SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND – AUGUST 17: A general aerial view of the sixth and seventh holes at Royal Birkdale Golf Club, the host course for the 154th Open Championship (Photo by David Cannon/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
R&A via Getty Images
A nine-mile stretch of England’s Golf Coast is currently the center of the golf world as Royal Birkdale hosts The Open before attention shifts to nearby Royal Lytham & St Annes for AIG Women’s Open week. The rare pairing of neighboring venues hosting consecutive major championships gives the R&A an opportunity to market its two biggest events as a single connected commercial showcase.
Rather than treating the championships as separate stops on the calendar, the governing body views their proximity as a chance to extend golf’s global spotlight across the region.
“In a commercial sense and for our fans, it creates an even greater period of attention on both our championships, which enhances storytelling opportunities and provides additional value for stakeholders,” R&A CEO Mark Darbon said.
One example was the inaugural Heroes Classic on the Tuesday of Championship week, a new exhibition featuring reigning Open champions Scottie Scheffler and Miyu Yamashita among others that helped bridge the two events.
The strategy ultimately depends on the tractor-beam pull of The Open itself, a championship that has long entranced golf fans with windswept links, cavernous pot bunkers so deep some players have to jump to see out of them, and thick gorse that seems almost to require a sacrifice of golf balls before letting them pass onto the next hole.
Since its founding in 1860, golf’s oldest major has built an aura few championships can rival. Once the annual links test is in the books, the R&A hopes shifting the spotlight just 30 minutes down the road to the AIG Women’s Open will make the follow-up championship feel less like a siloed event and more like part of a double feature.
The Other 99%
While ticket odds haven’t yet reached Augusta National levels of scarcity, The Open attracted more than one million ballot applications for roughly 300,000 tickets this year, underscoring demand for golf’s oldest major.
For the R&A, this creates an evolving challenge: how do they build deeper relationships with the far larger audience that experiences the championship from afar.
“The future isn’t simply about accommodating more people on site—it’s about creating more value and more meaningful connections with audiences wherever they are,” Darbon said.
He said the R&A has recently embarked on a new fan plan for the “other 99%”: those who follow The Open through television and digital platforms rather than in person.
“Our focus is on making those experiences richer, more immersive and more personalised. Whether that’s through live content, behind-the-scenes access, enhanced statistics, social storytelling or new digital products, the opportunity is to bring fans closer to the Championship than ever before.”
While packed galleries will always remain central to The Open experience, the R&A believes its biggest long-term opportunity lies beyond the ropes.
“Attendance will always be important, but digital engagement gives us the ability to reach millions of people globally. That’s where some of our greatest growth opportunities exist.”
Double Play
Both championships are also central to the R&A’s long-term ambition of bringing 22 million new golfers into the game by 2034. For Darbon, the majors pull double duty as marquee sporting events and also gateways to goosing participation around the world.
“Major championships can provide inspiration. They showcase the very best of our sport and create moments that capture people’s imagination. However, inspiration alone isn’t enough. Our role is to connect that inspiration with accessible opportunities to play.”
Getting from inspiration into participation is particularly important in the United States, one of the R&A’s priority growth markets. For Darbon, future success means ensuring The Open and the AIG Women’s Open become even more established fixtures on the American sporting calendar than they are today, attracting bigger audiences and fostering deeper fan engagement.
If the strategy connects with fans, the R&A hopes the two-week spotlight won’t simply produce another pair of major champions. The idea is to broaden the commercial appeal and reach of both events while simultaneously attracting more players to take up the game.
“Ultimately, success isn’t simply about numbers,” he said. “It’s about ensuring that The Open and the AIG Women’s Open remain among the most relevant, respected and compelling championships in world sport, while helping more people discover and enjoy the game of golf.”