R&A boss Mark Darbon says "we're getting pretty close" to making history and being able to take the Open Championship to the Republic of Ireland at Portmarnock.
The chase for the Claret Jug has never been taken outside of the United Kingdom before, but the Dublin links has been making a big effort to change all that.
Talks have been ongoing for some time and a lot of work has been done by the R&A, Portmarnock and the local government in order to bring The Open to the Republic of Ireland.
And it's now just a matter of 'when' not 'if' the Open will be heading to Portmarnock just outside the Irish captial.
"I think we're getting pretty close," said Darbon at his pre-Open press conference at Royal Birkdale. "It's a complicated venue because of the scale of The Open Championship.
"So there's been a lot of great feasibility work with the golf club themselves, with the local authority, with government. We've undertaken a big feasibility study. That work is pretty much done. We've confirmed that we believe we can take an Open Championship there."
The R&A first confirmed Portmarnock was in contention to host the Open back in 2023, and Darbon admitted that the process was taking longer than expected due to all the logistics involved.
"What we're looking to do is build a model that opens up opportunities for the AIG Women's Open and The Open for many, many years to come," Darbon added.
"So that's the dialogue we're in right now with the Irish government, and we're optimistic that those discussions are heading in the right direction.
"Time frame - look, in the spirit of transparency, it's taken a bit longer than I think I and we thought it may, but it's complicated doing all of that feasibility work. We're hoping to have a pretty clear view by the end of the year for sure."
No plans for Prince's - Turnbery & Muirfield still out in the cold
Portmarnock would join Royal Portrush as Open venues on the island of Ireland - with the two recent championships held on the north coast in 2019 and last year being hugely successful.
Adding Portmarnock to a new regular host in Portrush would seemingly reduce the chances of the likes of Trump Turnberry and Muirfield returning even further.
The two famous Scottish venues have no immediate hope of getting back on the Open rota, while Royal Lytham & St Annes has done enough work to get back to hosting duties as it will stage the 2028 Open.
One further course Darbon was asked about was Prince's - the neighbor to Royal St George's which has hosted The Open once, in 1932 when Gene Sarazen won.
But the Kent venue is not being considered by the R&A.
"It's not under consideration at the moment," said Darbon. "As you mentioned, we're taking the Walker Cup there.
"The work they've done in recent years down at Prince's has been spectacular, but we're really happy with the rotation that we've got at the moment. As you know, and it's been well-documented, we are in discussion with Portmarnock around the potential for an Open Championship in the future.
"No plans beyond that at this stage."
