Who dares wins at risk-reward Royal Portrush
It took 87 years of Open Championship golf for an Irishman to get his hands on the Claret Jug and another 60 years for Pádraig Harrington to end the modern drought and claim what would be the first of five Irish wins in 13 magical years.
As Jack Nicholson’s Whitey Bulger-style character Frank Costello says in the Boston gangland hit The Departed: “Twenty years after an Irishman couldn't get a f**king job, we had the presidency….”
It’s been almost six years now since Shane Lowry followed in the footsteps of Daly, Harrington, Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy at Royal Portrush by winning the first Open held on the island of Ireland since 1951.
So what now for Irish chances in The 153rd Open, where the bookies make McIlroy second favourite behind world number one Scottie Scheffler to erase the nightmare of 2019 and that tournament wrecking quadruple bogey eight at the first and claim major number six?
Not to over-use the bould Costello of The Departed fame, what nobody says is “no one gives it to you; you have to take it.”
Scheffler knows that better than most, even in the light of a viral press conference where he attempted to show that golf was not the be-all and end-all but somehow talked himself down an existential rabbit hole.
“I could not care any less about being the favourite or not being the favourite,” Scheffler said.
“We all start even par and the tournament starts on Thursday.”
Royal Portrush is not the most difficult course on the rota, but it may be the most exciting and beguiling, not to mention the most aesthetically overwhelming, as ripples up and down dunes like a surfer on the north Atlantic waves that frame this perfect piece of linksland.
Where some links courses challenge you to avoid myriad pot bunkers and find fairways that run like green and gold ribbons between banks of waist-high fescue, Royal Portrush gives and takes.
Harrington, who will hit the first shot, said as much of a links, where “the 99s are definitely the biggest and the nicest” on the rota.
"Risk reward,” he said of what sums up Portrush. “There's out of bounds on four of the first five holes.
"I hit two drives down two today, one went out of bounds, and I made eagle with the next one. So it could be a straightforward seven to three. It's all risk-reward on this golf course.
"I'd say there are seven or eight holes like that …Lots of birdies compared to a lot of other links golf courses.
"Sometimes you go to a course like Carnoustie, you're avoiding all the trouble, just trying to grind out pars. Birkdale, where I won again, is a big, solid golf course.
"Here, there's a lot going on here. There must be more birdies made here than any of the other courses, maybe St. Andrews, obviously, but certainly the variability on the holes is quite, quite big.
"And I think the course is in phenomenal condition, the greens are unbelievably good, so I think you will see putts holed.”
The Dubliner (53) still believes he can win but wishes the tournament was in a few weeks’ time.
As for McIlroy, the hometown favourite, it remains to be seen if he can put on a command performance.
“I think Rory is going to have too much emotion to deal with this week,” Graeme McDowell said in his role as a pundit for Sky Sports this week. “I hope he competes, but I think it’s going to be very difficult for him with the weight on his shoulders and the weight of a country on his back.”
McDowell, for the record, fancies Jon Rahm. Others still love Lowry, whose recent missed cuts in the US PGA and the US Open have removed any sense of complacency.
“Obviously, there are a lot of memories and there’s a lot of thinking back to what I did,” Lowry said. “What I did was very special, and to walk down the 18th hole with a six-shot lead, I'm probably never going to do that again, so I'm not going to try and replicate that this week. I'm just going to go out and try and play the tournament as well as I can this week.
“I've prepared as well as I can for this tournament. I know I have. Then it's just up to me to stay out of my own way on Thursday morning and go and get after it and see what happens.”
McIlroy appears to be rejuvenated by his return to Europe and over his post-Masters and career Grand Slam malaise, as evidenced by his second-place finish in the Scottish Open on Sunday.
“I guess I just sort of wanted to go away somewhere and sit in my green jacket for a couple of weeks and no one annoy me, but that was never going to be the case,” he said. “But look, I'm super happy to be back."
A quadruple bogey at the first derailed him in 2019, but he’s a different player now.
"Even on my off days, very rarely now is it a 79 like it was that Thursday,” McIlroy said. “It's more like a 72 or 73, and you don't shoot yourself out of the tournament.
"Say I don't get off to the best start here this week, I still feel like I have enough in the tank to be able to climb up, claw my way back into contention by the end of the week, which I felt like I probably didn't have back in 2019.”
Tom McKibbin will accompany Harrington on the first tee, looking to build on his excellent start to his major career.
“It's a big week for him,” Harrington said. “If you're going to win Majors, you've got to start putting yourself into top 10s and things like that, so I assume that's where he's thinking. So yeah, it's time for him to start moving on.”
Justin Rose has moved on from losing to McIlroy in that playoff at Augusta and he best summed up what lies in store at Royal Portrush.
“I think it's got everything, to be honest with you,” said the Englishman (43) who was runner-up to Xander Schauffele last year. “I think it's tough enough off the tee where you've got to really respect it.
"The rough is thick, but there's going to be opportunity out of the rough too. You can maybe draw the odd good lie, so it's kind of got that variability. It gives you the opportunity to hit recovery shots as well, I think… There are a lot of birdie opportunities as well.
