R&A Chief Mark Darbon On Why Turnberry And Muirfield Must Wait For Another Open - But Portmarnock Firmly On The Radar

R&A chief executive Mark Darbon gave his first Open Championship press conference with the main points being the futures of Turnberry and Muirfield as host venues.

Darbon took over from Martin Slumbers last year so Royal Portrush marks his first Open Championship at the helm - and the main talking points from his debut press conference came around future host sites.

Questions have been raised about whether Muirfield and Turnberry will ever host The Open again as neither has staged the event since 2013.

And while Donald Trump's ownership of Turnberry and controversy over the lack of female members at Muirfield, although that vote was later reversed, have been cited as factors - Darbon insists the absence of both famous Scottish courses is more down to logistics.

"I think we have been extremely clear on our position in regard to Turnberry," said Darbon. "We love the golf course but we have some big logistical issues there.

"You've seen the scale of the set-up here and there's some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry.

"We've explicitly not taken it out of our pool of venues but we'd need to address those logistical challenges should we return."

Slumbers had previously said the Claret Jug wouldn't return to Turnberry while Trump was US President or still involved in American politics as it would create unwanted coverage that would overshadow the tournament.

Darbon, who insists the UK government will not intervene in where The Open is held, seems to have softened his stance and says that he's spoken with Trump's son Eric to explain the logistical challenges that need sorting out before Turnberry can even be considered.

"Unless we address the logistical challenges, it's difficult for us to go back," he added. "I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation from Turnberry. We had a really good discussion.

"I think they understand clearly where we are coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we have a good dialogue with them."

Muirfield must wait - but Portmarnock possible

Future venues for The Open are Birkdale in 2026 and St Andrews in 2027, and Darbon says the 2028 host will be announced next year - but it won't be Turnberry or Muirfield until logistical issues are resolved.

"We love the golf course at Muirfield," said Darbon. "We're in discussions with the venue right now. There are some things we need to evolve at Muirfield, the practice ground in particular is a challenge for us with a modern Open.

"And there's some work to facilitate some infrastructure we need, but there's some good dialogue and we'd love to go back there in the future."

While traditional venues Turnberry and Muirfield face a longer wait, we could have a historic new host come into play with Portmarnock near Dublin being strongly considered.

"Yes, we are thinking about Portmarnock," said Darbon. "We think it's a wonderful links golf course and we've been really encouraged by the support in principle that we have had from the Irish government to work with us to understand if we can stage an Open Championship there in the future.

"We're knee deep in feasability work to help us answer that question fully We expect to have a clearer picture by the back end of this year."