Carnoustie DiaryGraeme McDowell's boyhood dreams often had him walking up the 18th green - invariably on the Old Course at St Andrews - on the way to claiming the claret jug. But the 27-year-old Ulsterman would love nothing more than to have the chance to realise that dream on home turf, at Royal Portrush where he grew up playing links golf writes, Philip Reid

The Open championship has been held only once in Ireland, at Royal Portrush in 1951, when Max Faulkner won. And McDowell sees no reason why the venue cannot be brought back onto the R&A's Open rota.

"I don't know if it will happen in my career, but I dream of contending in a British Open, of winning one and of playing it in Ireland," said McDowell.

He added: "If you look at some of the Open venues logistically, there's not many places in Ireland that are worse. If you get the funding, you can pretty much custom-build the place and you can put in the logistics. Starting in Portrush, if you put in a few hotels and build up the road systems, there's no reason why (it cannot be staged there)."

The R&A have no plans to change their rota of courses. Peter Dawson, the chief executive, said, "We're not actively considering another venue that has true potential for the Open."

McDowell comes in to this Open on the back of strong performances in the European Open and the Scottish Open.

"I feel like I've served my apprenticeship in the majors," he said. "I've had an 11th-place finish at St Andrews (in 2005) and led briefly last year. What I learned from Hoylake last year is that it is no good leading on Thursday night, I'd rather be leading on Sunday night."

Carr is posthumously inducted into Hall of Fame

Joe Carr, Ireland's greatest amateur golfer, who died in 2004, has been posthumously inducted into golf's Hall of Fame. The announcement was made at Carnoustie yesterday. The ceremony will take place on November 12th in St Augustine, Florida.

Carr, who was selected in the lifetime-achievement category, and Australian Kel Nagle were yesterday added to the "Class of 2007", which includes Hubert Green, Charles Blair Macdonald, Se Ri Pak and Curtis Strange.

Speaking at the announcement, Gary Player recalled the occasions he played with Carr, a three-time winner of the British Amateur championship and a member of a record 10 Walker Cup teams.

"What a striker of a ball he was," he said. "If Joe Carr could have putted well, there's no telling what he would have done. He might even have won the Open. He was as fine an amateur golfer as I ever saw."

Player's recollections included Carr using what he thought was a two-iron instead of a putter. "It was a three-iron," his son Roddy Carr gently corrected the "'Black Knight". "That's right, a three-iron," replied Player. "It's a pity they didn't have the long putter back then."

Carr is the first Irishman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, based at the World Golf Village in St Augustine.

Hamilton waiting for bike to straighten up

Todd Hamilton won the British Open at Troon in 2004 - defeating Ernie Els in a play-off - but has endured a rather more miserable time on the US Tour this season, missing no fewer than 16 cuts in the 20 tournaments he has played.

His star has fallen so much he is a 600 to 1 outsider to repeat his major success.

"I'm not enjoying my golf, it's not fun," said Hamilton. "But the one good thing about this game is that it only takes one week to see some good things. It's like riding a bike. You may not ride it very straight or very smooth but you know how to ride it. You figure it out and it usually straightens up."