The next visit to the Emerald Isle may actually come in Ireland, not Northern Ireland. Portmarnock Golf Club has been under consideration in recent years. Set on a peninsula which juts into the Irish Sea about 8 miles northeast of Dublin, the course winds its way through rolling sand hills on crisp turf and pot bunkers abound.

The roar from Royal Portrush's 12th green on Saturday afternoon could wake the dead. Rory McIlroy had just drained a lengthy eagle putt, and all of Northern Ireland believed magic was possible. Last time The Open visited Portrush,