Organisers of The Open are engaging with protest groups to mitigate the risks of disruption at Royal Liverpool this summer.
A man wearing a 'Just Stop Oil' T-shirt interrupted the World Snooker Championship match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry on Monday evening by jumping on to one of the tables and tipping orange powder over the cloth.
It was the second time in three days that a major domestic sporting event had been disrupted after 118 people were arrested at Aintree on Saturday as they tried to scale the perimeter fence ahead of the Grand National.
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But the R&A, which runs The Open, confirmed on Wednesday that, similar to the London Marathon, they have attempted to get on the front foot by entering discussions with protest groups.
"We’ve seen what’s happened in the last couple of weeks," Rhodri Price, the championship's director of operations, said.
"It’s not something we are reactive to; we are very pro-active. We have all of the contingency planning, a monthly security group, and intelligence cells that gather all this information.
"In fact, they engage with all the protest groups to try to make sure we can provide for them if they were to attend.
"We’ve had several in the past that we were able to accommodate so that they can get their message across in a controlled environment."
While Mike Woodcock, director of corporate communications for the R&A, added: "Every year, security is a big priority for us. Every year, we are looking to see what the situation is and assess the potential issues.
"It’s certainly challenging, but we have dealt with protests before. It’s not new. We are tapped into all of the intelligence. We will do everything we can to try to prevent it.
"We are planning for this year’s championship and if there are any situations we need to adapt to, we will.
"We are pretty confident the arrangements we have are robust. It’s all about the agencies we work with and the advice and guidance that we’re getting and I think we’re getting the best possible advice."
The 150th Open attracted a record 290,000 fans to St Andrews, surpassing the previous high mark of 239,000 set at the same venue in 2000. However, the R&A believes there will be a record 260,000 fans at Hoylake in July.