"I think you need to be positive. You need to go out there, as tough as it is in places, you do have to get on the front foot.”
As Frank Costello would say, “nobody is going to give it to you; you have to take it.”
“18 on Sunday is the obvious one but I’ll go back to Saturday night and birdieing three of the last four holes to take a four-shot lead,” said Lowry.
“Just the scenes going down 18 and in the scoring afterwards, it was almost like it was the Sunday evening. The crowd was incredible, they were singing, I was doing my interviews out the back and they were all trying to jump the fence.
“Martin Slumbers actually said it in an interview, where it was one of the memories that he will cherish forever from The Open, it was one of the coolest things that’s ever happened me.
“It wasn’t like golf, it was something different, it was amazing.”
“Over the couple of years that proceeded it, you do find yourself flicking on to YouTube and that’s what’s great about the modern world, you have that at your fingertips just being able to go on and watch it,” said Lowry.
“There has been a few lows since then that to try and pick yourself up, I would have went back and watched it at times but it all happened so fast you sort of forget it.
“To be able to have those videos to go back and look at as I get older it will even get better.”
I, I'm delighted to be home. Like, I've had, had been home since Christmas, and like, don't get me wrong, like, we have a great life in Florida, and we love it, but I've been away from the girls for a few weeks, and it's just been, it's been, it was hard and I wasn't playing good golf. And it's hard when you're not playing good golf, and nice to get home and kind of refresh and rejuvenate. You know, I did some good work last week, and I feel, feel really ready to go out there this week and try and do something special.
Does any part of you feel like the defending champion? No, actually, no. Some people keep saying it. I'm like, I don't feel like, you know, Xander shuffles defending champion, like I won it six years ago. And I really feel like, I don't feel like it's just another tournament, because we're here in Port rush, and you know what I did the last time was obviously very, very special. But I do feel like it's just another open. It's another open in Portrush. I definitely
feel, I feel like I really felt that week that it was all about Rory, and I felt like I came under the radar, and I think that's what helped me. Oh, yeah. And I know it says a lot different this week, but I feel like I'm probably more equipped, and he is as well, to be able to deal with the pressure of, you know, and at the end of the day, like, I have no doubt if Rory, Rory plays the first hole better that tournament, he does way better, you know. And I think it's all about for us getting off to good starts. I think if we can get off to a good start, you know, you can put yourself there, because we're gonna have, like, the whole crowd. And I think you can use that whatever way you want, but I think I'm pretty good at using that it to my advantage, like I did in 2019 and, yeah, but I think it is all about temper and expectation, because the want to succeed here is just through the roof. It's more than anything we have, you know, any other time of the year. So like, I think the next few days are going to be all about like, practising and preparing, obviously, very well, but there's going to be a lot of like, talks between me and my coaches and just trying to feel right going into Thursday. I think for me, it's all about feeling right in my head, rather than how I'm actually hitting the golf ball. I think if I feel right in my
head, I'll be okay.
the Saturday in particular was, like, you know, people talk about within the zone, that was me in the zone. And I don't know if I've been there since, I feel honestly, I just like, you said, the stars aligned, and it just all came together. And I always say, like, I'm quite fortunate that it happened on the right week, you know? And I got to do this in Portugal. And I always say, like, no matter why, no matter what happens for the rest of my career, I'll always have that week. Okay, obviously, what I'm here and I want to do it again. But like, if it doesn't happen this week, I know that I've, I've put everything into it over the last few weeks, the whole year, the last few years, to try and come back here and and do pretty well again, and we'll see what happens when you're having a low day. Do you watch those sort of pictures walking up 18? I try not to be honest, I haven't it's funny, because I was here a couple weeks ago and I hadn't watched seen any of it for a few years. And then you stand here with the grandsons, and you start to remember what happened, and it's just like, like their memories, that you know and hopefully someday be sitting down and Sean, the grandkids or something. And, yeah, yeah, very, very lucky person. Have a great week. Thank you.
eah, I think it's got everything, to be honest with you. I think it's tough enough off the tee where you've got to really respect it. The bunkers aren't as penal as a lot of other links golf courses necessarily. Still probably can't get on the green, but you can maybe advance the ball a little bit further than some other bunkers.
But still avoiding the bunkers at all costs really around a links golf course is number one. The rough is thick, but there's going to be opportunity out of the rough too. You can maybe draw the odd good lie, so it's kind of got that variability. It's got that sort of -- gives you the opportunity to hit recovery shots as well, I think.
We're going to have different wind directions this week, out of the south definitely for the first day, maybe day and a half, then potentially a little bit of north coming in again. Today was out of the north.
So my practice trip was valuable because it was more of a south wind, so hopefully get a little bit more of a feel of how tomorrow is going to play for us versus today. That's another reason why I was not massively intent today on exactly how the course was playing because I'm not sure we're going to get that feel again. We'll see what happens on the weekend.
But yeah, I think there's a lot of birdie opportunities on this course as well. It does give up some birdies. I think you need to be positive. You need to go out there, as tough as it is in places, you do have to get on the front foot and maybe there's certain holes you need to take advantage on. So yeah, it's a great mix.
