R&A chief executive Mark Darbon confirmed plans are being “reviewed” over whether tee times for Sunday’s final round of The Open should be changed if England reach the World Cup final.
More than 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 due to take place on the same day as the World Championship final in New Jersey.
The football final between Spain and England or Argentina will kick off at 8pm UK time at MetLife Stadium, around 80 minutes after the final kick is due to take place on Merseyside.
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Hayley McQueen is looking forward to England’s match against Argentina, relaying what Thomas Tuchel said at his press conference.
Darbon has previously said the R&A will “try to avoid this clash where possible” with a three-hole playoff potentially causing The Open and trophy presentations to be moved while football is already underway.
Discussions have continued between interested parties in recent weeks about whether Sunday’s opening matches should be moved forward to avoid a clash, with the R&A currently sticking to their planned schedule but set to revisit the situation once the World Cup finalists are confirmed.
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English golf stars talk about the Three Lions’ chances of beating Argentina on Wednesday and how the 8pm kick-off means they’ll play on Thursday
“I’m a fan of English football, so (their reaching the final) will be a big challenge,” Darbon said at a pre-tournament press conference on Wednesday. “Also, as an English football fan, we should also wait and see how the semi-final goes before we get too far ahead.
“Of course, in the background we thought about it a lot. Our final strike is currently scheduled for approximately 6:40 pm on Sunday. We think that even if we make it to the three-hole playoff, we still have time to complete the championship.
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Sky Sports’ Paul McGinley explains how he compares England’s World Cup team to Europe’s Ryder Cup team.
“We don’t plan to change anything at this stage, but we will keep it under control and finalize our position after the semi-final.”
The Open uses a three-hole aggregate playoff to determine the winner when the score is tied after 72 holes, then applies sudden death if the scores are tied. The last Open playoff was in 2015, when Zach Johnson won at St. Andrews.
Playing times are often pushed back due to impending bad weather, while the R&A adjusted playing times ahead of the third round of last year’s competition to avoid fans being affected by the Portrush Sons of Ulster parade in the city.
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Harry Kane joined the Sky Sports Open Zone team back in 2018 ahead of 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 originally scheduled for the evening but will now start at 4.30pm or 5pm.
The Betfred World Matchplay darts event has already confirmed there will be a last-minute change to the schedule if England progress, with the first three sessions all planned to be moved to the weekend to avoid any action taking place on Sunday night.
When will The Open be live on Sky Sports?
Sky Sports is once again the exclusive home of The Open in Great Britain and Ireland, with the final men’s major of the year kicking off at 6.30am on Thursday on Sky Sports Golf.
Both the first two rounds will feature at least 15 hours of action, with bonus channels available on Sky Sports+ or Sky Sports appwith extended coverage starting at 9 a.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday.
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