&A, to host this week’s Open, but other venues on the rota – notably Muirfield – have been more reluctant to make similar alterations.

Darbon said changes are a matter for each course, with "a lot of the decision-making driven by" their members, with no ultimatums from the R&A.

"At no stage would we threaten a non-return to a venue on that basis," he said.

Muirfield has not hosted the Open since 2013 and there will not be another opportunity until 2029 at the earliest.

Darbon said the East Lothian links "requires a few tweaks" both around the golf course and across the site, but there was "good dialogue" with the host club.

Darbon also confirmed discussions to add Portmarnock, near Dublin, to the rota were ongoing but there were presently "no plans beyond that".

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