THE Open Championship at Royal Troon will no longer be free to view from 2016 after the BBC ended its deal a year early, the R&A announced yesterday.

Sky Sports signed a five-year deal from 2017 to televise the golf championship with the BBC having two hours of daily highlights and covering the event live on radio and online.

New R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said: “We are looking forward to world-class coverage of The Open from our partners at Sky Sports and are grateful that they have stepped in a year early.

“It is sad to see the BBC’s live coverage of The Open end and I know some fans will be disappointed.

“The relationship between The R&A and the BBC spans more than 60 years and we understand the challenging circumstances that the BBC is currently presented with. I know the BBC will produce compelling highlights, which will be enjoyed by a large prime-time audience.”

Director of BBC Sport Barbara Slater said the decision was “a pragmatic one.”

She said: “Now, more than ever, it is critical that the BBC targets its resources to ensure maximum choice and value for money for licence fee payers. We have already made long-term commitments to a wide range of major sporting events, including the Wimbledon Championships to 2020, the next two Football World Cups, Match of the Day to 2019, Six Nations to 2021 and the next three Olympic Games.

The R&A said it agreed to the BBC’s request after “significant deliberation” and would not receive any additional revenue as a result of the new arrangement.