Rory McIlroy recognizes that it has been a quick turnaround for the five-time major champion following his close call at the Scottish Open this past weekend. After nearly winning his second tournament title in the last three years, McIlroy traveled from North Berwick, Scotland, to Portrush, Northern Ireland, in order to grab a Monday morning tee time for an opening practice round ahead of the 2025 Open.
“I got about four hours of sleep, so I’m looking forward to taking a nap after this,” McIlroy said. “The last couple of majors, at the PGA and the U.S. Open, the practice rounds take so long. I feel like there’s 50 people inside the ropes all the time. I feel like I just can’t get good work done, good preparation.
“I didn’t come up here ahead of time to try to get a couple of practice rounds in, so I just wanted to get out early, sort of beat the rush, beat the crowd and do my work with not a lot of people around. So, that was the reason that I did that today. It worked out well. Obviously, we had that weather delay there, and it was nice to get 18 holes in early and feel like I got a productive day of work in.”
2025 Open storylines: Rory McIlroy returns to Royal Portrush, Scottie Scheffler seeks to enter next echelon
Patrick McDonald
McIlroy was off at the crack of dawn as he searches to add another Claret Jug to his mantle and turn an already historic season into one of the all-time greats. Since winning the Masters, the 36-year-old has not looked like his usual self in the last two major championships; he squeezed through the cutline at the PGA Championship and was slow out of the blocks at the U.S. Open.
A final-round 67 at Oakmont Country Club appeared to kickstart the grand slam winner back in the right direction, as he has since added top-10 finishes at the Travelers Championship and the Scottish Open while appearing much more at ease in doing so.
The last time The Open was held in McIlroy’s home country of Northern Ireland, the Ulsterman failed to find his way into the weekend following a disastrous start. He arrives this year with a different game plan as he aims to soak up all the admiration and fanfare instead of cutting himself off from it like he did in 2019.
McIlroy’s year has been transformative for a number of reasons. Not only does he have the green jacket in his closest, but he has largely turned into the most well-rounded version of himself as a player. Without many holes to poke in his game, he believes he’s much better equipped physically and, perhaps more importantly, mentally to play and hopefully contend in The Open only 60 miles away from where he grew up.
“It’s been an amazing year,” McIlroy said. “The fact that I’m here at Portrush with the green jacket, having completed that lifelong dream, as you said, I want to do my best this week to enjoy everything that comes my way and enjoy the reaction of the fans and enjoy being in front of them and playing in front of them.
“But, at the same time, I want to win this golf tournament, and I feel like I’m very capable of doing that.”