There is nothing quite like home comforts, and this week Rory McIlroy will be hoping that notion holds true.
With The Open Championship teeing off at Northern Ireland’s Royal Portrush, the spotlight was only ever going to be on one man.
Born and raised in Holywood, only eight kilometres from the Belfast city centre, McIlroy is undoubtedly the hometown hero and local expectations are at an all-time high.
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Not only is McIlroy’s homecoming a victory parade after his career grand slam sealing Masters triumph in April, it is also may be the last legitimate chance the 36-year-old has to lift the Claret Jug in his home country as there are no venues locked in beyond St Andrews in 2027.
With that comes a pressure no one else in golf can understand.
It is a pressure that got the better of McIlroy in 2019, when fans last flocked to the course situated at the top of the island of Ireland.
Irishman, and McIlroy’s close friend Shane Lowry, was a popular winner six years ago, but the local hopes had firmly rested with McIlroy.
The Open had not been played in Northern Ireland since 1951 prior to 2019, largely as a result of The Troubles, and McIlroy had set the course record at Royal Portrush as a 16-year-old with a breathtaking round of 61.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy retrieves his ball on the first hole during the first round of the British Open golf Championships at Royal Portrush golf club in Northern Ireland on July 18, 2019. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USESource: AFP
No wonder McIlroy seemingly had the weight of a nation on his shoulders as he stepped up to strike his first tee.
The pressure of was too much in the end, hooking his driving iron out of bounds left and going onto make a quadruple bogey eight at the opening hole.
If that did not do enough damage, a three-putt from four feet at 16 and a triple bogey at 18 rubbed salt into the wounds of a horrific eight-over par first round of 79.
“I didn’t play my part,” McIlroy said afterwards, holding back tears, “but everyone in Northern Ireland played theirs.”
A 65 the following day was not enough to make the cut, and now McIlroy returns to Portrush with not only that monkey on the back, but a plethora of other problems.
PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND – JULY 18: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland reacts on the 18th hole during the first round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 18, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Finally adorning a green jacket was supposed to set him free, but McIlroy has battled in the months since slaying his Augusta demons.
His play was poor for much of the US PGA Championship and US Open – albeit he salvaged a top 20 finish at the latter courtesy of matching Jon Rahm for the equal best final round with 67.
For six rounds in a row at major champions, he refused to speak to the media off the back of the fiasco of his nonconforming driver in the lead up to the PGA.
And when he did break his silence, his comments left everyone scratching their heads.
His new driver misbehaved and everything seemed to spiral out of control.
But a return to the United Kingdom has allowed him to refresh and rejuvenate after a gruelling start to the year.
In the past week, he has spoken with the confidence of a new man and his results on the golf course have turned a corner – he finished runner-up at the Scottish Open despite an outburst about the greens at the Renaissance Club.
The similarities to the build up to The Masters are apparent, and it may just be the reset that he desperately needs.
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MCILROY’S PROBLEM MAY BE A PGA TOUR PROBLEM
The feeling of ‘what next?’ after achieving a lifelong goal is a sensation that just about everyone can relate to.
Very few people can relate to winning The Masters, but not knowing what to do next after a major achievement is extremely common.
It is exactly what McIlroy has experienced in recent months.
After the final round of the US Open, McIlroy admitted that he had been struggling to find a new objective after he had “climbed my Everest” at Augusta.
That comment came after a week prior at the Canadian Open, where he missed the cut and opened up about his lack of motivation.
“I don’t know if I’m chasing anything,” McIlroy said in Toronto.
“I would certainly say that the last few weeks I’ve had a couple weeks off, and going and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be.
“You have this event in your life that you’ve worked towards and it happens, sometimes it’s hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again.”
TORONTO, CANADA – JUNE 07: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland speaks to the media after playing in the Pro-Am of the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Golf and Country Club on June 07, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
McIlroy was then growing more frustrated with every wayward drive, and he struggled to take anything in his stride.
The best example of which was the media standoff across the PGA Championship and the first two rounds of the US Open, and then it ended with him telling reporters that “I’ve earned the right to do whatever I want to do” in regard to denying media requests.
McIlroy was not behaving like the articulate, charismatic figure that attracted a legion of fans across the world.
He was definitely losing support in the process, and it was clear that he simply needed time to breathe in the wake of Augusta.
But that is a luxury that the PGA Tour seldom affords.
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The golf calendar moves thick and fast with all four men’s majors played within a four month stretch between April and July.
The PGA Tour’s eight US$20 million (A$30.5m) signature events were all completed before the end of June.
There is little time for rest.
Ahead of last week’s Scottish Open, McIlroy shared how he relished the chance to spend a few weeks of down time at his new family home in Wentworth, England – where the DP World Tour is based and the likes of Sir Elton John, Sir Michael Parkinson, Kevin Pietersen, Ernie Els and Justin Rose reside.
“There’s a detachment from the sort of week-in, week-out grind when you get back over here and Justin (Rose) and I were talking about that,” McIlroy said before the Scottish Open.
