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Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Rory McIlroy must turn back the clock and reproduce teenage dream round in bid for Open glory at Royal Portrush
The deluge that had been promised all day finally fell upon Rory McIlroy as he walked down the 18th fairway at the end of his second round. An army of umbrellas in the stands greeted him on the green and when he had completed a two-under-par round of 69, mist got in his eyes. When he talked about a day's play that had moved him on to the lower reaches of the leaderboard and kept him on the fringes of contention for a tilt at the Open, his thoughts wandered back to 20 years ago last week when he played the North of Ireland Amateur Open here at Royal Portrush. McIlroy did not win the tournament that year. In fact, he lost 4&3 in the third round to Andrew Pitcher, from the Island Golf Club, just north of Dublin. But earlier in the week a 16-year-old McIlroy played himself into legend. In one of two qualifying rounds for the North of Ireland, McIlroy shattered the course record with a brilliant 11-under-par 61 that included nine birdies and an eagle. Contemporaneous reports of the day recall the word going round that he was on the charge. 'McIlroy's got it going here,' people were saying. 'You need to see this.' McIlroy brought up that round on Friday when he was asked about the emotion of playing in front of his home fans and avoiding the ignominy of missing the cut, the fate that befell him the last time the Open was contested here in 2019. This time, he is very much in for the weekend. 'Six years ago, I feel like I let myself down more than I let the fans down,' McIlroy said. 'It was a hard pill to swallow. This time, I've just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like this. 'I've been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. I'm going to need to have it all under control and have it all firing over the weekend to make a run. 'It's incredible to play in front of these fans. It's 20 years ago that I played the North of Ireland here and never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be coming back as a Grand Slam champion, with the support of a nation behind me, trying to win an Open. 'I count myself very grateful and very lucky that I'm in this position and I'm excited for the weekend.' McIlroy may not quite need to shoot 61 today to force himself into contention for what would be a second Open win and a sixth major to equal the mark set by Sir Nick Faldo, the most successful European golfer in history — but he will have to go close. He will certainly need to go considerably lower than he has done so far here on this spectacularly beautiful course on the Antrim coast, after he ended the day seven shots off the lead set by world No 1 Scottie Scheffler. If the Northern Irishman, still revelling in his win at the Masters in April, is going to make a move, it is now or never. McIlroy played better than he had on Thursday and even birdied the first hole that caused him so much anguish in 2019, when he carded a quadruple bogey eight there and exploded any chance he had of winning the tournament before he had even begun. But he was still bedevilled by a series of wild drives, on the front nine in particular. No sooner had he birdied the first than he sliced his tee shot on the par-five second into deep rough, so wide to the right of the fairway that it was almost out of bounds. In the end the ball was found, but it was deemed unplayable and McIlroy took a drop. Only sheer brilliance allowed him to save par. He did bogey the third, but then birdied the fourth before bogeying the fifth after finding a bunker near a knoll at the front of the green as the North Atlantic glowered behind it. It seems to bethe McIlroy template — wild mixed with sublime. It is part of what makes him such an enthralling player to follow. On the back nine, he stabilised. On Thursday, he only hit twofairways out of 14. On Friday he hit four fairways on the back nine alone. On the 12th, he struck a monster 380-yard drive and left himself a 30ft putt for eagle. It flirted with the hole but would not drop and McIlroy leaned so heavily on his putter in frustration that his torso was perpendicular to his legs. He tapped in a birdie. Another huge drive down the centre of the 14th paved the way for another birdie that took him to three under and within a couple of shots of the lead, but McIlroy could not keep the momentum going. He avoided calamity on Calamity, the forbidding 16th hole where a cliff of green vegetation falls away to the right of the green, but he missed birdie chances there and on the 17th, where he pushed a 12ft birdie putt just left. Then the deluge came. 'I'm excited for the opportunity,' McIlroy said of the chance to close the gap on the leaders in the two days that remain. 'I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited for that. 'I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run. I don't know if you can ever flow around here. 'This golf course is very demanding. It's quite visually intimidating off the tee. You know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie. If you have one of those out of the blue days and you can get it going…' McIlroy conjured one of those days 20 years ago. Now, he is 36 years old and there is some grey in his hair and he needs to conjure another one. ROYAL PORTRUSH TEE ROOM BY JAMES SHARPE Rain won't rattle Westy Lee Westwood was playing the final hole of his second round when a torrential downpour struck Royal Portrush. The 52-year-old knows all about the challenges this great course can provide after tying for fourth place here in 2019, and the old timer sunk a 27ft putt to save par and sit at three under. 'Links golf is all about adapting,' said Westwood. Imperfect 10 for Norris… Poor Shaun Norris. After the South African (right) put his tee shot on the fourth hole out of bounds, he stuck his second in a fairway bunker, took four shots to get out, then pulled his approach into the rough before getting up and down for a 10. And he still birdied the fifth! Par-anormal activity! Justin Thomas tried to summon his own version of golfing magic. His superb 29ft birdie putt on the par-three third looked destined for the hole only to curl around the back of it and dangle over the lip. When it wouldn't drop, two-time major winner Thomas pointed at the ball as if casting a spell and shouted: 'Go!' Sadly, his powers failed. Bradley's Ryder Cup solution US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley faces the awkward decision of whether to pick himself as a wildcard for the clash with Europe. But the issue could soon be taken out of his own hands. Bradley would become the first playing captain since 1963 and, following a round of 67 to go three under, he is playing himself into contention for one of the six automatic spots. 'We have a plan,' said Bradley. 'We have a "for instance" that could happen.'
