​SOUTHPORT, England – R&A CEO Mark Darbon had his turn to give his state of the union on Wednesday. As the leader of the governing body for golf everywhere but the U.S. and Mexico, Darbon is one if the most influential people in the game and he got right to the few news items worth sharing and then opened things up to the floor for questions (though there were still questions to be asked when the press conference was halted no more than 30 minutes in total).Here are five things we learned in advance of the Open Championship:AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJul 15, 2026; Southport, England; General view as fans watch golfers on the practice green before a practice round for The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn ImagesThere are rumors floating around that if England defeats Argentina on Wednesday night to advance to the World Cup final against Argentina, tee times for the final round may be moved to avoid a mass exodus to watch “The Beautiful Game.”The R&A expects the final putt on Sunday to drop at 6:40 p.m. local time, which should leave time for a three-hole playoff to be completed in time for the World Cup final. That said, Darbon admitted that if England do get through tonight, they’ll have more discussions.“I’m an England football fan, so it would be a great problem to have. But I guess also, because I’m an England football fan, we should also wait to see how the semifinal goes before we get too far ahead,” he said. “Of course in the background, we’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this…At this stage, no plans to alter anything, but we’ll maintain that under review and finalize our position after the semifinal.”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDon’t expect a drastic movement if there is one – Golfweek is hearing 15-30 minutes earlier at most.More: Our Open Championship hub: Stats, video and moreJul 14, 2026; Southport, England; Scottie Scheffler returns the Claret Jug to CEO of The R&A Mark Darbon (R) in a ceremony during a practice day for The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn ImagesThe R&A previously announced a code of conduct for fan behavior would be implemented for the first time this week at Birkdale.“It’s something that we’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve worked in other sports; we’ve had codes of conduct at venues I’ve operated before. We’re very proud of the way our spectators behave at The Open Championship. We think it’s a great reflection of both passion and support for the world’s best players but also respect for traditions of the game,” Darbon said. “We thought by codifying some of what we expect, it will help and support this championship moving forward. We’re very confident in our ability to identify any folks that step over the line that we’ve drawn, and we’ll monitor that through the week. I think we feel that it’s within our gift, if someone