For the first time in the history of golf’s oldest Major there will be a two tee start and with players going out in groups of three on day three of the 2014 Open Championship.

The threat of severe thunderstorms and strong winds has forced the R & A to commence the second round at 9am from both the first and 10th tees.

“The bad weather is forecast to potentially to last through much of the morning with a four-hour window of much improved conditions in the early afternoon, with the possibility of further thunderstorm activity coming in late tomorrow evening,” said David Rickman, Executive Director of Rules and Equipment Standards at the R & A.

“We believe the three balls and the two-tee start we need about seven hours play.

“If we didn’t operate those procedures and went with our traditional two balls, one-tee start, these are quick calculations, based on a field of about 78 players, we think we’d be looking at about 10 1/2 hours.

“So we feel that that three-and-a-half-hour difference could be the difference between completing this championship on time or not.

“And we believe that that should be of paramount importance.”