Portmarnock ‘logical first step’ for global Open, says Harrington

Pádraig Harrington has predicted that the Open Championship’s return to Irish shores this week is the first step of tournament organisers the R&A taking golf’s oldest major around the world, ideally with Portmarnock as the launchpad.

The Irishman’s back-to-back victories in 2007-08, followed by major successes for Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke, and Rory McIlory, are seen as the catalyst for the bid to bring the Open back to Royal Portrush this week for the first time since 1951. Harrington believes the R&A’s decision to move away from its traditional rotation of links courses in Scotland and England can provide the impetus for a more global outlook for the Championship, given the organisers are guardians of the game and its laws in every country bar the US and Mexico.