The Irish Open is going back to its roots, with confirmation due this afternoon that the golf tournament - one of the oldest on the PGA European Tour - will next year be played at Portmarnock Golf Club in north Co Dublin.
Apart from securing a return to a traditional links course, the event is also to be given a new date - one week after the British Open, which next year takes place at Royal St George's on England's south coast. The timing of the tournament should help to entice a number of the top American players to remain on this side of the Atlantic to play Portmarnock, a course considered among the best in world golf.
The official announcement, due this afternoon, will bring an end to fears for the future of the championship. Ever since Murphy's, part of the Heineken Ireland group, terminated its nine-year run as title sponsors of the Irish Open earlier this year, the event's future was uncertain. The name of the new sponsor will also be announced at the reception in Dublin.
Portmarnock, which is currently undergoing some redesign work, including the reconstruction of the first hole, to bring the estuary more into play, is the traditional home of the Irish Open. It was here that George Duncan, a British Open champion, lined his body with brown paper to protect himself against the elements during the final round of the inaugural Irish Open in 1927 and overcome a 14-shot deficit to claim the title.
The tournament was played at Portmarnock on 12 occasions between 1976 and 1990, with Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal proving triumphant on the final occasion. Since Olazabal's win, Portmarnock has staged the Walker Cup (1991) and the European men's amateur team championship (1997).
In recent years, Portmarnock has been a popular stopping-off point for world number one Tiger Woods in his preparation for the British Open.
