Portrush set to host 2019 Open

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell last night hailed the R&A’s expected decision to stage The Open Championship at Royal Portrush, probably in 2019.

News emerged yesterday that the oldest major championship in the world would be returning to the Antrim coast for the first time since 1951 with the tournament custodians the R&A understood to be staging a press conference to confirm the decision at Royal Portrush on Monday.

Confirmation would cap a successful end to a campaign supported by McIlroy, McDowell and Darren Clarke to bring the championship back to the island of Ireland.