The China Mail - British Open to be staged at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2028

It is the first time the major will have been played at the links course, near Blackpool in England's north-west, since 2012.

"Royal Lytham and St Annes is widely renowned as one of the world's finest links courses and has witnessed many great championship moments since the Open was first played there in 1926 when the legendary Bobby Jones won," said Mark Darbon, chief executive of the R&A.

"This is one of golf's most cherished and historic venues and the Open's return to these famous links will spark huge interest among fans to be part of one of the world's great sporting events."

The 156th British Open will take place slightly later than normal, between August 3 and August 6, to accommodate the 2028 Olympics, being held in Los Angeles.

Royal Birkdale will host this year's event, with attendance set to surpass 300,000 for the first time, before returning to St Andrews in 2027.

Darbon said the R&A was still open to hosting their landmark event at Turnberry, but off-course logistical challenges remain to be resolved.

The Scottish course, which was bought by Trump in 2014, has not hosted the Open, the only major outside the United States, since 2009.

"Turnberry is still in our thinking -- we really like the golf course and we know that there are some logistical challenges primarily off the course (in terms of) road, rail and accommodation infrastructure," said Darbon.

"As you know, in the same way that there are with many of our venues, there are some things that we need to overcome to facilitate a modern Open Championship."

B.Carter--ThChM