Royal Portrush has been pencilled in for a return to the British Open rota in 2019 but in what has been an awkward and politically sensitive three-hand reel between the R&A, the Northern Ireland Executive and the club, it will be several months at least before a definitive date can be announced.

IN advocating what will seem a somewhat heretical suggestion, I am in no way denigrating either the current venue, Killarney, or the many other outstanding courses that have staged our national Open over the years.

MORE THAN 40,000 Irish cows are required to produce 50 million gallons of milk every year to produce the 2,260 glasses of Baileys that are consumed every minute of every day worldwide.