2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Neil McLeman, Steven Crawford)
The excitement for Rory McIlroy at the sold-out Open at Royal Portrush is reaching fever pitch, with record-breaking crowds expected for what's being hailed as Northern Ireland's biggest sporting event ever. R&A chief executive Mark Darbon has even suggested that the new Masters champion has "unfinished business" at his home Major following his 2019 disappointment. All 278,000 tickets have been snapped up , marking a significant increase of 41,000 from previous figures, after a staggering one million people entered the public ballot for the 153rd Open.
This year's event is set to surpass attendance records, second only to the 290,000 who attended the 2022 Open at St Andrews, reports the Mirror . "We have huge demand for the Open Championship, something we're very proud of," Darbon commented. "I think his (McIlroy's) win is brilliant for the sport of golf, not just our own championship.
It was an amazing emotional win as many of you witnessed and we're delighted to see Rory McIlroy's name in the history books. "I think it just gives us a great run into our event. The 153rd Open will be the largest sporting event ever held in Northern Ireland.
" The 148th Open marked a historic return to Ulster after 68 years in 2019, but it was a tournament to forget for McIlroy, who started with a quadruple-bogey eight and ultimately missed the cut. Come July, he'll be back on Antrim's coast, now one of only six men to have completed the career Grand Slam, thanks to his thrilling playoff victory at the Masters. "I've written to him recently to congratulate him," Darbon shared.
"It's been a real privilege as part of this role getting to meet some of the elite players in our game and I've spent a little bit of time with Rory over the last few months. We know he's super excited to return here, he has some unfinished business on this course, so he'll be very focused on performance and we look forward to welcoming him." The Open makes its much-anticipated return to Ulster after a six-year hiatus, yet the prospect of holding the event at Donald Trump's Turnberry remains off the table.
The Ayrshire course, which last hosted The Open in 2009, was acquired by the then US President in 2014, who made headlines for his grand entrance via helicopter during the 2015 Women's British Open. Darbon, previously at the helm of Northampton Saints, commented: "Turnberry is a wonderful golf course, and I think some of the recent improvements there have made it even better. It's a course we'd love to return to at some point.
But where we have some challenges is around logistical and commercial challenges." Reflecting on past attendance figures, he noted: "I think the last time we were there in 2009, we had just over 120,000 people. We just said we're going to have close to 280,000 here this summer.
"That's really important for us because not only do we want to showcase this wonderful championship to as many people as possible, but it's important for us in terms of our commercial model because everything we generate from The Open we then reinvest back into the game all around the world. We've got a few challenges at Turnberry. The road, rail, and accommodation infrastructure presents some challenges if we wish to scale our operation there.
" When questioned about the impact of the Trump ownership on Turnberry, Darbon said: "I think the key issue for us at the moment is these logistical and commercial challenges. We're trying to explore ways to get around those and to mitigate for the future. Of course, when it comes to a championship like this, we also want the focus to be on the golf.
So that's a factor too." Next year will see Royal Birkdale hosting The Open, with a return to St Andrews set for 2027. In the meantime, McIlroy, fresh from his visit back home to Belfast, is gearing up to compete in the PGA Tour's Zurich Classic of New Orleans this week, where he and 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry will defend their title.
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