The Royal and Ancient (R&A) UK-based golfing body that organizes golf’s The Open tournament, has announced Royal Lytham and St. Annes in England will host the men’s 2028 edition.
The announcement ends Royal Lytham and St. Annes’ 16-year wait to host the tournament again, having previously staged the event 11 times since its debut in 1926, with the last edition held in 2012.
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The R&A said the 2028 edition will be held later than its usual late-July slot from August 3 to 6 to avoid a clash with the golf competitions at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which will be played from July 19 to 29.
Royal Lytham and St. Annes, near Blackpool, holds hosting rights to this year’s Women’s Open from July 29 to August 2. Along with 11 men’s Opens, the venue has staged five Women’s Opens, two Ryder Cup team tournaments, five Senior Opens, the Walker Cup, and the Curtis Cup.
In terms of broadcast rights, UK pay-TV heavyweight Sky Sports holds the domestic rights through to 2028 as part of the latest extension of the partnership that began in 2016.
This year’s edition will be played at Royal Birkdale from July 16 to 19 before returning to the iconic Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland in 2027 after a five-year break, having last staged the tournament in 2022, which drew a record-breaking 290,000 attendees.
The host of the 2029 edition has not been announced yet.
The Open is one of golf's four majors, its biggest events, and features on the elite PGA Tour, the European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour.
The announcement also ends speculation over the inclusion of Turnberry Golf Club, owned by US President Donald Trump since 2014, despite intense lobbying over the past few years.
The course has been left off the R&A’s hosting rotation due to logistical issues caused by its remote location on the Ayrshire coast, with Darbon telling Sky Sports today: “You see the scale of a modern Open championship – the road, rail and accommodation network around that venue is challenging to deliver what we now deliver.
“We've got a good dialogue with the venue, we're open-minded, we'll maintain that dialogue and see where we get.”
Last year, Trump’s son Eric met with R&A officials to discuss the possibility of staging the event, while The Guardian news outlet reported that a spokesperson from the UK Prime Minister’s government contacted the R&A to request Turnberry host The Open in 2028.
However, all hosting decisions lie squarely with the R&A.
Elsewhere in golf, Irish food retail company Musgrave has been announced as an official supporter of the 2027 Ryder Cup teams tournament set to take place at the Adare Manor course in Ireland.
Through the agreement, Musgrave becomes an official supporter and will activate its partnership across its portfolio of brands, including SuperValu, Centra, Donnybrook Fair, and Musgrave MarketPlace.
The 2027 edition will be the first time since 2006 that the Ryder Cup will be held in Ireland, with the event to run between September 17 and 19.
In 2029, the event will take place at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota, before returning to Europe in 2031, when the tournament will travel to Camiral, Catalonia, in Spain.
The new deal comes after the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe, the joint organizers of the Ryder Cup competition, announced sustainable packaging manufacturer Smurfit Westrock as a global partner.
Smurfit Westrock will sponsor the event on both sides of the Atlantic, covering the next three editions in 2027, 2029, and 2031.
Across these events, the Ireland-based firm will receive branding presence on the course, media backdrops, digital and social media platforms, and more.
Smurfit Westrock will also aid the event’s sustainability efforts by providing recyclable packaging.
The other worldwide partners of the Ryder Cup are logistics business DP World, energy company Aon, watch brand Rolex, automobile manufacturer BMW, banking firm Citi, and IT consultancy Capgemini.
