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.

Darren Clarke might be making his 500th European Tour appearance in his 12th Masters this week but he’s hoping Royal Portrush gets a bit of Irish luck and the British Open makes its way across the Irish Sea, a prospect that grows stronger by the day.

Royal Portrush officials were as flabbergasted as Graeme McDowell when they heard PGA of America president Ted Bishop suggest the Dunluce Links could become the first course outside the States to host the US PGA Championship.

Royal Portrush members have been urged not to hold their breath in anticipation of an announcement over the prospects of the British Open Championship returning to the Dunluce Links any time soon.

Royal Portrush’s hopes of staging an Open Championship in the near future have received a massive setback in the wake of comments by R&A chief executive Peter Dawson yesterday.

Moyola Park’s Chris Selfridge took the title but not before West Waterford’s Gary Hurley hit one of the most dramatic birdies ever seen at Royal Portrush to set up a nerve-jangling finale to the Golfsure sponsored Irish Amateur Close at a sun-kissed Dunluce Links.