The stage is set, and anticipation is already peaking. The 153rd Open Championship, golf’s oldest and most cherished major, is headed back to one of the most revered and visually dramatic venues in the sport. The Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland. From the thunderous ovations for Shane Lowry in 2019 to the legends who’ve graced its turf before him. Royal Portrush isn’t just a course; it’s a storybook etched into the rugged coastline of Antrim. And in July 2025, the final major of the season returns to this historic venue, promising drama, precision, and the kind of scenes only links golf can deliver.
What is the history of the Royal Portrush Golf Club?
Royal Portrush Golf Club will host The Open Championship 2025, marking only the third time this iconic links has welcomed the game’s most storied championship. Originally founded in 1888 as The County Club, the course earned its “Royal” status in 1895 under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. The Dunluce Links, named after the ruins of the nearby 13th-century Dunluce Castle, is where this year’s Open drama will unfold. Though it officially joined The Open rota in 1951. But Royal Portrush made global headlines again in 2019 when Shane Lowry lifted the Claret Jug in front of a crowd of 237,750. A record attendance outside St Andrews at the time. In 2025, it’s expected to top that with up to 278,000 fans.
It’s not just the attendance numbers that are staggering. The course changes made ahead of the 2019 Open transformed an already elite venue into one of the top-ranked links courses in the world. Designed by the legendary Harry Colt and reworked by Martin Ebert, the Dunluce Links now stretches to 7,344 yards, playing to a par-71, with dramatic dunes, fierce elevation changes, and just 62 bunkers, the fewest of any Open venue. But don’t be fooled by the lack of sand traps. Holes like the infamous 16th…Calamity Corner doesn’t need bunkers to strike fear into players. Miss right, and you’re staring 50 feet down into a ravine. Miss left, and you’re lucky to walk away with par. It’s golf at its most punishing and poetic. From the legendary Max Faulkner’s miraculous shot in 1951, to Rory McIlroy’s heartbreak in 2019, and Lowry’s crowning moment that same year.
February 2, 2025, Pebble Beach, Ca, USA: Rory McIlroy during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am 2025 at Pebble Beach Golf Links on February 02, 2025 in Pebble Beach, California. Photo: Casey Flanigan/imageSPACE Pebble Beach USA – ZUMAi237 20250202_zsa_i237_203 Copyright: xFlanigan/Imagespacex
This course has history written into every blade of grass. Royal Portrush has also hosted a total of nine British Ladies’ Amateur Championships, six Senior British Opens, four Irish Opens, and three Amateur Championships. The links may only be in their third Open, but it has been home to champions, Fred Daly, Graeme McDowell, and Darren Clarke, all of whom grew up on or near this very course. Let us now get into the talents that will be visible on the ground from Thursday onwards.
The players, where to watch, and what’s at stake
The 2025 Open is stacked with talent and storylines. Xander Schauffele returns as the reigning Champion Golfer of the Year after his brilliant win at Royal Troon. Rory McIlroy, still chasing a second Open title and doing so on home soil, will once again carry the hopes of Northern Ireland. Scottie Scheffler, the machine-like World No. 1, is also in form, having already secured the 2025 PGA Championship. Add in Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, and rising stars like J.J. Spaun, and we’ve got ourselves a showdown.
Notable qualifiers include Patrick Reed, Curtis Luck, and Marco Penge from the Open Qualifying Series. Also, Graeme McDowell, Edoardo Molinari, and Brandon Robinson-Thompson from the Final Qualifying. And not forgetting top amateurs like Ethan Fang, Justin Hastings, and James Claridge vying for the Silver Medal. The Global Broadcast for the event will be televised on NBC, and below is the schedule:
Thursday, July 17: 4:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Friday, July 18: 4:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 19: 5:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Sunday, July 20: 4:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
This will also be the first Open without walk-up tickets, due to unprecedented demand. Apart from a piece of golfing immortality and the iconic Claret Jug, players will battle for $17 million purse. Out of which the winner gets approx, $3.2 million, a 5-year exemption on the PGA Tour and into all majors and a 10-year Open exemption. Moreover, the Crucial OWGR points with Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup places in play.
The 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush promises to be one of the great sporting events of the year, and potentially one of the greatest Opens ever. It’s a return to a course that tests every aspect of a golfer’s game, strategy, patience, creativity, and resilience.
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