Donald Trump's Doonbeg linked with hosting Amgen Irish Open in 2026
Leona Maguire is off to a hot start in Scotland while Tom McKibbin ponders what it would mean to have Portmarnock on The Open course rota
DP World Tour organisers insist that they are still looking at several venues with a view to hosting next year's Amgen Irish Open but Donald Trump's Doonbeg could be in line to do so.
It was previously speculated that The Island in Dublin, Druids Glen in Wicklow and County Sligo GC were in the running. However, according to one report Trump's course in Clare is now close to being announced as the venue.
The K Club is hosting this year's Amgen Irish Open in the first week of September, with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry spearheading the list of hopefuls competing, and will also do so in 2027. If Doonbeg is awarded the national Open it will come just a week after the Walker Cup takes place at nearby Lahinch.
Meanwhile, Leona Maguire has continued the good form she produced at the Evian Championship by taking a share of the first round lead at the ISPS HANDA Scottish Women's Open.
Maguire, who conjured a hole in one during the first round of the major in France, holed out on her first hole, the 10th, for an eagle two.
The Cavan star went around Dundonald Links in 67 as she paired up with veteran caddie Phil Morbey for the first time to join newly-crowned Irish Open winner Lottie Woad - who turned pro this week - Rio Takeda and Nuria Iturrioz.
Maguire will hope to continue her good form with next week's AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl to come.
Elsewhere, Tom McKibbin says he would relish playing The Open at Portmarnock if the R&A can greenlight a major being played in the Republic of Ireland for the first time. McKibbin was taken aback by the level of support he and the other Irish golfers received at Portrush last week.
The 22-year-old played alongside Padraig Harrington for the first two days but McKibbin missed the cut and thus the weekend action, but saw enough of the reception Rory McIlroy in particular received to realise he was part of a special week in Northern Ireland.
"I didn't see the stuff on Sunday," he said. "I obviously saw it the first couple days. On the Friday, I think he was finishing up when we were on the 12th or 13th, so you could obviously see them from very far away, and the crowds were incredible last week.
"It was something I hadn't seen before, and it was really good, the support that they showed everyone. I think Portmarnock is a great links course, probably one of the best in the country, and it's a very special place, a special golf club with a lot of history. It's a very pure form of golf.
"The Open there would be pretty cool, and to have two Open venues on the island would be pretty cool."
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