Darbon, who is overseeing his first Open Championship, said there were 1.2m applications for tickets for this week’s championship and the R&A is “keen to service that demand where we can”.
“But it’s not about just being bigger,” he added. “It’s about being better. So it’s not about just simply the volume of people.”
Darbon acknowledged that the UK Government has also spoken with the R&A about Turnberry hosting The Open.
“We have an ongoing dialogue with the UK Government given the scale of the event we stage,” he told BBC Sport.
“We create huge economic impact in the regions in which we stage the championship and this week we’ll be generating more than £210m.
“I think, as they made clear recently, while we have discussed Turnberry with them, they’ve been explicit the choices of venues rest with the R&A.”
When pressed on whether the Government has suggested it would be a good idea to take the Championship back to Turnberry, Darbon replied: “As I say, we have an ongoing dialogue with them and they know choices around venues are at our whim.”
Darbon was also asked if the Trump ownership is an issue.
“It’s a somewhat hypothetical question,” he said.
“Unless we address the logistical challenges, it’s difficult for us to go back. I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation from Turnberry.
“We had a really good discussion. I think they understand clearly where we are coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have, so we have a good dialogue with them.”
Darbon said in April that he “would love” to see the tournament return to Turnberry.
That appeared to be at odds with his predecessor Martin Slumbers, who in 2021 strongly suggested the course would not be restored to the Open rota while Trump was associated with the venue, expressing concerns that the focus would be off the course.
“We will not return until we are convinced the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself, and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances,” he said.
It was a stance he reiterated as recently as November, after Trump’s second election victory, referencing the risk of “media noise” detracting from the golf.
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