Portrush tipped to prosper without title sponsor

This week’s Irish Open at Royal Portrush will not suffer too much from the lack of a title sponsor, leading sports marketing expert Padraig Slattery believes.

This year’s event, beginning on Thursday at the world famous Dunluce links, will be the second Irish Open in succession to be played without a title sponsor following the withdrawal of 3 Mobile in 2010.

Yet the first visit to the north since 1953 and a return to Portrush for the Irish Open for the first time since 1947 is already a success for the European Tour, having sold out tickets for Saturday and Sunday’s third and fourth rounds, the first time that has happened for one day at a regular tour event on its schedule, let alone two.