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Rory McIlroy: 'I feel like I could be a couple closer to the lead'
Rory McIlroy has done what he couldn't do here in 2019 and survived The Open Championship cut, but it was a day of mixed emotions for the reigning Masters champion who, at the end of his round, sat five shots off the clubhouse lead. 'Another solid day,' he said after a 69 to add to his opening 70 for a three-under total. 'A couple under, improved a little bit on yesterday, hit it in play a little bit more off the tee, which was nice to have some looks out of the fairway and into some of these greens. 'Yeah, it was a good day. I feel like I maybe could be a couple closer to the lead, but overall in a decent position heading into the weekend.' McIlroy described himself as 'excited for the opportunity' and grateful to play two more rounds and challenge for a title he won back in 2014 and on a course where, 20 years ago, he played as a teenager in the North of Ireland tournament. His driving was better than on Thursday – it could hardly have been worse – and there were flashes of his magic. The birdie on the brutally tough par-four fourth was exceptional golf, for instance, so there is game there to work with even if he never caught fire. 'I don't know if you can ever flow, this golf course is very demanding,' he said after posting four birdies and two bogeys. 'It's quite visually intimidating off the tee. You see the bunched nature of the leaderboard. 'It's one of these places where you know the holes you have to make par, you know the holes you have to make birdie, and everyone sort of has to play the golf course the same way. Everything becomes pretty bunched. Yeah, you can, if you have one of those out-of-the-blue days and you can get it going, but for the most part, you're just trying to pick off your birdies on the easy holes and honestly like hold on with some of these really tough par-fours.'
The 42
13-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
To understand Rory McIlroy, you have to understand his relationship with Royal Portrush
IF RORY MCILROY'S CAREER has been a long battle between his ethereal talent and the unworldly pressure and expectation that talent necessarily breeds, then Royal Portrush has been a theatre of this war. McIlroy first round at Portrush was a gift from his parents for his 10th birthday, but it was when he returned to the Dunluce Links six years later, in 2005, that he came of age. McIlroy had left school that year to focus on golf full-time, and he rocked up to the Antrim coast on the second week of July to play qualifying for the North of Ireland championship. Having shot a steady 71 on the Valley Course on the first day, he played his second and final round of stroke play at Royal Portrush. This proved to be the public's first glimpse at the thrilling sight of a Rory McIlroy with a point to prove. These are the situations in which he has always been at his most irrepressible: think of the quality of his match play against Patricks Reed and Cantlay at the Ryder Cup, or his jibe at Greg Norman after winning the 2022 Canadian Open in the shadow of the early shots of the LIV civil war. Paul McGinley still maintains it to this day, that McIlroy is at his best when he plays with 'those pointy elbows'. In 2005, it was the Walker Cup selection committee that had McIlroy jutting out his elbows. The Great Britain & Ireland team for that year's Walker Cup was announced only eight days earlier, and it did not include McIlroy's name. As they sought a fourth-straight victory for the first time, they decided to name only one Irish player in the squad, picking British amateur champion Brian McElhinney over McIlroy. McIlroy would have been the youngest player in Walker Cup history had he been picked, but instead that piece of history went to England's Oli Fisher. The chief selector of that squad was Peter McEvoy, with Gareth McGimpsey the captain, and both said that McIlroy was omitted because he didn't show up to enough of the major amateur events at which they were casting their most attentive eyes, instead taking invites to pro events on the European Tour. 'Rory,' said McGimpsey, 'mismanaged his season from the Walker Cup point of view.' Advertisement Jilted, McIlroy nonetheless remained dignified in public, wishing McElhinney well and stressing it was his ambition to play the Walker Cup two years later. McEvoy later admitted to worrying at the time as to whether they were doing the right thing. 