Paddy Power erect VERY cheeky sign outside Portrush aimed at Rory McIlroy as he tees off at The Open
The sign salutes local lad Rory McIlroy's testicular fortitude when finally
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He's been proudly wearing his Green Jacket around Portrush this week
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Paddy Power, however, focused on his lower body for the sake of this stunt
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The 36-year-old finished second in last week's Scottish Open
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In case you're not quite able to read out its giant lettering, it reads; "Welcome home Rory, the biggest balls in golf."
The cheeky Irish bookmaker doffed their cap to
Paddy Power himself commented: 'Winning a career Grand Slam takes guts – or, in Rory's case, absolute balls of steel.
"We thought it was only right to honour his heroic return with something suitably enormous, unmissable, and truly entertaining.
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"What better way than a pair of giant underpants and two enormous golf balls swinging in the Northern Irish breeze? If that doesn't scream 'Rory's home', we don't know what does.'
"Because if anyone's earned the right to strut around with massive metaphorical stones, it's Rory McIlroy, and when he shows up swinging, so do we."
The five-time Major winner gave his fans a thrill by wearing his Green Jacket to Portrush as he collected the Golfer of the Year award from the Association of Golf Writers.
McIlroy, 36, said: 'The reception I've had here has made this week a celebration of what I have achieved in my career but it's also an opportunity I want to embrace.
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'Being in this position is the stuff of dreams. It has been an incredible year.'
McIlroy, who starts his bid for Open glory at 3.10pm today, was mobbed walking across the first fairway for the awards, prompting chants of 'Rory, Rory'.
'People's champ' Bryson DeChambeau delights Open fans with classy gesture as they say 'how can you not love this guy?'
He
McIlroy also wants to make amends for his Portrush Open flop in 2019 when he missed the cut.
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He said: 'I feel so grateful to be in this position now, to be home and have the chance to win another Major.
'It's been an amazing year, from the end of last year winning the Race to Dubai and doing what I've done in the first half of this year.'
Pointing at his Green Jacket for winning The Masters, he said: 'I fulfilled a lifelong dream this year, winning this thing that's over my shoulders right now.
'Any excuse to put it back on I'll happily take.'
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The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Rory McIlroy keeps cool head as he banishes ghosts of past with Masters champ continuing hot streak at The Open
RORY McILROY kept his head among the intense adulation of his home crowd as he shot a one-under-par 70 in the first round of The Open at Portrush. The Northern Irishman had crumbled under similar pressure when the event was last held at the course in 2019 - taking a quadruple-bogey eight at the first hole and missing the cut. 1 Rory McIlroy banished the ghosts of his past with a calm performance at The Open Credit: Getty But the Masters champion, who completed a career Grand Slam at Augusta in April, is just three shots off the lead after a day when he was wayward off the tee but hot on the greens. 'That's a great position to be in but at the same time it brings some added pressure because I didn't want to let them down. 'I dealt with that pressure pretty well - I certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago! 'I am happy to give myself a good start and get myself into the tournament. 'I'm surprised four-under is leading, a thought someone would go out and shoot six or seven under 'I knew what to expect, it wasn't new to me playing at an Open at home, and that experience definitely helped. 'I didn't feel I was walking into the unknown, unlike last time when I hadn't experienced this before.' Most read in Golf BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS McIlroy sank a crucial 12-foot putt for par on the 15th, having carded three bogeys in the previous four holes - before a birdie on 17 left him under par for the round. He said: 'That par putt on 15 was a big one having bogeyed three of the last four. The Open Faces Tee Time Chaos Amid Parade Clash in Portrush 'That was a huge putt, it kept whatever momentum I had and then to go one under for the final three was pleasing. 'The wind picked up a bit on the back nine and that made it more difficult. 'It was a tough day, spending a lot of time in the rough and fairway bunkers, so to shoot under par is a bonus.'
