For all it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone, the R&A’s wish to make an occasion of its awarding of the 2019 Open to Royal Portrush was fair enough.
Not only does this represent historic golfing territory, it offers the latest nod to Northern Ireland’s progress from the grim days where hosting a major championship could never have been a viable option.
An abundance of people are due recognition for Portrush’s reassumed status. Top-level golfers – Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell among them – pushed hard for the links to be restored to the Open rota. Harrington’s major success, which sparked a wonderful Irish trend, is also pertinent.
Portrush’s membership wasted no time in pushing through changes that were necessary, rather than put forward the kind of collective objection that can be standard in golf clubs. The Northern Ireland executive did its bit, just as Irish fans have done with terrific attendance figures at a series of tournaments over recent years. Pieced together, it was a proposition the R&A couldn’t reasonably refuse.
There is a lingering question, though, over what happens next. Open host courses are now public knowledge for the next four years, starting at Royal Troon in 2016. The debate over 2020 and 2021 owes plenty to the R&A’s realising of a clear commercial opportunity that again, surely, it won’t pass up. The Open is the goose that lays an annual golden egg for golf’s ruling body, which to its credit is more in tune with corporate matters than has ever been the case. Peter Dawson, the recently retired chief executive, deserves credit for that.
Open form has seen St Andrews become accepted as the stage for the third major of the year in five-year cycles, the only venue afforded such status – and rightly so, as befitting the home of golf.
Were that trend to continue, 2020 would witness a St Andrews Open. There is a significant caveat to that: 2021 is the occasion of the 150th Open Championship, a landmark it would only seem logical for the R&A to mark on the Fife coast. It is hardly being disrespectful to point out the milestone wouldn’t have the same resonance elsewhere. It is blindingly obvious to point out the level of financial pull the Old Course exerts would not apply.
The alternative? Retaining the five-year allure of St Andrews, presumably, and banking on the 150th anniversary being widely recognised wherever it is staged. It could add a fresh dimension to ordinarily just another Open. But this option has to be a long shot.
Assuming St Andrews is indeed picked for 2021, the quirk of history should trigger intrigue as to the year before. Turnberry would be the favourite, having not hosted an Open since Tom Watson’s close shave in 2009 and, like Portrush, with necessary course changes already under way.
Donald Trump did not buy the Ayrshire venue for it to be overlooked as an Open site but, whether it acknowledges it or not, the R&A will have a significant task in ensuring any championship there is not upstaged by the American tycoon. He did precisely that at the Ricoh British Women’s Open this year.
Royal St George’s, where Clarke triumphed in 2011, seems the most likely alternative. Royal Birkdale and Carnoustie will both be used in the years between Troon and Portrush, Royal Liverpool saw McIlroy win only last year and Royal Lytham & St Annes is also a long shot given the relative freshness of the 2012 Open there.
Portrush and those who backed it were worthy of their Tuesday in the sun. It is the R&A’s next Open move, though, which will be more interesting. The desire to make a grand show of Northern Ireland’s most significant sporting occasion is at least an explanation for the delayed notice.
Security fears overshadow Turkish Airlines Open
The refusal of Brooks Koepka to defend his Turkish Airlines Open title next weekend is a blow to the European Tour and its Final Series. It is unusual for a golfer not to turn out for such a scenario, before the riches available in Belek are taken into account.
Koepka’s management insist scheduling issues were the most pertinent in his thoughts but there was also an admission of earlier “concerns” regarding security in Turkey. Koepka is currently performing on back-to-back weeks on the PGA Tour.
Turkey’s general election is due to take place on the final day of the golf tournament, a matter not lost on Marc Warren. “There is definitely alarm about what is taking place in Turkey,” said the Scot in the aftermath of the Ankara bombing. “We have always been treated like royalty when we travel out to Turkey but then it is hard to avoid reading those headlines and it’s fact as it happened.”
The European Tour has already confirmed contact with police and security services in Turkey for several weeks.
Ryder Cup should not be used as a tournament bribe
Ian Poulter’s rush to Hong Kong to maintain his European Tour status, and thereby keep his Ryder Cup prospects alive, was admirable but raises questions once again about eligibility procedure for the biennial meeting with the United States.
The European Tour stipulates players must turn out in 13 events, co-sanctioned ones included, to retain membership. Without that, the Ryder Cup is a no-go.
The Tour’s desire to retain an element of loyalty from golfers who ply their trade on the more lucrative shores of the United States is understandable. Still, the Ryder Cup shouldn’t be used as a tournament bribe. Especially, it has to be said, for someone like Poulter, by far a net contributor both to the European Tour and Ryder Cup over several years.
