Rory McIlroy returns to Europe win one eye on The Open
It will be McIlroy's first competitive appearance on this side of the pond since he finally completed the career grand slam in April's Masters.
That seismic occasion, which reverberated far beyond golf's boundaries, will take some beating.
The Genesis Scottish Open is a mighty showpiece in its own right, but there's no avoiding the looming presence of The Open which takes place in McIlroy's backyard of Royal Portrush next week.
Just six years after returning to Northern Ireland in 2019 – it hadn't been staged there since 1951 – golf's most venerated major is back in town.
A lot, of course, happened between Max Faulkner's win there at the start of the 1950s and Shane Lowry's triumph 68 years later.
After decades dominated by The Troubles, McIlroy continues to savour the opportunity to showcase his homeland in a positive light.
'I think it's a great representation of how far Northern Ireland has come in the last 30 or 40 years,' said the world No 2.
'In the 70s, the 80s and the 90s, no one would have dreamed of hosting an Open Championship in Northern Ireland. So, it's a testament to the people of Northern Ireland for how far we as a country have come.
'I think my generation couldn't care less about what had happened in the past. Everyone's just looking forward.
"My mum and dad both grew up in the 60s and the 70s and Northern Ireland was a very different place. I feel very fortunate that I'm of the generation that I am that I didn't have to deal with any of that or very little of it.
'It has come a long, long way. People really appreciate when a huge sporting event that the world's eyes are on that week happens. Everyone there really appreciates that and are excited to show the country in the best light possible.'
It'll all be happening in Portrush. A planned loyalist parade on the Saturday night of the third round is giving the R&A some logistical headaches with some 60 bands and 2000 participants expected to march through the streets just as vast crowds are exiting the sold-out golf.
The last time The Open was staged on the Antrim coast, McIlroy wasn't there on the Saturday as he missed the cut.
A calamitous first round gave him too much to do, despite a heroic rally on day two which was played out on an emotional tidal wave of support.
At 36, McIlroy is well aware that he may not have many more opportunities to win an Open among his ain folk.
'If venues matter to you, it maybe puts a little bit more pressure on you,' McIlroy said. 'I would love to win an Open at Portrush, absolutely. I would love to win an Open at St Andrews. I would love to win a US Open at Pebble Beach.
'There are venues in the game that just mean a little bit more. It's a little like when [Novak] Djokovic won the Olympics last year: he knew that was doing to be his final chance, and you saw the emotion and you saw how much it meant to him.
'You think about it, and you can't pretend that it's not there. But when you are on the course, you just have to go out there and play as if you're not playing at home and just play as if it's another tournament. But obviously there is a little more emphasis. There's something extra there.'
As part of a stacked field at the Renaissance that features eight of the world's top-10, McIlroy, who won the Scottish Open title in 2023, has arrived on this terrific golfing coast feeling energised. It's good to be back.
'The one thing I would say about the last couple of weeks is I felt like I could detach a little bit more and sort of hide,' McIlroy said of this refreshing change of scene from his adopted home in Florida.
'Sometimes you need that to completely get away. I feel like this world of golf can become all-encompassing if you let it.
'There's a detachment from the sort of week-in, week-out grind when you get back over here, when you play PGA Tour golf for the first 25, 30 weeks of the year. It's been lovely to get back and see some familiar faces.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
22 minutes ago
- Daily Record
The Open 2025 prize fund revealed as Portrush winner, runner up and third place all set to bank millions
Golf major purse stays the same as 2024 as cash prizes for other events continue to grow as R&A chief sets out priority The 2025 Open champion will collect a whopping cheque for $3.1 million. Royal Portrush stages the 153rd Championship over four days with a total prize fund of $17 million. Xander Schauffele collected the prize, which converts to around £2.3 million, in 2024 from Royal Troon. R&A chiefs have opted to keep the prize fund the same across the board for the 2025 event with the runner-up banking just over $1.7 million and the third placed finisher $1.1 million. Tournament chiefs have been praised for their decision to maintain the levels given the growing purses across Tour golf. R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said: 'I'm a big believer that the athletes are the stars of our sport and they should be well compensated for what they do. They inspire and excite millions of golfers all around the world. So we're always going to look to strike the right balance between an attractive prize fund that compensates them for their efforts and our wider responsibilities in the game. 'We have held flat this year. I think prize fund is still 60 percent up on when we were here last time in 2019. 'That's strong growth by anyone's standards. We think the choice we've made is really appropriate. 'As you know, at The R&A, we have a unique role to play. We take the surplus that we generate from this Open Championship and we invest it back into the game all around the world, so we think we've got the balance just right.' Portrush will welcome a sell-out 278,000 through the gates over the course of the event from 1.2 million ticket applicants. Darbon added: 'It's not about just being bigger, it's about being better. So, yes, it's fantastic to be in a position where you have very strong demand and we'd like to ensure that our Open Championship remains just that, open and accessible to golf fans and sports fans all around the world. We'll continue to try to get that balance right into the future. 'I think our first priority, actually, is how do we elongate and extend the event week. Obviously traditionally the crowds are much larger Thursday to Sunday. 'One of the reasons we've been able to move from roughly 240,000 to roughly 280,000 this week is not by growing the championship days dramatically, but it's being able to create a stronger proposition early in the week, where we had nearly 12,000 people here on Sunday, before the vast majority of the golfers were here. 'Walking around the venue, there are so many smiling faces, people enjoying the activations and the facilities. 'You've seen a lot of other sports do that, whether it's Wimbledon or the US Open tennis or multiple other global sporting events looking to elongate that week, and that's something we're thinking about.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