Irish Post
4 hours ago
- Irish Post
Songs of home and leaving — from Christine Tobin
Three powerful performances explore Irish emigration, homecoming and the poetry of W.B. Yeats at London's Irish Cultural Centre, July 19-20 ACCLAIMED Irish vocalist and composer Christine Tobin returns to the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith for a two-day, three-concert residency titled Letters Home , running 19–20 July 2025. Blending music, memory and multimedia, the project explores themes of emigration, belonging and the emotional geography of the Irish experience. Each of the three performances offers a distinct perspective on the search for home, cultural identity and the passage of time. Returning Weather Saturday 19 July, 7.30pm The residency opens with Returning Weather , a song cycle described by Tobin as 'part homecoming, part memoir.' Inspired by her return to Ireland after years abroad, the performance weaves together original compositions, spoken word and stunning imagery of the landscape around Frenchpark, Boyle and Ballaghaderreen in County Roscommon. Musically, the piece draws on Irish traditional music, 20th-century art song and jazz. Tobin is joined by Aoife Ní Bhriain (violin), David Power (uilleann pipes & whistles), Phil Robson (guitars, electronics), and Steve Hamilton (piano). The work explores what it means to belong—to land, to memory, to community—and how those ideas evolve over a lifetime. Letters Home Sunday 20 July, 2.30pm The second concert blends live performance with documentary film. Also titled Letters Home , it focuses on the lives of Irish emigrants who left Roscommon for Britain during the 1960s to 1990s. The film, made by Tobin and Robson, is based on interviews with six elders who emigrated in search of work and later returned to Ireland. Their voices form the narrative spine of the documentary, which is interspersed with archive images, photos and live songs performed on stage. Tobin sings traditional and popular Irish songs of farewell and longing—such as Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore , Mountains of Mourne and Come Back Paddy Reilly —evoking the pain and pride of a generation that helped build modern Britain while supporting families at home through remittances. The hour-long show gives voice to everyday resilience and the quiet heroism of the Irish in Britain. Among the featured interviewees is Annie, who left rural Ireland in her teens and took an unusual path for a woman at the time—working for the New York Telephone Company rather than entering domestic service. Another participant, Michael, now in his eighties, left for England in the early '60s and built a successful construction business after stints with Wimpey and McAlpine. At just 20 years old, he was sending home £100 a month to support his mother. Sailing to Byzantium Sunday 20 July, 7.30pm The final concert in the trilogy is Sailing to Byzantium , featuring Tobin's musical settings of 12 poems by W.B. Yeats. Named after the poet's 1927 meditation on ageing and the eternal role of art, this performance reflects on what lies beyond the physical journey—searching instead for artistic and spiritual meaning. The poems, ranging from When You Are Old and The Wild Swans at Coole to The Second Coming , are reimagined through Tobin's musical lens. She is joined by Gareth Lockrane (flutes), Kate Shortt (cello), Phil Robson (guitars), Dave Whitford (double bass) and Steve Hamilton (piano). 'I like finishing with Yeats,' Tobin says. 'After exploring the early and middle years through the themes of emigration and return, Yeats helps us look ahead—to the search for wisdom, purpose and creative fulfilment.' An Expanding Body of Work Letters Home follows the success of Tobin's recent composition Pseudologia Fantastica , commissioned by Improvised Music Company's BAN BAM programme and premiered in Dublin in April. That work, exploring misinformation and far-right ideologies through multimedia, marked a new political direction in her output. Still, Returning Weather and Letters Home remain deeply rooted in her personal history and the shared legacy of the Irish diaspora. 'There are many songs of leaving,' Tobin notes. 'This is the music of return.' Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black's Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9DT Tickets available for each concert separately: Returning Weather (Saturday evening) (Saturday evening) Letters Home (Sunday afternoon) (Sunday afternoon) Sailing to Byzantium (Sunday evening) Running times: approx. 1 hour each (some include film interludes). See More: Irish Cultural Centre Hammersmith, Music, Poetry, WB Yeats
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
The Kinks' Sir Ray Davies on alternative name for band and why he loves taunting US fans
