A PORTRUSH TO SEE RORY

Mcllroy mania to make 'home' Open biggest sporting event in Northern Ireland history

- FROM NEIL McLEMAN at Royal Portrush

MCILROY MANIA is set to hit the sold-out Open at Royal Portrush - with record crowds for the biggest sporting event in Northern Ireland's history.

All 278,00 tickets have been sold after more than one million people entered the public ballot for the 153rd Open.

It will be the largest attendance for an Open after the 290,000 who attended the 2022 event at St Andrews. The Open last visited Portrush in 2019, when 237,750 golf fans poured in to watch.

R&A chief executive Mark Darbon is delighted by the increase and Rory Mcllroy’s Masters triumph. "We have huge demand for the Open Championship, something were very proud of” he said.