Open to get ahead of fan behavior

SOUTHPORT, England — More than 300,000 fans will attend the British Open at Royal Birkdale this week, making it a record crowd for golf's oldest major championship.

They'll need to bring sun cream and some manners.

For the first time, the R&A has felt it necessary to publish a fan code of conduct, at a time when some of golf's biggest events have been marred by unsavory, and even abusive, behavior from spectators.

Titled "The Open Commitment", the code boils down to five basic requirements of fans: respect the players, respect the links, respect each other, be aware and enjoy responsibly.

Essentially, just be a nice person. If not, the R&A says it can punish "serious or repeated breaches" by removing the guilty parties from the property "without refund".

"I'm all for an atmosphere," said Matt Fitzpatrick, one of the 21 English players in the field that are more likely to be cheered rather than heckled. "Obviously, I don't want it to cross a line."

That's what happened at last year's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, when Team Europe's players — especially Rory McIlroy — endured a torrent of personal insults and shouting on their back swings and putts. McIlroy deemed the abuse from the New York crowd "unacceptable".

Wyndham Clark didn't get much love at last month's US Open, with spectators cheering his mistakes — conduct that Scottie Scheffler said was "a bit much to me".

Even the most recent British Open, held on English soil — just down the road at Hoylake — didn't escape some crowd misbehavior, as American player Brian Harman defied some jeers and insults on his way to lifting the Claret Jug.

Clark doesn't appear too concerned about any repeat incidents at Birkdale this week, describing British golf fans as "the best".

"They respect the game, they respect the players and they really understand golf," he said. "If you hit it into a tough spot and make the correct play or the smart play, the prudent play, they clap; they understand that sometimes 20 feet is a great shot."

R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said marshals, volunteers and officials have been well-briefed on what constitutes poor fan conduct.

"We feel that it's within our remit, if someone does step over the line, to ask them to leave the venue," Darbon said, "and I think that's a pretty powerful display. That's the mechanism that we'll use rather than fining a spectator."

No R&A push for changes

Prior to the tournament, Royal Birkdale went through a number of changes, such as eliminating the par-3 14th hole and building a new par-3 15th. Darbon said "it would be wrong" to suggest they were driven by spectator movement.

"The changes to the golf course have been driven by the members," he said. "Given the strength of partnership that we have with our host venues, of course we're part of some of those discussions, and where there are things that we can do together that also help us operationally, they often make sense to do."

It's hard to imagine Royal Birkdale members wanting a new hole, leading Darbon to be asked if the members' decision was based on concerns the Open might not return.

"At no stage would we threaten a non-return to a venue on that basis," he said. "We're not taking venues off the rotation because they're smaller than others."

"But there's a balance to be struck, too, and we think we're getting that right."

AP