Record numbers to attend The 153rd Open at Portrush to watch bid for Claret Jug
The Dunluce Links will be the venue for the 153rd Open, marking the championship's return for the first time since Shane Lowry's emotional victory there in 2019 when he won by six shots over Tommy Fleetwood.
This year's championship takes place between July 13 and 20, with The R&A today confirming that 278,000 spectators will attend between practice and tournament days on the county Antrim coast, as new Masters champion Rory McIlroy and Lowry return to home shores in a bid to win the Claret Jug.
The success of the 2019 hosting led to unprecedented demand for tickets in the ballot last year, with applications for more than one million tickets.
The attendance this year will surpass the previous high mark set at Portrush six years ago when 237,750 fans celebrated Lowry's first major victory in The 148th Open.
Mark Darbon, Chief Executive at The R&A, said: 'The Open is one of the world's great sporting events and we will do everything we can to make this year's championship at Royal Portrush an outstanding and memorable occasion for everyone involved from fans to players and the millions watching on TV and digital platforms worldwide.
'The passion and enthusiasm for golf throughout the island of Ireland is world-renowned and is clearly reflected in the extraordinary demand among fans to be part of this historic occasion.
"We look forward to welcoming a record crowd to these spectacular links for a true celebration of golf and seeing who emerges from the 156-strong field to become Champion Golfer of the Year.'
It will be the largest ever sporting event held in Northern Ireland and is expected to generate more than £213 million in total economic benefit for the country, according to an independent forecast by the Sport Industry Research Centre (SIRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.
It estimates that the economic impact resulting from The 153rd Open will be £63m (€73.3m), while the destination marketing benefit for Northern Ireland derived from coverage produced via linear television and digital platforms will exceed £150m (€174.5m).
'It's clear that staging a major event such as The Open can generate significant economic benefits for the locations in which they are held and this study demonstrates the huge benefit that the championship brings,' said Darbon.
'We are grateful to the government and local agencies in Northern Ireland for their investment and support in bringing the Championship back to Royal Portrush after the success of 2019.
"Their enthusiasm and expertise has been crucial to our planning and we thank them for the work they have contributed towards making this possible.'
Aine Kearney, Director of Events at Tourism Northern Ireland, said: 'With less than three months to go until The 153rd Open at Royal Portrush, excitement is building and all the partners involved in the delivery of the Championship are working in collaboration to make it even bigger and more memorable than 2019.
'The Open in 2019 brought huge economic benefits, not just to the North Coast, but to the whole of Northern Ireland and 2025 will be no different.
'It is shaping up to be another world-class sporting event which presents us with an invaluable opportunity to further raise Northern Ireland's profile as a must-see travel and golf destination as well as a fantastic place to invest.'
Thanks to The R&A's long-running Kids Go Free initiative, more than 27,000 tickets are available for under-16s and there are reduced price tickets for fans under 25. Since Kids Go Free was launched in 1997, 434,000 children have attended The Open for free.
A record 89,000 spectators will attend the four sold-out practice days of The 153rd Open, exceeding the total of 61,000 fans who attended the equivalent days at Royal Portrush in 2019.
The Open Camping Village continues to prove a popular accommodation option among families and young people with 4,600 guests booking a place to stay on-site this year.
Almost a third (32%) of those staying at the village are under the age of 25 meaning that 20,000 free bed nights have been provided to this group since the initiative was launched at Royal Troon in 2016.
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