PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND | It was Monday afternoon at Royal Portrush, the start of the Open Championship still three nights’ sleep away, and Rory McIlroy seemed like the most relaxed person on the property.
McIlroy had finished more than 30 minutes of interviews, most of which focused on his bruising disappointment here six years ago when the hopes and dreams of a lifetime melted in a haunting Thursday when he pulled his opening tee shot out of bounds, made an 8 on the first hole and eventually signed for a 79 that seemed to siphon much of the initial joy out of the first Open Championship played here in 68 years.
It was something neither he – nor anyone else – saw coming.
Having answered the questions about a day he might prefer to forget, McIlroy stood in the breeze wearing a sweater the color of a bluebird, the sun popping through after a shower, and had the look of a man intent on breathing in the opportunity to do it differently this time.
He laughed with a television crew after their interview was complete rather than rushing away. He asked an acquaintance how dinner had been at McIlroy’s favorite restaurant in Dublin a few nights earlier and compared notes about the place.
For a time after his Everest moment at the Masters, McIlroy seemed almost lost in the extended aftermath of accomplishing the biggest goal of his life. Somewhere between trying to savor it and figuring out what comes next, McIlroy seemed to construct a wall around himself that seems contrary to his nature.
The enormity of McIlroy’s Masters victory and the concurrent completion of the career Grand Slam remains.
Asked last week what McIlroy’s victory meant here, a young Irish bartender said, “When he won the Masters, it was almost 1 a.m. here and I was on my knees at the end, watching with a couple of friends, and we all had tears in our eyes.”
So here we are again, the proud son of Northern Ireland teeing it up in the Open Championship in his homeland, the wind of what happened in April still beneath his wings, at least to the many who have waited to properly celebrate him here.
When a local man asked arriving visitors who might win this week and heard a quick “McIlroy,” a smile spread across the man’s face and he said, “Oh, we would love that.”
So here we are again, the proud son of Northern Ireland teeing it up in the Open Championship in his homeland, the wind of what happened in April still beneath his wings, at least to the many who have waited to properly celebrate him here.
When the Open Championship came here in 2019, McIlroy had cocooned himself to the point that when he was introduced on the first tee that Thursday, he was blindsided by his own reaction. The Claret Jug was the pot of gold but it was bigger than that. The surprise wasn’t just the 79 on Thursday, it was how unprepared McIlroy felt for the moment.
“I just think that feeling, the walk to the first tee and then that ovation, I was still a little surprised and a little taken aback, like geez, these people really want me to win,” McIlroy said.
“I think that brought its own sort of pressure and more internally from myself and not really wanting to let people down.”
Shane Lowry, born about four hours south of Royal Portrush, won the 2019 Open Championship but only, he admitted, after feeling more nerves on the first tee than he had ever felt before. In the days prior to that Open, knowing all that came with it in Northern Ireland, Lowry sensed the weight McIlroy carried.
“I remember talking to him a little bit in the lead-up to that, and he did put a lot of pressure on himself, talking about it being the biggest tournament he’s ever going to play and stuff like that. You live and you learn, and I’m sure he’s not going to do that this week,” Lowry said.
It was 20 years ago this week that McIlroy’s legend took flight here. He was 16 years old and competing in stroke-play qualifying for the North of Ireland Championship when he deconstructed Royal Portrush like no one before him. It is a beast of a course, speckled with deep bunkers, wrinkled by heaving dunes and seasoned by the sea air blowing across the property.
McIlroy shot 61 that day, breaking the course record by three strokes, making nine birdies and an eagle. By day’s end, word had reached the Old Course at St. Andrews where the Open Championship was being played, prompting Darren Clarke to text his congratulations upon hearing the news.
The details of that round have faded to some degree for McIlroy, though he remembers playing the last 10 holes in 9-under par. When he watched highlights of his round prior to the 2019 Open Championship, McIlroy noticed the freedom with which he played.
“As a 16-year-old, it takes a lot for your confidence to be dented. My confidence is probably more fragile now than it was then,” McIlroy said six years ago.
It calls to mind the line from an old Bob Seger song – I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.
McIlroy has projected a sense of eagerness for this week, a distinctly different demeanor than he showed at either the PGA Championship or the U.S. Open, where he failed to contend.
Crossing the Atlantic and settling into a new home near London, looking ahead rather than behind, has provided the refresher McIlroy sought.
His golf felt heavy then and, having been freed from the chase of a lifetime, McIlroy seemed to be adrift.
McIlroy needed and wanted a couple of things – time and perspective. He seems to have found both.
Crossing the Atlantic and settling into a new home near London, looking ahead rather than behind, has provided the refresher McIlroy sought.
He left the Scottish Open Sunday night after finishing second to Chris Gotterup feeling encouraged more than frustrated and checked into his hotel for the week around 1 a.m. Monday. After four hours of sleep, McIlroy was first off at Royal Portrush, intent on getting his work done early.
This is one of the two weeks remaining in 2025 that matter the most to McIlroy, the other being the Ryder Cup in September. The best don’t want an endless horizon. They want something to chase on that horizon.
If finally winning the Masters brought McIlroy to his knees in tears, the prospect of winning the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush may be his new North Star.
“When I was looking at the calendar for 2025, this was the tournament that was probably, I don’t know, circled, even more so than the Masters for different reasons,” McIlroy said.
“The battle on that last day [at the Masters] wasn’t with Augusta National. It wasn’t with Bryson [DeChambeau]. It wasn’t with Justin Rose. The battle that day was with myself.” – Rory McIlroy
It’s trendy for professional golfers to speak in the collective, crediting their team and talking about what “we” did. Ultimately, it remains the most solitary game, built more on inner strength than on technical proficiency.
McIlroy is a modern-day golf artist, drawing on his ability to play the game more than execute the shots. There’s a difference and the game has skewed toward power more than artistry, which happens to play to McIlroy’s dual strengths
What happened here six years ago was a punch-in-the-face reminder. So was how the final nine holes at Augusta National played out in April. McIlroy knows both the sunshine and the dark side of the moon.
“The battle on that last day [at the Masters] wasn’t with Augusta National. It wasn’t with Bryson [DeChambeau]. It wasn’t with Justin Rose. The battle that day was with myself,” McIlroy said.
For all of his ties to this area, McIlroy doesn’t get back here often. He hasn’t played his home course in Holywood, barely an hour away, in 15 years or more.
Still, with each hole at Portrush being marshaled by members of golf clubs he’s familiar with, McIlroy is taking the opportunity to smile and say both hello and thank you. He may never have another chance like this one.
“I think in ’19 I probably tried to isolate, and I think it’s better for everyone if I embrace it,” McIlroy said. “It’s nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times. But it’s also nice for the person that is seeing you for the first time in a few years. It just makes for a better interaction and not trying to hide away from it.
“I think it’s more of an embrace everything that’s going to come my way this week and not try to shy away from it or hide away from it, and I think that’ll make for a better experience for everyone involved.”
It feels better already.