The Open: R&A ‘getting pretty close’ to staging major at Portmarnock

Chief executive Mark Darbon says the R&A is “getting pretty close” to staging an Open Championship outside of the United Kingdom for the first time, at Portmarnock Golf Club in Dublin.

The R&A – the governing body which organises and runs the Open – first revealed the possibility of Portmarnock hosting golf’s oldest championship in 2023, with the Irish government announcing its support of up to 40 million euro (£34m) in 2024.

Portmarnock has previously hosted the men’s and women’s amateur championships.

“It’s a complicated venue because of the scale of the Open Championship,” Darbon said on the eve of this year’s 154th tournament at Royal Birkdale.

“There’s been a lot of great feasibility work with the golf club themselves, with the local authority, the government.

“We’ve undertaken a big feasibility study. That work is pretty much done. We’ve confirmed that we believe we can take an Open Championship there.

“What we’re looking to do is to do a build a model that opens up opportunities for the AIG Women’s Open and The Open for many, many years to come.

“That’s the dialogue we’re in right now with the Irish Government and we’re optimistic that those discussions are heading in the right direction.”

Pressed for a timeframe on a possible announcement, Darbon added: “In the spirit of transparency, it’s taking a bit longer than I and we thought it may, but it’s complicated doing all that feasibility work.

“We’re hoping to have a pretty clear view by the end of the year.”