R&A chief: Open Championship at Portmarnock is 'getting pretty close'

Mark Darbon said talks with the Irish Government were heading in the right direction.

Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A during a press conference ahead of The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Pic: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

An Open Championship at Portmarnock is “getting pretty close” R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said on Wednesday with a firm decision on a date due by the end of the year.

Speaking at the R&A press conference on the eve of the 154th Open at Royal Birkdale on Merseyside, Darbon admitted that nailing down a timeline on the revered north Dublin links staging the oldest major championship had taken longer than initially expected but talks with the Irish Government were heading in the right direction.

The Open has visited Irish shores three times with Co. Antrim’s Royal Portrush staging on each occasion in 1951, 2019 and 2025 with Portmarnock mooted as a realistic potential venue since it dropped its male-only membership stipulation in 2021.

Extensive feasibility studies have been in progress since and the R&A is satisfied Portmarnock can host a tournament on as large a scale as The Open. 

Now there just needs to be agreement on a date, or dates, with future stagings of both The Open and AIG Women’s Open also up for discussion, the CEO revealed.

“I think we're getting pretty close,” Darbon said.

“It's a complicated venue because of the scale of The Open Championship. So there's been a lot of great feasibility work with the golf club themselves, with the local authority, with government.

“We've undertaken a big feasibility study. That work is pretty much done. We've confirmed that we believe we can take an Open Championship there.

“What we're looking to do is build a model that opens up opportunities for the AIG Women's Open and The Open for many, many years to come. So that's the dialogue we're in right now with the Irish government, and we're optimistic that those discussions are heading in the right direction.

“Time frame… look, in the spirit of transparency, it's taken a bit longer than I think I and we thought it may, but it's complicated doing all of that feasibility work. We're hoping to have a pretty clear view by the end of the year for sure.”

The R&A will introduce a Spectators’ Code of Conduct at Royal Birkdale this week as the governing body aims discourage the sort of heckling which has marred events in the United States such as the Ryder Cup and this year’s Players Championship.

Darbon, who succeeded Martin Slumbers at the R&A in 2024 after serving in a similar role at English Rugby champions Northampton Saints, said: “It's something that we've been thinking about for a while. I've worked in other sports; we've had codes of conduct at venues I've operated before.

“We're very proud of the way our spectators behave at The Open Championship. We think it's a great reflection of both passion and support for the world's best players but also respect for traditions of the game.

“We thought by codifying some of what we expect, it will help and support this championship moving forward.” 

Asked how that code will be policed this week, Darbon stopped short of fines being administered to unruly spectators.

“We've got a great staffing model across our venue that involves R&A staff, volunteers, marshals, officials. Those people are briefed on keeping an eye on this behaviour in line with our code of conduct, so we're very confident in our ability to identify any folks that step over the line that we've drawn, and we'll monitor that through the week.

“I think we feel that it's within our gift, if someone does step over the line, to ask them to leave the venue, and I think that's a pretty powerful display. That's the mechanism that we'll use rather than fining a spectator.”