R&A Holds Firm On Ticket Prices...

...even though the weekdays at Muirfield in 2013 were easily the worst attended of any major and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Well, perfect to some, because as Martin Dempster notes, the "heat wave" (high of 75 degrees) remains the reason retirees on fixed incomes stayed away.

Raising ticket prices by £5 from Lytham the previous year £15 more than Sandwich in 2011 – for this year’s event coincided with almost 18,000 fewer people watching Phil Mickelson win at Muirfield than saw Ernie Els 
triumph in East Lothian in 2002.

Attendance figures were down for all four championship days as a total of 142,036 entered the gates compared to 160,595 11 years ago. The R&A countered claims ticket pricing was behind the drop, saying a heatwave had been the reason for the event failing to hit its projected target of 170,000.

“More than 142,000 people attended the Open,” said a spokesman at the time. “That is almost 90 per cent of the figure in 2002 and we are pleased with this attendance. Advance ticket sales were very strong and we believe the warm weather put off some of our pay-at-the-gate customers."