“You play PGA Tour golf for the first 25, 30 weeks of the year and you need to completely get away from it – because this world of golf can become all-encompassing.
“In this last fortnight, I felt like I could detach and sort of hide in a way.
“I needed that. My game needed that.”
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MORE FUN, LESS GOLF
Burnout was a problem McIlroy saw coming.
It is why at the beginning of 2025, he gave himself a New Year’s resolution to let his hair down more often.
That came after the realisation 12 months ago that he could not remember the last time he had gone somewhere without the golf clubs in tow.
“I missed the cut at Troon and went straight to Portugal, so that was my first holiday,” McIlroy joked before the Scottish Open.
“But then, yeah, I think over the past 12 months, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to have more fun, and I’ve really tried to do that.”
McIlroy’s new approach began with a trip to Germany with a group of friends to take in football club Borussia Dortmund’s famous yellow wall at a Bundesliga match.
That was followed by heading into Istanbul with the same group of friends before continuing on to Dubai.
Upon returning to the US, there was a family ski trip to Montana to teach his daughter, Poppy, how to handle the slopes.
After the Masters, McIlroy even ventured back to Europe with his caddie Harry Diamond to watch his beloved Manchester United lose to Australian manager Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham in the Europa League final in Spain.
“I think there’s opportunities throughout the year that you can do these sorts of things,” McIlroy said.
“I think now at this stage of life that I’m at, I’m actually trying to build my schedule around those weeks instead of the other way around, trying to sort of fit them in here or, can I take four days off?
“It’s more, no, these are going to — not take the priority — but they are going to become more important in scheduling the year, and yeah, then fit the golf tournaments around those.”
That mantra led to his commitment to play the Australian Open for the next two years in a big boost for Australian golf.
He is also set to become the first golfer to take the green jacket to India in October.
While of course McIlroy endeavours to bring his A game around the world, but it also seems he views them as a refreshing golfing holiday, away from the US and the PGA Tour.
“I’ve always loved the Australian Open,” he said ahead of the Travelers Championship.
“I’ve won there before. I played there as an amateur in the Australian Open, qualified for it, went through a qualifier in 2005, got through like a nine-man playoff to get in, so I’ve always had a huge affinity for that part of the world.
“So to go back, especially Royal Melbourne this year, Kingston Heath next year, two of the best golf courses in the world on the sandbelt, that’s awesome too.
“It’s that part of the year where we have the ability to travel and to do these things, and if it makes sense for the schedule – there’s never been a green jacket in India before, so to bring the green jacket to India is something that’s going to be really cool.
“To go back to the Australian Open, I won that in 2013. Adam (Scott) and I had a great battle down the stretch on the last day, he was the Masters champion at that point.
“I don’t know, I like to travel. I like to play in different parts of the world. I haven’t been to Australia in 10 years, so it’s nice to go back to these places.”
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LONGEVITY AND LEGACY
Jet setting is also a key part of McIlroy’s legacy building efforts.
McIlroy showed throughout his time constantly fronting reporters to discuss the PGA Tour’s battle with LIV Golf, that he cares deeply about the history of the game.
He badly wants to follow in the footsteps of the greats who came before him and that is why accomplishing the career grand slam meant so much to the five-time major winner.
It is also why he declared before last week’s Scottish Open that he does not want The Masters to be “the last great moment of his career”.
In that same press conference, McIlroy spoke of his belief that longevity is “one of the underappreciated things about any sport”.
He said that he did not even know who current world No.1 Scottie Scheffler was when he lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool in 2014.
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But that he continues to compete against a younger generation have emerged in the latter stages of his career, like many greats in other sports have dealt with.
“You look at what (Novak) Djokovic is doing at Wimbledon over the last couple weeks or what some of those guys have done, or what someone like Cristiano Ronaldo is still doing at 40 years old, or Tom Brady in American football,” McIlroy said.
“That longevity piece is something that maybe isn’t talked about enough.”
What is certainly talked about enough is McIlroy’s standing in the game.
Being one of just six men to win all four majors undoubtedly makes him a legend of the sport, but now that he has achieved that goal, he has the chance to heighten his reputation like his fellow grand slam winners did.
Fox Sports’ own Paul Gow suggested that golf fans will learn a lot about McIlroy’s future by how he conducts himself on and off the course at Portrush.
“As good as McIlroy is, and I’m a big fan, he got to the peak. He got to the Everest and when you get to the peak, you look over the other side and it’s a long way down,” Gow said.
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“I don’t think he handled his time and his preparation correctly. He’s built a new house in London. He spent a fair bit of time on that. He’s had time away from golf and I think maybe if he had his time again, he would have handled the media a lot better.
“He handled that terribly and it made him look not all that good. As the spokesman for the PGA Tour for the last two or three years, and sitting in front of a camera every time he played and answering those questions, he just didn’t handle it right.
“I think looking back on it, he’s probably disappointed with how he handled it.
“On the next level, if he can’t get himself up for The Open Championships at Royal Portrush in his home country, then we know, McIlroy, we’re probably not going to see much of him because he won’t have the mental application that’s required.
