Rory McIlroy’s return to Royal Portrush was not the dream homecoming he had imagined, nevertheless it carried a way of redemption for Northern Eire’s favorite sporting son.
The five-time Main winner produced flashes of brilliance over 4 days, thrilling hundreds on the Antrim coast, however in the end completed tied seventh, seven pictures behind champion Scottie Scheffler.
After lacking the lower in 2019 when The Open returned to Portrush for the primary time since 1951, this felt like a private victory for the 36-year-old, who arrived in his Masters inexperienced jacket.
“I attempted as finest as I may to maintain my feelings in test, particularly strolling up the final there and that reception,” McIlroy mentioned. A double-bogey on the tenth halted his Sunday cost. “It’s been an superior week. I’ve gotten all the pieces I needed out of this week, aside from a Claret Jug, and that’s as a result of one particular person was just a bit bit higher than the remainder of us.”
The world No. 2, who ended his 11-year Main drought with a Masters triumph in April, stays motivated for extra. “I really feel so grateful and simply so fortunate that I get to do that, I get to do that in entrance of this crowd,” he mentioned, recalling his teenage course-record 61 at Portrush.
McIlroy praised Scheffler’s dominance. “He’s the bar that we’re all attempting to get to… solely two or three gamers in historical past have been on a run like his within the final 24 to 36 months. Extremely spectacular.”
McIlroy now shifts focus to the Ryder Cup in New York. “I don’t wish to play an excessive amount of main as much as that as a result of I wish to be recent,” he mentioned.