Portmarnock might have taken the early initiative, but Ballyliffin believes it deserves consideration as a potential venue for The Open should the R&A take it outside the UK for the first time.

Friday's announcement by Portmarnock that it would seek government support "for a formal approach by the club to The R&A to host the AIG Women's Open and The Open" was unusual because it came before any formal pronouncement by the R&A.

But with the R&A, the Minister for Sport and Golf Ireland quickly following up with statements of support, Donegal venue Ballyliffin does not want to believe in a 'fait accomplis'.

"Good luck to them, but they're not the only show in town," Ballyliffin's General Manager, John Farren, said. "There's a bit of bandwagoning going on there with Golf Ireland jumping on board and the government jumping on board.

"But it's yet to be seen if Portmarnock can do it or will do it and yet to be seen if that's the venue the R&A chooses."

He added: "I'm not interested in jumping on the coattails of Portmarnock just because they've decided to make a splash. But if the R&A chooses to put The Open on in the Republic of Ireland, I am interested that it's not pigeonholed as something that has to go to Portmarnock because they're first out of the traps and they've done all their housekeeping in terms of equality. That doesn't necessarily qualify them to be the choice venue."

Ballyliffin, which hosted a successful Irish Open on the Glashedy Links in 2018 and will host the Amateur Championship next summer, has made the R&A aware of its ambition to join The Open rota.

"They say, 'What a course you have – this course is more than capable of staging an Open'," Farren said. "'Let's have further discussions and get the Amateur Championship done and dusted and move on from there'. So it's a slow burner, but it's definitely a candle that has been lit."

Farren reckons it might be "15 or 20 years" before Portmarnock has the infrastructure to host The Open "if it ever comes to fruition".

He added: "I can't see Portmarnock being Portrush-ready for an Open Championship — ready in terms of infrastructure — for quite some time."

Ballyliffin, which also hosted the R&A’s Home Internationals last year, has made its ambitions clear to the R&A.

“They know we have an ambition to be on the rota,” Farren said. “We want to be considered by the R&A who have made multiple agronomy visits and multiple staging visits to Ballyliffin ahead of the Amateur Championship next year.

“They're very familiar with Ballyliffin and many of them were either involved in the 2018 Irish Open here by way of refereeing or marshalling or indeed spectating and some of them did come over specifically just to see how we handled the crowds and were very impressed.

“We had over 103,000 in a good weather week and the winning score was just 13-under par which shows how well the course stood up.”

As for Portmarnock’s readiness to host The Open, Farren believes it’s not something imminent, as the Dublin club has intimated by asking for government assistance in assessing the feasibility of the idea.

“When you see the investment that went into Portrush and the length of time it took to get that to come to fruition, I can't see Portmarnock being Portrush-ready for an Open Championship — ready in terms of infrastructure — for quite some time,” he said.

“Now don't get me wrong, obviously it's a fantastic golf course. But I don't know what kind of capital spend the government needs to make for that kind of venture.

“It just surprised me that the government and Golf Ireland rowed in so quickly behind it and that someone had gone on a solo run because it hadn't come from the R&A but obviously, there was some joined-up thinking behind it.”

Farren contends that the R&A are more than impressed by Ballyliffin.

“Well, the first statement would have been, ‘What a course you have’. This course is more than capable of staging an Open. Let's have further discussions and get the Amateur Championship done and dusted and move on from there. So it's a slow burner, but it's definitely a candle that has been lit.

“The people I'm dealing with are fairly straightforward and they're impressed with what we've got and do see it as being a worthwhile discussion to have. The Amateur will be a testing ground for them. Many of them were at the Irish Open with a view to obviously the Amateur and future events, seeing how the infrastructure worked and they were completely overwhelmed by how easy it was to get in and out and how the whole thing worked so seamlessly.”

Meanwhile, Spain's Lucas Vacarisas won Challenge Tour’s Hopps Open de Provence by two shots on 20-under with Conor Purcell tied 34th on seven under after a two under 70 and Dermot McElroy 49th on three under after a 72.

On the LPGA Tour, Leona Maguire made six birdies in a three-under 68 to finish tied seventh in the Ascendant LPGA in Texas.

She finished on five under, eight strokes behind South Korea’s HyonJoo Kim, whose 69 gave her a four stroke win on 13-under-par.