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THE ORGANISERS OF the Open Championship have expressed confidence they can manage ‘McIlroy mania’ on the tournament’s return to Royal Portrush in July.
The 153rd Open is set to become the second-best attended in history, with almost 280,000 fans having snapped up tickets for the final major of the year.
The event was already a complete sell-out before home favourite Rory McIlroy completed the career grand slam with his dramatic Masters victory at Augusta National.
Almost 1.1million people applied in the public ticket ballot last year, with 278,000 securing tickets across the practice days and four tournament days.
That is around 41,000 more than attended the Open when Shane Lowry triumphed at Royal Portrush in 2019. That year marked the first time the Open had been played there since 1951.
While the tickets for this year’s tournament were allocated long before the nerve-shredding conclusion at Augusta, recently appointed R&A chief executive Mark Darbon acknowledged the prospect of McIlroy teeing off on home turf as a Masters champion had added to the excitement around the Open’s third hosting in Northern Ireland.
“I think it’s brilliant for the sport of golf, not just our own championship,” Darbon said. “It was an amazing, emotional win.
“We’re delighted to see Rory etch his name in the history books.”
The record attendance at an Open came in 2022 at St Andrews when 290,000 attended the 150th staging of the tournament.
Asked if the hype around McIlroy would present crowd management issues at Portrush, Darbon said he was confident the understandable spectator desire to catch a glimpse of the five-time major winner could be managed.
“I think you’re always thinking through how do you manage the crowd effectively, how do you get the experience right for spectators and other groups that we look after at one of these big events,” he said.
“I think it’s important to realise that the Open is more than just a golf event.
“It’s clearly one of golf’s majors, but it’s one of the biggest and best sporting events in the world, and so we spend a lot of time in planning and thinking through how we orchestrate movements of crowds and other groups around the golf course. And this will be no different.”
The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush will be played in front of 278,000 fans – the Championship’s largest crowd outside of St Andrews.
The attendance will surpass the previous high mark set at Royal Portrush six years ago when 237,750 spectators attended The 148th Open.— The Open (@TheOpen)
The Open’s return to the island of Ireland comes as the R&A continues to scope out the feasibility of holding a future Open at Portmarnock, near Dublin.
“We’re going through a big feasibility study exercise right now, with support from the local authorities and the Government,” he said.
“We’re really getting under the skin of whether and how and when we can stage a championship at Portmarnock. Clearly, it’s a great golf course, and so we’re optimistic for the future.”
As for whether Turnberry will host an Open while it remains owned by President Donald Trump, Darbon reiterated the R&A’s stance that the focus of any Open must be solely on the golf and also voiced concerns around the infrastructure around the Ayrshire course.
“The golf course is magnificent,” Darbon said. “If anything, it’s better now than it ever has been, given some of the improvements that have been made to the course.
“But there are some challenges around the road and rail network, some of the accommodation provision in the surrounding area, and so we’re working on what a model could look like for the future.”
Written by Press Association and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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Let’s hope Adrian Bayley will get a taste of his own medicine while inside. Karma is a wonderful thing. :)
I see the trolls ‘ red thumb brigade’ are out again. Bloody morons!!!
He raises a pertinent question though, what the hell point is there having a maximum sentence if it’s not going to be imposed.
With this guy’s previous history and then this case on top, if he didn’t warrant it I shudder, shudder to thing what actually would.
My heart poors for this guy and i agree he was let down by the justice system …. but maybe not something that should be a headline in this country …. rape carries 15 years in Oz.? Try 15 weeks over here
This man had already raped 8 women prior to murdering Jill and only served 10 years altogether. He also broke someone jaw whilst out on parole for rape. Australian justice system is a joke, too focused on the offender as opposed to the community.
These types of yokes should not be getting let out of jail after a set number of years, they should be kept inside if they’re not safe. And most of them don’t even look for help inside but they still get let out.. our own “beast of the east” LM got let out and he’s free now to prey on potential victims. These fiends should stay locked up in my opinion.
They should be locked up for life if they cannot be rehabilitated. Right now we gather the worst in society and throw them into a building where they are expected to be kept for a number of years. Then they’re just thrown back into the world after an arbitrary number of years has been fulfilled. It’s no wonder the western world has such high rates of reoffending with a system like that.
Exactly Jason, that’s what I’m saying, these types shouldn’t get a release date while they’re still a danger..
Was nearly in tears watching this chap on the news. I hope he takes a civil action and sues the a*** off them
A lot of red thumbs again tonight in response to what decent people are expressing. If one has any compassion for Gill, her husband and family what is their problem with decent people expressing their views. All I can say some sickos trolling the journal and in support obviously of vile rapists and murderers. Sad but very true! Lets see how many ref thumbs?
Heartbreaking interview. At least some justice has been served. RIP
He should never be allowed out of prison as long as he draws breath. I don’t know why he can’t get life. And I mean real ‘life’- not like this country. We should also take notice in this country of letter sex offenders out on parole. They’re monsters who will offend again!
I think Tom Meagher is right about the remorse. I’m sure Bayley’s lawyer pointed out to him that if he showed some remorse he’d get a few years off his sentence. Crocodile tears. The man shouldn’t have been out on bail and now he should have a whole-life sentence with no possibility of his ever getting out.
It’s heartbreaking, that poor man
God damn judges are the same all over the world. They play gods and seem to enjoy showing mercy to monsters. Judges should be replaced by a software driven logic.
I agree Mary. Predators such as these, do not have the capacity to experience remorse, let alone understand its meaning. It’s a foreign concept to them, like a foreign language is to us.
Sadly the shit will be on a secure wing, which will be hard to access by any one other than staff.
It is so sad and the family is so brave.
I am ashamed of the Australian Legal System.
RIP
Unfortunately here in Ireland rapists get off lightly too. The kind of sentence given in the article below is an absolute disgrace and sends out the complete wrong message.
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