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Padraig Harrington believes the Open moving to Portmarnock could be the catalyst for taking the game’s oldest major across the world. 

Portmarnock remains on course to become the first venue outside of the United Kingdom chosen to host the championship since its inception back in 1860.

Back in October, the Irish government issued its “provisional support” in the club’s bid to host both the Open and the AIG Women’s Open in the coming years.

And it now appears that the famed Dublin links will be given the green light to stage both R&A showpieces in the coming years – a prospect proud Irishman Harrington is particularly excited about.

The two-time Open champion has already considered waving goodbye to the tournament in front of a home crowd when his exemption expires in 2032.

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“It would be very nice if it was my last year in 2032,” Harrington told bunkered.co.uk. “That would be a year that’s open to going to Portmarnock. It would be a nice send off. I believe I’d still be playing and competitive. It’s a great championship course. It would be tremendous, the crowds that would turn out in Dublin. It would be a really successful Open.

“I think it would be significant for the R&A. It’s called the Open because they run golf all around the world. This is the Open Championship. It’s a big step if the Open goes outside of its traditional home of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”

After visiting Portmarnock, Harrington even raised the possibility of the Open heading Down Under one day.

“If it goes outside of the UK and comes down south to the Republic, you’re kind of saying it can go anywhere,” the 53-year-old added. “I’m not saying now, but who knows in 100 years we could be down in the sandbelt in Australia. Even 20 years.

There are people who will not want it to happen too, so it’s not as easy as you think. It is a big step if they do it, but going to somewhere like Portmarnock is a very progressive step.”

It would be one thing for the R&A to head to his home of Ireland, but is staging the Open in Australia really feasible?

“Why not? I’m not saying it’s going to happen soon,” Harrington insisted. “This is why there may be a push pack to the Open being in Portmarnock. But there’s also great links golf courses in the Netherlands. France have great links courses. I don’t think it should ever go off a links course.

“But who says we shouldn’t go down to the great links in New Zealand? The R&A is a global entity and they run golf around the world, they do a great job. 

“Bringing their championship to different parts of the world, its a big step to say yes, ‘we’ve taken responsibility.’ It’s putting a marker down that they are truly the Open Championship.”


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Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.

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