'We're leaving out Rory,' he fretted, 'and I think we all know what he is going to be.' It took only eight days for McIlroy to show the selectors what he would be. McIlroy was two-under through his first eight holes at Portrush, and then went supersonic as he turned, with a birdie at nine, an eagle at 10, and another birdie at 11. As he loitered on the 11th fairway waiting for the group ahead of him to move off the green, McIlroy saw someone drain a putt and pump their first. He turned to one of his playing partners and asked, ''Why would you be fist-pumping on the second day of qualifying for the North of Ireland?' A few minutes later, McIlroy rolled in a birdie putt and involuntarily pumped his fist. What was that you were saying Rory? 'At that point,' reflected McIlroy years later, 'I realised I was doing something pretty special.' The news was now spreading like wildfire across the course and filtering through the town: young McIlroy might just be about to pull this off. The crowds swelled, and by the time he was standing on the final tee box, McIlroy was 10-under and needed only to make bogey to take the course record. Instead he rolled in a birdie putt to sign for a 61 to obliterate the record by fully three shots. McIlroy later described it as a defining moment in his career, 'because the wider golf world took notice'. The Association of Golf Writers' dinner was held that evening, and Walker Cup selector McEvoy had the misfortune to be seated beside the Irish table. 'God, I got a hard time,' McEvoy later told National Club Golfer. 'How can you not have picked him?' If I'd known he was going to go round in 61, I would have picked him!' In the end, McElhinney played only once at an epic Walker Cup in Chicago, in which the USA brought their losing run to an end by a single point, decided on the 18th green of the penultimate match. McEvoy later admitted they would have won an unprecedented fourth-straight Cup had they picked McIlroy. Irish golf journalist Brian Keogh later wrote that McIlroy's father believed his omission from that Walker Cup team was the best thing to have happened in the early days of his career, and McIlroy was selected for the Walker Cup two years later, after which he turned pro. McIlroy returned to Portrush for the 2019 Open with the kind of CV worthy of what the locals had witnessed 14 years earlier. In advance of the championship, McIlroy sat down with the R&A to talk through his course record, and said something which carried a great resonance by the Thursday night of his return. 'It felt normal to me', said McIlroy. 'I had that cockiness and thought this was what I was supposed to do. I think my confidence now is more fragile. The confidence and cockiness I had at 16, sometimes I think I need to rediscover that.' Instead the 2019 Open became an exhibit of the brutal weight of pressure. During practice, McIlroy's tee shot on the first hole leaked right and out of bounds. When he sought to correct come Thursday, he over-corrected and hooked his his ball out-of-bounds to the left. He would make a quadruple-bogey eight on the very first hole, leaving thoughts of a triumphant homecoming dead on arrival. He had played more than 10,000 holes on the PGA Tour at that point: this was only his fourth quad. McIlroy would go on to three-putt from four feet on the 16th hole and make triple on the last to sign for a 79. This time, his 61st stroke at Portrush came on the 15th hole. later uncovered the story of the 2-iron with which McIlroy hit his ruinous first shot, which ended up in the bag of his caddy Harry Diamond's father-in-law, having been passed around Portrush like some kind of baleful and cursed relic. Now freed from the burden of expectation, McIlroy charged for the cut line across a rollicking Friday afternoon, shooting a thrilling 65 but ending up just a single shot short of making the weekend. 'The support I got was incredible, you could see out on the back nine, if I got that momentum yesterday…, ' trailed off McIlroy in a sob-stabbed interview on Sky. 'This is a week I've been looking forward to for a long time. I didn't play my part but everyone in Northern Ireland who came out to watch me definitely played theirs.' McIlroy's Thursday trial at Portrush in 2019. Oisin Keniry / INPHO Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO Everyone enjoyed those roles so much that the Open has returned to Portrush in short order, to which McIlroy was last month asked to throw forward, after his ho-hum finish at the US Open. 'I didn't realise how emotional I was going to be at Portrush', he said. 'I think that was a thing I was unprepared for more than anything else. I remember I hit a shot into 12 or 13 Friday night, obviously trying to make the cut. I remember the roar I got when the ball hit the green, and I felt like I was about to burst into tears. Just that support and that love from your own people.' This is why Royal Portrush stands out when we trace McIlroy's remarkable career: it's by the Antrim coast where he has shown just how meagre his flood defences are when the waves of emotion start to roll.
