The BBC "defended its decision not to broadcast the first six hours of the extra day’s play at the Open" even though the first pairing of Ryan Fox and Bernhard Langer started their final rounds at 7:45am, according to Mark Tallentire of the London GUARDIAN. The Open "was extended into a fifth day this year for the first time since 1988 after high winds made parts of the course unplayable for much of Saturday, but instead of clearing its schedule on Monday BBC1 stuck with its scheduled programming." Coverage "was scheduled to eventually start at 1:45pm on BBC1." Full coverage was available from the start in the U.S. on ESPN, and the BBC’s decision not to follow suit "is somewhat poorly timed given the corporation lost the rights for showing the world’s oldest major to Sky from 2017 earlier this year." ITV football commentator Clive Tyldesley tweeted, "I don’t usually bitch on here but even the BBC website isn’t live from The Open yet, and there is some sensational scoring already" (GUARDIAN, 7/20). The London TELEGRAPH reported the BBC said, “The BBC has brought unprecedented coverage of this year’s Open to the widest possible, free to air audience. ... Our key aim today is to fully tell the most important story -- who will win the Open -- and make the very best use of our resources on this extra day's play." The BBC "has wiped out its afternoon schedule in order to give it over to the final part of today's round" (TELEGRAPH, 7/20).
