The Open: Tee times revealed as McIlroy and Lowry in blockbuster groups after fun-filled Tuesday practice
Robert MacIntyre on why Royal Portrush is his favourite links course
When a golfing superstar from Scotland tells you his favourite links course, it's worth taking his opinion seriously. And for Robert MacIntyre, it's here in Portrush, as he told reporters after the Scottish Open final round on Sunday. He's been expanding on that today.
On why Portrush is his number one
"It's how the golf course flows. It's not so much the holes. It's not nine holes one way, nine holes the other way. There is everything on this golf course visually. It's obviously enclosed by the dunes either side. So you've got visuals off the tee. I played it when it was in the Home
Internationals. Obviously 17 and 18 have changed since that.
"As newly designed golf holes in the modern game, I think these (the new 7th and 8th holes) are as good as it gets when they've been redesigned. So many golf courses try to trick it up. It's a par-5 and a par-4. Par-5, from tee shot hitting down, bunker on the right, heading back up the hill with a wind that's normally off the right. Then you got onto a little shelf, then you hit across the top of the hill. I just think the whole golf course is absolutely beautiful to the eye but it also plays absolutely brilliantly. You've got holes that you've got a chance, and then you've got
holes that you just try to hang on."
On his Open debut here in 2019 (when he finished in a tie for sixth)
"It was tough, standing on that first tee, the nerves. You've always dreamed to play in these. You've watched it on TV since you were a young kid. I got to just live another dream.
"I got a little bit lucky when I managed to finish in just the proper time when the storm came in in 2019 (during the final round when he shot -3). I remember sitting in player dining, and it just kept blowing. I thought the roof was coming off the place.
"I was just like keep coming, keep coming. I was just watching it, watching me get further up the leaderboard. It's a different week this week, but just looking forward to it."
On his on-course flare-ups
"I'm fiery on the golf course when I'm in tournament rounds. I'll drop, I was going to say the odd, but a few bad words in there. I'll hit the bag. I'll say some harsh things, but that's what gets me going. If I walk around and I'm all happy I just made a double bogey or people are clapping, thanks very much, that's not me. I'm needing to smash something up. I want to rip a glove. I do
something to get that anger out. It's better out than in for me. Some people it's better holding it, but for me it's get it out and then just do not let it affect the next shot. Simple."
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Telegraph
30 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Reliving Rory McIlroy's emotional collapse in the last Open at Royal Portrush
The year was 2019. After a 68-year gap, the R&A took the Open back to Royal Portrush. The influence of major winners from Northern Ireland such as Rory McIlroy, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell was viewed as crucial in the decision. What followed was an incredibly emotional and fascinating run for McIlroy as he gave himself a mountain to climb in the first round, only to shoot his lights out the next day, agonisingly missing the cut by a shot. This is how it will be remembered. The build-up Having shot a course-record 61 on the Dunluce Links as a 16-year-old, McIlroy is installed as the favourite. 'As soon as it was announced, the first thought was 'Rory'. Even I thought that – and it's my town! Yeah, I'd won a US Open and Darren [Clarke] who lived in Portrush had won the Claret Jug in 2011 and there was Padraig [Harrington, the three-time major winner from Dublin] there as well. 'But Rory wasn't just a four-time winner playing a major in his homeland – he'd shot that 61 as a 16-year-old. So naturally, the spotlight was going to be most on him. I saw him in the days before and he seemed very composed, if a bit quiet for him. I couldn't see him not contending. To my mind, he was the clear choice to win it.' 'When Rory came into the media centre for his pre-tournament interview, every seat was taken. It was the first time and maybe only time that I've seen Rory, or any golfer, have more journalists in an interview room than Tiger Woods. That says it all. 'Rory seemed ready enough, although I do remember thinking that the pressure must have been way over the top. Everywhere you went in the town, everyone was talking about Rory. I popped into a chippy and there were pictures of him all over the walls and one coffee chop was selling Rory Macachinos.' 'It was obviously the biggest sports event ever in Northern Ireland and the demand for tickets was incredible. Because of my connection with the place – I'd held the course record, having taken it off Padraig with a 64, before Rory shot that 61 – I was getting loads of requests [for tickets]. I had a job to get one for myself. Everyone wanted to be there. The tickets were going for thousands. It was Rorymania, all right.' The first day McIlroy is partnered with England's Paul Casey and the American Gary Woodland, who the month before had won the US Open. The trio went out at 10.09am. 'When we saw the draw on the Tuesday, we thought 'oh boy, this will be lively'. And the atmosphere was incredible. Darren [Clarke] had hit the first tee shot at about 6.30am and the crowd was pumped. Walking to the first tee… well, I can best sum it up by saying it was Ryder Cuppy. But Rory seemed very nervous. He kept taking practice swings and was clearly jumpy. He was pacing around, couldn't get settled. I said so to Paul. 