SIR Raymond Douglas Davies and the United States Of America – let's just say it's a complicated relationship. Their paths first crossed in 1964 when the British Invasion was in full swing. Advertisement 5 Sir Raymond Douglas Davies of The Kinks opens up as the band front another release Credit: Getty 5 The band on TV in 1968 Credit: Getty The Beatles lit the blue touch paper and Their heavy riff-driven hits You Really Got Me and All Day And All Of The Night rocketed into the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. A year later, however, the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion — and they had to make a hasty 'British Retreat'. Following a turbulent US tour in the summer of '65, The Kinks were banned from performing there for four years. Advertisement READ MORE ON MUSIC Though no official reason was given by the American Federation of Musicians, there were reports of rowdy behaviour on and off stage, a physical altercation with a 'British-baiting' TV producer and an unpaid fee. Sixty years on, I've been given the chance to ask Sir Ray, 81, about The Kinks' Stateside story. He has curated the third and final part of the band's archive series, The Journey, which focuses on the late Seventies and early Eighties, when they finally cracked America. For context, Davies begins by reflecting on the impact of seismic events more than a decade earlier. Advertisement Most read in Music He says: 'I was talking to (drummer) Mick Avory the other day and we concluded that the ban in America was a result of bad management, bad luck and bad behaviour — but we were only young. 'We had dreamt of America for so long' 'Nevertheless, the four-year ban was a bit excessive. Looking back though, it allowed me the space to write songs about England and forget about breaking America. Oasis kick off first Manchester homecoming gig after 16 years away 'However, it was irksome having to watch all our peers tour the States while we were left behind.' By saying 'peers', Davies is of course referring to groups such as The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who. Advertisement Did The Kinks feel bruised by missing out on the wild success enjoyed by the others? 'Of course we did,' he replies. 'We were young and looking forward to touring the country that had inspired our music and to experiencing Americana first hand. 'We had dreamt of America for so long through this vision of the movies of our childhood.' Davies adds that 'on returning back to England, the band was in financial difficulties and on the verge of breaking up — and that took a further toll on all four of us.' Advertisement As we know, he picked himself up and emerged as one of our most gifted, perceptive and literate songwriters. There was something quintessentially English about his Dedicated Follower Of Fashion and his lovers Terry and Julie, who 'as long as they gaze on Waterloo Sunset, they are in paradise'. Just consider The Village Green Preservation Society with lines like 'God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties'. In a previous interview, I remember Davies telling me that his song A Well Respected Man was about a neighbour who went to work in a bowler hat. Advertisement He said: 'While we were banned, it was our biggest hit in America and I sang it in a London accent. 'It was Dick Van Dyke London. Americans still think of us as being a bit Mary Poppins.' A British Invasion contemporary, The Who's By 1970, The Kinks' ban had been lifted and American success beckoned once more. Advertisement They returned to the US top ten with Lola, a memorable Ray Davies composition set in a Soho bar and noted for its singalong chorus and daring lyrics about the gender-fluid title character. 'Before the ban, we played venues like the Hollywood Bowl,' he tells me. 'When we eventually returned, we were booked into small clubs and college venues. 'It was like starting all over again but it felt like an opportunity to get back what had been taken away from us.' Advertisement 5 Ray in the studio Credit: ALEX LAKE alexlake@ By the mid-Seventies, The Kinks were delivering a leaner, more hard-rocking sound to their American audiences. It comes with this explanation from Davies: 'We were often playing as a support act and soundchecks were not always possible. 'So our sound became stripped down, which in a strange way made it more direct and in your face. Advertisement 'Punk brought London alive, energy returned' 'I started reproducing this sound in the studio,' he continues before stressing, 'but you can't really say songs like All Day And All Of The Night and You Really Got Me are lightweight. 'Having said that, audiences responded well to songs like Art Lover and Well Respected Man, which are not exactly heavy metal. 'On occasions I would break into vaudevillian renditions of You Are My Sunshine and the British National Anthem just to taunt the American audiences and heavy rock aficionados as if to say, 'Yeah, we are British, take it or leave it.' The first Kinks album to adopt a more 'direct' sound was Sleepwalker (1976), their first for music mogul Clive Davis' fledgling Arista Records. Advertisement It was also the first of a string of LPs that did better in the US than back in good old Blighty. Davies says: 'Clive persuaded me to stay in New York and I began work on Sleepwalker there. I eventually rented an apartment on the Upper West Side.' The title track and Sleepless Night dealt with his insomnia at the time which he likens to 'having permanent jet lag'. The band's no-nonsense approach to the music also chimed with the advent of punk and the arrival of bands like The Jam who cited The Kinks as a major influence. Advertisement Davies says: 'I feel it (punk) brought London alive and energy returned to the city — we were back on the map of music and fashion. 'A lot of great bands came out of that period and The Kinks were like contemporaries.' Although Davies started work on Sleepwalker in The Big Apple, it was recorded in London at his newly founded Konk Studios. He remembers the early days of Konk and the freedom it afforded. Advertisement 'We acquired a Neve (mixing) desk and started adapting what was an old factory in North London. 