“He’s the best player I’ve seen in the last couple of years. Obviously, Scottie Scheffler is putting up ridiculous numbers and time will tell.
“But McIlroy from tee to green has been absolutely spectacular. But if he can’t emulate what the greats Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods did, who kept that level of play for such a sustained time, well, maybe he’s not as good as we all thought he is.”
NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND – JULY 10: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland putts on the 17th green on day one of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 10, 2025 in North Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
WHY HE CAN WIN
Taping into the history of the game can help McIlroy triumph in his home nation in the 153rd edition of the major championship with the richest history.
The links of Great Britain is always a throwback to the origins of the sport, and it has traditionally suited the more old school type of player.
The brash and brawn long bombers of the modern era have scarcely succeeded at windswept venues that require a golfer to be more imaginative with their immense skills.
Australia’s Cameron Smith proved exactly that with his putting and short game class masterclass on his way to winning at St Andrews three years ago, while McIlroy showed off that he would have been fine in generations past before the Scottish Open by flushing his first shot on the range with an old-fashioned persimmon driver,
“I could have played in any era,” he said immediately after.
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The notion holds true however when the men’s game’s best descend on the United Kingdom every year, those who succeed are the ones could have thrived without the assistance of modern equipment.
Those with the pure swings, and sensational touch.
The sort of player McIlroy believes he is.
“I guess I’d like to think of myself more as an artist than a scientist when it comes to the game, but I think in this generation and at this point, with Trackman and biomechanics and all the technological advances, I think my perception of myself (is) as an artist,” McIlroy told reporters before the Scottish Open.
“But I think over the last 20 years, we’re probably more scientists than we are artists.
“I’d like to think that I had the adaptability to do well in that era with that equipment.”
NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND – JULY 10: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and caddie Harry Diamond react following a putt on the 18th green on day one of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 10, 2025 in North Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
McIlroy’s former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley agrees.
One of the highlight of McIlroy’s playoff victory against J.J. Spaun at The Players Championship was his knock down 9-iron into the iconic island green par 3 17th that prompted Spaun to grab an 8-iron and launch it long into the water.
It showed a new side of McIlroy, more ruthless gamesmanship that the greats like Woods were renowned for.
It also showed that he had added a variety of shot-making skills to his arsenal, particularly in blustery conditions.
Those knock down shots were also a feature of his game at Augusta, and McGinley thinks there has been a remarkable transformation in McIlroy’s approaches in recent times.
“ I love to see him hit that low 40 foot high, rather than 120 foot high, driven drive. A fairway finder. A stinger as Tiger used to call it,” McGinley said.
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“That is something that he has added to his armoury in the last few years, he did not have it or need it when he went over to America first.
“If you look at him now there has certainly been a big elevation in his skill set in the last 12 months, it’s broadened. It’s not that he couldn’t play the shots, but he’s seeing them now and he’s being pushed in that direction to play them, particularly with the wedges.
“If you look at the wedges now they go in a lot lower than they did two or three years ago. He hits these low three quarter wedges in now and controls them.
“He never performed well at Pebble Beach before and he won there this year. Pebble Beach has a lot of greens which usually slope hard back to front, they are quick at the AT&T and if you’re not controlling your spin there you end up with 30 feet of back spin.
“So for Rory to win around there, even though you don’t really see it on TV. You know that he had control of the spin going into those very tiny greens with a lot of slope on them.”
NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND – JULY 10: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland acknowledges the crowd following a birdie on the 17th green on day one of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 10, 2025 in North Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
With such new found weaponry, it is little wonder that the general consensus was that McIlroy would enjoy a period of domination after The Masters.
But McIlroy’s career graph has never been a steady line.
There have always been ebbs and flows, spikes and dips, highs and lows.
McGinley believes his recent months have been a simple continuation of that trend, and that means another high point is on its way.
“I think there was a reaction. A lot of us thought it was going to be a really positive reaction and the gates were going to open after his win in Augusta. The opposite has happened,” McGinley said.
“He has talked himself about being somewhat flat and being somewhat low energy.
“I think there is just a period of adjustment and we saw flashes of him a couple of weeks ago when he played well over in Connecticut. He had the best round of the day in the last round of the US Open.
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“Rory has always been up and down in his career. People forget that. It hasn’t been a straight line his career, he has had a number of downs, and what he’s very good at is bouncing back.
“So I think there is a period of adjustment going in to the colossal achievement he had of completing the grand slam and the build up of 11 years of having not won a major and not completing the Grand Slam.
“There is a lot of scar tissue there that was put to bed with his win and I just think there is a period of adjustment going on.
“He has two massive things between now and the end of the season that mean a lot to him, which will energise him. One is The Open Championship at Portrush where he has unfinished business after what happened last time.
“And the second one is one of the big achievements he has talked about in the game before he won The Masters was to complete the Grand Slam, win another major and win an away Ryder Cup, so he is very energised and communicative with Luke (Donald) and he is very up for that as well.
“He is always at his best when he is out there with something to prove.”
