The Open: R&A ‘getting pretty close’ to headlining Portmaron

Chief executive Mark Darbon said the R&A was “getting very close” to hosting an Open Championship outside the United Kingdom for the first time at Dublin’s Portmarnock Golf Club.

The R&A – the governing body that organizes and administers the Open – first Portmarnock revealed its potential Hosting golf’s oldest championship in 2023, with The Irish Government announces Its support is up to €40m (£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,” Durbon said on the eve of this year’s 154th tournament at Royal Birkdale.

“There’s been a lot of feasibility work with golf clubs, with local authorities, with government

“We’ve undertaken a major feasibility study. That’s pretty much done. We’ve confirmed that we believe we can have an Open Championship there.

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

“We are having these discussions with the Irish government at the moment and we are hopeful that those discussions are going in the right direction.”

Pressed for a deadline for a possible announcement, Derbon added: “In the spirit of transparency, it’s taking a little longer than I thought it might, but all those possibilities are complicated to work out.

“We hope to have a pretty clear view by the end of the year.”