Who Will Win The Championship

[Alacoque Whitchurch]

TheDCI Southeastern Championship is presented by Ultimate Drill Book.

Parking: Event parking is available in the Blue Lot, Summerhill, and Grey Lots surrounding of Center Parc Stadium. Parking lots will open at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 27. Prepurchase your parking online at app.parkmobile.io/venues/center-parc-stadium/events/217082. Parking can be purchased on site as well, both cash & card will be accepted.

Clear Bag Policy: Center Parc Credit Union Stadium will have a clear bag policy in effect for this event, restricting the size and style bags that will be permitted within the venue. View additional information.

Gate Information: Attendees must enter at Gate 8. Those looking to leave and re-enter the Venue must do so at Gate 7, where they will receive a wristband. Those re-entering the venue will be required to go through security screening at Gate 8 again.

GM Magnus Carlsen will not defend his world championship title against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi next year. Carlsen announced his decision on a podcast on Tuesday. According to current regulations, FIDE Candidates tournament winner Nepomniachtchi will now play the world championship against Candidates runner-up GM Ding Liren.

During the FIDE Candidates tournament, Carlsen had a meeting with FIDE's President Arkady Dvorkovich and Director-General Emil Sutovsky, which apparently didn't have enough effect to convince Carlsen to defend his title a fifth time.

Talking about this meeting in Madrid, Carlsen said: "I did not have any demands or suggestions for that meeting. They did have a couple of suggestions, but the gist of it was that I was there to tell them that I would not defend my title in the next WCC match."

"There are a lot of feelings around my mind right now that I have to deal with," said Ding in a first reaction to Chess.com. "But I am very excited about playing a world championship match to fight for the crown next year."

Calling from Barcelona, where Ding is staying at a friend's apartment, he revealed that he got Covid right after the Candidates tournament and, therefore, hasn't been able to fly back to China yet. Now fully recovered, he will travel back about two weeks from now. The Chinese player is surprised about Carlsen's decision:

The chess world has seen previous moments in history when the world champion did not defend his title. In 1946, GM Alexander Alekhine died as the reigning champion. A world championship tournament, organized two years later, was won by GM Mikhail Botvinnik. In 1975, GM Bobby Fischer could not agree with FIDE on the match format and lost his title to Candidates winner GM Anatoly Karpov.

In 1993, GM Garry Kasparov left FIDE and played a world championship under the Professional Chess Association instead. This led to a schism in the chess world that lasted until 2006, when GM Vladimir Kramnik won a reunification match with FIDE champion GM Veselin Topalov.

"It's not an ideal situation that the best player is not defending his title, and creating your own organization is also not great," said Ding, adding: "It's better for the fans if the best players fight for the world championship, and Magnus has, of course, been the best player throughout the years. We came to a new era."

"It didn't come as a shock because surely it wasn't the first time I heard about his intentions," he said. "We also chatted briefly online after Madrid, and it was quite clear that most likely he wouldn't play. But, as they say, hope dies last. Frankly it's quite disappointing. The re-match was something I was really looking forward to."

In more general terms, the challenger thinks Carlsen's decision isn't great for the chess world. "It's quite harmful, but at this point it's hard to evaluate how harmful," Nepomniachtchi said. "From a human perspective, it's quite an understandable decision from Magnus and I respect it completely, despite my personal disappointment that it happened. However, we have this big tradition in chess of almost 150 years, and that is something really priceless."

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To assist with traffic management and reduce congestion in the vicinity of Troon, temporary traffic regulations and parking restrictions will be introduced. These will be enforced by Ayrshire Roads Alliance and Police Scotland in order to minimise disruption to local residents and businesses, assist traffic flow and increase safety and security for all road users.

Train services are expected to be busy during The 152nd Open so please ensure you leave plenty of time to travel. Rail timetables for Championship week will be published here when available. Golflink tickets are available to purchase now on the ScotRail website - please select 'Golflink (QGL)' as the destination station when using the journey planner. This ticket price includes the cost of the return bus journey to the course and fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance to reduce queuing time at the station.

