Rory McIlroy is attempting to follow up on his Masters triumph earlier this year with victory in The Open, which gets underway at Royal Portrush on Thursday morning
Rory McIlroy was so relaxed during his final Royal Portrush practice round that he sat on the bench behind the fifth green to pose for pictures in the glorious sunshine.
“It’s like this every day in Northern Ireland,” he beamed. And the Masters champion was in equally good form when he proudly donned his Green Jacket to accept an award at the Association of Golf Writer’s Dinner on Tuesday night.
Asked about his brutally short hair cut, he laughed: “It is for the summer. It will grow back thankfully – I have still got decent genetics. It is going a little grey. It will be the perfect length for the Ryder Cup in September!”
It is quite a contrast from 2019 when the Ulsterman tried to treat his home Open as just another tournament. He was instead gripped by nerves on the first tee and hooked his long iron out of bounds on his way to a quadruple bogey eight and the weekend off.
This time he is enjoying the updated 2025 version of Rorymania which has already seen him cheered off the driving range and every tee and green.
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“2019 doesn’t seem like six years ago,” he said. “It has come around pretty quick. It is nice to have another opportunity here.
“I’ll probably stand on the first tee on Thursday and think about the first shot I hit in 2019 -and try not to do anything like that again!
“I think I have been through the experience once. And I have always played a little bit more at home since then as well. The reception I’ve had here has made this week a celebration of what I’ve achieved in my career, but it’s also an opportunity that I want to embrace with open arms.
“I’ve done everything I wanted to in the game, but at the same time I still want to do a lot more. I said after Augusta it would free me up. But I still have the same desire when I’m on the golf course.”
That has returned after a post-Masters dip. “The spring is back in his step,” claimed his former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley. McIlroy has always had the game to win here after shooting a course record 61 here as a 16-year-old 20 years ago. The big question is how he handles the pressure.
Justin Rose, who McIlroy beat in the Masters playoff, said: “Rory is obviously a local hero around here, and rightly so. I think he shot 61 here as a kid, didn’t he? The legend around him in these parts has been growing for a long, long time. Obviously he’s going to be incredibly well supported this week.
“I feel like the pressure is off him almost from that point of view this time around as it was to 2019 maybe even, the fact he’s got nothing really more to prove. This would just be like cherries on top of everything.”
But Sky Sports analyst Graeme McDowell warned: “I think Rory’s going to have too much emotion to deal with this week. I still hope he competes but it is going to be very difficult for him with the weight on his shoulders with all the emotion and the weight of a country on his back.”
It has not looked like it so far this week. Buddhist monks speak more than Harry Diamond but even McIlroy’s caddie gave a brief TV interview on the range.
“He’s in great form,” he said. “Hitting it well, just need to get off to a good start tomorrow!”
