The 41,000 increase from the tournament’s return to the County Antrim venue in 2019 was announced by Mark Darbon, The R&A’s new chief executive, at a media day for this year’s Claret Jug event, which will be staged on July 17-20.

McIlroy, who shot a course-record 61 on the Dunluce Links as a 16-year-old amateur, suffered a disappointing missed cut on home soil six years ago after hitting his opening tee shot out of bounds.