‘Twilight’ tickets and price cuts for Troon Open

A limited number of £25 twilight tickets will be on offer for the first time at the 145th Open Championship at Royal Troon, giving spectators entry to the course from 4pm on Thursday, 14 July and Friday, 15 July.

The price of an adult daily ticket has been reduced from £70 to £60 if bought before 31 May. It rises to £80 after that. Weekly tickets, for 10-17 July inclusive, have also been reduced by £10 to £230 before 31 May, rising to £260 after the deadline.

High prices were blamed for a drop in attendance at Muirfield in 2013 and were frozen at Hoylake in 2014 before rising by £5 for this year’s event at St Andrews.

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said: “Many people have work commitments during the week and the new twilight tickets will give them an attractive option.

“We have also made some changes to encourage and reward spectators who purchase tickets early which helps us with planning the services and facilities.”

Under 16s accompanied by an adult will continue to be free. For spectators aged 16-21, a daily ticket is £25 in advance and £30 thereafter.

The R&A also announced the make-up of qualifying for next year’s Open, with a total of 44 places available to players on six tours.

The road begins at the Emirates Australian Open from 26-29 November, and continues with the Thailand Golf Championship (10-13 December). January’s Joburg Open in South Africa and May’s Mizuno Open in Japan also offer chances. New qualifying events are June’s Nordea Masters in Stockholm and the FedEx St Jude Classic in Tennessee.

The qualifying series on the European Tour concludes with the Alstom Open de France and the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, and with the Quicken Loans National and the Greenbrier Classic on the PGA Tour.

The leading three players who finish in the top 10 and ties and who are not already exempt, will qualify for the 14-17 July event.