Rory McIlroy request falls on deaf ears as Masters champion is left disappointed

Rory McIlroy had suggested that Muirfield was the ideal venue to host The Open Championship in 2028. But this request has been denied as the event will be staged at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

Muirfield has hosted the Open 16 times, the latest in 2013, when McIlroy infamously missed the cut. Phil Mickelson won that competition, and Sir Nick Faldo has twice been an Open winner at the links venue. Various issues may have kept the tournament away in recent renewals, including low attendances and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers' refusal to admit women, which changed in 2017. Masters winner McIlroy endorsed Muirfield for the 2028 Open in January. But the R&A have instead opted for Royal Lytham & St Annes, which will host the Women's Open this July and August.

Asked about Muirfield potentially hosting The Open in 2028, McIlroy said: "It would be wonderful if it was [there]. I'm not privy to those conversations, but Muirfield deserves to be back on the Open rota. They rectified the issues they had. It's a wonderful course. It's one of the best courses on the rota and in the UK. As well, it has to commercially make sense.

"I think Mark Darbon [R&A chief executive] has been brought in to make the Open Championship commercially viable. I would say Muirfield, that area, North Berwick, that would probably be one of the more commercially viable Opens."

But it will instead be Royal Lytham & St Annes in Lancashire that stages the tournament. McIlroy even predicted this, adding: "The Women's Open is at Lytham this year [2026]. Usually when the women's is somewhere, then the men's seems to follow pretty soon after. That could be the case."

The R&A's choice of Royal Lytham & St Annes was justified by CEO Darbon, who said in a statement: "Royal Lytham & St Annes is widely renowned as one of the world's finest links courses and has witnessed many great championship moments since The Open was first played there in 1926 when the legendary Bobby Jones won.

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"This is one of golf's most cherished and historic venues and The Open's return to these famous links will spark huge interest among fans to be part of one of the world's great sporting events and celebrate the rich traditions of golf's original Championship.

"We are grateful to the members of Royal Lytham & St Annes and the local authorities for their support in making this happen. We look forward to enjoying another fantastic championship on England's golf coast in 2028."

Regarding Muirfield, Darbon has admitted that talks have taken place with the course, which still has some issues to overcome. He said: "We've got a great ongoing dialogue with Muirfield. There are some things we need to overcome to facilitate a modern Open Championship - the practice ground is one of those, along with a few on-course infrastructural points."