The Open final round schedule 'under review'

A decision on whether to move the final round of The Open to avoid a clash with the World Cup final will be made after England's semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday.

If England beat Argentina - which kicks off at 20:00 BST and will be shown live across the BBC - they will reach Sunday's World Cup final for the first time since winning it in 1966.

Sunday's play at Royal Birkdale is scheduled to finish around 90 minutes before football's showpiece match kicks off in New Jersey at 20:00, with Spain already in the final.

Should the golf go to a play-off, the two events are at risk of overlapping, creating a quandary for fans and broadcasters.

BBC Sport understands that the World Cup final will not be shown on the big screens around the Southport links.

"As an England football fan, it would be a great problem to have," R&A chief executive Mark Darbon told BBC Sport.

"Our current schedule sees us finish around 6:40pm. We think that gives us time to complete a play-off, if required.

"As we stand right now, there are no plans to adjust timings."

Moving the final round of a major championship is not unheard of, but usually it is to avoid incoming bad weather.

In 2019, the final round of the Masters teed off at 07:30 local time in order to miss thunderstorms. Tiger Woods took full advantage to famously win his fifth Green Jacket.

As recently as May, the fourth round of the Cadillac Championship on the PGA Tour was brought forward to prevent play being affected by bad weather, but moving a major to avoid a potential clash with another sporting event would be an unusual move.

Organisers, the R&A, say they aim to make a decision before the weekend.

"If there was going to be a change, we'd be communicating that over next 48 hours," said Darbon.

"At the moment, we're comfortable with our timings. If we were to make a change, it would be a subtle change.

"A discussion with broadcasters is an important one and there is also managing the crowd on site and making sure that is done in a safe and secure fashion.

"But we're not expecting to make any dramatic changes. We'll maintain that under review and finalise our position after the semi-final."

The Open uses a three-hole play-off with the aggregate score deciding the winner, and if players are still tied, a sudden-death play-off after that.

It has been 11 years since golf's oldest major has been decided by a play-off, with Zach Johnson prevailing at St Andrews in 2015.

Fans who "cross the line" with their behaviour at Birkdale will be ejected from the course, Darbon warned again on Wednesday.

The conduct of some golf fans has come under sharp scrutiny recently, with the most infamous example coming at last year's Ryder Cup when European pair Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry faced a barrage of verbal abuse in New York.

This year's US Open, which was also held on Long Island, saw eventual champion Wyndham Clark targeted by loutish spectators.

But it has not just been American crowds who have been criticised.

At the 2023 Open held at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, champion Brian Harman was heckled by home fans who were hoping local favourite Tommy Fleetwood would win the Claret Jug.

"We've made it clear that if we see behaviour that falls below expectations, we can remove that person from the site," Darbon said.

"We really hope it doesn't come to that. We want passion and energy from our supporters but we'll take action if anything crosses the line."

The golfers also know they are responsible for setting a good example to the crowd and could receive on-course penalties if their own shows of petulance are deemed unacceptable.

At last month's US Open, Chile's Joaquin Niemann became the first player to be penalised for breaking the new code of conduct introduced for major championships in 2026.

Niemann received a two-shot penalty after throwing his sand wedge in frustration and came perilously close to missing the halfway cut.

"If we see something that we think is egregious, that goes beyond the values of this sport, then we have the ability to take some action," added Darbon.

"We're clear on how our processes work around that. We have walking referees with every group so we'll gauge any incident we see and react from there."