The Open debuts major broadcasting change with special '£300,000' feature at Royal Portrush
The Open is set to introduce a broadcasting feature unlike any other seen in golf. Golfers will tee off on Thursday to begin the 153rd edition of the oldest tournament in the sport at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. One of the four majors alongside The Masters, the US Open, and the PGA Championship, the historic tournament - which was first played in 1860 - offers a prize purse of £2.3million for its champion. Despite all those layers of history, there is one feature that fans have never been able to enjoy - until now. Fans watching on TV will be treated to a Spidercam positioned above the 18th green to give them an aerial view of the drama in the final stages on Sunday. That was first reported by The Guardian, who claim the Spidercam will be suspended using four 25-metre-high pylons to give viewers a thrilling view of the race for the Claret Jug. Golf's governing body, the R&A, were told about the plans last Friday and there were no complaints. The camera will move away to the grandstand after each player's first shot to avoid interfering with their play. The Guardian writes that the R&A are paying the £300,000 required in operational costs after 12 months of planning with European Tour Productions and IMG. Footage will be made available to the R&A's broadcaster partners including Sky Sports and NBC. 'It's not often The Open is the first to do something, as usually innovations are made by the Tours before being introduced by the Majors, so this is really exciting,' said Paul Sutcliffe, the R&A's head of broadcasting and media rights. 'Portrush is one of the few venues without a clubhouse on the 18th green so that gave us a unique opportunity. 'With more space around the green we have been able to install technology. 'There will be some wires around the green, but the camera will retract to the grandstand before each player's second shot so we're confident there will be no interference. '2019 was one of the iconic Opens with the emotion of Shane Lowry winning at Portrush and Spidercam will enable viewers to walk with the 2025 champion up the 18th. 'It's the greatest walk in golf and should be very special.' The Spidercam is unlikely to become a fixture at golf events due to the cost, but could be deployed at Royal Birkdale next year for The Open, depending on the outcome of forthcoming discussions.
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Blairgowrie amateur Connor Graham set for Open debut
'I was the only one to miss the cut out of the three of us, but I was only 12 so I had an excuse,' said Graham with a smile. Here in 2025, Graham is gearing up for an Open Championship debut. Over the past few seasons, the 18-year-old has won the Scottish Amateur Open Strokeplay Championship and the Junior Open, he has helped Europe win the Junior Ryder Cup and he became the youngest player, at 16, to compete in the Walker Cup. 'I would say I've come a long way,' added the young Scot as he reflected on the kind of rapid rise that would give most folk the bends. An Open outing will be another significant milestone. Having earned his place in the final men's major of the year the hard way – he stood firm in a play-off at final qualifying at Dundonald to nab a tee-time – Graham is ready embrace his major moment. There's a lot to absorb, of course. The stands are vast, the crowds are huge and building every day, the best players in the world are parading about and the Scottish golf writers are lurking in the dunes looking for a quick chinwag. 'I'm just trying to take it in,' added Graham, the first Blairgowrie member to play in The Open since Bradley Neil teed-up in the 2014 showpiece as the Amateur champion. 'It's important to manage everything. Some people could come here and think, 'it's a major week, so I'll have to try to hit as many balls as I can and try to play as much as I can'. 'But it's a long week as you get here early so you have to save your energy for the tournament and the golf test. It's all very different to what I'm normally playing in week-in, week-out. 'The course is very tough, it's very demanding off the tee. It's difficult to get away with a lot of stuff and you have be really good off the tee to be able to score well. 'But it's really cool to be here. Who doesn't want to play an Open? It's the one everybody wants to be in.' Graham, who has just completed his first year at US college in Texas, is a member of the Paul Lawrie Foundation. Lawrie, of course, came through a final qualifier at Downfield back in 1999 and went on to lift the Claret Jug at Carnoustie a few days later. 'That's definitely an inspiration for me,' said Graham. There's nothing wrong with aiming high in this game. Since the college term finished, Graham has packed a fair bit in. He played in the Palmer Cup, then returned to this side of the pond for the Amateur Championship, the European Amateur Championship and the Open final qualifier. It's been a hectic spell, but Graham has energised himself for his Open experience with a few days off last week. Well, in a fashion. The clubs are never far from his grasp. 'I've not got much else to do other than play golf, so I always do a little bit of practice to keep things sharp,' he said. 'If I wasn't playing golf then I'd be lying on the couch just watching some TV.' Graham has some Caledonian company this week in the shape of fellow amateur, Cameron Adam, Robert MacIntyre and Daniel Young. It's 10 years now since Young lost to MacIntyre in the final of the Scottish Amateur Championship at Muirfield. In that time, MacIntyre has enjoyed the kind of lift-off you'd get with a vessel of space exploration and the Oban lefty is now 14th in the world. Young, meanwhile, is plotting his own route up the golfing order and back-to-back top-three finishes on the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour recently bolstered the Perth man's push for promotion to the main DP World Tour. An Open debut – he also came through the qualifier at Dundonald – and the chance to reacquaint himself with MacIntyre has been a nice addition to the diary. 'There will be no hard feelings if I can turn around my career into what he (MacIntyre) has done so far,' chuckled Young as he reflected on that Scottish Amateur showdown in 2015. 'Golf is ruthless. Everybody's where they are for a reason. I'm on the HotelPlanner Tour for a reason. Bob's where he is for a reason. You've just got to work your way up the ladder.' An Open Championship is a nice rung on that climb.