'It was rough and ready but the sound was to our liking and we had a certain amount of control over the budget. This made a huge impact on our recordings. Before Konk, we recorded at other studios and they were strictly on the meter but now we could run into overtime.' Following Sleepwalker came Misfits in 1978 — well received, particularly in the States, but representing another difficult period for The Kinks. Davies says: 'After the success of the Sleepwalker album, the band was in disarray and two members left. Advertisement 'But myself, Dave and Mick remained committed and we brought in two new members, Jim Rodford and Ian Gibbons.' Did the band see themselves as misfits? I venture. 'As it turned out, Misfits would have been a good name instead of The Kinks,' muses Davies. 'In some ways we have always been more like outsiders — not fitting in with any style or movement.' Advertisement One of the Misfits songs, A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy emphatically proved that Davies hadn't lost his way with neat turns of phrase. 'I was absorbed into American culture' He says 'It is quite an autobiographical song. 'The king is dead' was a deliberate reference to Elvis (who died on August 16, 1977). 'I wrote it from the apartment on the 11th floor in NYC and the last verse was a direct reference to a man I saw listening to music in the building opposite. 'The first verse is about a friend of mine . . . 'You've been sleeping in a field but you look real rested/You set out to outrage but you can't get arrested/You say your image is new but it looks well tested/You're lost without a crowd, and yet you go your own way.'' Advertisement Next, I ask Davies how living in NYC impacted on his songwriting in general. 'It was like learning another language,' he replies. 'I was being absorbed into American culture, particularly with the Low Budget album (1979) and songs like Catch Me Now I'm Falling and Attitude. But one thing that remained was my London accent as opposed to trying to sound American.' On Catch Me Now I'm Falling, Davies deftly captured the uncertain mood in America during the late Seventies. 5 The band on the roof of London's Dorchester hotel in 1976 Credit: Redferns Advertisement 'There must have been a knock-on effect from all the economic difficulties in the world,' he says. 'After the Second World War, America saved the world, but who will save America?' Low Budget also featured (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman, released in the wake of Christopher Reeve donning the iconic blue and red outfit with yellow accents. 'Superman was a comic book hero of mine and, at the time, we had strikes all over Britain,' says Davies. Advertisement 'But the song itself is about a man waking to all this bad news and he fantasises about flying away like Superman.' After Low Budget came 1981's Give The People What They Want, including the rocking Destroyer which was like a blast from the past. It featured the riff from All Day And All Of The Night and lyrics referencing Lola. Davies says: 'It had been my idea for a long time, but had been on the back burner. Advertisement 'I counted the song in, shouted out the chords through the headphones and it was recorded almost in one take.' The album ended with the jangly, bittersweet Better Things, written by Davies about his failing marriage to second wife Yvonne. 'It's basically a break-up song about wishing the other person to have a better life,' he affirms. This brings us to the best-loved of all The Kinks' later songs, Come Dancing, from the 1983 album State Of Confusion. Advertisement It served as a heartfelt tribute to Davies' tragic sister Rene who loved to dance to big bands on a Saturday night. He tells the story behind the song: 'My first Spanish guitar was a gift from Rene. 'She died of a heart condition at the age of 31 on the day before my 13th birthday, while she was out dancing at the Lyceum Ballroom. 'My musical Come Dancing is based on family life and the events leading up to Rene's passing. Also around that time, I would buy records with my pocket money from Les Aldrich record shop in Muswell Hill which has now sadly closed down. Advertisement 'These records and memories had an impact on my writing the musical.' If the first disc of The Journey Pt 3 sheds new light on a fascinating and fruitful period for The Kinks, the second is a treasure trove of a different kind. It is a newly discovered, pristine recording of the band's Royal Albert Hall concert on July 11, 1993. This was at the dawn of Britpop and the old masters showed the young pretenders how it should be done. Advertisement The show drew on all parts of The Kinks' momentous 'journey' and included standout renditions of You Really Got Me, Sunny Afternoon and Dedicated Follower Of Fashion. Last song Days finds Davies addressing the rapturous crowd, 'Thank you for the days/Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.' He says: 'The concert was part of a tour celebrating our 30th anniversary. It was more like a welcome home from America and it was well received. 'Our fans showed us great affection and enthusiasm which was a highlight of the tour. Advertisement 'Recently, when we were updating archives in Konk Studio, we came across the recording of that show, the last that the band performed at the Albert Hall.' Finally, I ask Davies about the whole experience of putting together The Journey Parts 1, 2 and 3. 'I would have said let the lyrics do the talking before embarking on this project,' he answers. 'But, in some ways, these recollections have given the songs more depth.' Advertisement All I can add is, 'Thank you for the Ray.' THE KINKS The Journey Part 3 ★★★★☆ 5 The Kinks – The Journey Part 3 is out now Credit: supplied
