A tidal wave of McIlroy mania is set to engulf the fully booked Open at Royal Portrush, creating an atmosphere befitting the most monumental sports event ever in Northern Ireland. R&A’s top brass has made it known that the new Masters champion has “unfinished business” from his home turf Major following a disappointing missed cut in 2019.
Surging past previous records, all 278,000 tickets have been snapped up — a staggering leap of 41,000, propelled by the overwhelming response of over one million ballot entrants aiming for the 153rd Open. It’s on track to eclipse attendance figures, second only to the mammoth crowd of 290,000 at the 2022 Open at St Andrews.
R&A CEO Mark Darbon remarked with visible enthusiasm: “We have huge demand for the Open Championship, something we’re very proud of. 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.”
When the 148th Open made its historic return to Ulster soil after 68 years in limbo, McIlroy faced dismay with a quadruple-bogey eight off the first tee, culminating in an early exit.
McIlroy is set to return to Antrim’s coast in July, joining the exclusive club of only six men who have completed the career Grand Slam, following his thrilling playoff win at the Masters.
“I’ve written to him recently to congratulate him,” said Darbon. “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 is returning to Ulster after a six-year hiatus, but there are no plans to stage the event at Donald Trump’s Turnberry.
The Ayrshire course last hosted the Open in 2009, but since the US President purchased Turnberry in 2014 and made a grand entrance by helicopter at the 2015 Women’s British Open, it has not been selected as a venue.
Darbon, the former CEO 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. 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.”
But when questioned about the Trump Factor, Darbon added: “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. Royal Birkdale will host next year and St Andrews again in 2027.”
