The Open Championship announces new date as major | Golf News

The 2028 Open will kick off in August to forestall a scheduling battle with the Los Angeles Olympics.

LA28 is set to run from July 14-30 – the customary timeframe for golf’s oldest Major. The four-day males’s Olympic golf competitors will start on Wednesday, July 19, adopted by a new two-day blended workforce event beginning Sunday, July 23.

The closing spherical at next 12 months’s Open at Royal Birkdale is scheduled for July 19. The R&A has now confirmed the 2028 Open will start on August 3, with the next ISPS HANDA Senior Open and the AIG Women’s Open also delayed by two weeks. Venues stay unconfirmed, with St Andrews set to host in 2027.

This will not mark the latest staging of the Open, as the inaugural match occurred on October 17, 1860.

R&A chief govt Mark Darbon said: “We have worked collaboratively with the relevant bodies and our partners to agree alternative dates for staging our major championships in 2028 to accommodate the Olympic golf competitions.

“We recognize the constructive discussions we’ve got had with all of the stakeholders and consider that offering readability on the dates now will help with the planning of the global golf calendar in 2028. We can also affirm that The Open will probably be returning to its regular mid-July dates in 2029.”

Golf made its Olympic comeback after a 112-year hiatus in 2016, with Justin Rose securing the men’s gold medal in Rio, while Tommy Fleetwood claimed silver behind Scottie Scheffler in Paris last year, with Rory McIlroy finishing tied for fifth. The Irishman sat out the 2016 Games due to concerns over the Zika virus and came fourth in Tokyo, narrowly missing out on a medal in a seven-man bronze playoff.

Now the Ulsterman will have another shot at fulfilling the biggest remaining dream of his career – capturing Olympic gold – in LA. At the beginning of 2025, McIlroy revealed he still had three major objectives left in the sport.

“Winning the Masters, profitable an Olympic medal and another away Ryder Cup, they’re my three targets for the remainder of my profession,” McIlroy told BBC Sport. The world No. 2 accomplished his profession Grand Slam at Augusta and then led Europe to victory at Bethpage Black.

LA28 will signify the most important Olympics in historical past, showcasing 36 sports activities and 51 disciplines across 49 competitors venues unfold throughout 18 zones in the Los Angeles space and Oklahoma City. The Olympic Opening Ceremony is scheduled for Friday July 14, 2028, with the Closing Ceremony set for Sunday July 30, 2028.

The ladies’s competitors in 2028 will happen from July 26-29, culminating with the ultimate spherical on Super Saturday when medals will probably be awarded across 23 sports activities. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko claimed the ladies’s gold in 2024.