Troon is part of the local public bus network, which connects to many local accommodation hubs around Ayrshire, including Ayr, Dundonald, Irvine and Kilmarnock, with an interchange at Kilmarnock for services to Glasgow.

Stagecoach is the operator of the 14 service, which connects Troon to Irvine and Ayr and stops on South Beach (from the Ayr direction) or Bentinck Drive (from the Irvine direction), which are approximately 400m and 150m, respectively, from the main public entrance to The 152nd Open.

Stagecoach also operates the 10, 110 and X78 services, which link Troon to Dundonald, Kilmarnock and Glasgow. These services stop on Portland Street in Troon Town Centre, which is approximately 1.8km from the main public entrance to The 152nd Open.

Tickets can be purchased on buses or via the Stagecoach Bus app. Further information on planning your journey, including accessibility assistance, timetables and tickets valid for multiple journeys, can be found on the Stagecoach website. All local buses accept contactless payments.

National Cycle Route 7 (NCR7) runs right past Royal Troon Golf Club and links to Prestwick, Ayr, Irvine and Kilwinning. National Cycle Route 73 links Kilmarnock to Ardrossan and connects with NCR7 in Irvine to join the route to and from Troon. A free cycle park will be provided close to the main public entrance to The 152nd Open. Please follow the blue cycle route signage to Troon on NCR7 then look out for signs for Bicycle Parking on approach to The Open. Please use the free cycle park and do not lock bicycles to perimeter fencing as they may be removed for security reasons. For further information on the cycle network in the local area, please visit the Sustrans website.

Spectators choosing to travel to the event by car or motorcycle will be directed to The Open Park & Ride sites by Variable Messaging Signs (VMS) and specific black and yellow event signs provided by The AA.

Parking tickets are available to purchase on arrival at a cost of 15 from Sunday 14 to Tuesday 16 July, and 20 from Wednesday 17 to Sunday 21 July. A 5 discount will be applied to tickets purchased in advance (up to 5pm the day before), with tickets available to buy here. Motorbike parking is available at a cost of 5 per day.

For further information please contact The Open Ticket Office on +44 (0)1334 460010 or by emailing access...@randa.org. Fans who use British Sign Language (BSL), can contact The Open Customer Service team by using SignVideo BSL Interpreter service. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Minibus parking is available at a cost of 40 per day for vehicles measuring between 5 metres and 7.99 metres in length and/or with a seat capacity between 10 and 22 seats. Drivers should follow signs to the Coach Park.

The deadline for pre-booked coach and minibus parking is Friday 28 June 2024. If a member of your coach or minibus party holds an Accessible Parking Permit, such as a Blue Badge or equivalent, please ensure this is displayed to the traffic marshals in the Coach Park to enable them to direct you to an appropriate place to drop off and collect passengers close to the main public entrance to The 152nd Open.

There will be a designated taxi rank and private hire drop off/pick-up area in operation for The 152nd Open from 14-21 July. This will be located on Bentinck Drive, approximately 250-300m from the main public entrance. On approach to The Open, ask the driver to follow signs for taxis and private hire vehicles to avoid the road access restrictions. Demand for taxi and private hire vehicles is expected to be high, so it is highly recommended to book in advance.

Your ticket to see the PGA TOUR's best

The BMW Championship will be using mobile entry at Castle Pines Golf Club. Mobile tickets enable you to manage, view, scan and transfer your tickets with just a few clicks.

Click here to sign in and manage your ticket account. Add your ticket to your phone's digital wallet for easy access at the gate.

Read the Mobile Ticketing Guide.

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Spectator Information

Conducted by the Western Golf Association to benefit the Evans Scholars Foundation, the BMW Championship is the second of three events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup and determines the final field of 30 for the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

In an effort to ease traffic issues at Castle Pines Golf Club, a portion of Happy Canyon Road will have daily restricted access from 5 a.m.-7 p.m. during championship week. Please note the following restrictions:

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