'He needs to calm down and focus'. Seeing him like that, I wasn't surprised about what happened next.' 'I can't imagine what it was like for Darren. G-Mac [McDowell] wasn't that far ahead of us and I could hear the roar. But with Rory – it was a moment in golf history right there. I was trying to concentrate on myself, but it was very, very loud. I was surprised by what happened. He had a two-iron and struggled with that club.' 'Harry [Diamond, his caddie] was relatively new on the bag. There was a right-to-left wind and there was out-of-bounds on the left as well as on the right. If I were on his bag, I would have given him a really small target and said, 'just keep looking at that, nothing else, and ignore the rest'. And I'd have been really close by and kept talking the whole time about what we're going to do. It was not an easy tee shot as there was a right-to-left wind and that out-of-bounds on the left.' 'I'd been there since the Friday and did not know there was out-of-bounds on the left.' 'We were all a bit confused by that. Internal out-of-bounds is never great. Apparently that patch of ground used to be a field owned by a farmer with cows on it. The club later bought it but to stay faithful to the original layout, they put white stakes there. It seemed odd. And that day, there was a right-to-left wind, so the fairway was half the width. It didn't take much of a tug to go OB. I'm glad I didn't know it was there.' 'He had waited his whole life to hit that tee shot and to see it sailing left, that was tough. I was deflated for him, the crowd was deflated. You had to feel for him.' 'I was waiting down the fairway but my colleagues on the tee told me Rory started saying 'sit, sit, sit…' as soon as he'd hit that two-iron. I think he said 'sit' six times. He knew. There were discernible gasps. It hit a woman on the stomach and it smashed her phone. She was OK. But Rory had to reload and take three off the tee. The next one went in the thick rough. From there he hacked into more rough, where he had to take an unplayable lie. So he was six on the green and the dreaded snowman – the quadruple-bogey eight – was inevitable.' Nightmare start for Rory McIlroy 😲 After going out of bounds off the tee, the favourite makes +4 on the opening hole 📺 Watch all four days of #TheOpen live on Sky Sports The Open or follow it here: — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 18, 2019 'At this stage you're just trying not to look and concentrating on your own man. It was extraordinary, though. Like I said, I wasn't too shocked, as Rory is quite prone to nerves, otherwise he'd have probably won a lot more majors really. That's where he differs to Tiger. He gets hyped up.' 'I kept away from him. He knows what to do.' 'In those mad 15 minutes, Rory went from the 6-1 favourite to 33-1. It's golf, things don't happen quickly And at the start of a round, on the very first hole, that wild fluctuation of odds had not occurred before or since.' 'I was down there and the mood was just one of shock. I mean, the balloon hadn't just been punctured, it had been flattened. We all tried to launch into shouts of 'c'mon, Rors'. But at best it was half-hearted. We were already in a form of grieving. It didn't help when he bogeyed the third.' 'As often happens, particularly with a natural player like Rory, a mini-disaster like that eventually frees them up and Rory, with nothing to lose, started to play well. But a few birdies later and the pressure drops again.' 'He played the fourth to the 15th in two-under par and was only three over. He was far from out of it. It had been a nice comeback. But the 16th killed him. He was so gutted to miss his putt for par, he just flicked the one back and missed that as well. The air went out of the sails. He had been trying so hard until that moment. The fans were devastated. And I looked around and saw so many of my fellow media members inside the ropes and hunched around the green and thought 'this is claustrophobic'.' 'He doubled [double-bogeyed] the last didn't he? I said 'what would I prefer, a quadruple-bogey eight at the first or a triple-bogey seven on the 18th?' He did both. Brutal.' 'He fronted up afterwards. Said it was 'inexcusable' and said 'I want to punch myself in the face'. He wowed to fight to make the cut, but the way the narrative works is that the circus goes on. Of course, Rory was of interest on the Friday, but the storyline had well and truly been burst. A 79. He was eight over and 150th in a 156-man field. Nobody envisioned that.' The second day McIlroy, together with Casey (one-over) and Woodland (three-over) went out at 3.10pm 'We all know Rory would have to go really low. Shoot a 63 or something. But he'd shot a 61 as a kid, so we all knew it was possible. We just wanted to watch him to be honest. He then put on an amazing show. Birdie after birdie, really responding and interacting with the crowd.' 'It was the most electric Friday atmosphere I've seen in my time on Tour. It was a crazy change in emotion from Thursday to Friday.' 'Yeah, when Rory is in full-flight it is great to watch. But the pressure was off and he is known for a surge once he's already made his train smash. The crowd were obviously really behind him. Have not heard roars like that simply for someone trying to make the cut.' 