A really good discussion' R&A held talks with Trump's son over Turnberry Open

The R&A says it has held a "really good discussion" with Donald Trump's family over the thorny issue of when their Turnberry course might stage the Open again.

- Sean Ingle Portrush

The governing body's new chief executive, Mark Darbon, said he had met the president's son Eric and held positive talks about infrastructure improvements needed for the South Ayrshire course to host the event for the first time since 2009. "I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry," Darbon said. "We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we're coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we've got a good dialogue with them."

About 120,000 spectators watched the Open when it was last held in Turnberry.

However, the event has grown to such an extent that 280,000 fans will be in Portrush. Darbon, who is overseeing his first Open, said there had been 1.2 million applications for tickets for this week's event and the R&A was "keen to service that demand where we can".

However, he left open the door to a return to Turnberry by promising to work collaboratively with national and local government to improve transport links and accommodation levels.