R&A Deny Awarding 2018 Open Championship to Royal Portrush

The Royal and Ancient (R&A) have denied reports they have awarded hosting rights to the 2018 Open Championship to Royal Portrush.

The Northen Irish course is the only venue outside England and Scotland to have hosted the Open, ambulance with Max Faulkner lifting the Claret Jug in 1951.

The R&A are keen to take the tournament back to the County Antrim course, but they are wary of the lack of options in travelling to and from the venue.

Hopes were raised after Portrush successfully staged the Irish Open last summer, and a report in the Irish Sun claimed the Open Championship will be played there in 2018.

But an R&A spokesman insisted: “No decision has been made for 2018.”

R&A chief executive Peter Dawson admitted earlier this year that Portrush is “a fantastic golf course,” but concerns remain over the infrastructure required to stage a major and Dawson felt the current nine-course Open rota is “about right.”