'Rory was emotional afterwards, talking about how he had reconnected with the public in that 65. It was good stuff, but in the cold light of the day he had come up a shot short. Everyone had jumped on the Shane Lowry train by then.' "This was a week that I'd been looking forward to for a long time." 😪 An emotional Rory McIlroy speaks to Sky Sports after seemingly missing the cut at #TheOpen, despite shooting a second-round 65 at Royal Portrush. ⛳ Watch The Open Verdict live on Sky Sports The Open now! — Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) July 19, 2019 The postscript McIlroy held back the tears as he processed he was out, and all eyes switched to Lowry – who roared ahead to finish six shots clear of Tommy Fleetwood, at 15-under. 'It proved to be a big party anyway, as Shane did it for Ireland. Great day, great night. Portrush rocked. As for Rory, the word went round that he had passed Harry the two-iron he'd put in and said 'do what you want with this'. Harry gave it to his father-in-law, Richard Nicholas, a well-known surgeon in Belfast, who is a Portrush member. 'Apparently, Richard offered a few of his mates to have a go with it, but some refused because they thought it might be cursed. 'Well, if it did that to Rory, then there must be something weird going on…' But he has it under lock and key now. A prized possession. As it should be. It's a hell of a memento from an unforgettable week.'
Daily Mirror
36 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Shane Lowry bids to repeat fairytale Open triumph - but must end unwanted six-year record
Shane Lowry knows that if he can just channel a little bit of the ruthlessness and nervousness from his win at The Open in 2019, then he will take some stopping - but he's not won a major nor a tour title, solo, since his victory at Royal Portrush Frustrated by his inability to convert form into trophies this season, Shane Lowry knows that if he can just channel a little bit of the ruthlessness and nervousness from his win at The Open, then he will take some stopping. The occasion, six years ago, would have overwhelmed many. As he stood on Royal Portrush's 18th tee, with the wind in his face and the rain on his cap, Lowry puffed out his cheeks, addressed his golf ball and prepared to take the most important swing of his life. And, on an island that has produced dozens of legendary boxers, perhaps the most important swing anyone has taken in Irish history. With a six-shot lead, you'd think there was never a chance he could muck it up but this was the 72nd and final hole of The Open – the stage where in previous years, leaders like Jean van de Velde went bare-foot into a creek out of sheer panic and desperation and Doug Sanders missed a putt from a distance barely further out than a fag end. They both lost. Nothing can be guaranteed and the last hole at Royal Portrush is not for the faint-hearted, either, with out of bounds lurking down to the bottom of a dramatic run-off on the left. But this was Lowry, this was 2019 and this was special. He struck his tee shot so sweetly it cut through the wind and danced through the rain to end up in the heart of the fairway. And with that, the jeopardy was gone and the celebrations could begin. The significance of the week was enough to make the 2019 Open one for the history books, the biggest ever sporting event held in Northern Ireland. Portrush waited 68 years for a second crack at hosting, largely due to the Troubles - and boy was it something to celebrate - but an Irish winner was poetic. The scenes that greeted Lowry down that 18th fairway, and then towards the green were biblical. It was more Glastonbury than golf – and he was the pied piper leading them to Disneyland. Ireland might unite under one flag for rugby, but the men's national team plays all of their home games in Dublin and the team has long-been Leinster-heavy. It's a one-way relationship. This was on Ulster's patch, tucked up against the Antrim coast. Those in the gallery were not south or north, or Catholic or Protestant, they were Irish. Through Lowry – who hails from Offaly - they came together – and through Lowry they united. On the walk to the green, the 'Fields of Athenry' reverberated. They were soaked wet through but no-one cared. 'I could not believe that was happening to me,' he said. 'Twelve months previous I was lying in the car crying to myself after missing another cut. This feels like an out-of-body experience. I can't wait to wake up on Monday morning and find out what it's going to feel like then. It's just going to be incredible.' Lowry packed up the van and trekked four hours down to Dublin for a night on the town, with a posse of family, friends, celebrities and anyone else who was up for the craic. He was videoed with the Claret Jug in one hand and a pint in the other, swaying along to another rendition of that famous folk song. Even his wee granny Emily got in on the fun. 'I haven't had a brandy since 2009 but I had two watching Shane,' she told RTE. 'It's nearly killed me.' The next day, he went home, to Clara in County Offaly, and did it all again. 'I was asked by an American journalist just how big the party would be tonight?' Lowry said. 