“So it comes here every year?” asked a young girl with a Northern Ireland accent as she walked with her dad near the first tee at Royal Portrush on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. I didn’t actually hear what he said in response, but it should have been along the lines of “possibly” because the County Antrim venue now appears to be very high on The R&A’s list of venues for The Open. While Turnberry, Royal Lytham and Muirfield are all waiting to welcome back the world’s oldest major championship after last hosting it in 2009, 2012 and 2013 respectively, Royal Portrush has gone from being in the wilderness, having not staged The Open for 68 years before its eagerly-awaited return there in 2019, to being showcased to the world again almost in the blink of an eye. There’s two reasons why that’s the case. First and foremost, we are talking about one of the greatest golf courses on the planet, as the likes of Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke, two former Open champions from Northern Ireland, already knew, of course, before their peers from around the world discovered, too, in that edition six years ago. Unlike the majority of links courses - think St Andrews, for instance - it changes elevation a lot, starting with a steep-ish climb up to the first green and adding to the challenge all the way to the end virtually after feeling as though you are on a mountain on the tee at the infamous par-3 16th called ‘Calamity Corner’ then heading down the hill at the next hole. “I just think the whole golf course is absolutely beautiful to the eye - there is everything visually - but it also plays absolutely brilliantly,” observed Bob MacIntyre, who freely admits it is his favourite links course in the world, in a pre-event press conference. “You've got holes that you've got a chance and then you've got holes that you just try to hang on.” As for the other reason why we’re back here so quickly while those other equally-renowned venues are being made to wait patiently, that, of course, is down to the 2019 event being a huge financial success for The R&A and now this one will be likewise. “We're welcoming close to 280,000 people through the gates - a record attendance outside of St Andrews,” declared Mark Darbon, who is running the show for the first time since succeeding Martin Slumbers as the St Andrews-based organisation’s CEO. “We received more than 1.2 million applications for those tickets. That speaks to the incredible demand that this championship holds. We're delighted to bring it to so many fans this week.” More than the other majors, the weather, of course, is always a factor in the Claret Jug joust and “changeable” is the word that jumps out in this week’s forecast. That’s exactly what you want, though hopefully it won’t be as miserable as the last few hours in 2019, when, of course, Shane Lowry got his hands on the most iconic trophy in golf. It’s amazing to think that Scottie Scheffler, now the game’s dominant force, wasn’t even in that field and history is against the American this week because only one player - Tiger Woods - has landed this title when sitting at No 1 since the Official World Golf Ranking was introduced in 1986. As we’ve seen over the past three-and-a-bit years, though, Scheffler can never be discounted in any event he plays in and, when it comes to this one, his record has been pretty similar to Xander Schauffele’s before he was crowned as Champion Golfer of the Year at Royal Troon 12 months ago. Incredibly, Schauffele was the 11th first-time winner in this event in a row, the joint-longest span in its history, and, having talked about feeling “close to playing some really good golf” in last week’s Genesis Scottish Open, it would be no surprise whatsoever if Scheffler was the man who extended that streak. There would be no more popular player to become the event’s first multiple champion since Ernie Els in 2012, of course, than Rory McIlroy, who, quite frankly, is a God in this part of the world and even more so since becoming just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam with his win in The Masters in April. Though he gave it a good go, there was no way back for McIlroy after he started disastrously six years ago by tugging his opening tee shot with an iron out of bounds and opening with a 79. Because of that, he’ll be feeling even more nervous standing on the first tee on this occasion. But a strong Genesis Scottish Open performance was just what the doctor ordered and now, after low-key efforts in both the PGA Championship and US Open, the 35-year-old will be aiming to show on home soil that he’s got his major mojo back. Look out for Lowry producing another big display and Justin Rose, too, after he finished runner-up on the Ayrshire coast last year and delivered a timely reminder about how links golf has frequently brought out the best in him when signing off with a 63 at The Renaissance Club last weekend. And what about MacIntyre? He’s been mentioned by lots of commentators and pundits as a possible winner this week and rightly so. The Oban man, after all, finished joint-sixth on his major debut in 2019 and has returned here this week as a much better all-round player. Winning a major is his next step up and, after coming close in the US Open last month, why not this one? Let the latest Portrush production, which also sees Cameron Adam and Connor Graham bidding to keep the Silver Medal for leading amateur in Scottish hands after Calum Scott’s success last year, begin.