What Did We Learn From Mark Darbon’s 'Slick' First Open Press Conference?

The only surprise that came in Mark Darbon's first Open press conference as the new R&A chief executive is that it took about five minutes for someone to mention the 'T' word.

Future venues were one of the main discussion points the day before the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush - specifically Trump Turnberry.

Given that Turnberry has not hosted The Open since 2009, questions continue to get asked about its owner, US President Donald Trump, and whether he's the obstacle.

Darbon, who took over from Martin Slumbers last year, responded to these questions with a straight bat, saying that there are "logistical challenges" at Turnberry that need to be resolved.

Slumbers had previously said the Claret Jug wouldn't return to the South Ayrshire resort while Trump was US President or still involved in American politics, as it would create unwanted coverage.

"You see the scale of their setup here and we've got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry," he explained.

Yes, but does the US President's ownership also have an impact on the decision?

"It's a somewhat hypothetical question in that unless we address the logistical challenges, it's difficult for us to go back," added Darbon.

Good answer.

He added: "I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry.

"We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we're coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we've got a good dialogue with them."

After a quick introduction, during which Darbon said he was "thrilled to be involved in staging one of the great global sporting events", the new chief delivered a professional performance on his Open debut - "slick" as one journalist muttered.

He arrives at a time when the men's professional game is still divided, but for once there was very little chat about LIV Golf.

In some ways this was the perfect timing for Darbon's first Open press conference: no bombshell to deal with in the form of a new Saudi-backed golf circuit or difficult questions around rolling back the golf ball, which his predecessor faced.

Instead, Darbon was actually able to share some rather exciting news, especially for golf fans in Ireland, saying that The R&A was "knee deep in feasibility work" as the governing body looks into taking The Open to Portmarnock.

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

There are rumors that 2031 has been pencilled in, although it's unlikely that The R&A will announce anything official regarding future Open venues, including where the Major Championship will be heading in 2028, until next year.

On Portmarnock specifically, he said: "We expect to have a clearer picture by the back end of this year."

Darbon's responses were well rehearsed. He will clearly face more difficult questions in the not-too-distant future, especially around the golf ball and distance, which is always going to be a divisive topic.

However, the 46-year-old made an impressive start on Wednesday, answering questions in a concise manner; in fact, he even made a few golf reporters laugh, which is not always easy to do.

"There is a magnificent links in Scotland that seems to have been overlooked. I'm curious what is taking so long to go back to Muirfield?" he was asked.

"I wondered where you were going with that one," he joked.

When asked what had struck him most about the game since arriving in the hot seat, he quipped "the golf industry loves a good lunch and a good dinner".

He added: "I think it's really struck me how strong the values are in the sport of golf. Camaraderie and integrity in our game is so critical and that shines through to me really regularly."

Another good answer.