'I felt I had to put him right, 'You mean how big the party would be all week?'' Lowry was not a shock winner but he was hardly among the favourites. Obviously talented, he'd had a few big wins – including the Irish Open as an amateur - and decent major performances. But whether he was cut out to win one of the big four was dubious, especially after he chucked away a four-shot lead on the last day of the US Open in 2016. But in 2019, something clicked. Six years on, it remains Lowry's sole major triumph, underlining how hard these things are to win, while he has only won one tour event since, and that came in a team event with Rory McIlroy at the Zurich Classic. Still, he has become a much more consistent golfer since and his form is also good. His record in the majors this season – a tied-42nd and two missed cuts – don't suggest it, but Lowry believes he is in the form of his life, he has just been unable to win. At the Masters in April, he was only three shots behind going into the weekend but a final-round meltdown ended his chances. There have been two runners-up finishes and two further top-10s on the PGA Tour. Sundays, bloody Sundays, as another Irish icon once sang. 'I think it's the best I've ever been, but I don't feel like I'm getting rewards, to be honest, because every Sunday I come off the golf course I feel like I'm after getting punched in the gut,' he said. 'It's been a very consistent, very good year, but I can't remember the last time I walked off the 18th green on the Sunday afternoon happy with myself, so that's hard to take. 'It's hard to take when you feel like you're putting so much time and effort in and time away from your family and your kids and these Sundays have become quite difficult. But that comes from good golf, expectation, the want to succeed, and not being happy with second best. I am having a great year, but there's one thing missing.' Familiarity, then, could help. Like McIlroy's Green Jacket, Lowry has his own permanent reminder of his success. A year ago, the R&A unveiled a new mural in Portrush of him holding the Claret Jug and he stopped by to check it out earlier this month, as part of a pre-Open reccy, before heading to Dublin to play indoor golf with American folk-pop artist Noah Kahan. He might spend much of his time in the States, but Ireland suits him and that makes him a dangerous proposition this year. 'Royal Portrush will always be the highest point of my career,' he told the Telegraph. 'I'm often asked how I can top 2019, and I have no idea. I won by six, so maybe win by seven?' He added: 'I don't want to win every tournament, just want to win one or two. But there will be some Sundays soon, hopefully, where I'm walking off that 18th green, pretty happy and pretty proud of myself.'
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Which bookies are offering Free Bets ahead of The Open Championship 2025
Golf's finest - the likes Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood - arrive at Royal Portrush ahead of the Open Championship which promises to be a busy market for the bookmakers this week The 2025 Open Championship returns to the rugged beauty of Royal Portrush, a venue that last hosted golf's oldest major in 2019. That year, Shane Lowry delivered a masterclass, coasting to victory at 15 under par while only nine others managed to finish within eleven shots of him. Lowry's triumph wasn't just about nerves or short game wizardry—it was a showcase for those who excel with driver and irons, a trend reflected throughout the leaderboard. A glance back at the 2019 top ten—names like Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Brooks Koepka, Lee Westwood, Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton, Danny Willett, Robert MacIntyre, and Patrick Reed—reveals a group dominated by precision ball-strikers rather than power hitters or short-game specialists. Portrush demands more than brawn; it rewards those who can consistently find fairways and attack pins with crisp iron shots. What's striking is how even the world's elite found Portrush a stern test. Of the top six in the Official World Golf Ranking that summer, only Koepka managed a top-20 finish. In an era where big names often crowd major leaderboards, Portrush proved itself an equaliser—a course where only sustained quality could survive. The course itself is a classic examination of skill and nerve. Players who are in control can post red numbers, but anyone struggling will see mistakes multiply quickly. Unlike some other Open venues where scores tend to cluster tightly, Portrush produces more separation—highlighting both brilliance and frailty across the field. The opening hole sets the tone: out-of-bounds markers loom on either side of the fairway, making for a nerve-jangling start (as Rory McIlroy learned all too well last time). Looking ahead to this year's championship, Royal Portrush appears tailor-made for those who thrive with long irons and possess accuracy off the tee. It's not a place where you can simply overpower trouble or rely on miraculous recoveries around every green. Instead, it calls for players who combine calm under pressure with technical excellence. With that in mind, golfers like Collin Morikawa and Scottie Scheffler stand out as prime contenders. Scheffler in particular may finally break through at The Open—his pinpoint driving and world-class approach play are ideally suited to Portrush's exacting demands. If he can keep his ball on track and avoid the pitfalls waiting for wayward shots, he'll have every chance to claim his first Claret Jug. Royal Portrush doesn't hand out victories easily. But for those who bring their best ball-striking to Northern Ireland this summer, it offers the chance to etch their name into golfing history—just as Lowry did six years ago. 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