Chief executive Mark Darbon says the R&A is "getting pretty close" to staging an Open Championship outside of the United Kingdom for the first time, at Portmarnock Golf Club in Dublin.
The R&A - the governing body which organises and runs the Open - first revealed the possibility of Portmarnock hosting golf's oldest championship in 2023, with the Irish government announcing its support of up to 40 million euro (£34m) in 2024.
Portmarnock has previously hosted the men's and women's amateur championships.
"It's a complicated venue because of the scale of the Open Championship," Darbon said on the eve of this year's 154th tournament at Royal Birkdale.
"There's been a lot of great feasibility work with the golf club themselves, with the local authority, the government.
"We've undertaken a big feasibility study. That work is pretty much done. We've confirmed that we believe we can take an Open Championship there.
"What we're looking to do is to do a build a model that opens up opportunities for the AIG Women's Open and The Open for many, many years to come.
"That's the dialogue we're in right now with the Irish Government and we're optimistic that those discussions are heading in the right direction."
On the timeframe for a possible announcement, Darbon added: "In the spirit of transparency, it's taking a bit longer than I and we thought it may, but it's complicated doing all that feasibility work.
"We're hoping to have a pretty clear view by the end of the year."
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'It's always been The Open to me'
When asked about Portmarnock potentially being the first Open venue outside the UK, Dublin-born Padraig Harrington said: "For people from the outside it could be unusual.
"Some people would think it's the 'British Open' - it's always been The Open to me. The R&A run golf everywhere outside the US and Mexico.
"I've grown up playing on GB&I teams, on Walker Cup teams. I've never seen with the R&A a kind of 'them and us' type of thing. I've always thought an Open could move outside of Britain and what better place than Ireland."
Three-time major winner Harrington, who won back-to-back Opens in 2007 and 2008, added: "It is the Open Championship. That's why you have qualifiers in South Africa, Australia, Japan, around the world."
In addition to Harrington, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have previously voiced their support for an Open at Portmarnock, with the latter telling BBC Sport NI earlier this week that he visited the club last week.
"They're not giving too much away over there but all the rumours are that it's going to be announced at some stage," said the 2019 Open champion.
"Who knows, it would be amazing to have an Open Championship in Dublin. One of the biggest tournaments in the world coming to a place where I live would be very cool.
"I think Portmarnock is one of the best golf courses in the world so I think it's fit for an Open. It would be a good Open for the R&A, it would be very successful. The infrastructure is all there."
St Andrews will host next year's Open before the tournament returns to Royal Lytham & St Annes for the first time in 16 years in 2028. Beyond that, the R&A is yet to confirm any other host venues.
The 154th Open Championship
16-19 July
Royal Birkdale, Southport
Live radio and text commentary across all four rounds on BBC Sport website and app, Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds. Daily television highlights on BBC2 and iPlayer from 21:00 BST on Thursday and Friday, 20:30 on Saturday and 21:55 on Sunday. All times subject to change.
