R&A chief executive Mark Darbon has confirmed that plans are “under review” on whether to change Sunday’s final-round tee times at The Open, should England reach the FIFA World Cup final.
Over 300,000 fans are expected to attend the final men’s major of the year this week at Royal Birkdale, where the final round on Sunday is scheduled to take place on the same day as the World Cup final in New Jersey.
The football final between Spain and either England or Argentina will kick off at 8pm UK time at the MetLife Stadium, around 80 minutes after the final putt is scheduled to be holed on Merseyside.
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Hayley McQueen looks ahead to England against Argentina as she relays what Thomas Tuchel had to say in his press conference
Darbon has previously said the R&A would “try and avoid that clash wherever possible”, with a three-hole play-off potentially resulting in The Open and its trophy presentation overrunning into when the football is already under way.
Discussions have been ongoing between stakeholders in recent weeks over whether to bring Sunday’s tee times forward to avoid a clash, with the R&A currently sticking with its planned schedule but set to revisit the situation once the World Cup finalists are confirmed.
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England’s golf stars speak about the Three Lions’ chances of beating Argentina on Wednesday and what the 8pm kick-off means for their Thursday tee times
“I’m an England football fan, so it [them in the final] would be a great problem to have,” Darbon said at Wednesday’s pre-tournament press conference. “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.
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“At this stage, no plans to alter anything, but we’ll maintain that under review and finalise our position after the semi-final.”
The Open uses a three-hole aggregate play-off to determine a winner when scores are tied after 72 holes, with sudden death then implemented should scores be level. The last play-off at The Open came in 2015, when Zach Johnson won at St Andrews.
Tee times are often brought forward due to impending bad weather, while the R&A tweaked tee times ahead of the third round at last year’s contest to avoid fans being impacted by a Portrush Sons of Ulster parade in the town.
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Harry Kane joined the Sky Sports team at the Open Zone back in 2018 before The Open at Carnoustie
Other sports have already made changes to their schedules to avoid clashing with the World Cup, with Wednesday’s Vitality Blast quarter-finals initially planned for the evening but now starting at 4.30pm or 5pm.
The Betfred World Matchplay darts event has already confirmed they will have a last-minute rejig to the schedule should England progress, with the first three sessions all planned to be brought forward over the weekend to avoid any action taking place on Sunday evening.
When is The Open live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open in the UK and Ireland, with wall-to-wall action from the final men’s major of the year getting under way at 6.30am on Thursday on Sky Sports Golf.
There will be at least 15 hours of action on both the first two rounds, with bonus feeds available on Sky Sports+ or the Sky Sports App, with extended coverage then starting at 9am on Saturday and 8am on Sunday.
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